California
Tech billionaires postpone their plan for a new California city
Good morning. It’s Thursday, July 25. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
Plans for a new California city are halted. Can trust be rebuilt?
A billionaires-backed plan to build a city from scratch in rural Solano County had been slated to go before the region’s voters in November.
But on Monday, county leaders and the initiative’s architect announced an agreement to pull it from the ballot.
The group, called California Forever, says it will now go through the usual multiyear process for would-be developments, which involves applying for necessary rezoning, conducting an environmental impact report and reaching a development agreement with the county.
An artist’s rendering of a neighborhood. Backers who want to build a green city from scratch began with secretive land purchases in Solano County.
(Sitelab Urban Studio / CMG)
The county and aspiring developers framed the decision as a chance to pause and reset after years of secrecy and mistrust. But critics say the tech billionaires’ vision is an ill-conceived plan that would do more harm than good.
First, a refresher
We first brought you the mysterious story of California Forever in August when a secretive limited liability company that spent about $800 million to purchase more than 52,000 acres in Solano County was revealed to be an ambitious project by Silicon Valley elites.
Proponents of the project used a limited liability company to buy up land from farmers in a vast swath of the county, stretching from Rio Vista, pictured, to the west, without telling anyone why.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
Their pitch: Build a new California city fueled by clean energy and filled with affordable housing and good-paying jobs. The plan is the brainchild of Jan Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader, who framed it as vital to boost California’s dismal housing supply and keep the state competitive as jobs and renewable energy move elsewhere.
Investors in the project include billionaire investor Michael Moritz, Emerson Collective founder Laurene Powell Jobs, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.
Once they were outed, the group changed its approach, initially dubbing its plan California Forever (with renderings that appeared to have been hastily created with artificial intelligence) before rebranding to the East Solano Plan. The group began gathering signatures to get a ballot measure before local voters in November that would change zoning rules, bypassing the typical process.
An artist’s rendering of a neighborhood in a proposed city in Solano County.
(Sitelab Urban Studio)
Going that route “was a mistake,” Mitch Mashburn, chair of the Solano County Board of Supervisors, wrote in the joint statement. “This politicized the entire project, made it difficult for us and our staff to work with them, and forced everyone in our community to take sides.”
The group’s lack of transparency and accusations of heavy-handed tactics rubbed many politicians and residents the wrong way. They also sued farmers in federal court, which further incensed residents and elected leaders.
Speaking during a Tuesday meeting, Solano County Supervisor Monica Brown said that California Forever “operated in bad faith” and that she “will never trust anything that they bring forward.”
“Go somewhere else,” Brown said. “There’s 57 other counties. They might want you and your money.”
Critics say the plan is the wrong approach
Local opposition to the project has been swift and vocal, with some noting it breaks the prime rule of real estate: location, location, location. Critics point to the lack of road infrastructure, access to water and public transit.
“It is a huge waste of private and public resources to develop a new city in this location,” said Sadie Wilson, director of planning and research at Greenbelt Alliance. The nonprofit advocates for climate resiliency in Bay Area counties and is part of the Solano Together Coalition.
An aerial rendering of where the planned community by California Forever would fit into Solano County.
(California Forever)
Members have been focused on getting accurate information to voters about the East Solano Plan, Wilson told me, but are also cultivating an “alternative vision” for prosperity in the region that doesn’t rely on billionaires.
Wilson said the plan “flies in the face” of both climate resiliency and housing goals, which would be better served by strategically expanding housing in existing cities. Building the schools, roads, sewer systems and other infrastructure to accommodate the more than 500,000 people California Forever hopes would live in its new city would cost a lot — both in dollars and emissions.
The county commissioned a consultant’s report for the project, which found that creating the necessary infrastructure would cost tens of billions and generate well over 2 billion new vehicle miles traveled (the state meanwhile is working to reduce how much Californians drive).
What’s next?
In that joint statement, Sramek said his group will work with the county “to build a shared vision” and plans to “bring the full package back for approval in 2026.”
“We want to show that it’s possible to move faster in California,” he wrote in a statement.
“But we recognize now that it’s possible to reorder these steps without impacting our ambitious timeline.”
Mashburn acknowledged Sramek for his understanding and optimism, but also issued him a challenge:
“Use the Environmental Impact Report and Development Agreement process to prove to us how you’ll strengthen Travis AFB, how you’ll provide water, and how you will solve the transportation challenges. And show us the financial engineering that makes it possible to pay for billions of dollars of infrastructure, without increasing our taxes, and while delivering a net tax surplus to our county.”
California Forever’s decision to pull the ballot measure was “a major win” for the coalition, Wilson told me.
“They just backed out of this initiative because they knew they weren’t going to win,” she said, adding that she hopes the group will be more transparent about their endgame if they’re serious about mending things with county leaders and residents.
“It’s hard to come back from that lack of trust and that deception,” she said. But “this is certainly not over.”
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(Los Angeles Times photo illustration; Photos via AP Photo)
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Today’s great reads
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L.A. legend Chris Kraus is finding answers in her sleep, and she’s not looking back. Chris Kraus and Catherine Lacey, two writers of two generations, talk mixing genres, daily schedules and the critics.
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For your downtime
Andrew Chaves, director of operations at Rancho Los Alamitos Historic Ranch and Gardens in Long Beach, stands next to a preformed pond that he and his wife, Amanda, dug into the ground.
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Going out
And finally … from our archives
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California
All lanes reopen on 5 Freeway in Oceanside after officer-involved shooting forces closure
OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KABC) — Hours after an officer-involved shooting prompted the full closure of the 5 Freeway in Oceanside, all lanes were reopened Saturday afternoon as the investigation continues.
“The 5 is closed in both directions between Oceanside and the Orange County border while police investigate a shooting,” Caltrans said in a social media post at 9:39 a.m., adding that drivers should use the 15 Freeway as an alternative route.
The Buena Park Police Department said its officers attempted to pull over a car for vehicle code violations just before 1 p.m. in the area of La Palma Avenue and San Marino Drive, but the car failed to stop and a pursuit ensued.
“At 1:05 a.m. we asked CHP to take over the pursuit. They did but requested our K-9 unit stay in the pursuit,” Buena Park police said in a statement.
Police said that at 2:10 a.m., the suspect vehicle was brought to a stop and then an officer-involved shooting occurred. It was not immediately known what led to the shooting.
A SigAlert was issued shortly after 2:30 a.m. between Harbor Drive in Oceanside and Christianitos Road in San Clemente, according to the California Highway Patrol.
As several lanes were reopened hours later, the Highway Patrol urged motorists to continue to use caution and watch for personnel in the area.
The investigation is ongoing.
Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
California
Chris Bell scores 21, sparks California to 91-67 victory over Sacramento State
BERKELEY, Calif. — – Chris Bell scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half and California cruised to a 91-67 victory over Sacramento State on Friday night in a campus game of the Empire Classic.
Bell and Justin Pippen combined for 29 points to help California take a 47-33 lead into the break. Bell sank 6 of 8 shots with three 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
John Camden’s 3-pointer capped an 11-2 run to begin the second half and the Golden Bears (5-1) were never threatened. Cal took its biggest lead at 81-47 on a 3-pointer by Camden with nine minutes left to play.
Pippen finished with 16 points and five assists. Dai Dai Ames also scored 16 and Camden totaled 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Brandon Gardner hit 4 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 19 to lead the Hornets (3-4). Mark Lavrenov had 14 points and Prophet Johnson notched his fifth double-double of the young season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Golden Bears shot 50.8% overall and made 15 of 38 from beyond the arc (39.5%).
Sac State made only 18 of 67 shots (26.9%) overall, including 7 of 24 from distance. The Hornets made 24 of 30 free throws, while Cal sank 10 of 19.
—— Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketballbr/]
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California
‘Toxic’: California ex-police chief tells of colleagues’ racist harassment campaign
The embattled former police chief of Vallejo, a San Francisco Bay Area city that has attracted national attention over police violence, has said that he endured a steady procession of racist remarks from colleagues and online harassment and threats that ultimately led him to resign.
By the time Chief Shawny Williams tendered his resignation in 2022, he said he had received a slew of threats – at his office, at his home, and in his email inbox. Most demanded he step down. But even after resigning, the threats still came by mail to his home and a second property he owned outside the state.
“They were hostile, toxic,” Williams testified in a deposition on Wednesday. “I had safety concerns.”
Williams made the statements as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Vallejo police department brought by Deyana Jenkins, whom officers pulled from a car and tased during a traffic stop in 2019. The incident occurred months after six Vallejo police officers shot her uncle, Willie McCoy, a 20-year-old rapper, 55 times while he was asleep in his car. The killing attracted widespread attention and thrust a spotlight on the department’s use of force.
The deposition, first reported by the Vallejo Sun, offers a window into what Williams describes as a pattern of hostile, threatening and retaliatory behavior that ended his brief attempt to impose accountability on a department known nationally for unchecked violence and resistance to reform.
Vallejo police officers have repeatedly drawn concern over their practices, perhaps most notoriously for the ritual of “badge bending”, in which officers reportedly fold back a tip on their badges after killing someone on duty.
Williams took over the department in 2019 with a mandate to reform it. His three-year stint coincided with a national reckoning over police violence, sparked by nationwide protests over the 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
But Williams said he experienced harsh backlash for his efforts to impose accountability on the department’s use of force.
“He was our first Black police chief in a department that’s always been known as a racist police department,” Melissa Nold, the lawyer representing Jenkins in the federal case, told the Guardian. “To hear that he was run off because he was doing reform and discipline – that’s very concerning. It doesn’t seem like it should be possible that the people being reformed have that much power.”
In his deposition, Williams said a colleague made several disturbing statements, including: “This Black Jesus can’t save us.”
He described “racial hostilities or comments” made to him by a former police captain. Williams also said the city attorney threatened him, but did not describe how.
The Vallejo police department did not immediately respond to a Guardian request for comment.
Williams also received several anonymous threats, through the post and online. Three weeks before resigning in October of 2022, he received a “Halloween card threat” that said “quit today” and emitted a deafening screech that “filled the hallway” and kept blaring until the battery ran out.
A secretary opened the letter. When Williams heard it he “actually thought it was some kind of domestic violence occurring outside the building because it was so loud”.
Williams also said that he received anonymous threats, after an officer who shot an unarmed 22-year-old in 2020 later rejoined the police department.
Officer Jarrett Tonn shot and killed Sean Monterrosa after an alleged looting incident at a Walgreens during a George Floyd-inspired protest. Williams dismissed Tonn after the shooting.
But an arbitrator reinstated Tonn in 2023, after Williams left the force. Tonn was promoted to sergeant in September of this year, according to the Vallejo Sun. Afterwards, Williams said he received messages that said “some bad things were coming”.
Williams said he asked the department to investigate the threats and raised concerns to city manager Mike Malone. But the city failed to act, and Malone appeared uninterested in helping him, Williams testified.
“One of the things that I guess exacerbated my concerns was [Malone’s] statement that this is not going to stop – or ‘They’re not going to stop until I fire you or you quit,’” Williams said in the deposition. “And he said that over half a dozen times.”
By “they”, Williams said the city manager was referring to the Vallejo Police Officers’ Association (VPAO), which serves as the bargaining unit for all ranks of police officer except the chief in its negotiations with the city. The VPOA did not immediately respond to a Guardian request for comment.
“My resignation was a result of a pattern of constructive termination hostility,” Williams testified. “There was racial animus, retaliatory things that were happening that just made it unbearable or impossible for me to perform my duties in a safe environment.”
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