Excerpt:

On Alameda’s economic future, Russo sees one sure way to bolster Alameda’s largely residential tax base is the development of Alameda Point. “The reason the Naval Air Station is so important — and why I believe passionately that we need to move this thing after 15 years of just frittering around the edges — it was the economic driving force for the Island,” he says.

Russo says what’s needed isn’t just retail businesses, but research and development such as marketing, Internet-type development and game development. “And once we have a critical mass of those type of activities, then you follow it with the housing to preserve the jobs.”