Newly released records reveal just how forcefully California Forever pushed Solano County officials to fall in line with its timeline last year, part of a broader pattern of pressure tactics the tech-backed development group has used to advance its ambitious plans for a new city and manufacturing hub in the Bay Area.
According to a report published by CalMatters reporters Yue Stella Yu and Kate Wolffe, representatives of the company bombarded county staff with emails, phone calls and texts in the final weeks of last year’s legislative session, trying to lock down support for a bill that would speed environmental review for a proposed shipyard tied to the project. Backers said the facility could bring thousands of jobs to Solano County.
The records show that on Sept. 1, 2025, Michael Fortney, California Forever’s director of partnerships, told county staff they needed a decision on the proposal that same day. When the county administrator pointed out there wasn’t even draft legislative language to review yet, Fortney pushed back, accusing the county of dragging its feet and asking, “We don’t understand why this is complicated for you… unless you don’t want these jobs in Solano?”
Fortney has defended the company’s urgency, saying the team worked around the clock because the shipyard represented an economic opportunity that “could have been transformative for the county, and for California.”
But critics say the episode fits a troubling pattern for a company that has drawn skepticism from the start over its secretive land purchases and outsized ambitions. Former Solano County Supervisor Duane Kromm said the constant rush to secure approvals is unreasonable given the scale of what’s being proposed.
“For something of this size, it’s absurd to push in front of anybody and say, ‘We need your yes vote or your no vote right now,'” Kromm said. “You wouldn’t buy a used car with that kind of timeframe.”
The pressure campaign hasn’t let up. In recent weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office has begun circulating a new proposal that would fast-track environmental review for the shipyard project, signaling the debate over California Forever’s tactics is far from settled as the current legislative session winds down.
Elsewhere in California environmental news, the Trump administration’s push to loosen restrictions on logging and road-building in undeveloped stretches of national forest is drawing pushback from state leaders and conservation groups, who warn the move could actually increase wildfire risk rather than reduce it.
The Forest Service’s own data shows that wildfires are more likely to ignite in areas where people have vehicle access, according to reporting from CalMatters’ Rachel Becker. Josh Hicks, director of conservation campaigns for The Wilderness Society, argued that opening up backcountry areas to more roads and development will only mean more potential ignition sources, not fewer.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has defended the proposed rule changes, calling the current restrictions “outdated” and arguing they lock up “tens of millions of forested acres” that could otherwise be treated to improve forest health and cut wildfire danger. The public has until Sept. 21 to weigh in on the proposal.
In the Bay Area, community advocates are sounding the alarm over changes to CalEnviroScreen, the state’s tool for identifying pollution-burdened communities, warning the update could strip vital funding from vulnerable San Francisco neighborhoods.
The screening tool ranks California communities across nearly two dozen environmental, health and demographic measures, and the worst-off quarter of the state qualifies as “disadvantaged,” a designation that unlocks a share of the state’s cap-and-invest revenue. But after the tool’s latest update, neighborhoods including Chinatown, the Tenderloin, SoMa and the Mission no longer rank high enough to qualify, despite what advocates say are persistent environmental and health burdens.
Pratibha Tekkey, director of community organizing for the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said the rankings fail to capture the reality on the ground. “You can’t just be a scientist looking at data points,” she said. “You have to see who is living there in that community, what kind of health challenges they have, what kind of economic challenges they have.”
And in San Diego, county supervisors voted 3-2 this week to bar federal immigration agencies from using county firearms training facilities. Board Chairperson Terra Lawson-Remer said allowing the county’s ranges to be used in support of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts would be “a slap in the face of our residents.”
Original source: CalMatters
