[Cows grazing near wind turbines in rural Solano County where Flannery Associates has been purchasing large parcels of land]
[Country road with wind turbines in the background]
[Cows grazing near wind turbines]
[Rio Vista sign next to Sacramento River and bridge]
[Ron Kott showing map of Rio Vista pointing out where Flannery has purchased land]
Ron Kott (interview): “It started probably about 2018 and began hearing about this outfit that was paying way above market for agricultural land, making purchases here and there. And nobody seemed could find out who they were and what they were up to, why were they making these purchases?”
[Rio Vista and surrounding farmland]
[Farmland outside Rio Vista]
[Rio Vista bridge over Sacramento River]
Ron Kott (interview): “So this proposal will solve some of those problems. We probably will get better medical access. We probably will get better stores, we’ll get better restaurants, but we’re going to get a lot more traffic. We’re going to get a lot more congestion.”
[Rio Vista]
[Rio Vista Bridge and Sacramento River]
Ron Kott (interview): “If it’s done correctly, I think there’s a lot of opportunities for the county. Their tax revenue base will increase quite a bit. So there’s going to be a big windfall from that. Property values would probably go up around here as well even further. And so I think from those perspectives it’s good. But again, I think you’re giving up a quality of lifestyle that you’re that’s kind of unique to this area. You don’t really have this a whole lot of other places.”
[Traffic next to Flannery Road sign]
[Intersection of Flannery Road and Highway 113]
[Suisun City City Hall]
Princess Washington (interview): “It’s a huge land grab surrounding our Air Force base. And it was a bit scary because no one knew who it was. And so finding out who it was, you know, although it’s good to know who the man behind the curtain is, it doesn’t change the stance of our need to protect our Air Force base and to preserve our ag land.”
[Sign outside Travis Air Force Base]
[Traffic waiting to enter Air Force Base]
Princess Washington (interview): “The better thing would be to approach our city leaders and work with us within our city boundaries, not to create a new city. I think that endeavor is a bit self-motivated with their own end goal, which is to create a new playground for who they want there versus what the needs of our residences are and our community members.”
[House surrounded by ranch land and wind turbines]
Princess Washington (interview): “I think it’s very important that we do protect Travis Air Force Base at all costs and to keep our ag land open and clear for our farmers to thrive in and the ability for them to invest in our community and a lot of our food that we grow here serves the rest of the country. So Solano County may be unknown to most, but a lot have benefitted from us being here.”
[Cows grazing near wind turbines]
[Rural land with ranches and wind turbines]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.