CEO of group seeking to build new city in Solano County speaks out
SOLANO COUNTY - The CEO of the company seeking to create a new city in Solano County is speaking to CBS13. After years of secret land near Travis Air Force Base, he is now laying out his vision publicly.
Jan Sramek is defending his vision and company against criticism that their plan is crazy.
Steve: So what is your vision then? Are you looking at a 100,000 population-sized city? Do you have something in mind as far as how many people you would want to see what you're proposing? Sramek: We don't yet. I mean, one of the benefits of buying all the property is that we have a lot of flexibility.
Sramek is the CEO of the investment group that is now going public with the name California Forever and releasing renderings showing their ideas for a new city in eastern Solano County, touting its walkable neighborhoods and good jobs. He's also defending the ideas against skeptics.
"We have no interest in building some kind of crazy utopia. This is not going to be the vision of some star architect...," said Sramek. "It's not going to be an experiment."
Skepticism and concern have grown in Solano County for the past 5 years as Sramek's group purchased 50,000 acres of land around Travis Air Force Base for this until-now secret project under the name Flannery and Associates.
"Flannery and Associates are using secrecy, bullying, and mobster tactics to force generation farm families to sell," said Rep. John Garamendi.
Sramek says he has spoken with Congressman John Garamendi since that testimony, and concerns over Travis Air Force Base security will also be addressed.
"We believe that Travis is critical to national security and to the local economy, and we will absolutely protect it, and there are numerous commitments that we will make over the coming months," said Sramek.
An investment group's bold plans to build an 8th city in Solano County would take decades to complete. Now, the effort is formally underway.
"It's a big project, it's an important location, and we should absolutely be scrutinized, and we have some of the answers, and the rest of the answers we will work out," said Sramek.
Sramek says that in the coming weeks, his company will be opening an office in Fairfield, and he is requesting Solano County residents to join an advisory committee to help create the proposed new city.
[Editor's Note: In a previous version of this story, the statement that starts: "We believe that Travis is critical to national security..." was incorrectly attributed to Rep. Garamendi. The quote has since been correctly attributed to Sramek.]