Benicia CA, Stephen Golub

Stephen Golub: Starting Over

Starting Over in Beautiful Benicia…

The Benicia Herald, May 10, 2026,  by Stephen Golub 

My Wife and I Starting Over in Benicia…

Benicia resident and author Stephen Golub

I keep a playlist of positive songs that lift me up when my state of mind or the state of the world has me down. The artists range from Jimmy Cliff to the Beatles to Pink to LeAnn Rimes to will.i.am to Sting. Many playlist items are Springsteen songs (“Land of Hope and Dreams,” “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day,” “The Rising”) or Tim McGraw tunes (“Hold On to It,” “Humble and Kind,” “Live Like You Were Dying”).

Lately, partly with Benicia in mind, I’ve played country star Chris Stapleton’s “Starting Over” a lot. More on that that song a minute.

When my wife and I moved to Benicia in 2019, our impetus to start over was the potential fires threatening our Oakland hills home. Decimated by the hills’ deadly 1991 firestorm, the area had rebuilt and regenerated since our moving  there in 2001. We were reluctant to leave our sweet life in Oakland, but the danger and disruptions remained: our almost evacuating twice in the middle of the night; frequent PG&E power cuts; many neighbors’ insurance policies canceled; highly flammable eucalyptus and pine groves; narrow streets making evacuation problematic; our worrying about what each fire season might bring.

So, after almost twenty terrific years there, on a lark we began looking for a new home in beautiful Benicia. We never looked back.

Did we get it right in assessing the Oakland fire threat so seriously? For the sake of everyone still in those hills – and in view of rising real estate values and fire mitigation efforts there – I actually hope we were wrong. But even if the move to Benicia was in that sense a mistake, it was the best mistake we ever made.

Our Fellow Benicians Starting Over…

Other folks have moved here in recent years for a range of reasons: job changes; launching a new business; post-Covid opportunities to work from home: living near family members; changed financial circumstances. Some native Benicians have moved back after years away. Many newcomers have come from other spots in the Bay Area. I’ve also met residents originally from New York, Kentucky, Canada and other distant locales.

We all know examples of great additions to the community; on our little block alone, we have three newish, youngish households, including a couple of kids. Two other folks who come to mind are Kenneth and Kevin, who a few years ago started Baxters on First Street. My wife and I ate there recently. We loved every aspect of the experience: a small but roomy dining room, appealing  ambiance, a great Old Fashioned drink, delicious Brussels sprouts, a smashing smash burger, succulent scallops and one of the best and cheesiest French onion soups I’ve ever had.*

In addition to replacing a troubled previous establishment with a charming one, what the two have done is add new dimensions to Benicia’s business and community scenes. They’re but one valuable example of new arrivals contributing to  our ever-evolving town.

Even if you were born and bred in Benicia, you’ve quite possibly also started over here in some ways. To start with, congratulations to the young families welcoming new arrivals. In a more somber vein, loved ones moving out or passing on can be a seismic shift. Or, if you’ve taken in a rescue dog, a stray cat or any new pet – and bless you for doing so! – that  new family member adds new dimensions to your life.

Benicia Starting Over…

Much more broadly, even as life goes on in Benicia, in a sense our town is starting over in the wake of the Valero refinery closing. I won’t relitigate that contentious issue here today; I’ll instead focus on moving forward.

That involves considering the hard work that the city’s elected and appointed officials are doing to close our  budget gap, including accessing the tens of millions of dollars of Bay Area Air District funds flowing from Valero fines. It also features various proposals to build a stable, brighter, cleaner future. You can access those ideas in several ways, including by signing up at the city’s website for City Manager Mario Giuliani’s weekly newsletter, reading it here in the Herald and attending or zooming in on City Council meetings.

Also, as lifelong Benician Giuliani has often said, let’s “Believe in Benicia.”

Which brings me back to Chris Stapleton. “Starting Over” is about a couple moving to a new life (as the lyrics go, “out on the coast”…maybe even Benicia?) But it applies to lots of us in our own ways and to Benicia as a whole…

This might not be an easy time
There’s rivers to cross and hills to climb
Some days we might fall apart
And some nights might feel cold and dark

But nobody wins, afraid of losing
And the hard roads are the ones worth choosing
Someday we’ll look back and smile
And know it was worth every mile…

I can be your lucky penny
You can be my four-leaf clover
Starting over

The song’s call to overcome obstacles amply applies to our wonderful town, this place where we’re so lucky to live. Benicia has a lot going for it, not least Benicians believing in ourselves. We’re in good shape to seize the opportunities that come with starting over.

[*Note: Starting later this month,  Baxters’ hours expand to include lunch on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It will thus be open Wednesday through Sunday from late morning to mid-evening, except for a 3-4 pm break. Please check the restaurant’s website and OpenTable for reservations and precise hours.]

Benicia resident and author Stephen Golub, A Promised Land

Stephen Golub writes about democracy and politics, both in America and abroad, at A Promised Land: America as a Developing Country.

…and… here’s more Golub on the Benicia Independent

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Anti-racism, Black Lives Matter, Racial justice, SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice)

INVITATION: White people and not giving up– a SURJ mass call

From Progressive Democrats of Benicia, December 2, 2020

BenIndy Editor: Dear friends – As you are no doubt aware, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida are enacting blatantly racist and illegal laws. They are not only rewriting maps. They’re rewriting history. Or rather re-rewriting history. It’s a re-do of the blatant backsliding after the multi-racial reforms that followed our Civil War.  This is NOT just a Southern problem. The South is OUR South, and historic racism in the US is OUR legacy, OURS to reform once again. I received the following invitation to all who are like me, a black-lives-matter white person, engaged in the struggle and threatened with burnout. Consider tuning in on Wednesday, May 20. Sign up here (or below). – Roger Straw

The email: White people and not giving up– a SURJ mass call

By Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), May 12, 2025

It’s rough out there. The onslaught of political bad news, senseless violence, misogyny, and racism is enough to make even the most seasoned organizers want to throw up their hands. These are the exact times– when we’re tired and feeling hopeless– that we can get curious and be intentional about how we sustain ourselves in this work.

We’ll explore these topics and more next Wednesday, May 20 at 8 pm ET (5 pm PT) at a SURJ mass call, “White people’s work to not give up: a conversation on strategy and staying for the long haul.” We’ll be joined in this virtual event by Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, former Director of the Highlander Center in Tennessee and movement strategist, and Scot Nakagawa, the Director of the 22nd Century Initiative and leading political thinker, who have been movement leaders for decades and bring hard-won lessons about how we stay in it.

On the other side of guilt, shame or feeling like we need to make martyrs of ourselves is a joyful, steady commitment. We’re working to get there together.

See you Wednesday–
SURJ

Showing Up for Racial Justice
2870 Peachtree Rd NW
Suite 915-2117
Atlanta, GA 30305

Sheri Leigh, Tyler Street Collective

“Put Me In, Coach!” the story of Elias

Another Great Benicia Story – Tyler Street Collective

By Sheri Leigh, May 6, 2026

Tyler Street Collective – Quinn Bert, Elias Zuniga, Joe Farrell, and Oliver Vazquez

Remember the Tyler Street Collective? In case you don’t, it is an enthusiastic group of local young men who have teamed up to produce and sell quality applesauce.  Like the chefs, the apples are organic and locally sourced.  The applesauce is made with great care and love, and it is a pure and healthy ambrosia. Elias Zuniga is one of the members of the Collective who created this delicious product.  

Born in nearby Fairfield, Elias has been a Benicia resident for over ten years, attending Benicia Middle School and the high school.  He is now 20 years old and a proud graduate of Benicia High School, class of 2025.  Elias is the youngest of three from a very close family.  He lives with his parents, his sister and his parakeets.  His older brother Gabriel, although no longer living at home, is his biggest ally and advocate. Elias likes to play video games.  He is athletic.  As a valued member of the high school track team for shot put and sprints, Elias and his relay team qualified for State finals when he ran anchor in a critical 4×100 meter race.  He also enjoys playing basketball, swimming, and weight lifting.  Elias is energetic, charismatic, and fiercely independent.  He eventually wants a career working with children at an elementary or preschool. Elias also lives with Down Syndrome, which is a genetic condition caused by an extra chromosome, resulting in intellectual disability and developmental delays.   

Having Down Syndrome has not stopped Elias from living his best life and making and accomplishing challenging goals.  Right now, he is attending the College of Adaptive Arts (CAA) on the West Valley College Campus in Saratoga.  He is taking guitar, Hip Hop dance, and coding.  Elias is very social, and he makes new friends with every class he takes.   He independently attends every school social event possible.  And through CAA, he has found a joy in baking.  

Elias met Joe Farrell, who was then a special education teacher, while in elementary school.  He connected with Joe again through the high school track team, where Joe was coaching.  Joe is now his independent living specialist and friend.  Last summer, Joe and Elias’ friend Quinn Berg invited Elias to become a member of the Tyler Street Collective where the members learned to make applesauce with the assistance of a professional chef, Matt Beard, and the originator of the recipe, Evelyn Farrell.  Elias’ enthusiastic response was, “Put me in, Coach!”

Since they began, the Collective has bottled over 400 jars of applesauce and has already sold nearly all of them to delighted customers.  The Collective sampled and offered their products at Drift Coffee Shop and Fiestas Primavera, and is hoping to do something similar at the Cafe at the Inn before the end of the calendar year.  The Collective is aiming to open a casual restaurant in town when they can sell their applesauce and make tasty comfort food for their customers.  And The Tyler Street Collective is a recent and proud recipient of an Honoree Award for Innovation and Service to the Community from the Solano County SELPA (Special Education Local Plan Area) Community Advisory Committee.  Quite an honor!

Elias is hard working, infectiously enthusiastic and natural for sales.  He is the point person whenever anyone enquires about the applesauce.  Using his natural charm, beautiful smile and persuasive manner, Elias never needs a script.  He simply smiles and asks, “Would you like one or two (jars of applesauce)?”  And when you hear that question, buy two!  It’s worth it!


See more Tyler Street Collective stories on the Benicia Independent…

Antisemitism, California elections, California Voter Information Guide

Keep Hate Out of California’s Official Voter Materials

Antisemitic Conspiracies in California’s Official Voter Guide

Newsletter email from Jewish California, April 28, 2026

Dear Friends,

Last week, the Official Voter Information Guide for the June 2026 Primary began arriving in California mailboxes statewide. Tucked inside that state-issued booklet, alongside the legitimate candidate statements you would expect, was something most of us never imagined would appear under the seal of the State of California: a violent screed of antisemitic conspiracy theories, accompanied by links to overtly racist, homophobic, antisemitic, and white nationalist websites.

A disclaimer on the page does not undo that harm. When antisemitic conspiracy theories are printed in an official government document and mailed to 23 million people, those lies are given a platform and a veneer of legitimacy they would never otherwise have. This should not have happened, and we must ensure current guidelines are clarified, strengthened, and consistently enforced so it never does again.

We have been in communication with the Secretary of State’s office regarding current and future steps that can be taken. We are also working closely with the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and Assemblymember Gail Pellerin – a Jewish Caucus member and chair of the Assembly Elections Committee – on legislation to ensure that hate of this kind never again appears in an official state publication. We will keep you updated as this work progresses.

→ Add your name in support of this legislation

This episode arrives at a moment when antisemitism is surging across the country and across the political spectrum. Our community continues to be targeted from many places at once – in our schools, at our synagogues, online, and now in our mailboxes. The through line is the same: Jews remain a convenient scapegoat for grievances of every ideological stripe. California must not – inadvertently or otherwise – become a megaphone for any of it.

Assemblymember Gail Pellerin

“During my 27 years as a county elections official, I rejected numerous candidate statements that failed to comply with the Elections Code’s requirement that they be limited to a recitation of a candidate’s background and qualifications. The antisemitic statement included in the state voter information guide is reprehensible. It does not reflect California’s values and has no place in voter resources produced and distributed by the state. I will work with my colleagues to advance legislation that ensures that this kind of content never appears in official election materials again.”
–Assemblymember Gail Pellerin

We are grateful to Assemblymember Pellerin and the Jewish Caucus for their steadfast partnership and forceful response – their full statement is available here – and to our partners who raised the alarm last week and laid the groundwork for the state’s response.

This is a reminder that California has the people, the institutions, and the political will to get this right. We will keep showing up with our partners and our allies in the Capitol until we do.

Onward,

David Bocarsly
CEO
Jewish California (formerly JPAC)

Jewish California

Jewish California’s 43 member organizations — including Jewish Federations, Jewish Community Relations Councils, Jewish Family Service agencies, and others — serve hundreds of thousands of Californians of all backgrounds and represent the interests of California’s 1.2 million Jews.