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By Tim Hunt
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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...
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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in addition to writing editorials for more than 15 years. I have served as a director of many non-profits in the Valley and the broader Bay Area and currently serve as chair of Teen Esteem and on the advisory board of Shepherd?s Gate. I also served as founding chair of Heart for Africa and have travelled to Africa seven times to serve on mission trips. My wife, Betty Gail, has taught at Amador Valley High (from where we both graduated) since 1981. She and I both graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, as did both of my parents and my three siblings. Given that Cal tradition, our daughter went south to the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in international relations. Since graduation, she has taken three mission trips and will be serving in the Philippines for nine months starting in September.
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Huge Concord project blows up over union labor agreement
Uploaded: Apr 23, 2020
With COVID-19 dominating the news cycle, it was easy to miss a very significant story out of Concord last month.
The Concord City Council, in a 3-2 vote, ended negotiations with the Lennar Corp. over the developers’ plans to develop the former Concord Naval Weapons Station site on the northside of the city. Lennar had put together a plan for up to 13,000 homes and six million square feet of commercial space in what was estimated to be a $5 billion project.
The sticking point was a project labor agreement with the Contra Costa Building Trades Council that would determine how many union members are used on the job. The council and Lennar negotiated for two years, but were deadlocked.
Lennar leaders told the council that they could not afford an all-union worksite. The split council vote let the exclusive negotiating agreement with Lennar lapse March 31. Earlier San Francisco Business Times articles said that Lennar already had invested three years and $15 million in planning for the 2,327-acre site. Plans included the homes, commercial space and 2.3 million square feet for a college campus.
It’s now back to square one for the city, which has been working on uses for the land since the Navy declared it surplus in 2005 and the city was named the reuse authority in 2006. That’s a stiff price to pay to ensure union jobs, but sadly not surprising in Northern California given our Democrat-dominated politics.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors took a wise step last month when it authorized advance payments to community-based organizations to help them deal with the financial impact of COVID-19.
Many have had to limit or shutter their basic services because of the shelter-in-place order and cash flow from operations has dried up. It’s critical to keep their functioning because some, such as Axis Community Health, provide lifeline health services.
We need your support now more than ever. Can we count on you?
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