Exclusive | Inside Gavin Newsom’s desperate bid to save billionaire pals’ dream city

Gov. Gavin Newsom has been quietly whipping support for California’s billionaire-backed megacity as it faces the loss of a key tenant, The Post has learned.

While staying publicly mum on the controversial megaproject, Newsom privately met with California Forever’s CEO this spring before launching a behind the scenes push to win support for the project during his final months in office — with his staff even telling lawmakers the project may be a matter of national security.

Newly obtained records show Newsom met privately with California Forever officials, including CEO Jan Sramek, for 35 minutes on April 1. The Post has also learned that Newsom’s chief of staff Nathan Barankin, who briefed the governor on the project ahead of April’s meeting, has summoned Solano County officials for a meeting Thursday to discuss the project.

The governor’s office declined to comment on the meetings and California Forever’s proposal, but Newsom’s administration declared in a bullish memo last week that the proposed Solano Shipyard and Solano Foundry projects has the best potential of any project in the state to lure billions of dollars in investment, adding that it is not only a local and state issue but could become a matter of “national security.”

The memo seems to be clearly directed at state legislators, who are being pushed to pass special legislation when they return to session next week after the July recess.

California Forever’s proposal also includes the nation’s first walkable city with 170,000 new homes over 40 years.

Altogether, the moves signal an escalating push by Newsom’s office to coordinate local and state support for California Forever after Saronic — a defense startup with plans to build a massive shipyard — chose Texas over Solano County’s bid.

The previously undisclosed meetings offer the clearest glimpse yet into Newsom’s personal involvement in a project that has evolved from a controversial proposal to build a city of 400,000 residents into an ambitious plan centered on shipbuilding, advanced manufacturing and workforce housing.

For Newsom, the California Forever project and its timing are significant.

Newsom has frequently talked about chasing “big, hairy, audacious” goals throughout his political career, from legalizing same-sex marriage to proposing to put turbines in the water under the Golden Gate Bridge while San Francisco’s mayor. He now appears to be searching for a defining accomplishment to cap nearly eight years in office amid expectations he’ll run for president in 2028.

Landing one of the nation’s largest advanced manufacturing hubs while pairing it with desperately needed housing would hand Newsom a legacy project with national appeal.

With fewer than six months remaining in office, the governor is still well short of his lofty goal of building 3.5 million new homes by 2025, a number that was later revised to 2.5 million homes by 2030. The proposal in Solano County has the potential to add tens of thousands of new housing units to support a burgeoning workforce.

California Forever is financed by a who’s who of Silicon Valley billionaires, from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Laurene Powell Jobs to famed investor Michael Moritz and Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison — all prolific Democratic donors who have spent millions backing candidates and political committees in recent election cycles.

Ushering through one of their signature projects could strengthen Newsom’s standing with some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful political benefactors as attention shifts toward 2028.

California Forever has also hired heavyweight Sacramento lobbying firm Axiom Advisors, founded by Jason Kinney — Newsom’s longtime political ally who became synonymous with the governor’s infamous French Laundry dinner. Lobbying disclosures show California Forever has paid Axiom at least $335,000 since retaining the firm in April 2025.

A source with knowledge of Newsom’s meeting with California Forever said Kinney was not present.

Does Newsom have the ‘juice’?

In recent months, former Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who also served as Senate president pro tempore, has been advising the effort alongside former Assembly Speaker and Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg. The two men — nicknamed “The Bergs” by insiders — said the proposal fits squarely within Newsom’s priorities.

“He’s been passionate about both job creation and the California housing crisis, and a win here would be a major win — not only for the governor but for California,” Steinberg told The Post.

Hertzberg said California must prove it can still compete for major industrial projects.

“We want to send a message, damnit! That California is open for business,” he said.

The renewed push follows a setback this month when Saronic selected Texas over Solano County for its planned multibillion-dollar autonomous shipyard. Supporters of the proposal blamed California legislators for failing to pass special legislation to expedite approvals for development and manufacturing investments.

Steinberg called the loss “a cautionary tale.”

“What we’re doing is presenting an opportunity,” he said. “We’re trying to put Solano County and California in a more competitive place to be able to win the next competition.”

Rather than revive California Forever’s original vision of a sprawling master-planned city, Steinberg and Hertzberg said the new vision is to tie housing directly to job creation, with employers driving residential growth and existing cities getting the first opportunity to build more housing.

“It is about getting started,” Steinberg said. “It is about ensuring that there is enough housing to meet the specific needs of the employer — both the number of units, the affordability of the units and the proximity of the units to the workplace.”

Hertzberg added, “This isn’t Disneyland.”

In a memo last week, Newsom’s top business and economic development adviser, Dee Dee Myers, argued California has a once-in-a-generation chance to capitalize on billions in federal shipbuilding and advanced manufacturing investments while helping revive Solano County after years of major industrial closures.

“GO-Biz believes this is a moment for California to double down on the economy of the future — and to show the country and the world that we remain open for business,” Myers wrote.

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She later concluded that the Solano Shipyard and Solano Foundry are “projects of statewide significance and the kind of transformational opportunity California should fight for and win.”

But not everyone is buying the pitch.

Matt Rexroad, a political consultant and former Yolo County supervisor, told The Post that he has no strong opinion about California Forever. But he questioned why Steinberg and other former elected officials have tried to “cash in” as its most visible advocates.

“It just seems like complete hypocrisy for Darrell Steinberg to be advocating for this project,” Rexroad said.

“It seems to go against everything that he was trying to do as a policymaker at the Capitol.”

The proposal also faces resistance from Democrats whose support would be necessary for any special legislation.

Earlier this month, state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon (D-West Sacramento) rejected California Forever’s argument that state bureaucracy cost Solano County the Saronic project.

Instead, Cabaldon accused the company of sinking its own chances.

“They held the shipyard proposal hostage by tying it to their unpopular housing development proposal,” he said in a statement.

“When push came to shove, California Forever chose their billionaire project over bringing this opportunity to Solano County.”

Rexroad questioned whether Newsom has enough political influence during his final months in office to overcome that opposition.

“I’m not sure he has the ability to turn the screws to pass special legislation,” Rexroad said. “The governor has a lot less juice than he did five years ago for something like this.”

“If the local legislators there want to stop this, they probably can.”