Not in this backyard
THE BUZZ — California lawmakers aren’t on board with an effort by Silicon Valley-backed investors to buy up massive amounts of farmland in Solano County and turn it into a new Bay Area city.
Over the course of five years, an until-recently opaque group known as Flannery Associates has spent nearly $1 billion buying up tens of thousands of acres of arid grazing land around Travis Air Force Base. Unable to glean much from the buyers, lawmakers in recent weeks had begun to suggest a foreign campaign, perhaps linked to China.
The New York Times cracked the case: A cohort of elite investors are the ones bankrolling Flannery Associates, led by 36-year-old Jan Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader who has been dubbed a “wunderkind” of the financial world.
Their goal is to build an entirely new city from scratch. California lawmakers, however, are not enthusiastic.
In a hearing of the state Senate’s Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, Rep. John Garamendi, who represents the region, had some harsh words for the investors, who also include billionaire Michael Moritz and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
“Flannery Associates is using secrecy, bullying and mobster tactics to force generational farm families to sell,” he said. “These Silicon Valley big wig billionaires should be ashamed, and they should be held to account.”
Brian Brokaw, a spokesperson for the group, said it’s “pleased to be engaged in productive discussions with local leaders about our vision to deliver good-paying jobs, affordable housing, walkable communities and open space to Solano County.”
“Our team is working closely with the community and local leaders to craft a shared vision for Solano County’s future, and we hope Rep. Garamendi will soon accept our offer to meet with our CEO,” Brokaw said in a statement.
The community that Flannery Associates envisions — one with affordable homes, walkable urban centers, sprawling green spaces and clean energy — could take decades to become reality. It would also require a formidable gauntlet of political and bureaucratic red tape.
State Sens. Melissa Hurtado and Bill Dodd also raised concerns — saying they’ve had conversations with farmers who worry about being forced to sell their land.
“What happens when urban sprawl takes over prime agricultural land and California will no longer be the breadbasket of the world?” Hurtado said at the hearing.
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FRESH INK
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — CHARTER SCHOOL CLASH: Green Dot Public Schools California is suing the California State Teachers’ Retirement System for what is says is the unfair garnishing of a retiree’s benefits.
The Los Angeles-based network of charter schools is filing a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court today, alleging the state agency violated the law when, in 2021, it cut the pension of former Green Dot employee Kelly P. Hurley by 56 percent. The pension fund also claimed Hurley had been overpaid by more than $300,000, which would be recouped out of his ongoing monthly payments.
Hurley tried to appeal the decision, but was denied 18 months later. Now, Green Dot is taking the agency to court.
According to the lawsuit the group is filing today in Sacramento Superior Court, CalSTRS determined Hurley worked for an “ineligible employer” because he was assigned to the central office in an administrative role, not one of the 18 schools. CalSTRS covers some administrative roles in traditional school districts. But central office administrators employed by charter management organizations like Green Dot have been subjected to shifting guidance on whether or not they’re covered, the suit alleges.
A spokesperson for CalSTRS said the fund does not comment on potential or ongoing litigation.
The suit touches on longstanding tensions over charter schools in California, which receive public funds but operate independently from the existing public school district structure. Green Dot Public Schools California was founded in 1999 by political activist Steve Barr, who for years has worked to overhaul the Los Angeles school system.
Green Dot, in its lawsuit, says CalSTRS’s position on central office employees could be financially disastrous for 100 other employees who work in the office. The network is a member of the California Charter Schools Association, which worries that Hurley’s case could spell trouble for its other member institutions.
“The decision that CalSTRS has taken with respect to how Green Dot is structured and how it employs senior staff … is a threat to other charter school organizations that are similarly structured,” said Ricardo Soto, chief advocacy officer and general counsel.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — MIN SENTENCED: State Sen. Dave Min, who is running for Congress, pleaded no contest Tuesday to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge. He was sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation, according to court documents. Min must also enroll in an alcohol education program and pay $2,050 in fines, though he’ll serve no additional jail time.
Min’s campaign declined to comment. The lawmaker was arrested by the California Highway Patrol in May when he drove through a red light with his headlights off. Min issued an apology at the time.
He is running in CA-47, the Orange County seat held by Democratic Rep. Katie Porter (now running for the U.S. Senate). The seat is one of the most competitive in the 2024 cycle and crucial to Democrats’ path to reclaiming the majority. Min is not the only Democrat in the race, however: Lawyer Joanna Weiss has also run a competitive campaign.
—With help from Rachel Bluth
TRAFFIC PILE — Droves of Democratic lawmakers have recently signed on as co-authors of Republican Sen. Shannon Grove’s bill that would expand the state’s Three-Strikes Law to include human trafficking of a minor. The bill caused a PR headache for Democrats earlier this summer when the Assembly Public Safety Committee killed it, igniting a torrent of criticism. The committee later revived the bill, largely because Speaker Robert Rivas and Newsom intervened.
Grove’s measure, Senate Bill 14, now has 64 co-authors, including 38 Democrats (the vast majority of whom signed on within the last two months), according to her office. That could be a blow to progressive justice-reform advocates who hope to sideline the bill this Friday when it’s on the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s suspense file.
WHAT WE’RE READING TODAY
— The fight over “forced outing” policies targeting transgender students has raised a pressing question: When do young people have privacy rights from their parents?
— The ongoing battle over student housing at UC Berkeley prompted Assemblymember Buffy Wicks to carry a bill that would exclude noise studies from CEQA. Now, the bill is headed to Newsom’s desk.
— Many correctional officers in California stand to receive $10,000 raises and other perks through their union’s new contract. The raises come amid staffing shortages at many state prisons.
Playbookers
BIRTHDAYS — Marie Consiglio
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