Dear Alameda voter,

We will be asked to vote on an initiative—the Alameda Point Revitalization Initiative—put on the ballot by land developer SunCal Corporation. The vote was originally scheduled to take place on November 3, 2009, but SunCal has decided to postpone the election until a yet-to-be-determined date in 2010. SunCal seeks to redevelop Alameda Point, and it is asking voters to approve a transfer of the land to SunCal and to change existing City of Alameda zoning rules to allow them to develop in the most profitable way.

We could find no assurance in the initiative that any of the promises SunCal makes (sports complex, parks and trails, etc.) must be kept. In fact, everything we'll be voting on, with the exception of the number of housing units and dollar amount spent on public benefits, can be changed the very next day by a simple request by the developer to the City Council—rendering our vote meaningless, except for the approved change in zoning and ownership. On the other hand, the city council and residents of Alameda can only make changes by holding a new election.

Furthermore, the Development Agreement explicitly states that the developer will have complete control over what, when, in what order, and even whether anything at all will be built. We are concerned because voters are asked to revoke important rights over a quarter of the island for a long period of time without a clue whether SunCal will keep their part of the deal.

The troubling questions the initiative raises for us are matched only by the escape clauses we've discovered in the accompanying agreement. We do our best to address both on this site. Please be informed before you vote.