“I am deeply concerned that our quality of life is threatened by Magna Entertainment’s proposals for the waterfront,” said Wile, who now serves as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner in Albany. “Albany is a special community. Its quality of life comes from our unique small town character,” reads Wile’s flier.

One of Wile’s ideas for the city’s waterfront development is the building of a “Green Hotel” that would be placed at a reasonable distance from the shoreline, near the I-80 freeway. The hotel would be distant enough from Codornices Creek to save the wetland, Wile said, andAlbany’s hot spots – like the BART station and San Pablo and Solano Avenues – would be connected to the hotel by an electric shuttle.

Wile’s solution has a precedent in the recent history of hotel construction. The Hilton Vancouver Washington hotel, which opened last year, was built with recycled steel and brick. That Hilton today runs on “25-30 percent lower usage than if we were a conventional design,” said Gerry Link, general manager for Hilton Vancouver Washington.

The rationale for a green hotel, Wile said, is not only that it would respect the environment, but also that it would pay 10% hotel tax on its revenues. In Wile’s view, Golden Gate Fields owner Magna would not necessarily have to leave the waterfront. “You have an option here,” Wile said. If the racetrack owner doesn’t want that the land to be bought by a third party, Wyle suggested, the company could stay at the waterfront but accept new ideas for development, perhaps including involvement in a “green hotel,” or donating some of its land for a park.

She also said that Magna would be granted an income through the “green hotel.” The second option, in Wile’s opinion, would be that Magna were allowed some development but gave the rest of the land over to the East Shore Parks.