By Stephen Golub, Benicia resident and author, “Benicia and Beyond” column in the Benicia Herald, Feb 9, 2025

This past Tuesday’s City Council meeting considered for the first time a nearly final draft of an industrial safety ordinance (ISO) that will help protect our city against toxic emissions, fires and explosions from hazardous facilities here, particularly but not only the Valero refinery.

I’ve never been so proud to be a Benician. I’d guess 80-90 people packed the Council Chambers at City Hall, with about 29 others Zooming in. The large majority comprised folks whom I’d never seen or heard speak up on this issue. The entire crowd seemed to support the unanimous pro-ISO consensus among the 30-plus speakers who ranged from expert engineers to laypersons with kids to protect.

One such engineer, a Valero retiree, didn’t doubt refinery employees’ personal commitments to safety, but pointed out that refinery management is under extraordinary pressure to reduce costs. He emphasized that the ISO could actually help the current refinery engineers maintain safety. (I’ll again state my respect and affection for our Valero-employed friends and neighbors in Benicia, and distinguish them from the huge Texas-based corporation that owns the refinery and calls the shots.)

A parent who attended the meeting with his (I assume) wife and toddler, chimed in to favor the ordinance. Several persons prefaced their remarks by saying “I didn’t intend to speak,” then went on to describe their concerns and support. At least  one speaker pointed out that if Valero had an accident like last weekend’s huge Martinez fire and if the wind were blowing the wrong way, our entire town could have been endangered.

All in all, our community came together in numbers and passion spread across a spectrum of perspectives, but united in an unprecedented way in support for the ISO.

Valero representatives did not attend the meeting.

The big news emerging from the meeting is that Mayor Steve Young declared his backing for the ISO for the first time. Vice Mayor Trevor Macenski and Council Member Lionel Largaespada hinted at similar support; Largaespada, whose election campaigns Valero had indirectly backed through political action committees in the past, voiced a belief in strong industrial regulation and oversight.

Kudos to Young for his endorsement of the measure; this would seem to  ensure a Council majority for passage, though not counting our chickens before they hatch comes to mind. Let’s hope Macenski and Largaespada join him.

Speaking of kudos: pro-ISO Council Members Kari Birdseye and Terry Scott, who along with Fire Chief Josh Chadwick and other City staff had worked tirelessly to on the ISO for over a year, played particularly powerful roles in the Council meeting’s deliberations.

Birdseye hit the bullseye in a number of illuminating exchanges with fellow Council members. For instance, when Largaespada suggested instructing City staff to review certain administrative and other details (which could in effect delay a final vote on the ISO indefinitely), she pointed out that tremendous work had already gone into thrashing out details in the document and that it was time to move ahead. (As a former New York City government management analyst and international development policy analyst, I couldn’t agree more; you can work forever on tweaking a document and never reach closure.)

Birdseye similarly pushed back successfully and forcefully when it was suggested that the Council approve formal ex officio (non-voting) membership on the ISO’s citizen Oversight Commission for Valero or other regulated businesses. As she asserted, we don’t want “the fox in the henhouse.”

Scott had his own “Great Scott!” moments. Young suggested that Valero be consulted yet again to ascertain whether the ISO could be altered to address its concerns. In response, Scott pointed out the many, many times that the City had sought constructive Valero input over the course of over a year of ISO preparation, only to be met repeatedly by dozens of pages of legalistic criticism and unhelpful feedback. He also noted that Valero had not even attended Tuesday’s Council meeting.

There are miles to ago and at least two additional Council meetings to hold before it  finally votes on the ISO – which, it should be noted, is the kind of ordinance every other Bay Area refinery community has. Lots could go wrong, but so much could go right. I’ll save that for another day.

For today, I’ll just say that if Texas-based Valero seeks to block the ISO, it will be taking on not just a city but a very motivated community. Last Tuesday’s Council meeting proved that.

---