Jan Sramek

From 2017 to 2023, Sramek led California Forever's strategy to secretly acquire over 50,000 acres of Solano County farmland through subsidiary Flannery Associates. He personally assured county officials the land would be used for agricultural purposes including olive farming and long-term farmer leases, while planning to build a new city of up to 400,000 people. The deception was only revealed when the New York Times exposed the scheme in August 2023. U.S. Representative John Garamendi described the community as 'very angry - by the secrecy, by the duplicity, by the attack on family farmers.'

Under Sramek's leadership, Flannery Associates filed a $510 million lawsuit in May 2023 against dozens of farmers, family trusts, and ranchers including McCormack Sheep and Grain (farming since the 1880s), accusing them of an 'illegal price-fixing conspiracy' for refusing to sell their land. Farmers reported legal fees were 'draining their savings and jeopardizing their farm's financial future.' Rancher Chris Scheuring called the lawsuits an 'intimidation campaign,' saying 'I think they thought we'd just fold like a cheap suit.'