Important to read the agenda, comment by email, attend and voice your thoughts at the August 17 zoom meeting
The Aug 17 Benicia City Council agenda is PACKED with important items. One is the ESTABLISHMENT AND APPOINTMENT OF THE NORTHWESTERN STUDY AREA SUBCOMMITTEE. This is all about the SEENO PROPERTY, and appears in the CONSENT calendar, Item 20 B. on p. 7.
The intent is to set up a Council Subcommittee composed of Mayor Young and Councilmember Macenski, who will “help City staff and consultants facilitate discussions about considering potential future land uses” of the Seeno property.
In my opinion, this initiative somewhat misleadingly re-names the Seeno property the “Northwestern Study Area”. Renaming the area will not remove the deservedly untrustworthy reputation of the Seeno family and its corporate entities. Utmost caution must be urged as the City moves forward to consider development there.
A Few Details
Download Green Gateway Business Community – A 21st Century Possibility, September 2008
It’s good news that the staff report mentions a City-sponsored “Specific Plan” 3 times, including a reference to the fact that adoption of a Specific Plan (Master Plan) is required by Benicia’s General Plan for any development of 40 acres or more. A Specific Plan was a primary focus of our 2008 Green Gateway Plan. Reference – see Benicia General Plan Policy 2.3.1, PDF pages 48-49, [document pages 34-35].
A Few Questions
Will the renaming confuse or fail to alert those of us who have been through battles concerning the Seeno property? Should the committee include citizen representatives in addition to the two Council members? Will the Committee recommend the City require a Specific Plan for any new development?
Alert!
Your continued vigilance and thoughtful input is needed! See
CASES: The County reported 294 new COVID cases just since Monday, 147 per day!CASES-PER DAY TREND: We are clearly experiencing a dramatic “summer surge” in cases. Cases-per-day were trending downward in the Spring, but rose rapidly in July and are extremely high in early August:
ACTIVE CASES:Solano’s 754 ACTIVE cases is up from Monday’s 626, and nearing our remarkable high the previous Friday of 972. Active cases are up alarmingly from 212 on July 2, and higher than anything since last February’s surge.
POSITIVE TEST RATE: INCREDIBLY HIGH – much higher than US & California! Our 7-day average percent positivity rate was up again today from a 16.2% Monday to 17.8% today, more than double the purple tier margin, and 3 times California’s rate and nearly 1½ times the U.S. rate. COMPARE: The California rate fell slightly today to 5.1% and today’s U.S. rose to 11.3%.[Source: Johns Hopkins]WARNING:The Delta Variant is among us and spreading fast. Time to mask up again – watch out and take care!
Hospitalizations up again today
CURRENT hospitalizations today rose from 101 to 127 persons, higher than anytime since February 1, 2021. This chart shows the steep curve in current hospitalizations:
ICU Beds Available are back in the yellow danger zone today, falling from 34% to 30%.
Ventilators Availablerose today from 66% to 74%.
TOTAL Hospitalized– The County’s Monday-Friday dashboard shows an intake/discharge total of CURRENTLY hospitalized cases (above), but never reports on the TOTAL hospitalized over the course of the pandemic. That total must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of the Hospitalizations by Age Group chart. The County updated its Hospitalizations by Age Group chart today. The County reported 6 new hospitalizations today, (1 fewer age 50-64), and 7 additional persons age 65+. Percentages remain the same. The Age Group chart shows a total of 2,041 persons hospitalized since the beginning of the outbreak., in the following age groups:
Age Group
Hospitalizations
% of Total
0-17
36
2%
18-49
582
29%
50-64
544
27%
65+
879
43%
TOTAL
2,041
100%
Hospitalizations are also recorded on the County’s demographic chart labeled “Hospitalizations by Race / Ethnicity.”The chart was updated today, adding 6 persons: 1 Black, 3 Hispanic, and 2 White. Here are the current numbers. Interestingly, the total doesn’t square with the total by age groups.
Race / Ethnicity
Hospitalizations
% of Total
Asians
323
17%
Black / African American
332
17%
Hispanic / Latinx
552
29%
White
624
33%
Multirace / Others
84
4%
TOTAL
1,915
100%
Face Coverings…
See California’s recent Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings. The guidelines include a recommendation for universal masking indoors statewide, adding of Adult and Senior Care Facilities to settings where all individuals must wear masks indoors, and a reference to new requirements for unvaccinated workers. Some California cities and counties are returning to mandatory masks for all in crowded places. In the Bay Area, Solano County is the only holdout against even RECOMMENDING masks in public indoors spaces. Dr. Matyas needs to make some difficult decisions – and soon!
STUDY SHOWS HIGHER RATE OF “BREAKTHROUGH” CASES AMONG THE VACCINATED – About wearing masks again, Social Distancing & Vaccination…
We heard seriously shocking news on July 29 about the large number of FULLY VACCINATED persons who are catching the virus and actively transmitting it. As the Washington Post reports, “A sobering scientific analysis published Friday found that three-quarters of the people infected during an explosive coronavirus outbreak fueled by the delta variant were fully vaccinated. …vaccinated people can spread the more transmissible variant and may be a factor in the summer surge of infections.”
This is HUGE! We were just beginning to associate more freely with fully vaccinated friends and family, and now we understand that some among us may be asymptomatic and unknowingly transmitting the virus, and inevitably helping spread the disease to someone who knows someone, who knows someone else, who knows yet another someone who is not vaccinated, or who is too young or too health-compromised to be vaccinated – and who may end up seriously ill or even dead! Please mask indoors in public now, and maybe even indoors with vaccinated family and friends! And PLEASE talk to anyone you know who isn’t vaccinated. This thing ain’t over yet!
Cases by City on Wednesday, August 11:
Beniciaadded 12 new cases today, a total of 1,153 cases since the outbreak began, 4.2% of its population of 27,570.
Dixon added 13 new cases today, total of 2,087 cases, 10.5% of its population of 19,794.
Fairfield added 80 new cases today, total of 10,134 cases, 8.7% of its population of 117,149.
Rio Vista added 8 new cases today, total of 458 cases, 4.9% of its population of 9,416.
Suisun Cityadded 18 new cases today, total of 2,641 cases, 9.0% of its population of 29,447.
Vacaville added 69 new cases today, a total of 9,764 cases, 9.9% its of population of 98,807.
Vallejoadded 94 new cases today, a total of 10,997 cases, 9.2% of its population of 119,544.
Unincorporated remained steady today, a total of 116 cases (population figures not available).
Solano County Fairgrounds board votes to ban gun shows
October, December event contracts honored
The Code of the West Gun Show runs three to five times a year at the Solano County Fairgrounds’ Exposition Hall. The fair board voted to ban gun shows after the two contracted shows this year. (Times-Herald file photo)Vallejo Times-Herald, by Richard Freedman, August 10, 2021
The partnership between Code of the West and the Solano County Fairgrounds is no longer rising with a bullet. The 20-plus year welcome mat was yanked off the front porch Monday night with a 4-1 vote banning all gun shows at the north Vallejo venue.
The gun show ban is cast in stone — for now. At the advice of counsel, the board of directors will honor signed contacts for Oct. 9-10 and Dec. 4-5 Code of the West events.
“My crystal ball is not very clear nowadays, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this question comes back again,” said Mike Ioakimedes, president and CEO of the Solano County Fairgrounds.
In a “Special Meeting by the Board of Directors,” Kari Birdseye, Valerie Williams, Norma Placido, and Manny Angel voted for the ban. Lee Williams voted against.
Photo: The art of making a mess in Vallejo
“I respect the careful thought this independent governing body gave to a very serious problem,” said Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell.
Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan and state Sen. Bill Dodd supported the fair association’s vote.
“That’s a good decision. There are enough guns in our country,” Hannigan said. “The Solano County Fairgrounds does not need to continue to support gun purchases.”
“Gun violence is a serious problem across our nation and here in Solano County,” said Dodd on Tuesday. “I’ve been clear that the state should not be involved in gun sales and I appreciate Solano County taking a close look at how they use the fairgrounds.”
While praising Code of the West for adhering to gun and ammunition purchase restrictions, with no issues at the shows, the prevalent reason cited for the ban was Vallejo’s high weapons-related crime rate.
Lee Williams vehemently disagreed.
“Stopping the gun show (at the fairgrounds) is not the answer. Education of guns is the answer,” Williams said. “I’m sorry the gun violence in Vallejo is really bad. A lot of the gun violence you’re seeing is due to the drug level going on in our communities. I see the professionalism at these gun shows and everything is on the up and up. If something went down (illegally), this should not be at this venue or other places in the state.”
Birdseye was the most vocal against hosting gun shows.
“This (gun violence) is a crisis in Vallejo and now is the time to take action,” she said. “I have learned that the gun shows sell out of ammunition, the first thing. To me, that is really concerning. A lot of people are showing up to get their ammo and to go. They take in a (safety) lesson or look at the antique guns. They are there to get ammunition and Vallejo is a pretty violent city with a lot of crime going on and the last thing we need is more ammunition in the streets.”
Birdseye said she believes in the Second Amendment, “but we are talking about a severely-impacted community and the fairgrounds sits in the middle of it.”
Board of Directors chair Manny Angel wavered on both sides of the issue, wanting to vote “yes” and “no,” initially abstaining, and finally voting to ban the gun shows.
“This is a pretty sensitive topic. It’s a hot-button issue,” Angel said. “We’re just operating these fairgrounds. This isn’t something I think we should be able to make the call on. We’re just hosting events and activities here.” Angel said the decision on banning gun shows “should come from upstairs.”
Birdseye immediately disagreed.
“We ask for autonomy from the county on many occasions,” she said. “I don’t feel like it’s our position to say, ‘Oh county, make the decision for us’ because we are in charge of the events.”
“The majority of people obtaining guns in town aren’t getting them from our gun shows,” Angel said. “People obtaining these firearms already have issues with the law. I don’t have all the answers. All I know is we have an opportunity here to do something about that. I don’t want to take away anybody’s ability to own a gun. On the other hand, you see in the news, see everywhere what’s happening in town.”
When roll call began, Angel said that “I am going to abstain on this vote. I wanted to vote ‘yes’ and I ‘no.’ I don’t think I have the authority to make that call. I think it’s on everyone else to make that call.”
When Ioakimedes asked Birdseye to repeat the vote for the meeting’s minutes, Angel changed his mind, voting “yes” on the ban.
“I don’t think it’ll have a direct impact on Vallejo’s violence. At least I know we’re trying to do something make an effort to make it right by the community,” Angel said.
Valerie Williams said she had “mixed emotions whether we should be hosting gun shows or not.”
“My husband is a hunter and my dad was a hunter,” she said. “We were taught to handle firearms properly. But I understand not everyone lives the same way. We all see the news — these mass shootings. Often these people have mental illness or other problems. That’s my concern. I feel our gun shows are following the laws that dictate how they can transfer firearms. I don’t think anybody’s right to purchase firearms trumps someone’s right to survive the day and come home.”
Placido said that crime “is really terrible here in Vallejo and we have to make sure we will not continue to host a gun show.”
Jason Smith of Code of the West defended more than two decades of shows his family has produced at the fairgrounds “in a safe environment for gun enthusiasts, whether they are collectors, hunters, or like to go to the shooting range. We never had a single issue at the fairgrounds.”
Smith squelched the “false rumor” that there’s a “gun show loophole” in buying firearms, “that you can buy a gun and leave that day with it or buy ammo without having a background check. That’s all false.”
The same background checks and wait period laws that a gun store has to follow are the same laws restricting gun shows, Smith said.
“We definitely follow all the state and federal guidelines or we would be shut down by the Department of Justice,” said Smith, who said in an interview Tuesday afternoon that he “didn’t expect” a board vote Monday.
“I knew there was a meeting scheduled to discuss the future of gun shows at the Solano County Fairgrounds but I did not realize there was an actual vote taking place on Monday night,” he said.
Smith criticized the board members’ knowledge of the gun debate.
“People that are against gun shows tend to base their decisions off of misinformation and are not educated about the industry,” he said. “For example, one board member mentioned people arriving to the gun show and buying all of the ammo first thing Saturday morning. This has been true the past couple of shows because there is an industry-wide ammo shortage right now. Arriving early is necessary if you want a chance to purchase ammo. People are not hoarding or stockpiling. There is simply a shortage.”
During the public comment segment of the Zoom meeting, gun show proponent Jeff Moorhead said he has been a Code of the West participant at the fairgrounds “for a long time.”
“Why would we not allow gun shows to continue at the Solano County Fair? I have never witnessed at any time an illegal transaction. The gun shows have been very professional,” Moorhead said, calling it “a fundamental right of Americans to be able to obtain firearms.”
The gun shows bring in “about $40,000 to $50,000 in gross annual sales,” Iokimedes said, acknowledging that replacing the income “will be a tough nut to crack.”
This Thursday (8/12, 4-6pm) Benicia Black Lives Matter will be handing out backpacks for kids in elementary, middle and high school. Please stop by City Park Gazebo if your kiddo needs one! We will be giving them away until supplies run out.
While you’re there, enjoy some jams with DJ Irrataetion and food from the Trap Meals on Wheels food truck!
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