The City of Benicia has begun work to update the 1997 Parks, Trails, and Open Space Master Plan to guide the planning, maintenance, development, and rehabilitation of Benicia’s parks, trails, and open
space system.
Benicia residents are invited to join in the process, which will be led by the Parks & Community Services Department, as the city seeks feedback from all members of the community about the future of Benicia’s parks, trails, and open space system.
The City of Benicia Parks & Community Services Department manages 28 parks totaling approximately 700 acres, including the 577-acre Lake Herman Regional Park and the 50-acre Benicia Community Park, all of which is managed under a system Master Plan that was adopted in 1997. The updated master plan will serve as a long-range planning and asset management document that provides a framework for understanding the financial investments needed to maintain and improve the parks, trails, and open space assets Benicia owns. The plan will provide a better understanding of the current and future maintenance needs and a capital improvement program to guide reinvestment.
Mayor Steve Young encourages the community to get involved, stating, “It has been 24 years since Benicia reviewed its parks program. While we know our parks are loved by our community, it is time to look to a plan for improving them and sustaining them into the future. This review process needs the considered comments of our community. Please watch for opportunities to get involved.”
Benicia has hired a consultant team that includes RHA Landscape ArchitectsPlanners, PROS Consulting, WRT Planning + Design, and the ETC Institute.
Doug Grove, RHA President, said, “Benicia has such a wonderful collection of parks, trails, and open space it is clear why residents are so proud of their city. Our goal is to engage the community in the most inclusive and innovative manner possible and to let the community’s values and unmet needs drive the priorities for Benicia’s future.”
The consulting team has developed an ADA-accessible, crowdsourcing website to guide this project at LoveBeniciaParks.com. This site will serve as the one-stop shop to provide all plan updates, list meeting dates, host online surveys and provide the community opportunities to continue sharing their feedback throughout the planning process.
Benicia will conduct two identical virtual public input meetings to gather feedback from residents. These meetings, which will be open to the public, seek to engage the Benicia community to obtain their input through live polling, Q&A, and public comments. The meetings will be held on Wednesday, April 28 and again on Thursday, April 29 from 6 to 7 p.m. Those who are unable to attend a virtual public meetings may view the recordings of the meetings at LoveBeniciaParks.com and share their feedback later.
Additionally, there will be follow up meetings later in the year to present the findings from the study and gather additional input from the community.
SOLANO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 7: Suisun Marsh as seen from Solano County, Calif., on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. There is a proposal to drill into the Suisun Marsh for fossil fuels. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)East Bay Times, by Shomik Mukherjee, April 12, 2021
The Suisun Marsh — known as the largest swath of contiguous wetlands on the West Coast and a haven for thousands of migrating waterfowl — has become the Bay Area’s latest battleground between fossil fuel producers and environmentalists hellbent on fighting climate change.
A Brentwood company, Sunset Exploration Inc., announced in January it wants to explore for natural gas by drilling a section of the 116,000-acre marshland about 9 miles southwest of Suisun City in an area known as Hunter’s Point, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Sunset proposes to construct a gravel drilling pad almost an acre large and drop a volleyball-sized drill bit about a half-mile into the sandstone ground, probing to see if there’s enough gas worth extracting. This first-phase process would last several weeks.
If the well yields enough natural gas, Sunset next plans to build a pipeline from the drilling pad to send the gas to an existing pipeline about a mile and a half away, There, the gas would be tapped to serve about 30,000 homes in the surrounding region for up to 10 years.
Because Sunset already has mineral rights to more than 4,400 acres in the Suisun Marsh, it can technically drill without a permit. But it won’t be able to if the Army Corps determines the well and pipeline would harm the environment.
A coalition of environmental groups, including San Francisco Baykeeper and Center for Biological Diversity, has already taken a stand against the project and wrote a Feb. 26 letter urging the Army Corps to reject Sunset’s request for a permit.
They contend the drilling operation would contribute to climate change because combusting natural gas to produce energy releases carbon emissions. Plus there’s the added risk of gas leaks.
In addition, opponents contend the project would threaten hundreds of bird, fish, mammal and reptilian species that thrive in the marsh, as well as sensitive plants such as the Suisun thistle that doesn’t grow anywhere else on Earth.
So swift and fierce was their response that Sunset is contemplating a retreat.
“It may not be worth the fight,” Bob Nunn, president of Sunset Exploration, said in a recent interview.
Joining the chorus against the project is the state Department of Justice’s Office of the Attorney General, which sent its own letter recently telling the Army Corps that it’s concerned drilling would disrupt natural habitats and produce more carbon emissions at a time when the state is attempting to tamp down its fossil fuel production.
“The proposed fill and drilling in areas of Suisun Marsh could harm unique and irreplaceable habitat for endangered California Ridgway’s rail and salt marsh harvest mouse, numerous migratory bird species, listed fish species, and the very rare Suisun thistle,” the attorney general’s office wrote.
Asked why a state law enforcement agency would weigh in on a drilling project, the office replied in an email, “We’ll let the letter speak for itself.”
Even if the Army Corps signs off on the drilling plans, Sunset Exploration would need to get the OK of other federal and state environmental regulatory agencies, such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.
If approved, Sunset’s wouldn’t be the only natural gas well at Suisun Marsh. Several other active gas wells operate there, their locations shown on an online map created by the California Geological Energy Management Division. About a dozen other gas wells have been plugged and are no longer active for various reasons. Nunn said these wells are similar in size to what he proposes to build.
“We were surprised at the level of opposition,” Sahrye Cohen, a regulatory chief at the Army Corps who will review the permit application, said in an interview. “I think it’s an indication of the times. People don’t want fossil fuels in California.”
SOLANO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 7: Suisun Marsh as seen from Solano County, Calif., on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. There is a proposal to drill into the Suisun Marsh for fossil fuels. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Sunset’s Nunn acknowledged his company is pondering whether the costs of an extended review process are justified given the stiff resistance.
“The environmental community likes to thrust longer and longer delays on the smaller projects, until eventually the project becomes unrealistic and the operator says, ‘To hell with it,’” Nunn said.
While natural gas is cleaner than oil, producing less greenhouse gas emissions when it combusts, it still is a fossil fuel — and California’s goal is to reduce its emissions by 40% before 2030, an ambitious plan that involves transitioning to fully renewable energy sources.
Nunn called critics of oil and gas drilling hypocritical for participating in a carbon-fueled society and argued that shipping oil to California from elsewhere emits more carbon than would his local drilling project.
San Francisco Baykeeper’s executive director described Nunn’s comments as “nonsense,” saying there’s no tolerance in the Bay Area for “dinosaur oil companies” amid a transition to cleaner energy sources.
“Any time there’s drilling in the vicinity of wetlands, you need to evaluate thoroughly the environmental impacts of that drilling,” Sejal Choksi-Chugh said in an interview. “The Bay is no place for oil and gas drilling — the fact that (the company) is reconsidering is a big step and we’re pleased to hear that.”
Jacob Klein, an organizer with the Sierra Club’s Redwood Chapter, described Nunn’s justification for drilling locally and extracting natural gas instead of oil as “common talking points” that ignore the bigger picture.
“Rather than make comparisons between petroleum-based energy sources, we just need to be leaving (natural gas) in the ground,” Klein said.
Sunset Exploration acquired an existing Solano County permit and 4,400 acres of mineral rights for Hunter’s Point in 2018 after previous holder Venoco went bankrupt as it was seeking to obtain a drilling permit from the Army Corps.
Sunset was hoping to finish the job, though the opposition is now giving it second thoughts.
“They’re singling me out,” Nunn said. “If this gets drawn out for months and years, the real loser will be the environment.”
On April 12, Solano County reported 146 new COVID cases over the 3-day weekend, averaging 48.7 per day. Solano reported a total of 272 new cases last week, averaging 39 per day, keeping us from joining all other Bay Area counties in the State’s orange tier. >> The virus is still on the move here. Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance! We will get through this together.
Cases by City on April 12:
Benicia added 6 new cases over the weekend, total of 909 cases since the outbreak began.
Dixon added 16 new cases over the weekend, total of 1,828 cases.
Fairfield added 32 new cases over the weekend, total of 8,618 cases.
Rio Vista added 1 new case over the weekend, total of 358 cases.
Suisun City added 8 new cases over the weekend, total of 2,164 cases.
Vacaville added 38 new cases over the weekend, total of 8,271 cases.
Vallejoadded 45 new cases over the weekend, total of 9,424 cases.
Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 101 cases.
Recently, most new cases are among those of us aged 18-49!
Solano Age Groups – Total & New Cases reported on April 12
0-17 Total Cases
New cases today
18-49 Total Cases
New cases today
50-64 Total Cases
New cases today
65+ Total Cases
New cases today
3,757
26
17,536
74
6,554
28
3,815
17
Ages 0-17 count for 11.9% of all cases (up .1%) Ages 18-49 count for 55.4% of all cases
Ages 50-64 count for 20.7% of all cases
Ages 65+ count for 12.0% of all cases (down .1%)
On average, those of us age 18-49 are most likely to catch the virus. The chart below shows the RATE of Solano cases by age groups (per 100,000 population, as of today).
COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Friday, April 9:Solano Cities – Benicia has lowest RATE of infections, Dixon and Vacaville have highest infection rates.
The images on this page are from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard. The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays around 4pm. On the County’s dashboard, you can hover a mouse or click on an item for more information. Note the tabs at top for Summary, Demographics and Vaccines. Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.
“My son loved school and learning. That is until he felt racially targeted and unprotected by the staff and administration.”
April 11, 2021
Black woman
Age – late 30s
Benicia resident for 10 years
My husband and I moved to Benicia from Vallejo because of the schools. It wasn’t about safety. We lived in a decent Vallejo neighborhood, and we were locals. I had attended school there myself, and had a reasonably good education and experience. The schools in Vallejo are integrated, and I always felt safe and connected. However, the schools in Benicia offered more resources for the classrooms, and more co-curricular and extra curricular activities. There were field trips and enrichment opportunities available in the Benicia schools that Vallejo couldn’t offer. And so we moved here.
My son started his school career in Benicia. He would come home every day practically bursting with the new things he learned. He loved to read, explore, calculate, analyze and memorize. He brought his joy of learning into everything we did. He woke up excited every morning, eager to go to school and ready to learn. It was a dream come true for any parent, and I was especially proud.
Then when he got to middle school something changed. It started with a juvenile verbal challenge between my son and another boy, who happened to be white. At first the argument was typical of 7th grade boys trying to show off. As it got more heated, the other boy pulled out the racial derogatives. He called my son the “N” word and a “black gorilla.” My son reciprocated with some angry words of his own, but did not resort to racially based insults. The verbal bashing was eventually interrupted by staff, and the boys were brought to the Vice Principal’s office.
The other boy’s mother and I were summoned to the office for a “chat.” I sat there with the woman, the counselor and the vice principal, listening to the boys retell their story. When it became clear that the other child had used racial slurs, his mother became indignant. She vehemently argued that her son couldn’t help himself. She claimed he had socialization issues that were the underlying cause of his behavior. Her argument became so passionate and her demeanor so aggressive that the staff members backed down. She eventually left the room in a huff with her son. My son received detention. Hers did not. It was the first time that my son did not feel protected or valued by the administration.
After that, things started to cascade. My son earned the reputation of being a goofball, and small things began to appear on his disciplinary record, things like, “throwing Cheetos,” “horseplay,” and “kicking someone’s backpack.” Although individually, these things are relatively insignificant, especially since they were done while joking around with his friends, each incident added demerits to my son’s record and his reputation grew. His attitude towards school began to change. He no longer looked forward to going, and his academics began to be affected.
There were more meetings with school officials. Sometimes, the school resource officer was asked to attend. Each time, my son was treated with a dismissive attitude by school authorities. Eventually, he was required to attend a SARB (School Attendance Review Board) meeting for his disciplinary issues. This was presided over by a judge. The judge looked over my son’s school record and kicked it out with a reprimand to the school for wasting his time. It was a small reprieve.
The final blow came when my son was overheard by a substitute teacher teasing his friend (a Black girl) about her weave, which is a hairstyle used frequently in Black culture. The middle aged white woman, misunderstanding his intent, sent my son to the office for “sexual harassment.” To add to the insult, the substitute confided her version of what happened to a white male teacher in his 30s, who, knowing about my son’s growing reputation, took it upon himself to run an informal investigation. He asked several girls whether they had experienced sexually charged or harassing comments from my son. I learned this from the teacher in question, and it added to my son’s feelings of betrayal and marginalization. Although the sexual harassment accusation was unfounded, it still ended up on his disciplinary record without our knowledge.
It was at this point that my husband and I made the difficult decision to pull our son out of Benicia Middle School. We settled on a local private school, but my son’s discipline record was called into question before he was admitted, particularly the part about his involvement in sexual harassment. I had to go back to Benicia Middle School to question the reason this unfounded incident was on his record and request a correction. I also needed a letter, clearing my son of this accusation so that he could move on. The Vice principal apologized, made the correction on the school records, and wrote a letter for me; but the damage was already done.
When my son started high school, we decided to give the Benicia schools another try. For a while, everything went smoothly. And then an incident occurred with another white woman substitute in English class. The class was reading “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which you may know contains some racially disparaging scenes. The teacher was having the students read passages aloud in preparation for discussion. When it came to reading the “N” word, several students, both white and Black, voiced that they were uncomfortable verbalizing this word when the use was clearly meant to dehumanize a Black character. At first the substitute insisted, but when met with continued student resistance, she relented, saying they could replace the unpalatable word with another word, such as “dog.” This upset my son and he spoke up – very passionately, I might add. When he discovered it useless to argue his point more, he took a walk so he could cool off. Meanwhile, the teacher called the office and claimed my son took an aggressive stance with her, and she felt uncomfortable with him being there. Upon returning to class my son was quickly sent to the office. When the administration looked into the incident, they concluded that he was not threatening in any way, but thought it would be best for him to remain in the office for the days she continued to substitute. Even though her claims were unsubstantiated, she refused to admit that she had offered the word “dog” as a replacement for the “N” word, despite the testimonies of several students. My thoughts were, “Here we are again.”
The pandemic called an end to the situation. My son did not have to attend school in person for the rest of his freshman or his sophomore year to date. And he has opted not to return for the remainder of this year. We support him. My son’s decision is based, not on the health threat of Covid 19, but on the lack of support he feels from the school administration.
These are only a few of the racial and traumatic incidents that have occurred at the schools over the years. Most have been undocumented without any repercussion to the offending parties. My child, like many others, has been left to filter, process, and internalize his pain and emotional distress, with little to no help from the schools.
I am saddened by and disappointed in the Benicia School District. What started as a wonderful opportunity to inspire and maximize my son’s academic potential was overshadowed by a continued lack of support and belief in my son’s capabilities. He is now another disillusioned student. I know my son is a passionate and intelligent young man, but instead of inspiring and guiding him towards leadership, the system has demonstrated time and again that his Black male passion must be extinguished. I feel like I have sent my child into a hostile environment for the sake of his education. I wanted to send him into a place that would give him the same nurturing guidance as we give in our home but I have been proven wrong time and again. His emotional and psychological distress breaks my heart. And I know I am not alone in these concerns. Many Benicia families of color have similar experiences.
I have noticed the Benicia District and schools taking steps to address the racial inequity and it gives me hope. Children should leave the educational system full of knowledge and eagerness to learn more. They should not leave needing to heal from psychological scars caused by race-based traumatic stress.
Benicia residents are invited to join in the process, which will be led by the Parks & Community Services Department, as the city seeks feedback from all members of the community about the future of Benicia’s parks, trails, and open space system.
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:
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