Navy, city posture on potential land deal
CONCORD: Military hints it might ditch plan to sell off land if council is opposed to the idea

By Tanya Rose and Ryan Huff
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Local leaders and federal lawmakers were delighted and yet cautious as they reacted to news that the Navy would nix plans to sell the Concord Naval Weapons Station to a private company if the Concord City Council doesn't bless the deal.

"We're taking a cautious approach," said Vice Mayor Bill Shinn. "We certainly are not going to take the pressure off. The Navy can talk a good game, but I want to see some solid action. I don't think they have been forthcoming."

And contrary to what he said Friday, the Navy's Deputy Assistant Secretary Wayne Arny will not attend tonight's council meeting at the city's request.

Arny had planned to fly from Washington to address Concord leaders -- first to try to clarify the proposal, where the Navy would trade 5,170 of the shuttered base's inland acres to the Louisiana-based Shaw Group in exchange for about $1 billion in military construction projects elsewhere.

If Concord officials still oppose the proposal, which would yank the front-end planning away from the city, Arny said the Navy would consider shelving the deal. The Navy floated this plan Nov. 13 to city leaders, who were caught off guard and immediately denounced the proposal.

Now, locals will have to wait until mid-January to meet with Arny.

"We prefer he not be here until he has answers to our questions," said Mike Wright, Concord's reuse project director. "We realized that him coming out at this point might create more confusion and questions."

Arny said Monday that he's happy to participate in public forums at the city's invitation any time. So far, he has met with Mayor Mark Peterson and Peterson's predecessor, Susan Bonilla, but has not had a chance to pitch his plan to the public and other council members.

"All we've been asking for is to sit down and discuss the possibilities," Arny said Monday. "We will lay out the plusses and minuses and work with staff and city."

The Navy was supposed to make its decision on the Shaw deal by Dec. 21, but Arny said if the city wants an extension, the military would consider it.

Shaw spokesman Chris Sammons declined comment, citing a company policy not to discuss proposed projects.

Concord leaders and federal lawmakers said things don't seem as hopeless as they did just weeks ago, when they first learned of the deal.

"The (Nov. 7) election is the obvious reason for this change in tone," said Save Mt. Diablo spokesman Seth Adams of two East Bay legislators who moved into more prominent roles in Congress.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo, sits on the Armed Services Committee and has been tapped to lead a subcommittee. And Rep. George Miller of Martinez, also a Democrat, was named chairman of another major committee.

"These lawmakers now have more control than before over Navy decision making," Adams said. "I'm sure the Navy is feeling that pressure in a way that maybe they weren't before."

Tauscher said she was pleased to see movement on the part of the Navy.

"It's important to listen when people are saying, 'Hey, this doesn't look right to me,'" she said, referring to community outcry.

Tauscher said a meeting between Miller and Arny last week may have helped change the minds of Navy officials.

Contra Costa County residents and city leaders should decide the future of the property, but only after giving the Shaw proposal a fair review, Miller said.

"The Navy is going to leave at some point, we are still going to live here," he said. "The city has to be the final arbiter of what this is going to look like."

Miller said he has no opinion about the Shaw proposal because he doesn't know enough about the deal.

"The first meeting between the Navy and the city (about the Shaw proposal) did not go well," he said. "Everybody is bruised a little bit, but let's get back to the business at hand."

Concord Councilwoman Helen Allen also said she wants to reserve judgment until she has heard all sides -- a stance that is at odds with a majority of her colleagues, who immediately came out against the proposal.

"I'm interested in hearing both sides," Allen said. "How can I do this, make this decision, without understanding totally, and I mean completely, where everyone's coming from?"

Kathy Gleason, a co-founder of a 600-family alliance against large-scale development, said she was pleased to hear the Navy would allow public input to sway its decision. And she said there's nothing Arny could tell the public to deter her belief that a community-led planning process is better than Shaw's proposal.

"I believe there is no longer any trust with the Navy," she said. "This will be a nice Christmas present for us if it indeed goes our way."

Reach reporter Tanya Rose at 925-943-8345 or trose@cctimes.com.