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Solano County supervisors voted Tuesday to oppose a plan that would have allowed the billionaire-backed California Forever to use an 18-year-old environmental report in its effort to create a new shipbuilding facility in the county, throwing a wrench in the group’s plans.
The surprise 3-2 vote effectively kills the initiative for this year, dealing a blow to Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose office led discussions on it throughout the summer.
“There is work that still has to be done on this legislation,” said Supervisor Mitch Mashburn, who voted against the proposal. “We shouldn’t be doing it because we’re rushed. We do have time.”
Mashburn said the legislation put too much responsibility on the county to ensure the environment is protected if project leaders went ahead with a shipbuilding facility, and that some labor and tribal groups felt left out of the process. Supervisors Cassandra James and Wanda Williams agreed to revisit the proposal next year.
The proposed “Solano Maritime and Manufacturing Act” would have exempted 1,350 acres along the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from the California Environmental Quality Act for “maritime and manufacturing uses,” including infrastructure projects. County staff told supervisors it was “initiated in the governor’s office.”
Proponents have pitched a shipbuilding facility as a potential source of at least 10,000 jobs and an opportunity to pump up the area’s lagging economy.
After staying mum for weeks about meetings he and James had with Newsom’s office, the Governor’s Office of Business Development and California Forever, Mashburn said county officials had only been able to provide limited input.
“We’re the toddlers in the room and they’re patting us on the head and saying: ‘OK, you’re good. You had a say. We were democratic about it.’”
Assemblymember Lori Wilson, a Suisun City Democrat, has said repeatedly that she would respect the county’s decision. Tuesday’s vote kills any chance of a legislative deal this year, Wilson told CalMatters.
“The governor can put on his own website language that he supports,” she said. “Absent buy-in from the senator (Christopher Cabaldon) and I, I do not see how the language could be introduced.”
‘They punted’
California Forever head of public affairs Jim Wunderman expressed frustration with supervisors.
“There was an opportunity to move something forward that would have mattered for generations, and could really move this county forward in this region,” said Wunderman, the former longtime CEO of the Bay Area Council. “They didn’t avail themselves of it, and they punted.”
The meeting drew about 200 people to downtown Fairfield Tuesday, many wearing bright pink T-shirts and buttons denoting their connection to the “Solano Together” group that opposes any development by California Forever.
It comes after a major shipbuilder, Texas-based Saronic Technologies Inc., which California Forever backers said was considering Solano County, said it would build a new facility in Brownsville, Texas over Solano.
The 14-page proposal supervisors considered also included provisions to require streamlining construction permits in the area and a 45-day process for resolving potential disputes between California Forever and a neutral “special master” appointed by the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation.
Two elements, one to shore up labor protections and another to require tribal consultation, were added in the final days of negotiations. Mashburn said both still need work.
“The tribes all day have been pinging our folks about their issues with this legislation,” he said.
The state legislators for the area, Wilson and Sen. Christopher Cabaldon of Napa, both Democrats, called into the meeting to emphasize the limited scope of the legislation and to stress that the county would retain control.
Wilson told the supervisors the county should be prepared to compete for economic opportunity.
“We are not asking the board today to approve shipyards. We are not asking you to approve a developer. We are not asking you to surrender local control,” said Wilson. “We are asking whether Solano County should put itself in a position to be prepared.”
Cabaldon told supervisors they were free to oppose the legislation, but the Aug. 31 end of the legislative session left no room to “rewrite legislation at this stage.”
That left supervisors in the same position they were in last year, when they were asked to decide on last-minute language to allow a shipbuilding facility.
Locals get their say
Most of the speakers during nearly three hours of public comment opposed the plan.
Vallejo resident Jeff Deis called it a “sweetheart deal” for California Forever, noting the legislation calls the area a “unique deepwater site.”
“The only thing unique about this is the deep pockets of the people that are promoting it and the methods they’re going about it,” Deis said.
Jasmine Westbrook, who described herself as a fifth-generation Solano resident, said it was “disgraceful” for the county to consider a broad 2008 environmental review instead of conducting a new project-specific review.
“Do not put billionaires over your community, your constituents, the environment, and the future of Solano County and the state. Do not set this precedent,” she said.
Several speakers said the county shouldn’t bypass the voter-approved 1984 “orderly growth initiative,” that requires voters to approve any rezoning of land. The legislation would have required the county to reshape an area designated “water dependent industrial” at the request of California Forever.
Over a dozen people spoke in favor of the legislation, all emphasizing the need for more jobs.
Matt Bailey, director of job seeker services for the Workforce Development Board of Solano County, said companies view the county as “closed for business.”
“What home-buying-wage jobs are you bringing to this community?” he asked the board.
John Kowalski, a union pipefitter plumber living in Vacaville, said one of his sons was laid off from Budweiser when its Fairfield plant closed earlier this year, and now must commute to San Jose daily.
“He’s missing out on his daughters’ softball practice, their soccer practice,” he said.
“Please. Listen to Sacramento. Thank you.”
