By Elizabeth Patterson, September 11, 2025 [posted belatedly here on 9/17/25]

Brenden Chavez is a graduate student in Urban Planning at San José State University with roots in Benicia, studying refinery closures, land use & environmental planning, and community health.”

Brenden and I have been discussing the role of the community in decisions about Valero decommissioning and future land uses. He contacted me because of my work as Mayor and using the public process for major issues. Collaborative planning involves empowering the public and not being led by top down process. I will share his paper on this when it is ready. Meanwhile I thought you’d like to see his great questions, as follows:

I saw the recent news about the state possibly giving Valero a bailout of $80 to $200 million to keep them operating. This is a huge development, and honestly, a bit unexpected. My thought is that Sac politicians are motivated by fear of gas going to $8/gallon. If this goes through, it’s a setback to the state’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2045. Unfortunately, there is no concrete ‘just transition’ strategy to help cities like Benicia, which are economically dependent on the fossil fuel industry. I’m trying to wrap my head around what this means for Benicia. A few questions come to mind:

• • If Sacramento is willing to spend $80 billion to save Valero, why can’t they do the same for the city/county? Backfilling the general fund, remediation seed money, retraining programs, etc.
  • Is there any way for the city or other regional agencies to have a seat at the stakeholder table, since the state is essentially repaying them their $82 million settlement with taxpayer money?
  • If Valero gets bailed out, does that give other refineries like Phillips 66 the power to lobby for the same treatment? How does that shift the state’s long-term sustainability goals?

Elizabeth Patterson