Category Archives: Benicia City Council

VIDEO: City Council announcement of legal action on push poll

Excerpt from Benicia City Council video, October 2, 2018

This 7 minute video begins with City Attorney Heather McLaughlin reporting action taken by the Council in closed session to initiate legal action on the recent “push poll” attack, and includes comments by Vice Mayor Steve Young, Council member Tom Campbell and Mayor Elizabeth Patterson. (See transcript and relevant section of Benicia’s Municipal Code below…)

Transcript:

City Attorney Heather McLaughlin announcement on 10/2/2018:
“We also met in closed session on conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation and the initiation of litigation regarding potential enforcement of Benicia Municipal Code Section 140, and this is regarding the push poll that came out in recent days. The Council gave me direction regarding initiating a lawsuit on this. The concern is that the poll did not comply with the disclosure requirements of the ordinance. As follow-up to that, I have been directed to contact the Fair Political Practices Commission regarding enforcement of the disclosure rules. And I’m also to send a letter to EMC and to Research America informing them about our ordinance and demanding that they provide us the questions and who paid for the poll. And then finally, we’re going to provide a press release. And I think some of the Council members would like to add onto that. That was a four-one decision.”

Benicia Municipal Code Section 140
(download PDF or go to City of Benicia website)  Here is a relevant subsection:

1.40.042 Disclaimer requirements for campaign communications funded by independent expenditures.

A. Campaign communications funded by an independent expenditure supporting or opposing city candidates or city measures shall include the phrase “Not authorized by a candidate,” and shall also include the name of any contributor of $2,500 or more made in the past six months to a committee funding the independent expenditure, in the phrase “Major Funding Provided By [Name of Contributor(s)].” Expenditures of $2,500 or more that are earmarked for any other candidate or ballot measure outside of the city of Benicia need not be disclosed.

B. The disclosures required by this section shall be presented in a clear and conspicuous manner to give the reader, observer or listener adequate notice, as specified below:

1. For printed campaign communications that measure no more than 24 inches by 36 inches, all disclosure statements required by this section shall be printed using a typeface that is easily legible to an average reader or viewer, but is not less than 10-point type in contrasting color to the background on which it appears. For printed campaign communications larger than this size in area, all disclosure statements shall constitute at least five percent of the height of the material and shall be printed in contrasting color.

2. For video broadcasts including television, satellite and cable campaign communications, the information shall be both written and spoken either at the beginning or at the end of the communication, except that if the disclosure statement is written for at least five seconds of a broadcast of 30 seconds or less or 10 seconds of a 60-second broadcast, a spoken disclosure statement is not required. The written disclosure statement shall be of sufficient size to be readily legible to an average viewer and air for not less than four seconds.

3. For audio, telephone call or radio advertisement campaign communications, the disclosures shall be spoken in a clearly audible manner at the same speed and volume as the rest of the telephone call or radio advertisement at the beginning or end of the communication and shall last at least three seconds.

C. For purposes of this section, “campaign communication” means any of the following items:

1. More than 200 substantially similar pieces of campaign literature distributed within a calendar month, including but not limited to mailers, flyers, faxes, pamphlets, door hangers, e-mails, campaign buttons 10 inches in diameter or larger, and bumper stickers 60 square inches or larger;

2. Posters, yard or street signs, billboards, supergraphic signs and similar items;

3. Television, cable, satellite and radio broadcasts;

4. Newspaper, magazine, Internet website banners and similar advertisements;

5. Two hundred or more substantially similar live or recorded telephone calls made within a calendar month.

Benicia City Council directs city attorney to take action against push poll

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald

Benicia City Council directs city attorney to take action against push poll

By JOHN GLIDDEN, October 3, 2018 at 5:55 pm

BENICIA — Fearing an outside group or person is attempting to negatively influence the City Council elections, councilors took action Tuesday night.

The council in closed session directed City Attorney Heather McLaughlin to contact the California Fair Political Practices Commission in response to a series of calls residents received that some say smeared one of the council candidates.

“When an outside force appears to be engaging in activities that are outside of the ordinance and not disclosing who they are — I think we have no choice but to move forward,” Vice Mayor Steve Young said in the meeting.

Several residents, including Young, have received a phone call from Research America, Inc., asking to conduct a survey about the City Council, senatorial and gubernatorial contests. However, Young says that most of the questions centered on candidates Kari Birdseye and Lionel Largaespada.

“The statements about Mr. Largaespada were uniformly positive and stated how, for example, he would use his small business background to improve the city’s economy and relations with its businesses,” Young wrote in a Sept. 20 letter published by the Benicia Independent. “The statements about Ms. Birdseye were the opposite. Among these statements were ‘She wants to shut down Valero, costing hundreds of jobs,’ and ‘She will bring radical left-wing politics to City Hall.’”

A representative with the data collection company Research America previously confirmed to the Times-Herald that the business was hired to conduct the survey by EMC. Representatives with that group didn’t return calls for comment.

McLaughlin was also directed Tuesday to contact Research America, Inc. and EMC Research about the survey, and ask for a copy of the questions asked and provide information on who paid for the poll.

At issue is the alleged failure of the companies to disclose who paid for the poll — a violation of the Benicia Municipal Code.

Many have called the survey a push poll. Such polls are meant to sway public opinion instead of recording objective information from those surveyed.

Councilman Tom Campbell also spoke during Tuesday’s meeting stating that residents support having fair elections in town.

Campbell, who spearhead a campaign reform initiative in 2009, said he got 1,200 signatures during that time with only five people expressing doubt about the initiative. The rest supported the item, he said.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people want the same thing. They want to be fairly informed of who is actually backing a candidate. They want the elections to be clean, and they want people, who spend money on elections, to disclose how much money they spent,” he said Tuesday.

Campbell further said that if Research America and EMC won’t provide answers that are necessary for the city to go to court for those answers.

Larnie Fox: Why vote for Kari Birdseye?

Why vote for Kari Birdseye?

By Larnie Fox, October 3, 2018
Larnie Fox, Benicia

I just got off the phone with Kari Birdseye and I am happier than ever to be supporting her bid for Benicia’s City Council. I got to know Kari this year as her teammate in Benicia’s bocce ball league. I’ve found her to be refreshingly open-minded and optimistic. Given the divisive, confusing times we are living in, I totally trust Kari to provide clear, transparent and forward-looking leadership on the Council.

Kari is a long-term thinker. She often emphasizes the difference between reactive and proactive thinking. She told me that she believes that the whole current water rate mess could have been solved in the early 2000’s if a more proactive, less divided Council had been in place. You can expect Kari to oppose deferring any more infrastructure maintenance, especially on streets and the water system.

Kari is inclusive and is a good listener. She told me that during the course of her campaign she has been hearing from many people who have been hurt by the increased water rates. Once on Council she will work hard to address the issue, especially for low-income folks and seniors on fixed incomes. You can expect her to listen carefully, take everyone’s concerns seriously, then work to implement creative, proactive solutions that will ease current problems and prevent future problems for years to come.

Kari is a consensus builder. In her job as a Strategic Communications Manager for the NRDC, she works with scientists, engineers, lawyers, the press and the public to build consensus. She can learn from and talk to anyone.

Kari is independent. She does her homework and makes her own decisions. She will not be beholden to any business, union, politician or political group. Unlike other candidates, she is taking no money from corporations or businesses. She will make her own decisions. She is not anti-refinery. She wants a better partnership with Valero, but if necessary will stand up to big oil, real estate developers or any other group to protect our long-term economic interests as well as our air, water and land.

Kari is a committed Benician. She has lived here for nearly twenty years and raised her son and daughter here. She served on the board of the Benicia Stingrays swim team for nearly a decade, and was president for two years. Her son is now a lifeguard. She’s a past Mathew Turner PTA member, and now serves on the board of the Solano County Fair. Her 96 year-old grandmother also lives in Benicia, and Kari is well aware of the issues that local seniors face.

Kari understands the value of arts and culture in Benicia, both for their economic impact and their intrinsic value – making Benicia a more interesting and inviting place.

And I like her.

Vote for Kari, and remember to thank ALL who serve, have served or are willing to serve as officials in our local democracy. Their headaches are many, and their rewards are few.

Larnie Fox