Dear Alameda voter,

The City of Alameda has set a special election on February 2, 2010 to decide MEASURE B, land developer SunCal Corporation’s Alameda Point Revitalization Initiative.

SunCal seeks to redevelop Alameda Point and is asking voters to approve a transfer of the land to it, and to change the city’s existing zoning rules to allow SunCal to develop the Point in the most profitable way. SunCal plans to build approximately 4,800 homes and commercial/retail space, and promises a number of other public improvements and benefits.

We are concerned because voters are being asked to give SunCal exclusive development rights over a quarter of the island for a long period of time without knowing whether SunCal will keep its part of the deal. The Development Agreement included in the initiative explicitly states that SunCal will have complete control over what, when, in what order, and even whether anything at all will be built at the Point. Furthermore, there’s doubt, even among city staff, that SunCal has pledged enough money to deliver on the long list of enticements it has promised to the public—a sports complex, parks, a ferry terminal, a library, and so forth.

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