VALLEJO, Calif. — A day after Solano County environmental groups came out against the proposed California Forever city, people living in the county got the chance to share their thoughts at the first of six scheduled town halls.
The meeting was held inside the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum and began at 5 p.m. Attendees were asked to submit questions before the meeting, but once the question and answer segment of the two-hour-long meeting began, shouting echoed through the small venue.
While some were disappointed by the lack of new information, one person felt completely out of the loop on the project.
“What about the Native American graves you are going to be excavating and building on without consulting us?” said a woman who says she belongs to one of the local tribes. “We cannot afford this housing and we will not live on our own people’s bones.”
It’s something Flannery Associates, an investor company of the project, CEO Jan Sramek says they’ll work on going forward.
“We will make sure in our communications that people understand that it is not an issue that we have ignored,” said Sramek. “We have been much ahead of that issue.”
The meeting was scheduled weeks ago, but comes the day after the Sierra Club says the entire project goes against years of growth planning and will increase urban sprawl.
Sramek says ideas to expand on currently existing cities and infrastructure instead of building on the dry agricultural land simply will not work. He says not all growth is bad, despite what some in the county may think.
Anne Carr, a Solano County resident who attended the meeting, says she’s frustrated with the lack of dialogue between developers and current residents from the start of the plan.
“It was clearly a marketing meeting,” said Carr. “I understand that you purchase in secret in terms of land property, but it looks like they did not do their ground game first of engaging with the interested communities.”
She, among others, is worried about Flannery owning land around Travis Air Force Base and not getting more answers to what they could expect. Some residents say they hope the next town hall provides a little bit more information and Sramek says he wants to clear the air on some misinformation.
- Dec. 5: Rio Vista Town Hall at Legion Hall at the Memorial Veterans Building (more info HERE)
- Dec. 6: Vacaville Town Hall at the Journey Theater (more info HERE)
- Dec. 7: Fairfield/Suisun Town Hall at Willow Hall Fairfield Community Center (more info HERE)
- Dec. 14: Benicia Town Hall at Charles P. Stone Hall and Spenger Memorial Garden at the Benicia Historical Museum (more info HERE)
- Dec. 18: Dixon Town Hall at Dixon Olde Vets Hall (more info HERE)
Two offices have opened where the public can "stop by to talk to our team and learn the facts about our project," according to Sramek. Rio Vista and Fairfield offices will be announced in the future.
- California Forever Vacaville Office is located at 965 Alamo Dr., Vacaville, CA 95687
- California Forever Vallejo Office is located at 537 Georgia St., Vallejo, CA 94590
