It appears that somehow $36 million found its way into the California Budget Act of 2022 for “(47) $36,000,000 for the East Bay Recreation and (sic) Park District for the Point Molate open space acquisition and clean up.” The only other money allocated to Richmond was $2 million for a community center, showing what our elected representatives’ priorities are for Richmond.

This is probably the big news that Supervisor John Gioia intends to share at his meeting tonight (See Point Molate - Saved or Sold? -- The Faces of Hypocrisy, July 17, 2022)

The anti-development Point Molate group apparently believes they can cobble together enough money to buy the developable areas of Point Molate from the prospective owner, Point Molate Futures LLC, a Delaware limited liability company managed by the Guidiville Rancheria of California, a federally recognized Indian Tribe.

It is ironic that millions of dollars of public funds have now been appropriated to buy land that was once given to the City of Richmond for a dollar.

What would it take to buy out the interest of Guidiville and Upstream? To break even, they would have to sell for $80 to $100 million, because the City of Richmond would get half. It would not surprise me if the RPA City Council members were willing to waive the City’s half just to achieve their dream.

Then, it will cost tens of millions to develop the shoreline park and the other amenities needed to make Point Molate a usable regional park. Where does that money come from? Where does the money come from to manage and maintain a regional park at Point Molate?

The other issue no one is addressing is what happens to the hundreds of thousands of square feet of endangered historic buildings that make up the Winehaven Historic District. These continue to decay and deteriorate and will cost at least $100 million to rehabilitate, including construction of infrastructure.

The elephant in the room remains SunCal, which has sued the City of Richmond for millions of dollars for breach of contract. Who pays for that?

And the City of Richmond continues to pay millions of dollars for litigation, maintenance and security for Point Molate. Who pays for that?

Do Gioia, the RPA and the Point Molate Alliance have a plan for any of this? Tune in and ask them.