SEIU 1021 Leadership,

 

As Solano County employees and SEIU 1021 members, we are against our leadership's plans to negotiate with California Forever.  We oppose any agreement between SEIU 1021 and California Forever, as we are opposed to providing any overt or tacit endorsement of their project. We have serious concerns about California Forever’s plan to build a 400,000-resident community on land outside our current cities and where no infrastructure exists. We believe California Forever’s plans will only reinforce the inequities experienced by our disadvantaged and under-resourced community members, who continue to deal with the consequences of systemic discrimination, as our county’s resources will be stretched thinner to accommodate the development of this project.

California Forever is a real estate development corporation, backed by Silicon Valley tech billionaire investors. They are going around a vote of the people of Solano County in pursuit of building their project on land currently zoned for agriculture, by working with the city councils of Suisun and Rio Vista pursue annexation of the land into their cities, bypassing the people’s voice on the county’s orderly growth initiative protecting open space and agriculture and focusing development within current cities.

Last year, the Department of Resource Management and County Administrator’s Office produced a report on the projected impacts of the California Forever project, before California Forever eventually pulled their initiative to rezone 17,500 acres of land in east Solano County off the ballot. Impacts and concerns detailed in the report include:

·       Extensive residential development on 14,000 acres of sustainable (dryland farming and grazeland) agriculture lands outside our existing seven cities, instead of developing underutilized sites within our cities where infrastructure, schools, and access to major routes and businesses already exist. This type of development will redirect county resources away from our existing cities, and will require more taxpayer dollars than development within cities does.

·       $103.1 million annual fiscal deficit at project completion, impacting services for all county residents.

·       $49.1 billion projected infrastructure cost at project buildout, and ongoing maintenance would burden all county residents.

·       Significant impacts on the local Central Valley vernal pool, marsh, and wetland ecosystems, which helps protect our drinking water from saltwater intrusion, serves as a carbon sink, replenishes the aquifer, buffers us from sea level rise, and provides a home for threatened and endangered plant and animal species.

·       Increase in annual vehicle miles traveled, increased traffic congestion, and years of road closures and detours due to construction activities.

·       Zero plans for affordable housing.

·       Uncertain source and quantity of water supplies to serve the new community, and uncertainty regarding the impacts to the county and region of the plan for increased water consumption.

·       Travis Air Force Base, the largest employer in our county, requires open space for flying operations and security, and a large city in the flight training path would negatively impact the base’s ability to conduct their operations.

 

We want our union to focus our resources on our contract negotiations with Solano County, and engage in other political, social justice, and coalition building activities for the benefit of us and our communities. We do not want to lend our support, resources, and reputation to California Forever, which has not cleared the many hurdles it faces to make their project become a reality. With respect and passion, as members of a democratic and people-powered union, we are using our voices to say No to California Forever!

 

In Solidarity,

SEIU 1021 members employed by Solano County