California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Forever, Economy, Elizabeth Patterson, Environmental review, Just transition, Solano County Maritime

Elizabeth Patterson on CEQA, etc… ‘Look Before You Leap’

Look before you leap

By Elizabeth Patterson, first appearing in The Benicia Herald, September 13, 2026

Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Mayor 2007 – 2020

“Look before you leap” describes the reason for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  Before a project is built it is wise and thoughtful to determine impacts to air and water quality, wildlife habitats including terrestrial and aquatic species.  And for many what are the impacts from traffic, water supply, noise – a public health issue often ignored by decision makers.

California Forever pounded the hallways of California legislature in August to get Solano County Senator and Assembly member to sponsor CF’s proposed bill aided and abetted by the Governor’s Go Biz office.  The proposed bill would use  2008 Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the County General Plan.  Why wait until August to introduce this so-called trailer bill?  The answer is to avoid public review through the appropriate legislative committees and to use the power of the Governor’s office to wield their billionaire influence.  Sound familiar?

Senator Cabaldon noted that the 2008 General Plan EIR spelled out clearly that any “water related industrial project” would require a full CEQA assessment for potential impacts.  This is why the Senator among other concerns never endorsed the proposed legislation.

Assembly Member Wilson would not support the legislation without the Solano County Board of Supervisors signing on.  They didn’t.  And they didn’t because of multiple reasons including the last-minute California Forever steamrolling approach.  “I am not afraid of the Governor” said Supervisor Mitch Mashburn.  Board Chair Brown said “just say no”.

Mashburn’s motion to consider Solano County Maritime and Manufacturing  Act (Solano County Maritime) was “no” this year but next year consider Benicia’s deep water port and revitalizing Mare Island and its dry docks.  Will the billionaires do that?

Investing in existing communities such as Benicia and Vallejo means fewer new roads, water pipes, electrical power systems and so on versus the proposed shipbuilding near Collinsville.  It means investing private and public resources efficiently and effectively.  The ill-conceived Solano County Maritime “shipbuilding” project would take massive amounts of new roads, miles of new water supply pipes, and miles of new electrical power lines.  As a note, unless the Investor Owned Utilities and Public Utilities Commission change the rules, these new transmission lines will be part of your electricity energy bill.  That is how new development pays for utilities.  It is not just the developer or project.  The costs are spread around to all of us.

Roads.  The Solano Transportation Authority plans projects decades in advance because it must line up resources to pay for the improvements.  STA has a list.  It has projected funding sources.  What California Forever proposes with the shipbuilding project would require limited funds to be redirected and the approved projects list delayed by a decade or so.  Read STA’s comments on the notice of preparation for the EIR for the Suisun City Expansion project.  Legislative rumors have it that CF suggested diverting available funding from SR 37 to apply to SR 12.  It is hard to believe such rumors.

Investing in existing communities means where people live and work.  And it means avoiding significant impacts to tidal marshlands of the Sacramento River in the Delta.  Some of those impacts include harm from dredging especially if the existing ship channel is dug deeper.  The Army Corps of Engineers through numerous studies  identify that dredging the channel deeper could result in the channel walls collapsing because the sediment from hydraulic mining is weak.  Furthermore, the ACOE identified that a deeper channel would enable more salt water into the Delta where farmers pump to irrigate their crops.

The Bay-Delta is the heart of California’s water system. It supports some of the state’s most iconic and threatened fish and wildlife, sustains tribes and other local communities, and provides water for nearly 30 million Californians and 4 million acres of farmland. These benefits are essential to the economy and environment.

It would be helpful to understand all of this which is what a full CEQA review would provide.

Some have said that the proposed legislation to by-pass CEQA and local government adopted policies would still allow County discretionary decision making.  Nope.  Read the draft legislation to note that after the project is designed, the county would issue permits – permits which are ministerial – meaning adhering to adopted standards.  There would be no mitigation measures because there would be no identified impact because there is no CEQA.

Furthermore, all the important decisions of project design are made by the developer and the proposed development agreement is meaningless because there is nothing to negotiate.  And even with a development agreement, things happen such as bankruptcy leaving government holding the empty promises.

Imbedded in the failed CF legislation was a device to solve issues between agencies.  For instance, if STA disagreed with CalTrans, there was a proposed “master” who would decide.  This proposed master would be appointed by Land Use and Climate Innovation whose members are appointed by the Governor.  Want to guess how that decision would go?

It is true that there are many governmental agencies with decision making : air quality districts, water quality and water supply agencies, federal, state, regional and local transportation agencies, PUC, fish and wildlife, Delta Protection Commission, Delta Stewardship Council, NOAA, and Department of Defense – it is a long list.  Because things are complicated, expertise, knowledge and oversight are needed to secure public health, safety and welfare and the Public Trust Doctrine.

It is said that CEQA and the complications of getting approval are ruinous for California.  Really?  CEQA has been law since 1970.  More than 50 years.  And California is the 4th largest economy in the world.  Something must be working.  I suggest it is the “looking before you leap” that has had a net positive benefit.  Other benefits are cleaner air, better water quality, many habits protected, better transportation planning and less reliance on fossil fuels.

Right here in the river City of Benicia are opportunities for ship repair and maritime activities, expanding  tourism and visitors as a perfect place to explore the Delta National Heritage Area of which we are a part.  Invest in Benicia. Reduce our carbon footprint. Restore our fisheries.  And do it with the public.  Perhaps the billionaires will reflect on their attempts to get favorable treatment and remember Winston Churchill’s “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other forms that have been tried”.  The billionaires “cram it down our throats” approach didn’t work.  Try public participation and democratic principles.

Elizabeth Patterson, Mayor 2007-2020
State staff environmental scientist, retired

Previously here on this subject:

Walking Back CEQA Protections Will Leave Californians Paying the Price for Ignoring Impacts, by Elizabeth Patterson, July 30, 2024

Benicia City Council, Justin Zollars, Kari Birdseye, Terry Scott, Tom Campbell

Tom Campbell: Jing Di Zhi Wa – on Benicia’s 2026 City Council election

Jing Di Zhi Wa

Former Benicia City Council Member Tom Campbell

By Tom Campbell, The Benicia Herald, September 18, 2026

Jing di zhi wa is a Chinese idiom that means you know as little about the real world as a frog at the bottom of a well. I think this might well describe Justin Zollars. From what I’ve been reading from his posts, candidate debate, and candidate’s statement, he seems to be a one trick pony focused on Flock cameras. I haven’t seen him post anything on how he’ll address what are monumental generational issues that are in front of the City Council right now. Issues like, “What are we going to do with the Seeno property” where a billionaire developer does not seem to be on the same page as the City Council. Or “What are we going to do with the port which after 62 years Benicia finally gets back in four years.”

A port that due to poor judgement in 1964 by a Benicia City Council the City has not gotten a penny in port operations for 62 years and counting, even though Benicia owns the wharf and all land accessing the water. Or how about the closed refinery that looks more and more like the State wants to keep as a gasoline tank farm even if it means Benicia will have to forsake any future development. The State seems to want Benicia to fall on its sword and ignore its future for the sake of keeping the rest of California’s drivers happy with a large supply of cheaper gas. Am I wrong? Then show me a time line for the clean-up and development of the refinery land. Afterall it’s been a year and a half since the announcement of the refinery closure and still nothing.

Those three big issues in front of the City Council right now are going to decide what the lives of the next generations in Benicia will be. Same as the decisions of the 1964 City Council decided the lives of the last three generations of Benicians after the Arsenal closed. There are very big issues at stake in this election. When you would rather talk about Flock cameras instead, it’s no different than if your house was on fire and you’re running around and you stop in the dining room and go “that silverware on the table just doesn’t go with the dishes’ floral pattern.” There’s a lot bigger issue staring you in the face at that particular moment than floral patterns. The same holds true for the generational challenges facing Benicia at this very moment.

So given the gravity of the challenges Benicia faces right now there is no time for an untested rookie with no civic history to navigate a steep learning curve immediately. I was on the City Council for 21 years and before that the Planning Commission, over 30 years total in Benicia City government. In that entire time, I can say the best Council I was ever on was the last City Council I was on. That Council had both Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye on it. What they showed me was that they could look at what had to be done and do it even if it meant a huge blowback. You have to put what’s best for the community ahead of your own ambitions. Not every Council could do that.

Kicking the can down the road is just a nice way of saying you don’t have the backbone to face unpopular but necessary votes. I never saw Kari or Terry back away from what had to be done. This is important because in the next few years the next City Council will have to deal with the State of California and billion dollar corporations that are going to try and throw Benicia a bone and say “Hey what’s the problem, we’re doing you a favor.” This Council is going to have to have the backbone to tell these corporations and the State what they can do with that bone.

I want someone on the City Council who knows and understands these generational issues and will protect our future. That’s why I’ m voting for Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye. I’m sure in that burning house that I mentioned above they would have been looking for a fire extinguisher and not a useless floral dish pattern.

Tom Campbell

More on the candidates:
Benicia city council candidates Terry Scott, Kari Birdseye, & Justin Zollars. Photo: The Vallejo Sun
Benicia City Council, Justin Zollars, Kari Birdseye, Local elections, Terry Scott

Benicia City Council Candidate Forum Sept 30

The League of Women Voters of Solano County is hosting a Local Elections Candidate Forum in a few weeks. Come with your questions on September 30, 6:30-8PM at the Benicia Public Library!

About the event & Candidate Information from the Benicia Library website:

Get informed before you vote! Join the League of Women Voters of Solano County for a nonpartisan Candidates Forum featuring local election candidates. Hear directly from those seeking your vote, learn where they stand on important community issues, and submit questions. This free public event is open to everyone. Make your voice count—be an informed voter!

Local Elections Candidate Forum
September 30, 2026 | 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
In the Doña Benicia Room.

Below you’ll find more information on each of the candidates.

KARI BIRDSEYE:

Kari Birdseye was elected to serve on Benicia’s City Council in 2022. She began her service in Benicia city government in 2012 at the Benicia Human Services Board and served on Benicia’s Planning Commission for eight years, as Chair of the Commission for six years. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Solano County Fair Board Association and the Benicia-Vallejo Chapter of the American Association of University Women Executive Board.

She has a BA in Journalism from San Francisco State and a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco. Kari is former CNN journalist, where she was part of a team that earned an Emmy Award for news coverage of the Olympic Park bombing in 1996. Kari and her husband James have raised their two kids, Julia and Joey in Benicia, and have lived in Benicia since 2000. She has served as president of two local boards: Matthew Turner PTA and the Benicia Stingrays Swim Team. Kari is employed by Natural Resources Defense Council as a Regional Media and Public Affairs Director.

In her City Council capacity, Kari currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Green Empowerment Zone, Marin Clean Energy and is the 1st Vice President of the League of California Cities, North Bay Division.

TERRY SCOTT:

Terry is a 14-year Benicia resident, businessman, futurist, and philanthropist committed to building a stronger future. He served as Vice Mayor and currently sits on the Benicia City Council.

His first term delivered measurable results: a balanced budget, department reorganization, optimized staffing, new purchasing efficiencies, priority-based budgeting, new revenue streams, and advanced air quality and safety measures. That foundation now positions Benicia to seize what’s next — requiring the experienced fiscal leadership and proven results Terry brings, which is why he’s running for re-election.

His public service spans the Tax Oversight Commission, CURE Commission, CAP/Valero Advisory Panel, Tula Sister City Program, multiple Solano Transportation Authority commissions, and the WETA Ferry 2050 Visioning Team. He was appointed SolTrans Board Chair for an unprecedented third term, co-founded and led the Benicia Community Foundation as Executive Director, and chaired the Benicia Arts and Culture Commission (2015–2022).

He holds a degree from Kent State University and completed Executive Studies at Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College.

JUSTIN ZOLLARS:

Justin Zollars, candidate for Benicia City Council, brings 15 years of technology experience from companies including Adobe and Veracyte, where he currently works as a software engineer in cancer genomics. Justin holds an MS in Biology and has founded and led his own startup, giving him hands-on experience managing budgets and coordinating between engineers, partners, and customers. In 2008, Justin represented his community as an elected delegate to a presidential nominating convention. A Benicia homeowner and civic advocate, he’s running in opposition to Flock Safety’s license plate reader cameras over serious privacy concerns. Justin is dedicated to protecting resident privacy, improving parks and roads, and preserving Benicia’s small-town character.

 

City of Benicia, Data Centers, Just transition, Signature Development Group, Valero Benicia Refinery

Should Benicia allow data centers? City grapples with zoning

Benicia Planning Commission is considering banning large-scale data centers and limiting smaller ones under the industrial zoning code.

Aerial view of a large data center campus in Hutto, Texas, with three massive buildings with 400m square feet of space and 600 MW power capacity. Adobe

The Benicia Bridge, By Monica Vaughan, September 9, 2026

As Benicia prepares for waves of development following the closure of the Valero Refinery, city officials will consider banning large-scale data centers and limiting smaller ones.

“Right now, if a data center wanted to come into our industrial park, they would be allowed ‘by right,’” City Manager Mario Giuliani told The Benicia Bridge.

The Benicia Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Thursday and plans to vote that evening on recommended changes to the zoning code to add specific language regulating data centers. The City Council will have final say before any zoning changes are adopted.

Cities across the country – from Coachella to Corpus Christi – are adopting moratoriums or outright bans on large-scale data centers in response to public outcry over centers’ heavy resource use.

No data center has been proposed in Benicia…. [continued on The Benicia Bridge – click here…]

Excerpt posted from The Benicia Bridge
Excellent reporting from Benicia’s newest award-winning journalism duo, Monica Vaughan and Laura López González.
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