All posts by Roger Straw

Editor, owner, publisher of The Benicia Independent
Local elections, Progressive Democrats of Benicia

Progressive Democrats of Benicia: Meeting of March 13, 2018

Repost from Progressive Democrats of Benicia
[Editor: The Progressive Dems of Benicia (PDB) have hosted an impressive series of guest speakers.  The March meeting will feature candidate for Governor Delaine Eastin.  Speakers at PDB meetings are not yet endorsed by the group.  Endorsement decisions will be made later this year.  – R.S.]

Guest speaker: Delaine Eastin, Candidate for California Governor
Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 7:00 pm
Benicia Public Library, Dona Benicia Room
150 East L Street, Benicia, CA

Our next public meeting will be at the Benicia Library, 150 East L St., in the Dona Benicia Room, on March 13th, at 7:00 p.m. Our featured speaker is Delaine Eastin, 2018 candidate for Governor in California.

Delaine Eastin, candidate for California Governor

Delaine is a former California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, following eight years in the State Assembly and six years on the Union City (Alameda County) City Council. In the June 6 Gubernatorial Primary, Delaine’s principal opposition is expected to be: Democrats Gavin Newsom, current Lt. Governor, Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles, and John Chiang, current CA State Treasurer; and, Republican candidates Travis Allen, Assemblyman and John Cox, a businessman.

Delaine is the only woman to have held the office of California State Superintendent of Public Instruction. According to her bio sheet, she was responsible for initiatives which focused on wiring schools for technology and stronger technical/vocational training for students. She also successfully sued the governor for withholding funds from K-12 schools, and joined the successful lawsuit against Proposition 187, which among other things would have used teachers as immigration agents.

For more information on Delaine, her campaign website is http://www.delaineforgovernor.com. 

In addition to Delaine as our featured speaker, we will also conduct Club business related to ongoing development of our website and present a draft of our proposed endorsement process for consideration by membership. It’s important for members to participate in these committee discussions to ensure we have sign off from membership on the direction the committees take and as our Club moves forward.  We want and need your thoughts and suggestions, criticism, and support!

Please SAVE THE DATE and join us for an evening of enlightenment and hope! See you on March 13, Benicia Library, 7:00 p.m!

Everytown, Gun control, Moms Demand Action, National Rifle Association

2-Page Ad in The New York Times Calls Out NRA-Backed Members of Congress

Repost from AdWeek
[Editor: see image at bottom of this article for the ad showing a list of YOUR representatives who have taken NRA money – along with their office phone numbers.  – RS]

Powerful and informative 2-page ad by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

By Kristina Monllos, February 21, 2018

Two gun control groups, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, have taken out a two-page ad in today’s The New York Times listing members of Congress who have accepted donations from the National Rifle Association.

Following last week’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the groups created an action plan, #ThrowThemOut. The ad, which cost $230,000 and was created by the groups with help from strategic communications firm SKDK, is part of that plan.  >>MORE…keep reading!

Benicia CA, Benicia Industrial Park, Contra Costa County, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Martinez CA, Refinery safety, Richmond CA, Rodeo CA

Andrés Soto Letter: Benicians Deserve Better

Repost from the Benicia Herald, Forum Page

Benicia deserves better

Andrés Soto

February 21, 2018, By Andrés Soto

Benicia is the only Bay Area refinery town that does not have the community protection of an Industrial Safety Ordinance, or ISO.

In 1999, the city of Richmond and Contra Costa County adopted their interlocking ISOs. The Richmond ordinance mirrors the Contra Costa ISO, and Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Division is responsible for enforcement and reporting.

Their experience with repeated refinery and associated hydrogen plant polluting events caused the elected leaders to respond to pressure from the disproportionally impacted communities in Richmond, Rodeo and Martinez for greater protection and information about polluting incidents.

How did Benicia miss out?

Since the adoption of the ISO, there have continued to be dangerous and deadly incidents at these Bay Area refineries, albeit at reduced rates, due to the ISO. Fortunately, the Richmond/Contra Costa ISO allows for corrective provisions that have improved refinery function and provided impacted communities with timely investigative information.

Under the ISOs, a 72-hour post incident report is available to the public. Monthly reports, or more frequently if necessary, follow that report and are publicly posted. To date, neither the Benicia City Council nor the people of Benicia have received any official reports on the nearly monthlong Valero flaring disaster this past May.

Based on the success of the Richmond/Contra Costa ISO, the California legislature adopted some of the process safety management portions of the ISO and made them state law, going into effect in October.

Unfortunately, the legislature did not adopt all elements of the ISOs. Benicia’s ability to receive information, publish the results of investigations to the public and to require Valero to take corrective action simply does not exist. Can we wait for the legislature to strengthen the state law?

While Valero and PG&E point the finger at each other over who is at fault for the Valero flaring disaster in May, Benicia remains in the dark. We know Valero was given permits to construct an adequate backup generator system but only one co-generator was built and the permit for the other was allowed to expire after several extensions, probably because of Valero’s bureaucrats in Texas.

Do we Benicians think we can count on Texas oil men to put our health and safety ahead of their profits? The lesson we learned from the successful battle to stop Valero’s dangerous Crude-By-Rail Project is the company seems to stop at nothing to ensure their profits – even at the expense of Benicians.

Benicia deserves better!

Andrés Soto,
Benicia

Gun control, Mass shootings, Rep. Mike Thompson

Benicians debate Rep. Mike Thompson’s views on assault weapons

February 21, 2018
[Editor: UPDATE: See how Thompson’s views have changed:  He now says that “military grade automatic and semi-automatic assault weapons “do not belong in the hands of citizens.”   – RS]

PREVIOUSLY POSTED MATERIAL from a Facebook page has been removed at the request of a member of the PRIVATE  Facebook group, Benicia Indivisible For Justice.   Material removed showed a lengthy debate on Rep. Thompson’s views on assault weapons.  Contact Mike here.