The Pension and OPEB Task Force report released Tuesday identifies a host of potential solutions to the problem of the City’s unfunded liabilities for pension and retiree medical benefits for public employees. Most of these proposals are worth further study. One is not.

Remarkably, three members of the task force – which included the police and fire chiefs and the heads of their respective unions as well as four City staff members and six community members – recommended that the City pay off its unfunded pension and retiree health benefit liabilities by selling Alameda Point. Indeed, this was the top-ranked “solution” to the OPEB problem by two task force members.

As the task force report demonstrates, reducing unfunded liabilities may require changes to the current levels of pension and retiree health benefits for public employees. Some may find this objectionable. But selling the Point to be able to maintain the status quo is a profoundly bad idea for a number of reasons.

First, selling Alameda Point would deprive the City of a long-term, ongoing source of revenue for the General Fund. At present, the lease revenues generated at Alameda Point only cover costs. But once the City takes title to the property and is able to offer long-term leases, cash flow should improve dramatically, especially if the City takes the aggressive approach to marketing the historic area I (and others) recommend. And commercial leases are just one of the potential sources of revenue from the Point.

Second, if Alameda Point is put on the market, who’s going to buy the property, and for how much? As recently as May, Council was told that “the amount of development projected in the Reuse Plan is not feasible under current market conditions (i.e., project revenues do not exceed costs).” According to the City’s economic consultant, estimated infrastructure costs for building out the Point as envisioned in the Reuse Plan would be $592,373,000. Unless a developer could expect to cover these costs and make a profit –which the consultants found unlikely – the price a rational private developer would pay for the Point is: Nothing.

Finally, there is simple equity. If properly redeveloped, Alameda Point will provide benefits for generations of Alamedans to come. Not just buildings and houses but open space and parks. Selling the Point will mean forfeiting these benefits – forever. And to what end? To limit the extent to which public employees must share in the sacrifices necessary to get the City’s financial house in order? If this alternative is adopted, seldom will so many have given so much for so few.

Let’s put aside parochial interests and focus on solutions that are best for all Alameda.