The Council Got It Wrong.

 Badly.

An analysis of the proposed Solano County Fairgrounds project

By The Observer
July 18, 2010

In February, the Vallejo City Council voted 6-1 to move forward with a redevelopment project for the fairgrounds, officially called Solano360. The project includes, among other things, up to 670,000 sq ft of retail space. The vote gives the Solano County Board of Supervisors nearly complete control of the project for the next two years. It will hire a master developer (or take on the job itself), conduct an economic and environmental impact study, go through an expedited permitting process with the city, and, if all goes well, sign on tenants that it believes should go to the fairgrounds and not somewhere else in Vallejo. The county will spend about $3 million to do these things, in addition to $1.5 million it has already spent. While this may seem like a big favor for a bankrupt city, no one should forget that it’s really taxpayer money that’s being put on the table. Besides, the Council has a well-earned reputation for negotiating bad deals. This fact alone should make Vallejoans extra cautious about supervisors bearing gifts.

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Really concerned   |July.27.2010 To the real Joe Feller and "read the whole PDF": i agree partly with both. whatever goes to the fairgrounds, we need to make sure this isnt a boondoggle. let the free market decide if more retail is needed in vallejo, not government bureaucrats spending tax dollars.

Anonymous   |July.27.2010 Just announced: Solano360 meeting on Aug 5th at County admin bldg in Fairfield, 6:30 pm, room #1600. No agenda posted yet. Please go and express your opinion one way or the other - public needs to monitor our elected officials - time to get involved!

I Read The Whole PDF   |July.26.2010 To: The Real Joe Feller There must be more than 17 amusement parks in the US. I can think of about 8 in California alone. Great America, now gone (right?) was surrounded by office parks. WaterWorld, in Concord has office parks all around it too. Disneyland is surrounded by housing, motels, and retail. The big problem with the office tower idea is that there is so much vacant commercial space as it is. The federal government is expanding at an alarming rate. Maybe they need a new office tower in Vallejo to administer their ultra socialist agenda from. The point is that we need to focus on making Vallejo a great place to do business. Good jobs will drive the demand for more housing and retail. We won't (and should never) have to bribe companies to locate here. Let's not trip all over ourselves to develop the Fairgrounds property if the County is going to siphon off 75% of the sales tax. That's just stupid. I can't believe this thing has gotten this far. BTW: the word I mangled below was "GRANDIOSE".

The Real Joe Feller   |July.26.2010 In answer to "I read the whold PDF", one issue with this project is that there seems to be a real lack of interested private parties for either office buildings or retail. To date, after spending the first 2 million and allocating anothe 2.5 million there still is no tenant. Both office and retail are seemingly incompatible with an amusement park. This was the experience in Arlington, Texas with their Glory Park development (which ERA was also a consultant on) where nothing has been built and retail is now excluded. In fact, of the 17 amusement parks that exist in the US, none has successfully had a retail neighbor (at least that we could find).

really concerned   |July.25.2010 It looks like the Brooks Street consultants are a syndicate of investors with their hands mostly in industrial cleanup and energy projects around the state. They maintain more than one website. A google search indicates they have a lien filed against them for a big housing development near Orinda. They also may be in financial trouble with the old General Mills plant in Vallejo. Can anyone fact check this? If true, this would seriously put thier credibility in doubt. Probably the county didn't run a credit check or check any credentials before giving them two million dollars in contracts. Maybe someone at Brooks Street is following this blog and will respond.

I Read The Whole PDF   |July.25.2010 This is an excellent report and raises the alarm, hopefully not too late, about another costly flim-flam we are slowly getting sucked into. It reminds me of the Simpson's episode where a huckster from out of town comes in and sells the City on a monorail system to boost the economy. Oversold on the idea, it isn't long before the whole city becomes a decrepit dust-bowl of cracked streets due to the diversion of all city resources, and monorail system itself literally runs out-of-control before self-destructing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEZjzsnPhnw It is a bit disturbing that the author wishes to remain anonymous, especially considering how much time must have been invested in writing this well-annotated report. I don't have the time to completely fact-check this report, but I will look into a few issues and if I discover any problems I will report back here. The idea of a sports complex is appealing, especially if it will attract people into the city for a small investment. I would prefer an office tower, however. The report correctly points out that if your can bring in professionals, retail and housing will follow automatically WITHOUT costly incentives. We need to start small and work incrementally, NO BIG GRADIOUS PLANS, PLEASE. Bass Pro and the County are conspiring against us! At the very least, ERA, Brooks Street, etc, are not working towards the public's interests: they are simply selling the same scam, and then moving on to the next sucker city.

Anonymous   |July.24.2010 We need a sports area more that a shopping center.

Michael Tatham   |July.23.2010 we should give Joe Feller a break. After all, he did pitch 4 no hitters.

for independent media   |July.23.2010 VIB has run an article that challenges our city council and county supervisors to do better. I for one did not know about the development at the fairgrounds. I think this web site is doing what needs to be done, which is to get the word out.

Anonymous   |July.23.2010 I never heard of Joe Feller. I didn't see his name in the VIB article. Is he for the shopping center? I agree government should not be in the business of building shopping centers. It should not be giving our taxes to big corporations. It should not be wasting millions on consultants who want to do more studies to steal more of our money.

Old Lady   |July.22.2010 People like Joe Feller are rable rousers like the agitators who incited the riot in Oakland last week. Feller nor the Oakland agitators even live in the cities they agitate in. Joe Feller is an angry man who has misplaced anger issues just like the majority of VIBers, who are not happy unless they have something to be angry about or hate. If VIB did not exist they and Joe would just move along and find another vent to channel their misery out of. What a crappy way to lead ones life. Miserable and in denial. Always blaming someone or something else for what's making them angry.

VIBer   |July.22.2010 That's the problem, you can't speak with one voice because we don't all agree with you. I'm not a troll or a name-caller, and am a VIB regular. I disagree with the author and Joe Feller. No name calling needed to do that, but don't represent that you speak for me or for all of us "VIBers."

stop joking around   |July.22.2010 this is a serious issue and should make liberals & conservatives angry, but not at each other... its about accountibility, waste of tax dollars & a city that cant get its act together - everyone should agree on this and ban together - instead some adult readers who act like children turn it into a game - if we dont get serious and speak up with one voice, we all lose

What's My Line   |July.22.2010 "Will the real Joe Feller please stand up" These posters attempt to deflect the discussion away from the topic at hand: Fairgrounds Development. You know you have hit a nerve--in this case, an incredibly well-researched white paper on the current fairgrounds proposal--when the nasty trolls come out and start their name calling. And Curious you hit the nail on the head. Why is Vallejo always 20 years behind? We build auto-malls after other cities have already created a plethora of auto-malls. Now we are chasing retail dollars while at the VERY SAME TIME many adjacent storefronts cannot find tenants. How stupid is that?!?

not anonymous   |July.22.2010 I am Spartacus. I AM SPARTACUS!

Anonymous   |July.22.2010 the fairgrounds story is not about shopping or about big box stores - it is about the government wasting taxpayer money, allowing a 20 million dollar subsidy to be hidden from the public, and ruining city finances by giving away too much sales tax

curious   |July.22.2010 Joe...Ignore the idiots, trolls and dementors. You are absolutely right about WalMart and the big box stores. Studies over and over have proved that they suck the life out of existing small businesses. Cities that kept out Redevelopment and big box stores are currently thriving, even in this economy. Drive up Highway 80 to see the damage. Acres of vacant parking lots surrounding empty stores in big shopping centers waiting for the customers that will never come. Consumerism is a thing of the past. It will never return because families have too much debt and are rejecting consumerism for good. More and more stores chasing fewer and fewer customers and fewer and fewer dollar is just plain dumb.

Taking Stock   |July.21.2010 Hey Joe, Real or fake you're a loser and a pox on Vallejo. Stop slumming and go back to Benicia.

Anonymous   |July.21.2010 I think ERA consulants are the stars of the show. Someone should collect all of there studies from different cities and see if there is any consistency to the numbwers.

The Real Joe Feller   |July.21.2010 Well I guess I can't paste. But note 9 is great also. Many of them are extremely informative and more than just the reference to source material. One thing that "The Observer" missed was that our current city manager Bob Adams not only negotiated the Manteca project (including Bass Pro Shop and its 60 million + subsidy) but he also spearheaded 2 sales tax increases of .5 percent. One was for Public Safety salaries and the other was a transit tax. So citizens in Manteca are now paying over 10% in sales taxes. Lovely that our City Council has chosen such adept managers.

The Real Joe Feller   |July.21.2010 Hey All I just finished the notes on this. They could be better than the actual article. Like note 8 . . .

armyoftherich   |July.20.2010 I think this is an excellent article, even if it has a few mistakes. I wish the city council had this level of analysis available to it. It doesn't. The Council subcommittee has two County supervisors twisting arms,then the County staff and consultants pee on the City councilmember's on legs and telling them it's raining. There is no economic development staff to provide this level of analysis. The consultants who did the peer review did a great job but are not paid to tell council/staff things they don't want to hear. That's the first thing they teach you in consultant school. Keep up the good work VIB.

He's not Joe Feller I am   |July.20.2010 I wrote the article, I hate big box stores, hate WalMart and hate anyone who disagrees with me. I hate the fake Joe Feller for claiming to be the real me. Can't you see the real me can't you, can't you?

Curious   |July.20.2010 That's the key. The GOBs keep Vallejo desperate and blighted on purpose so they can continue to manipulate us into thinking that prosperity is just around the corner if we just hand over a few more of our assets. Reminds me of all these lenders offering to renegotiate loans or fix bankruptcies for a mere $4,000 and then do nothing. The Lennar deal is a case in point. The City has a profit sharing deal with Lennar ..50-50. But anyone who knows anything about development knows that the soft costs...consultants, attorneys, advisors, lobbyists, developer staff salaries, developer expenses, etc....are carefully crafted so there is no profit...zero. All the money is sucked off up front. I don't think Solano County and Vallejo GOBs are stupid. They are the suckees.

Someone Else   |July.20.2010 This reminds me of a book I read a couple years ago, "Free Lunch" by David Clay Johnston. http://www.amazon.com/Free-Lunch-Wealthiest-Themselves-Government/dp/B002HREKHS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279648875&sr=1-1 He's got an entire chapter on Bass Pro and how they over deliver promises of economic impact to get tax payer subsidies, and under deliver. Massively under deliver. $1 mil in annual tax revenue! Oh, sorry, $250K. Thanks for that $20 mill subsidy. Yet most cities aren't smart enough to tie those subsidies to those promises. At the end, that's the root of Vallejo's problems. Such incompetence at the bargaining table that we role over to the county, to the developers, to the unions. We're so desperate to better our situation that we end up cutting off our nose to spite our face.

Anonymous   |July.20.2010 Yes Joe, I'm in full agreement with you here. Installing more retail and subsidized housing is insane. A mega sports facility would be a much better option for taxpayers.

Anonymous   |July.20.2010 Who cares if its the real Joe Feller or not? The guys a nutjob who sees WallyMart hiding behind every rock and bush.

The Real Joe Feller   |July.20.2010 And also check out this website for more information. www.solanotaxpayers.org You can see for yourselves how the ERA consultants were doling taxpayer dollars out to out of town retailers.

The Real Joe Feller   |July.20.2010 Sorry guys, whoever is using my name is a real a**. I did not write the article, nor do I know who did. I will say that a plan is being floated around town that has had input by several folks (including Sierra Club members) to bring a unique Sporting Complex to the fairgrounds. A quick story. I was in Lyon's for breakfast the other Sunday and the place was packed with kids. Apparently PAL had had a tournament with 40 different girls softball teams. The Lyon's happened to be full of Novato kids. This is the kind of reward we need for small businesses that invest in this town without government handouts. Not like the big box retailers that keep demanding kickbacks to locate here. That is why we should be looking at bringin unique dollars to Vallejo and not minimum wage jobs that demand tax payer subsidies.

96 VIB tear drops   |July.19.2010 I wanna cry, cry, cry, cry, I wanna whine, whine, whine, whine

Mr :)   |July.19.2010 Why not just sell the site to someone who knows what they are doing? Perhaps 6 flags could do something with it. BTW ++ on Curious' list of solutions to Vallejo's problems.

curious   |July.19.2010 Kindergarten Teacher... You are why the schools are in such a mess. Shaming people who think and ask questions rather than encouraging critical thinking. VIB does just that. Hurrah for them! Raspberries to you!

curious   |July.19.2010 I loved the graphics! The graphics, in addition to the exhaustive research, could only be done by a professional. What it all really points out is that our leaders are judas goats knowingly leading the Vallejo lambs to slaughter. Vallejo has been "used" for years. This is one more case. Vallejo will definitely be on the hook for providing all of the subsidized housing. That is 20% of the tax revenues right there. So Vallejo would get a paltry 5% to pay for policing, infrastructure, etc. Bad deal!

Kindergarten Teacher   |July.19.2010 Aren't you ashamed to post this kind of crap? Grow up for crying out loud. This is yet anothor reason why people can't stand VIB. You're a bunch of whinning cry babies.Whhhaaaa, whhhhaaaaa, he di, she did, he said she said whaaa whaaa. I know you are but what am I? Good Lord: "One more thing Caught - why are your critizing the guy who wrote an exhaustive piece about some shadey deals but not critizing the guy who outright lied about the authorship on this comments thread? Who ever wrote this piece is entitled to remain anonymous. Who ever lied below isn't. You're showing your colors."

Dave Cary   |July.19.2010 It seems to me that the author, whoever that may be, has put together a case that is worthy of discussion. I hope our city/county leaders forget about the tone and actually give the ideas some serious consideration. I know a number of these issues have been raised, and I agree with 90% of the ideas, but having it in one spot helped. The author should be thanked - whether he/she is right or wrong. I would like to see the author get this down to a 2 page brief, without the hostility. And, have the people on the fairgrounds development committee explain/justify why they are making the choices they are.

Someone Else   |July.19.2010 One more thing Caught - why are your critizing the guy who wrote an exhaustive piece about some shadey deals but not critizing the guy who outright lied about the authorship on this comments thread? Who ever wrote this piece is entitled to remain anonymous. Who ever lied below isn't. You're showing your colors.

another reader   |July.19.2010 To Someone Else: It seems like city council is not reading reports or contracts before signing them. They'd be better off letting the public read them.

another reader   |July.19.2010 I just read the article. It's carefully footnoted. Every statement seems to have backing. This is more than we got out of the highly-paid consultants who put together the fairgrounds study. Nothing wrong with keeping the author anonymous. Weren't the federalist papers written that way? Seems like Vallejo and all of America could benefit from real debate for a change, with fewer attacks on people and their credibility.

Someone Else   |July.19.2010 Caught With your Pants Down Again, The Economist, a major news magazine, does not publish its author's names. No bylines. My favorite magazine, by the way. VIB is not unique in this.

Caught With your Pants Down Ag   |July.19.2010 Once again VIB's credibility comes into question, with the is it or isn't it Joe Feller situation. Why should anyone take the editors word for it when he says he knows who wrote the article but won't divulge their name?. VIB will never be recognized as a legitimate news organization when it constantly skulks around in the shadows of anonymity. Real news organizations don't operate this way.

Someone Else   |July.19.2010 Is any of this grounds for a lawsuit violating the Brown Act or public trust? I'm really thinking we citizens need to take action if our city leaders won't. With the way this deal is current structured Vallejo will get the raw end of the deal, paying more than it will take in. Manteca isn't the only city to be hoodwinked by Bass Pro and the like. The county is buying the developers line and getting Vallejo to shell out for it. I think the fairgrounds need to be developed, but this is NOT the way to do it.

Edinator   |July.19.2010 This article was absolutely, positively and without question NOT written by Joe Feller. I know the author and have met with this person to discuss the article. The author has their reasons for not signing their name, and VIB decided to respect that choice. Some may not be comfortable with the use of a pseudonym, but we have made the choice to allow this on VIB with some discretion. Bottom line, There are some very thoughtful ideas put forward in this piece which seem to be compelling public discourse. This is a good thing.

Someone Else   |July.19.2010 Editor, can you weigh in if the posts bellow are possibly impersonating Joe Feller? I suspect this "Joe Feller" is a troll impersonating the real Joe Feller, just like what happened to Diana Lange when the topic was how her home was vandalized. If the comments are not his they should be deleted as they are libel.

Anonymous   |July.19.2010 Maybe we all could agree to talk about the substance of the article and not about each other. Just an anonymous thought...

Vallejo resident   |July.19.2010 Whoever keeps claiming to be Joe Feller needs to come up with new material. The joke is old. The article is *against* government handouts. Read it.

Anonymous   |July.19.2010 If all you anonymous wimps would stop posting behind aliases and start using your real names, then we wouldn't have to play this guessing game with each other day in and day out.

Joe Feller   |July.19.2010 I am Joe Feller and I did write the article. The point you all missed and the most important point to me is Bass Pro Shops, another big box retailer, that we don't need. We don't need the revenue. We can get by on government hand outs and grants.

Retired_IBEW   |July.19.2010 enufisenuf said: "why is the city giving up any of it's taxes to the county?" That's why I asked if Sandy Salerno negotiated this deal, it's insane. These big sporting goods stores all sell the same lies to get the big tax breaks, they promise hundreds of well paying jobs. The reality is they transfer their managers from other locations and only hire locals for no benefit dead end sales jobs. Shortly after Scheels opened in Reno they laid off about half of their employees, just what the area needs, more people on unemployment living in motels.

Fightback   |July.19.2010 I agree, the article pushes free market ideas...no need for liberal-bashing

Anonymous   |July.19.2010 That article wasn't written by Feller or it would have had WalMart hiding behind every rock. It was written by his sidekick anti-everything pal. Why write an opinion piece that you obviously feel strong about but not use your name? Whats to fear?

Anonymous   |July.19.2010 If in doubt, blame Gomes. That works well for ya.

Anonymous   |July.19.2010 The article was not written by Joe Feller and it's not about Walmart or big box stores. It's about the City of Vallejo giving up tax revenue to support county government and to subsidize a private company. Whoever wrote the last comment is not Joe Feller and got the article backwards. It's totally in favor of enterprise system and against wasting taxpayer money. Read it and you'll see why.

Joe Feller   |July.19.2010 Marc, Why didn't you use my real name like I suggested, instead of "The Observer". Everyone knows I, Joe Feller, am the VIB anti big box, anti revenue point person for VIB. After all, I am responsible for chasing WalMart out of Vallejo. Let's give credit where credit is due.

thanks alot gomes   |July.19.2010 thanks alot gomes for oz land

EnufIsEnuf   |July.19.2010 Retired_IBEW: the corp handout stinks, but i can't understand why the city is giving up any of its taxes to the county. if it keeps only half or a quarter, whats the point of the development? the city cant get ahead and may fall further behind

EnufIsEnuf   |July.19.2010 just last week there was a story about Triad lawsuit against the city--fairgrounds lawsuit very bad in comparison if city gets smart and county gets mad after spending $$$ on consultants--doesn't city council think ahead even one move?

curious   |July.19.2010 The solution to Vallejo's fiscal problem is: 1. LNG 2. Marines 3. Lennar 4 Callaghan/DaSilva 5. The Sultan of Bogar 6. A huge development at the Fairgrounds 7. Magic

Retired_IBEW   |July.19.2010 The public accountancy initiative published a very comprehensive report on the Bass Pro 'model' of using taxpayer money to build their stores, they call it "Fishing for the taxpayer dollar" Here's a link: http://public-accountability.org/ You can download the full PDF report there, it's a good read. The only successful Bass Pro that I have seen is in Las Vegas, but it's part of a hotel/casino/theater complex- it's not planted out in the boonies with a bunch of empty retail outlets surrounding it. Reno has Cabelas, Sheels, and Bass Pro announced plans to build a store as well, all of these are heavily subsidized by the taxpayer. So Reno has more sporting goods stores than it would ever need and the City is so broke they have locked restrooms and turned off drinking water in public parks. Did Sandy Salerno negotiate this deal?

Hoodwinked   |July.18.2010 Vallejo should have built a "ghost town" with real tumble weeds for the millions spent on downtown redevelopment. At least it would of been an honest approach to what is going on. Who knows. The idea could have been crazy enough to attract some real tourists.

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