Concord: What Has Yet to Be Answered about the CNWS Developer Selection Process

We have been reading the Contra Costa Times’ accounts of the mess surrounding the selection of a developer to build the $6 billion project at the old Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS). One council member is not able to vote on the developer selection due to his residence being within 500 feet of the CNWS property; another has recused himself after taking political contributions from contractors related to one of the developer candidates. That leaves only the mayor and two other councilmembers deciding the developer for the $6 billion deal.

One can’t help but think there is more to the CNWS story and that the Times and the City of Concord may have missed some key questions that should be explored further regarding Catellus’s role in this brouhaha.

First, a little history on Catellus and its modus operandi on some of the development projects it has competed for and won. In its “signature” project in Austin Texas, for example, Catellus and one other local company were finalists in the selection process to redevelop the 700-acre defunct Robert Mueller Municipal Airport. Catellus won the bid in 2004, but only after it surrounded its opponent in controversy, resulting in that company pulling out, leaving Catellus as the only viable company standing. The similar strategy was employed in the Bay Area’s East Bay Bridge project in Emeryville. This strategy of “crash and burn” should be investigated further.

Exhibit PP, http://www.concordreuseproject.org

Another pretty significant issue that came to light in the Jenkins investigative report and its exhibits has also been missing from the Times’ and other media accounts: Michael Wright, the former City of Concord Reuse Director, was pretty cozy with Ted Antenucci, the CEO and President of Catellus, as witnessed by the numerous emails and phone conversations Wright had with Antenucci and his staff during the selection process. These weren’t professional emails from a City staffer to one of the two developer company candidates. They were informal, biased, and provided reassurances and information to Antenucci that may or may not have been communicated to the other developer candidate. Why isn’t the Times or the City of Concord, for that matter, investigating Wright’s potential bias on this project? This cannot afford to be overlooked.

On the City of Concord’s staff recommendation, or lack thereof, the real question here has been completely buried.

It’s not whether there was an initial recommendation to choose Catellus and then the recommendation was pulled. It’s why was Catellus’s term sheet favored in the first place by Wright? I’m not an expert on financial deals, but the Catellus term sheet as published by the City of Concord seems significantly flawed in at least one respect – it assumes that Contra Costa County, BART and other special districts will give up 100% of their property tax revenue from the project (as much as $50 million).

Anyone knowledgeable on local government issues knows that there is no way any of these entities will give up their share; in fact they will likely fight for their share of the CNWS tax proceeds to fund their own programs.

The bigger question is why did Wright allow Catellus to retain that part of their financial calculation in their term sheet when he and the City knew that it was an unlikely, unrealistic and costly assumption? There are many questions surrounding Wright and Catellus that cannot be overlooked if Concord is to make a fair and unbiased decision on the $6 billion project.

And, finally, there is the question about Concord City Attorney Mark Coon’s tragic death when he jumped off the third story of a Downtown Walnut Creek parking structure. He was the attorney originally investigating the CNWS developer selection process gone awry. No one really knows why Coon jumped, but could it be he was being pressured by one or both developer candidates or their allies? Or did he uncover something altogether different that none of us to date know about the selection process? Better to uncover this information now than to find out later after the selection process has been completed.

With only three council leaders left voting on the project, the City of Concord should be asking and answering all of the questions necessary now to do their due diligence on such an important project to our region.