Politics & Government
City Manager to Chamber: Safeway May Come to Hercules
City Manager Fred Deltorchio said the grocery store chain has shown interest in moving to the Sycamore Crossing site.
Safeway has shown interest in moving to the planned Sycamore Crossing location--a 14-acre site at Sycamore and San Pablo avenues, said interim City Manager Fred Deltorchio to the Hercules Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, when he met the group for their State of the City Luncheon.
The Chamber asked Deltorchio to meet with its members and address the city's financial crises, which threatens the viability of nearly all city services and funding to organizations like the Chamber, which has received $55,000 annually from the city's general fund to help pay for salaries and marketing.
Last month, the Chamber agreed to cancel its payments and wait until the next fiscal year for a decision by the City Council on whether or not funding to the Chamber will continue.
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“Every stakeholder in the city will feel the pain, and everybody has to have a hand in solving the problem,” Deltorchio said.
Among several specific concerns addressed at the luncheon was the city's need for new sources of revenue. Big-box businesses like Safeway are key to the city's future financial health, Deltorchio said.
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“(Chamber members) were asking about Costco and Safeway (moving to Hercules), and the city is negotiating with both of them,” Deltorchio said. “A letter of intent will go to the council when and if that happens.”
The luncheon was sponsored by the Hercules Chamber of Commerce, which has been existent since 1983 and has received city funding since July of 2009. The chamber currently has 165 members who pay dues on a sliding scale dependant upon how many employees a particular business has, although independent contractors, non-profit groups and associates are encouraged to join as well.
Marketing Director Sylvia Villa-Serrano, who declined to comment on how the potential lack of city funding will affect the chamber and the local business community at large, said the aim of the luncheon was to involve the community in the city’s municipal affairs.
“It (was) an update on what’s going on in the community, and (gave) businesses the opportunity to ask questions,” Villa-Serrano said.
