Monthly Archives: October 2016

Benicia City Council, Benicia city staff, Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young, Local elections, Northern Gateway Project, Seeno property, Valero Crude By Rail, Water rates

LETTER SERIES: Larnie Fox – “Leadership Style” on the Benicia City Council

[Editor: Benicians are expressing themselves in letters to the editor of our local print newspaper, the Benicia Herald. But the Herald doesn’t publish letters in its online editions – and many Benician’s don’t subscribe. We are posting certain letters here for wider distribution. – RS]

“Leadership Style”

By Larnie Fox
October 21, 2016
Larnie Fox
Larnie Fox

Republican mayoral candidate Mark Hughes is running on a platform of changing the “leadership style” on our City Council, and the other council members are supporting him. I’ve been attending City Council meetings and watching them online for the last six years, and I think I know what he means.

As Mayor, Elizabeth Patterson is constantly trying to lead the Council to be forward-thinking and visionary, and has often been frustrated by the inertia of the current Council.

During the recent debate over Valero’s crude by rail proposal, Council members, including Mark, appeared to be unhappy with Mayor Elizabeth Patterson’s questioning of Valero’s proposal. Elizabeth was unhappy because Council members and City staff made a concerted effort to stop her from spreading information about the project via the informative email newsletter which she produces at her own expense. She was forced (also at her own expense) to mount a legal defense against those efforts. Personally, I want a mayor who is willing to share information with the public and has opinions on important issues. Other Council members and City staff, (whom I know to be good people and like personally), apparently disagreed with this understanding of the First Amendment.

The decision on crude by rail should have been a no-brainer after our Planning Commission’s extensive research on the subject, the environmental impact reports, the input from communities and governmental entities across the state including our Attorney General, and the ongoing pattern of explosions, derailments, and spills. Yet, under pressure from Valero, the Council voted for delay. Elizabeth Patterson and Council member Tom Campbell were opposed to the project early on, but the other three were noncommittal about it until the recent explosion in Mosier Oregon convinced Christina Strawbridge. No one wants to be on the losing side, especially right before an election, so we had a unanimous Council opposing the project, thank goodness! Mark Hughes is now running on his record of opposing crude by rail. Clearly, Elizabeth Patterson on the Council and Steve Young on the Planning Commission provided the leadership to finally stop this dangerous proposal.

The debate over water rates provides another illustration of differing leadership styles. My understanding of the water issue is as follows:

1. We are in a drought; water is harder to get and more expensive.
2. The infrastructure is old and needs work. Benicia loses around 25% of its water to pipeline leaks, faulty meters, etc.
3. The council postponed raising rates to appropriate levels during the Recession.
4. Our current Mayor is a water-use professional on the State level, and an expert in the field.

Therefore rates have gone up; more so for the bigger users. Elizabeth led the Council to this action to secure our water supplies and rebuild our old infrastructure, in spite of the fact that it was politically unpopular. Hughes, on the other hand voted against it. Clearly that that was the politically expedient thing to do. Elizabeth could have waited until after the election to do this, but was unwilling to “kick the can down the road” and did the responsible thing.

Now the Council is considering the “Northern Gateway project” development proposal to build 900 homes on Seeno family land near the industrial park in land zoned for industrial use, without much consideration of the need for additional schools, police, fire or road infrastructure, and no plan for more water. Elizabeth, Steve Young and Tom Campbell are for smart growth and clearly against the proposal as it stands. Hughes recently said repeatedly that when a developer approaches Benicia with an idea we should “throw out a welcome mat” for them. The Council’s style so far has been reactive, one in which they react to proposals piecemeal as they come in, rather than a proactive style, in which Benicia makes plans then finds developers to execute them. Elizabeth and Steve are both planners by profession, Elizabeth at a high-level position with the State Department of Water Resources, and Steve, retired with 30 years experience planning housing and redevelopment. They are both arguing for a proactive approach to planning.

I have been working actively for the campaigns of Elizabeth Patterson and Steve Young primarily because of these three issues, and also because they would better support the arts.

Elizabeth’s opponent Mark Hughes is a decent guy, but conservative, Republican, pro-development and pro-corporate; a veteran of PG&E. I feel that it’s crucial for Benicia to finally get a forward-looking, proactive majority on City Council and put the “good ol’ boys” days behind it.

The local election may have more impact on our lives than the national election, so please do your research and vote, and pay special attention to this race.

Larnie Fox, former Director of Arts Benicia
Benicia City Council, Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young, Local elections

LETTER SERIES: Dr. Constance Beutel – Steve Young for City Council

[Editor: Benicians are expressing themselves in letters to the editor of our local print newspaper, the Benicia Herald.  But the Herald doesn’t publish letters in its online editions – and many Benician’s don’t subscribe.  We are posting certain letters here for wider distribution.  – RS]

Vote for Steve Young for Benicia City Council

By Constance Beutel, Benicia
October 5, 2016
Constance Beutel
Constance Beutel

I’m voting for Steve Young for Benicia City Council and here’s why.

Steve has a long and distinguished career in local government service. He has successfully worked on neighborhood improvement programs, affordable housing development and economic development programs. His career assignments have led to a deep understanding of finance relating to local government housing loans and he has overseen a $20million budget.

Here in Benicia, Steve has served on the City’s Planning commission and in particular has provided four years of leadership by getting to the issues that are critical to Benicia’s economy and most importantly to the health and safety of the community.

His leadership in looking at the facts, listening to testimony and asking penetrating questions about the proposed Valero Crude by Rail Project led to a unanimous vote by the Planning Commission to deny Valero’s request. Steve will do the work necessary to represents the best interest of our community.

Constance M. Beutel, EdD
Benicia
Benicia City Council, Benicia Planning Commission, Crude By Rail, Local elections, Seeno property

LETTER SERIES: David Schulter – Steve Young for City Council

[Editor: Benicians are expressing themselves in letters to the editor of our local print newspaper, the Benicia Herald. But the Herald doesn’t publish letters in its online editions – and many Benician’s don’t subscribe. We are posting certain letters here for wider distribution. – RS]

Steve Young – Successful In Leadership, Experience, and a Vision for the Future

By David Schulter
October 21, 2016

At the Planning Commission meetings, I saw Steve put the health and living interests of city residents and homeowners above those of the Valero oil refinery. Steve transcended normal due diligence and questioned Valero’s attempts to bypass Benicia’s local land use authority for non-rail entities — i.e. Valero.

The Defeat of Crude by Rail: Steve Young was the key Leader in the successful effort to save our City and deny Valero the Crude by Rail Permit. This was a struggle with Valero that took 3 years of diligence to defeat, and happened despite the steadfast support of City Hall for the project. Steve was able to see the long term and unintended consequences of this project on the life, health, and welfare of citizens of our City – especially our children and elderly.

A People’s Candidate: Based on the campaign finance reports on file with the City Clerk’s office Steve Young has the widest base of support when compared to the other candidates running for Benicia City Council: http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/index.asp?SEC=88C65819-EA7E-497E-8282-90BA17A52E9C&DE=1E8D0CBB-5286-4F0B-A8B8-6DAEC2567D88&Type=B_BASIC. This base of support includes proportionally more people who live in Benicia than his rivals. Steve, unlike some other candidates, is not supported by unions with members who do not live in Benicia. Indeed he has no special interest PAC’s and money from outside of Benicia.

To date, Steve has the largest total contributions and the largest number of contributors, nearly 90 percent of whom are Benicia residents. At the same time, he has the lowest average donation of $148, compared to $531 for Strawbridge and $327 for Largaspaeda.

Steve’s Vision For Creating a Better Future In Benicia: Valero uses about 50 percent of the water in Benicia. Valero and the city need to rethink how to prepare for the future, and perhaps provide a way of reprocessing water, which is becoming our most valuable commodity.

Mr. Young is also concerned with attracting more retail and commercial industries to Benicia. He supports maintaining and upgrading our city parks and waterfront for the benefit of residents and to continue to attract visitors to the many restaurants and shops on First Street.

Having a large developer build housing on the Seeno property in Benicia’s Industrial Park would mean the need for an additional school, additional water for the 900 new houses, and other infrastructure. Steve Young questions whether this project would be “smart growth.”  See Steve’s Website for more information http://steveyoungforcitycouncil.org/.

Experience: Steve Young has over 35 years of experience in Planning, Economic & Community Development. In Sacramento he met the challenge to transform land use to people friendly and economically viable uses following the government shutdown of military facilities at Mather Air Force Base and McClellan Air Force Base.

David Schulter
Benicia Resident

 

Crude By Rail

LETTER SERIES: Susan Street – Elizabeth Patterson’s strong record as Mayor

[Editor: Benicians are expressing themselves in letters to the editor of our local print newspaper, the Benicia Herald. But the Herald doesn’t publish letters in its online editions – and many Benician’s don’t subscribe. We are posting certain letters here for wider distribution. – RS]

Pro-active accomplishments of Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

By Susan Street
October 21, 2016
Susan Street
Susan Street

At swearing in, council members raise their right hand and affirm that they will uphold their duty to protect the health and welfare of their constituents. During her years as a council member and then as mayor, that has been the first endeavor of Elizabeth Patterson.

She is constantly presenting ideas, investigating possibilities, looking for more information of ways to protect the health and welfare of you and me.

  1. After reading transcripts of the EIR, taking hours of public testimony and reviewing the Planning Commission’s recommendation to deny Valero’s Crude By Rail project, she voted against it.
  2. She has worked tirelessly for every sustainable action possible, including sponsoring the creation of the Community Sustainability Commission and retention of the Climate Action Coordinator.  When elected in 2003, she immediately got $250,000 for “traffic calming” to make our roads safer with bulb out curbs and planted medians. She got $10,000 from Kinder Morgan for our tree fund and  $285,000 for architectural drawings for our community center to be LEED certifiable (thanks to Valero/GNSC grant).  Elizabeth also pursued the $2.8 million for building our Community Center (Also from the Valero/GNSC grant). Sustainable living is core to the health and welfare of the public.
  3. Elizabeth was for protecting the citizens against the coke domes on the waterfront, chaired the General Plan Oversight Committee, fought for a significant Specific Plan that protected Benicians from tacky Seeno urban sprawl and has promoted more and safer bike lanes, traffic calming and infrastructure improvements like solar energy.

We have yet to hear from her opponent on how he will protect the health and safety of Benicians in terms of a cap on refinery emissions at Valero.  His vote on the Crude by Rail was too late in the game.  After hours of testimony, more than 700 pages of documentation, a 6-0 vote to deny by the Planning Commission, why did he need to wait for a ruling from the STB which had nothing to do with local control anyway?

He is a nice man.  He has been deliberate in his decisions as a two term council member.  That is not enough.   I believe he is not mayoral material.  What is his vision for Benicia?  I fear it is more urban sprawl and more free reign for Valero.

I want a mayor who is pro-active in protecting my health and welfare and who will stay ahead of threatening problems for Benicia.  That person is Elizabeth Patterson and I hope you will join me in keeping her as our Mayor for the next four years.

Susan Street
Benicia