Concord’s Path Forward: A Talk with Mayor Carlyn Obringer

Insightful Conversations: Understanding the Growth and Vision of Concord, California with Mayor Carlyn Obringer

Introduction

Welcome to the Capstone Conversation blog, where we provide insights into what's happening in the Greater East Bay. Recently, we had the pleasure of speaking with Mayor Carlyn Obringer of Concord, California, on our Capstone Conversation podcast. In this enlightening dialogue, Mayor Obringer shared her perspectives on Concord's current developments, challenges, and visionary future. Here’s an overview of our conversation.

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Meet Mayor Carlyn Obringer

Mayor Carlyn Obringer has been an active figure in Concord’s political landscape since joining the City Council in 2016. With a strong dedication to advancing Concord, she has served as Mayor twice, first in 2019 and again this term. Her commitment is evident as she works tirelessly to promote infrastructure improvements, community engagement, and economic revitalization.

For the full episode listen on Capstone Conversation on your favorite podcast app or Youtube or go to www.capstonegov.com

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The Evolution of Concord

Concord, California, is noteworthy not only for its size—being the largest city in Contra Costa County by population—but also for its historical richness and forward-looking projects. Celebrated milestones like the 37th anniversary of the city’s award-winning Music and Market program highlight its vibrant cultural fabric. Additionally, historical legacies such as the Concord Pavilion and its connection to jazz legend Dave Brubeck are vital parts of the city’s identity.

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Infrastructure and Community Development

One of Concord’s main focuses has been on infrastructure development. Mayor Obringer highlights the city's efforts in improving road conditions, thanks to a sales tax measure passed in 2020. According to the Mayor, well-maintained roads signal that the city cares for its residents and visitors alike, inviting both to enjoy what Concord has to offer. This focus on aesthetics and infrastructure also supports the city’s economic vitality by attracting businesses and enhancing the quality of life.

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Economic Vision and Regional Integration

A key element of Mayor Obringer’s vision is positioning Concord as an integral player within the broader region. Engaging with regional boards and committees, she aims to ensure that Concord does not operate in isolation. Through initiatives such as the Green Empowerment Zone and the Diablo Valley Tech Initiative, Concord is fostering relationships that promise to catalyze both economic and environmental advancements, adapting to transitions like the clean energy shift.

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The Naval Weapons Station: Future Plans

The redevelopment of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station is a centerpiece in Concord’s long-term strategic plan. After a history of complex negotiations with varying developers, the city is now collaborating with Brookfield, a partner known for fostering community trust. As plans mature, the vision includes housing, commercial spaces, and public institutions, all integrated with an infrastructure backbone set to break ground by 2029.

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Challenges and Opportunities

Despite advancements, Concord faces challenges similar to other Californian cities, such as finding sustainable energy solutions and attracting manufacturing jobs in the face of regulatory constraints. Nevertheless, Concord's strategic partnerships and investment in education, exemplified through prospective plans for higher education facilities, underscore its commitment to growth.

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Honoring History: Port Chicago Legacy

Beyond economic plans, Mayor Obringer emphasizes the importance of understanding Concord’s historical narratives, particularly the significance of the Port Chicago explosion, a pivotal event in civil rights history. The city's dedication to honoring this through the Thurgood Marshall Regional Park illustrates Concord's commitment to remembering its past while building its future.

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Conclusion

Our conversation with Mayor Carlyn Obringer underscores a city brimming with opportunity and guided by a leadership determined to balance growth, community engagement, and historical preservation. As Concord continues to evolve, we eagerly anticipate observing and chronicling its progress.

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Stay Connected

Remember to subscribe to our blog to keep updated with new insights and developments in the East Bay. Connect with us on LinkedIn, and explore our weekly newsletter and blog for thought leadership content.

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20 Hashtags

#ConcordCA #EastBay #Infrastructure #EconomicDevelopment #CarlynObringer #CityGrowth #CommunityEngagement #NavalWeaponsStation #PublicInfrastructure #GreenEmpowerment #JazzHistory #EastBayRegionalPark #HistoricalLegacy #PortChicago #EconomicVision #ManufacturingJobs #SustainableDevelopment #TechInnovation #QualityOfLife #CapstoneConversation #Jaredasch #CapstoneGovernmentAffairs

For a full transcript

Welcome to the Capstone conversation where you learn about what's happening in the Greater East Bay. I am your host, Jared Asch.

 Today I am joined by Mayor Obringer from the city of Concord, California.

We are excited to have her here.

This is the. Biggest city in Contra Costa County by population. And they've got a lot of big aspirations and big projects to really grow and become one of the biggest cities and main focus points here in the East Bay.

Mayor, tell us a little bit about yourself and your time here, and we'll continue there.

So thank you Jared, for inviting me to participate on Capstone conversations. My name is Carlyn Obringer. I've had the honor of serving on the Concord City Council since 2016, and in Concord we do not have a directly elected mayor.

We rotate around among council members. This is my. Second time serving as mayor of the City of Concord. I previously served in 2019 i'm very passionate about Concord and helping our city move forward in a positive direction.

So I'm delighted to talk with you about Concord today.

You also sit on a number of other regional boards and committees that are just active beyond your city. Tell us just everybody's familiar with the name of the city.

A lot of people drive through it or stop and shop in it. Give us a perspective and a little bit of history of the city.

Sure. So first of all, we do. Consider ourselves literally the center of everything, because if you look at a map, you do have to drive through Concord, and as the biggest city, one in eight jobs is physically located in Concord.

So we have pretty much everything that you need. So we do benefit from people coming to our community for a variety of services. We're also very proud. We are celebrating our 37th year of our award-winning music. And market program in our downtown, which is Tilda Santos Plaza.

Jared, the city was originally founded over 150 years ago. At the time when it was first founded, it was called. To those Santos were All Saints because it was founded by people that predominantly spoke Spanish. However, in a mystery meeting in the early 19 hundreds, some people got together and overnight the name changed to Concord.

So I will let you. Make your own determination as to what happened? No one knows for sure, but we've been known as Concord ever since. Not Concord, like our counterpart on the East coast, as in Lexington and Concord. And Concord has grown significantly. It's one of the oldest cities in the county, and so as a result.

We've been working really hard to improve some of our infrastructure. We have 310 center line miles of road. We're about 31 square miles. Hopefully whenever people come to our city to participate in, obtaining goods and services you will also notice that we are making major progress.

On improving our arterials. No longer is it so obvious whenever you are going from. Your city of Walnut Creek into the city of Concord, because we have been working very hard, thanks to a full sense sales tax measure that the voters approved in 2020 to fix some of our residential streets.

As I mentioned, we are a job center. We also, we have been historically a place for office buildings to be located in our downtown. So we are right now struggling like other cities are to try to figure out what to do with some of that vacant office space because many people are not going back into the office.

And that does have an impact on our downtown businesses, around todo, Santas Plaza that I mentioned earlier. A few other, items of note we're celebrating this year the 50th anniversary of the Concord Pavilion. The Concord Pavilion was originally established as a venue for a jazz festival.

And the jazz festival actually turned 50 back in 2019 when I was serving as mayor previously. And you might be thinking, why Concord and why jazz? And it's because jazz. Great. Dave Brubeck. Was born in Concord and he actually performed first here on a stage that we still have in the Concord Museum and Event Center.

When he was 14 before he moved on to Stockton and his worldwide fame. So the jazz festival was started at what is now known as Dave Brubeck Park and then located to the Concord Pavilion. And we now have all kinds of acts. Happening at the Concord Pavilion, including high school graduations, and that's actually a big R of passage for students within the Mount Diablo Unified School District.

Have you ever been to a concert at the Concord Pavilion, Jared?

I have not been,

okay, you'll have to change that at some point because all kinds of people come through there.

I do look at the calendar and there usually is one or two cool bands and it's close.

Someday.

Yeah I gotta get out and do that. And they don't have kids' performances with my little girls. Like I'm at the Fantasy Forum at the Lecher Center for the kids' plays Cinderella, snow White, that's our level right now of shows

will just wait till they become pre-teens.

In fact, at our music and market, just last night, we had a K-pop band. So we came all the way from South Korea and so that brought some younger people not as young as your children but some teens, 20 somethings from all over the state and actually from Florida to come see them.

I definitely have to, it is on a list. It's not even a bucket list. It's like what's ever above the bucket list of places I want to go. And I have personally noticed your roads. I drive through, treat regularly. Over by the Trader Joe's there and up to Clayton Road for some services. And it really has made a difference, right?

The roads are smoother. It blends in more with other things and it just creates a good vibe, which is good for the economy. So I want people to understand like. Maintaining your roads, maintaining that visual around your roads with landscape and everything else is really important. I'm working on a retail attraction strategy with one city, and they're near, it's for San Leandro and they're near Oakland.

And short of having a tagline that officially says, San, welcome to San Leandro, where Oakland Ends. We're really pushing for this nice beautification process to really distinguish that line and give this feel like it's safer, it's more lively, it's more vibrant, and all of that. So I have noticed that about your city and great work for getting that passed and getting the work done from your Public Works team.

Thank you. And one thing I will add is it's so important to people because when they see the roads being improved and cared for, it is a signal that a city cares about them. And it is also a signal to businesses that the city has its act together and it's open for business. So it makes a lot of sense what you're describing your strategy with San Leandro.

Talk about what is the vision for the city? It's definitely been, like you're talking about the roads the city has changed a lot over the most recent years with the Veranda being established. A lot of focus on expanding Toto. Santos talk about what are some of those changes that have happened recently, but also how does that tie into a bigger picture for the city?

Sure. So you mentioned at the top of the conversation, Jared, about my involvement with a number of regional bodies and the fact that Concord is the biggest city in the county by population. And one of my passions, one of the reasons I got involved with City Council in the first place is I really love, number one, helping people find government solutions to their challenges and understanding how systems work.

And there isn't always a government. Answer to a challenge, but there often is, and also economic development. And so with Concord being right in the middle of everything, with the largest population, one in eight jobs, as I mentioned earlier, there are some great opportunities. And so I try to. Serve on a variety of bodies.

So I get this higher level view so that Concord is not working in a silo. So for example I serve on the Green Empowerment Zone Board and the Green Empowerment Zone was created by then Assembly member Grayson. Now our state senator who basically saw. The challenge is, we have refineries in this county, and I'm sure Jared, that they contribute to a third of the taxes in this county and they create many family sustaining jobs.

So as we're taking a look, at Valero planning to close and that just the impact on the economy. Is huge. So the green empowerment zone is supposed to be looking at, okay, how do we transition to this clean energy future? What does that really look like, and how do we do that in a sustainable way that does not destroy jobs?

So I'm serving on that body to try to get a sense, and there's a partnership with the uc, Berkeley labor School, trying to do some studies. Thus far. What's happening is we're trying to identify opportunities in our cities where manufacturing, clean manufacturing companies have established themselves and trying to understand, okay why are they doing this here?

Why Contra Costa? So one example I will give just in the city of Concord, I'm very proud that we have a growing company in, in it, and they build accessory dwelling units made of steel. They're called roof and realm. And they have become quite popular, unfortunately, due to the fires in Northern California and now Southern California because people are looking to rebuild the first or second time, and they want a product that is built sustainably and is also not gonna necessarily melt, so easily like wood does.

So that company that is a manufacturing business that has located here. They're the largest importer of steel in the county, so God help them. 'cause they are impacted by the tariffs to some extent, but not as poorly as I was anticipating. And they're growing their number of employees as well so we're just trying to build up what are those examples and those cases so that we can figure out what does it take to attract.

These new manufacturing industries to Contra Costa County. Also I serve, I'm a founding member of the Diablo Valley Tech Initiative, which Jared, I know that you're a part of as well. And that initiative first started back in 2019. And while we don't, we are not home to Diablo Valley College, we are right next.

So Diablo Valley College is in Pleasant Hill, and the idea at the time was for DBC. They had received a grant to reach out to the cities that mostly feed into their community college. That includes, of course, pleasant Hill, Concord, Martinez and Walnut Creek. The business development and the idea that came from that conversation was, look, we have all this tech talent, people like living in the Diablo Valley, but people like living here. In terms of the jobs, oftentimes, and then, and going back to 2019, people had to commute to San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, or get up at three in the morning to work with somebody, in Bangalore, so the idea was how do we find each other here?

I'm not a tech person, but how do tech folks find each other? How do they network? How do they grow? And so six years later, they're still going strong. And so that's something, looking at, how does that work with the Green Empowerment Zone efforts, then you have the Northern Waterfront Initiative, which, you might be wondering why is Concord in that?

We don't have any waterfront property today. Maybe in a hundred years. We do have the Naval weapon station. No, I don't, I'm not talking about climate change. Although we could. But we have the former Concord Naval Weapon Station, which is always funny to people because it is inland.

And I encourage people to read about the Port Chicago explosion. 'cause then you'll understand why. But the Naval weapon station is inland right now. It is close to waterfront property and the army still owns the property that is along. Waterfront. And so what I meant when I made my little joke was that maybe someday whenever the Army is done along the waterfront, that might end up coming within conquered sphere of influence, but not today.

But because the Naval weapons station is so large and it's adjacent to the rest of the Northern waterfront a wonderful vision established by former county supervisor, federal Glover. We've taken a look at all of these industry clusters. What are we good at? In Contra Costa County identified that, and that's also, everything from manufacturing, construction, healthcare is another big one.

In fact, my day job is in healthcare also life sciences. And so trying to take a look at that, how does that tie in with these other two initiatives that I just mentioned? So Concord is trying to figure out how do we capture all of this? And be a big part of it right now as we're working on our economic development plan for the future for our city.

So for existing Concord, as well as whenever the naval weapons station is redeveloped, as there is a plan 120 acres set aside for some kind of public. Institution of higher learning, there is an innovation center. Maybe there's also the opportunity to enhance what's going on around GoMentum station and autonomous vehicle testing.

So I see Jared, that there's so many things that are happening and what I try to do, as a policymaker and as an elected official is make sure I see everything that's happening and then try to figure out how we can be a part of that and also set policy in such a way that we are open.

Welcoming for industry, for manufacturing, for business. So we're in the process of solidifying that vision right now, working on an economic development plan. We haven't done one really since 1997. So I'll have more of an update for you in terms of what that official vision is. Come the fall.

In 1997, you may have had an A OL email address or something with just numbers.

Maybe just a few of us had cell phones and they definitely didn't fit in your pocket. A lot has changed since that time. Let's talk about a couple of those issues. The Naval weapon station and the development there that has been underway for a long time.

Where does it currently stand? How is it progressing and what's different now than every other? Previous time people have talked about it.

Sure. So first of all, I always explain to people, take a look, look at Vallejo and Mare Island. Look at Alameda. Look at Fort Ord. Just look at the Oakland Army base.

These things take time. And so what has happened in Concord is not unusual. And in fact, because these are large pieces of land with very complex. Challenges in some cases. Oh and let's not forget Hunter's Point in San Francisco very complicated, right? And you're trying to take a former military property and convert it to civilian uses.

So sometimes you have one, two, even three master developers before you really get things going. And what I have learned here. I came onto the council in 2016, late 2016 after the previous council had chosen a master developer and the conditions of that selection were such that there was not community trust.

And I knew that whenever I was walking and knocking on doors in 2016 when I came into office, and sometimes, you try to make a relationship work and you know that it's not founded on a good. Footing. And that was what honestly, in part led to the dissolution of that relationship as well as the selection of the next master developer by some of my council colleagues.

So you're asking what is different now I'll be very clear. You really do with every master developer or any developer, I'm here to represent the ci the interests of the people of Concord, the city of Concord. And so it's my role to trust, but verify every step of the way.

But what I really appreciate about Brookfield is they have taken the time to hold. Over 90 community meetings and they've gone into people's backyards, Jared, and just sat down and really talked to people as well as when they present to the council.

My experience with the previous two master developers was I. Okay. Okay. Little council lady over there in, hillbilly Concord we know what's best for you and we're gonna fix your city. And that is not the interaction that I've had with the Brookfield team. It is engagement. It is push and pull.

I don't, I haven't gotten everything I wanted, but. They haven't either. And it's true dialogue, and that's what I'm looking for in a partner, right? You have to be able to work together to negotiate, to compromise. That is what is different right now where the community it may be in part 'cause they feel like they dodged a bullet, to be very honest, without naming names.

But the community, the labor community is very important to me and workers. As well as the environmental community too, right? So this group of folks feels like they have a relationship with the master developer as well, and can engage. And so I think that is one of the reasons that I feel very helpful about this relationship.

Now, where are we? Unlike some of the other BRAC decommissioning processes, we are not getting the land for free. There is a profit sharing agreement that is currently underway, so the Navy, once its return on investment it's a little bit backwards.

Usually, you figure out your land valuation and then what you're gonna build. There was an area plan put together 15 years ago by a community advisory committee that included subject matter experts, people who were conquered, residents, as well as residents from Bay Point and other areas.

And so that's where, when I mentioned earlier about this 120 acres set aside for a campus. An innovation district an East Bay regional park by the way. And 13,000 homes as well as a commercial district. So that was already put together. And so now based on that area plan, it is not a specific plan.

It is an area plan, a general vision. So now what is happening is the Navy is negotiating with. The master developer and the city is also involved to figure out what is the profit sharing agreement. And part of that conversation does include who's responsible for cleanup, for is because the Navy ultimately is responsible.

But if a master developer does some cleanup, then it will get done faster in most cases. And but the Navy is still on the hook someday if something gets found that was not anticipated. So these are some complex business issues that have to be negotiated. My latest information is that we should be able to come back.

And have a final conversation about this, hopefully sometime in August. And until that step gets done, which is very important, Jared, and we've actually never made it to this point yet. Until that happens, it doesn't make much sense for the developer to invest in the full fledged specific plan and all of that, so they're looking for business certainty.

So that's where we are. And throw into the mix some of the challenges with, shall I say, changes in the presidential administration. So that created a few hiccups as well, and with people, quite honestly, who have been very familiar with the project, deciding to take the fork in the road option and pulling themselves out.

So you're losing institutional knowledge as part of this, so that's what's going on.

When would you, based on the current timetable, see the first shovel hit the ground?

A shovel to put in backbone infrastructure, not to put in houses because there's not there's stuff out there, but it's not what is needed to sustain a community.

So it does unfortunately, keep getting pushed back. And so what I have been told is most likely 2029. The shovel hits

the ground. So then the first housing would be three years after that.

The Navy didn't stop as we've been going through our community process. The Navy didn't stop doing cleanup, and so they have completed cleanup for 60. Six 0% of the property and they cleaned it up again, the area plan indicated general uses in different parts of the property.

And so that's how they've known to clean up. Okay, over here is gonna be residential, over here is gonna be an industrial commercial, et cetera. But again, you know that 40% is the most challenging. Area to clean up, but they've been working on things. There was something called the Restoration Advisory Board that's been in existence for over 20 years I'll attend those meetings.

They usually have been quarterly and they'll talk about the ways they're trying to clean things up different areas that they've completed. They have the map and they'll show you. So there is progress that's going on. It's not just sitting out there with nothing happening.

And I've been fortunate that I got to go out into the middle of it with Tim Hale from CCTA and 'cause they have the Mentum station, as you mentioned out there, the largest autonomous vehicle testing track in the country.

Right here in Concord. I think it's. Unique because when you get up to the top of the hill within there, you can really look all the way around. And what you will find was like, wow, here is all this. Open land in the middle of a very populated bay area that has been hidden away for decades.

And all the growth has happened around it. Because most people don't have access to this because it is still an active naval base and there's security issues and all of that. You don't actually get to experience how vast. This is, and what we're talking about here.

So it's a hidden gem?

It's a hidden gem. A great opportunity , a whole new city in a sense, within another city, within another region.

Something we don't see anywhere else in the Bay Area. I know you've talked about Mare Island and Alameda, but those are often corners. This is literally in the middle of everything. How does, that growth fit into the growth of the Northern Waterfront.

You talked a lot about industrial manufacturing and stuff as part of the green empowerment zone, but a lot of manufacturers are worried of coming here to California because of the Air Quality Management Board. And its strict uses and it's scaring out Valero and other people recently.

What's an attractive quality to the northern waterfront?

First of all another thing that I do appreciate about Brookfield is, they are thinking holistically, and they're not just focused on, okay, we're gonna build houses at the naval weapon station, right?

I recently had the chance to participate with the mayors of Pittsburgh, Antioch, and Martinez for the the Industrial Association of Contra Costa County has an annual luncheon and they invite the mayors of those cities to come and speak about what's going on. And so I was really impressed to see, the city of Pittsburgh.

Berg is really trying to figure out what to do with their former golf course, trying to attract some data centers and potentially, that could be a site if Mentum station for some reason needs to be expanded or relocated it would be just right next door.

And when I was talking with Josh from Brookfield he had the conversation about this isn't exactly manufacturing, but what about establishing data centers? Somewhere within Concord or in Pittsburgh where they also are having a conversation about it. Access to power is very important for whether it's data centers, manufacturing, et cetera. But then he explained to me, Josh explained to me that, apparently proximity matters. And apparently if your office is physically closer to a data center, then you have that much more speed. And that matters to tech companies that in matters to companies like Nvidia, et cetera, et cetera.

So the idea is do we try to attract maybe the. More low hanging fruit of the data center with the goal of also attracting some of the higher paying jobs that come along with it. When it comes to manufacturing specifically, another body I serve on is the airport Land Use Commission because I feel that the airport is an incredible asset.

It is not within the city limits of the city of Concord, but it is literally. My city council district, some of my constituents live right behind the airport. It's county property, so it's got a conquered address, but it's county. And we had a fascinating presentation a few months ago about electric airplanes and some of the partnerships that they are having, like with United, one of the companies is called Joby and.

The idea of they're still doing all the testing here in California, right? So down in Marina, California, not the marina in San Francisco, but Marina California near Fort Ord on the way to Monterey, they're doing testing. But then the manufacturing is going to Ohio and this is an idea. I know that some that our now state senator has some legislation that he is trying to put through that would provide some tax credits for doing manufacturing in California.

So I think it's building on again, some of the intellectual capital and then trying to figure out is there a way to provide. Again, I don't know what it looks like exactly but some kind of tax break so that we're not continuing to be the place where things are developed, but they're not actually manufactured.

More to come on that, but just sharing with you, I'm trying to take a look. And the other thing I will say too, with the manufacturing we have been successful thus far with our accessory dwelling unit manufacturer, although. They have told us, sometimes they're being pulled in the direction of looking at the Central Valley because it's cheaper.

But there's that thing called quality of life that we were talking about earlier, which, maybe it doesn't pencil out or you're not gonna see it in dollars. But again the weather, the quality of life is a heck of a lot better. In the Bay Area, it's quite unique compared to other parts of the state and other parts of the country.

Trying to figure out, how to quantify that too as we're working to attract manufacturers and capital to the Northern Waterfront and the naval weapons station.

Lots of takeaways from that. I would say with the quality of life, there was a reason that California became so populated after World War ii, during the eighties and nineties,

people love that weather. They love the balance, whether it's coastal or in the Bay Area like we are. There's a vibe, there's an energy here, a work-life balance. The fact that we have nature out our doors, and you could be outside year round. People love that. And it's attractive here. What we need to do is we need to build more housing.

We need to create those jobs that you're talking about in manufacturing. And I wanna pick up on one thing related to the data centers and the power needs. You talked about, I was just at a forum in Solano County and they were saying their biggest impediment to growth is power. And they have a lot of requests, a lot of people wanna put data centers in Solano County 'cause of where it is, and they're like trying to fight against it in some ways because they don't have power for anything else.

And so that they're concerned about the data centers for that. So I think a takeaway there is just how important power is to the needs of manufacturing. We're talking about. 13,000 new homes, that's 25 to 35,000 new residents, right? You gotta power that. All of those businesses have to be powered and it's gotta be done affordably.

So I don't know what Brookfield's thoughts are on the power, if they're doing a data center for the residents or what you can share about power on manufacturing,

sure. So I don't wanna speak for Brookfield, but I do know that this is also a concern of theirs that they have shared publicly.

Back in March I actually had the opportunity to convene a conversation at City Hall with the Canadian Consult General. He came from San Francisco as well as representatives for the provinces of Ontario as well. And they were there. And we were talking about, hey, are there synergies, is there an opportunity to have some kind of supply chain relationship established?

Because remember. Brookfield is actually they're, they are a Canadian company and their current prime minister actually served on the board of the of the company. So it's an interesting connection. But as a side note, they are a a partner with nearly 160 million that they purchase in services and another 160 million in goods.

From Contra Costa County. So you wouldn't think that, but we actually do as a county, have a relationship with Canada. Also in that meeting we're representatives from British Columbia as well. And so we had conversations about, okay, what do they do well? How could we maybe partner and.

One of the topics that came up was in Ontario, they actually are starting to build a small nuclear modular facility. They have a different view of nuclear power than, maybe the United States does. And so they are. Starting to build that. And that's something that could be looked at because power is gonna need to be generated and relying just on pg e we're gonna be waiting a thousand years for the Naval weapon station to come online.

So I think, I'm not trying to scare anyone and saying that we are going nuclear,. But I think that kind of like outside the box. Thinking and taking a look and trying to figure out what are the other options. And I know that there is a conversation about do they develop their own power district just for the naval weapon station too.

But again, the power has to come from somewhere in the first place and that is the challenge.

You also talked about land set aside and part of the master plan being for maybe higher education in the Naval Weapon station. Your city is unique though. You have a part of the CSU system here in East Bay, maybe underutilized, but it is in your city. Talk about what the relationship is with the current campus for Cal State University, east Bay that's in Concord, and what you envision that's different with this new spot of land.

You know that. That parcel is underutilized. Actually I think Cal State is looking for other uses. In addition, they do have a nursing program that they operate. And I toured the facility within the past year, a very innovative nursing program. But I think the challenge is trying to have resources to invest beyond the Hayward campus, which is the main campus.

And as all of both the CSU and the uc system, they're very challenged financially and who knows what's gonna happen now with this potential limit on students from outside of the United States, et cetera. So there have been conversations for 15 years about, Hey, could we expand the CSU Concord campus?

And in fact that was, I think, the original vision because one of the former chancellors of that site. Was the person who had said, Hey. Concord Contra Costa, the only county with over a million people in California, and there's 58 counties. Remember, that does not have a full fledged uc or CSU. So that was the genesis of establishing this campus district and the minimum size I.

Is 120 acres. So that's how that 120 acres was designated. And the challenge, I think too with the Concord Cal State campus is its location. It's not far from you Jared, it is hard to get to from public transit. There is often a lot of traffic to get there. So it has been difficult over the years to get professors who are not from Contra Costa to wanna go out there and teach.

So as a result, I don't envision that campus growing in the same way, nor do I envision. Cal State East Bay relocating to the Concord Naval Weapons Station. Now, when I was mayor previously in 2019, we did pull together a committee. We had a blue ribbon committee, and we took a look at what some of the options could be for a campus.

We looked at what some of the models are across the country and the model. At that time, it was a little bit prescient 'cause we're still going in that direction. But the idea was that, maybe CSU doesn't want to have, a brand new full service campus, but maybe they would want to establish, their school of nursing or education at the Concord site.

And then maybe, as Kaiser had opened, its own kind of medical school, so maybe you could get a healthcare partner in to do that. And so you'd have a variety. Of universities, colleges with a particular focus offering classes on this site using common areas like the cafeteria and the student union and that kind of thing, so that nobody's having to pay for a full service campus.

Another idea had been, hey. How do we attract, maybe there's somebody on the East coast who wants to establish a West Coast site. I actually went down with the former Contra Costa Transportation Authority Director Randy Iwaki, down to visit. The Northeastern folks who were down in Silicon Valley, they had a few programs they were offering in Silicon Valley and San Francisco at the time, and we tried to see, hey, could we establish some kind of program around autonomous vehicle testing and mechanics here in Concord and maybe at the Naval weapon station.

So Jared, that did not come to fruition, but what did. Northeastern purchased Mills College and established their presence here in the Bay Area. That didn't happen, but the governor established, humboldt Cal State Humboldt up there now is the Cal Poly of the North. So I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't think that we have been wrong. We just haven't found the right partner yet. And when I had those conversations with, the folks from the province of Ontario, they actually told me they've got over 40 colleges and universities in that province.

And so what I've done is sent over the Blue Ribbon Committee report to them and I said, Hey, these are industry clusters, which we had also taken from the Northern Waterfront work that we talked about earlier. And I said, Hey, can you identify, is there a particular campus. That or college or university that's interested in establishing themselves and they're in one of these fields.

Next steps I'm gonna be meeting with the Ontario counterpart to see if we can narrow that down a little bit. So I think we have to cast the net wide, but I don't think it's a good idea.

I think that's important to share with the listeners that there is a strategy you also touched on the Port Chicago area that's controlled by the Army.

There's a lot of history there, and this year I think is fairly important and a lot's happened and you've been one of the champions of recognizing that. What do you wanna share with the audience? What is the history there? What happened and where are we at today with that?

I do wanna encourage folks.

The way that I really learned about this really important history that quite honestly was the catalyst in my mind for the start of the desegregation of our country, right? I want to encourage people to Google. Port ex Chicago explosion and read for themselves. And also there's the opportunity each year to go out to the site.

It's currently managed and utilized by the US Army, but every year on the anniversary, so the Port Chicago explosion itself. Took place on July 17th 19 44. And so every year there is a commemoration on whatever the closest Saturday is. This year it happens to be July 19th.

And so what happens is you sign up and, I guess this might be aired after the fact. But what happens is you can go out and you can there's actually an interpreter from the National Park Service who will go through the whole history about how people, sailors, they lost their lives because there was a competition to load munitions.

And the munitions were loaded. Unsafely and white sailors were racing black sailors to load munitions onto a ship. And it was unsafe and the ship exploded and people died. And many and as a result the white sailors received leave to, deal with what we now know as PTSD. The black sailors were told get on a boat and had to Vallejo and go do the exact same thing, go to Merrit Island and do the same thing you just did.

And we haven't changed any of our protocols. We haven't changed anything. And so there were 50 black sailors who basically said, no, we're not going to do that. We just watched our friends and comrades, over 300 of them get blown up before our eyes. And then they also had to clean that up, by the way.

The Port Chicago 50, they were accused of treason. Thurgood Marshall actually tried to represent them. But he was not he was not able to do but he tried to make some legal arguments for them.

They were tried very quickly. Many of them were put in jail but eventually were released. And soon after the Navy was desegregated then the Army. And then we had the start of the Civil Rights Movement and the Naval weapons station was opened to have a safer storage area.

Thank God. World War II ended not that long after, but that Port Chicago explosion was heard as far away as Nevada and San Francisco, and it was the largest explosion in on US soil. During World War ii. So the point is this history is very important to the community.

It's one of the reasons that the East Bay Regional Park that we have established as part of the Naval Weapons station property. It's named Thurgood Marshall Regional Park, home of the Port Chicago 50. And if people want to get. Much more in depth information. What I can offer is to go to eb parks.org, and click on the Thurgood Marshall Regional Park.

There will be a lot of information about the explosion. Thurgood Marshall. The connection to the park. And every once in a while on Juneteenth, for example, and I did a special walk and talk back in April, the public can actually go out on the property the park is not yet developed. But there are special opportunities to go out with an interpreter and learn more about the history.

So it's very important to the community and quite honestly to the country. And it's. Something that the city of Concord and I believe also Walnut Creek and all the school districts passed a resolution in support of the exoneration of the Port Chicago 50. And last year on the 80th anniversary of the explosion the Port Chicago 50 were finally exonerated.

So that was a very special ceremony. Actually I should say, every city in Contra Costa, not just Concord and Walnut Creek, passed a resolution in support of exoneration. The Contra Costa Mayor's conference did as well. Thurgood Marshall's son was there as well as the granddaughter of Eleanor Roosevelt because they had also been working on this.

So it was pretty. Pretty remarkable. There were many people who worked on this. I do wanna give a special shout out to the Contra Costa Bar Association. They had a legal task force that worked tirelessly on this as well as a woman named Yuli Padmore, who works for the park district.

These Bay Regional Park District has led the East Bay. Regional Park District Black Employee Collective, and they were the group that really pushed for the naming of the park. And it was very appropriate. And every year now, Yui Padmore is putting on something called the Port Chicago weekend, where there are different events throughout the Bay Area for people to learn more, including that ceremony I told you about on the Saturday after the.

I think to ground yourself in more of the story right here in Contra Costa County, I think I'd go to eb parks.org. Hopefully that helps.

That's great. And we are out of time today, but thank you, mayor Carlin Ober from the city of Concord California. We appreciate you being here and sharing more about your city

thank you. I had a great time. I appreciate your interest in your time, Jared.

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