"Push poll", Benicia City Council, Kari Birdseye, Local elections, Negative ads, Negative campaigning, Organized labor, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Services Inc.

Here it is – video of the Final Word Forum

By Roger Straw, Election Day, November 6, 2018
[Editor: For whatever reason, the City backed off its plan to post the video of the forum, but made DVD copies available to the public on request.  This is therefore an official record of the proceedings, uploaded from the DVD by Benicia videographer Constance Beutel.  Many thanks, Constance!  – R.S.]

Candidates disavow Valero/Labor PAC’s offensive negative phone calls and ads

Below is the recording of the City of Benicia Open Government Commission’s “Final Word” forum held on Saturday, November 3.  (Note that there is a lengthy intro with nothing happening.  The meeting is called to order at 8:45.)

The Final Word Forum is convened by the City of Benicia Open Government Commission on the Saturday before an election as a means for candidates to address “last minute hit pieces.”  (Municipal code ordinance 1.42.110.)

The event this year was attended by an overflow crowd, following the massive spending and offensive negative advertising of a Valero/Labor anti-Birdseye political action committee (PAC).  At the forum, all four candidates for City Council roundly rejected the false and misleading claims made by the PAC against Kari Birdseye.

The Benicia Independent has endorsed Kari Birdseye for City Council.  For more about Kari, see BirdseyeForBenicia.com.

NOTE SLOW START: The first part of this video shows nothing happening.  The meeting is convened at minute 8:45, but nothing much happens until Public Comment, which begins at minute 12:28.  Even then, the call for speakers doesn’t come until minute 13:33.  To move forward through the video, hover your mouse at bottom and click/drag the little red ball to the right until you reach the minute you want.

NOTE ALSO:

  • Public Comment speakers favoring the Valero/Labor anti-Birdseye PAC run from 13:33 to 33:36.  Mr. Versace, who is eventually ejected by police for misbehavior, is called to speak at minute 22:50.
  • At 33:50 Gigi Giblin leads off a series of speakers critical of the PAC’s hit pieces.
  • Rules, procedures and housekeeping begins at 51:07.
  • The CANDIDATE COMMENTS followed by PUBLIC QUESTIONS and CANDIDATE ANSWERS begins at 55:50.
Benicia City Council, Kari Birdseye, Local elections, Organized labor, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Services Inc.

Anti-Birdseye PAC gets another $15,000, adjusts total of fund to $207,500

By Roger Straw, November 6, 2018

The rich and intrusive Valero/Labor anti-Birdseye political action committee (PAC) filed new income reports with the City of Benicia on the last day before the election.

The PAC disclosed $15,000 in new contributions on 11/2 from the Boilermakers PAC, raising the total of PAC funds to $210,000.  (Form 497-8)

The PAC also filed two reports (497-9 and 497-10) showing “Estimated non-monetary contributions” for the periods 10/21-10/31 ($7,812.50) and 11/1-11/4 ($4,687.50).  This $12,500 donated by the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California would increase the PAC’s total funding to $222,500.

The PAC also filed two amendments.  One (497-11) removes a 10/31 contribution by the Boilermakers.  A previous report shows a Boilermaker contribution on that date of $15,000.  The amendment shows $0.  This would reduce the PAC’s total funds by $15,000, leaving a grand total of $207,500.

The final PAC report (497-12) seems only to be a confirmation or verification of the removal in 497-11.

A lot of paper-shuffling on the day before the election having to do with Boilermaker funding of the PAC.  We wonder why….

These reports all appear on the City of Benicia’s Campaign Finance Reports page.

Big Oil, Electoral politics, Nielsen Merksamer, Valero Energy Corporation, Valero Services Inc.

Benicia isn’t the only one – big oil money inserts itself in Petaluma & Santa Rosa races

Repost from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat
[Editor: note some of the same unfriendly giants as in Benicia: Valero Energy of course, and the law firm Nielsen Merksamer (“Bay Area-based law and lobbying firm that specializes in political and public-sector cases”).  – R.S.]

Oil and real estate interests pour money into Petaluma and Santa Rosa races

By Will Schmitt & Hannah Beausang, November 2, 2018, 8:57PM
Candidates for Petaluma Mayor include, from left, Mike Harris, Teresa Barrett, and Brian Powell.

More than $100,000 from oil and real estate interests has been funneled into city council races in Sonoma County’s two largest cities, highlighting how outside groups have ponied up to influence voters in the Nov. 6 election.

Of the pair of independent expenditure campaigns, the most visible has been in Petaluma, where a committee backed by several large oil companies has poured more than $78,000 into the race for mayor, according to campaign finance records.

The second spending effort is by a national real estate group that has spent more than $31,000 in favor of several city council candidates in Petaluma and Santa Rosa.

In Petaluma especially, the rush of outside spending has caused a stir. The two campaigns there have separately generated mailers supporting two mayoral candidates — Mike Harris and Brian Powell — and online ads and mailers supporting Harris and two others running for council seats, incumbent Dave King and candidate Michael Regan.

Brian Sobel, a Petaluma- based political analyst and former city councilman, called the level of outside spending in the city election unprecedented.

“It’s not been in Petaluma’s tradition or history to have independent expenditures committees singling out individual candidates and supporting them,” Sobel said.

Campaign finance rules limit individual donations directly to candidate campaigns to $200 in Petaluma and $500 in Santa Rosa per donor per election cycle. But there is no cap on how much money individuals or organizations can dole out through independent expenditure committees. The committees must report their spending to election authorities and are barred from coordinating with candidates.

Independent expenditures to sway elections are not new, though their prevalence and power has increased since the 2010 Citizens United case before the U.S. Supreme Court. It did away with independent political spending limits for corporations, labor groups and other entities on free-speech grounds.

The group responsible for the largest amount of spending in Petaluma this year goes by the name Coalition to Restore California’s Middle Class, Including Energy Companies who Produce Gas, Oil, Jobs and Pay Taxes. The committee has received millions of dollars from oil giants Chevron, Valero Energy and Phillips 66, according to campaign finance documents filed with the California Secretary of State.

The committee reported spending about $62,300 as of Friday to support Harris, a former councilman who is making his second bid for the mayor’s post. The oil-backed group also reported spending $15,800 in favor of Powell, a political newcomer and environmentalist who has embraced a strong anti-growth platform for the city.

Powell, Harris and Councilwoman Teresa Barrett are vying to replace Mayor David Glass, who is retiring.

The oil-backed coalition’s motives were not immediately obvious.

The phone number listed on the filings is associated with the San Rafael office of Nielsen Merksamer, a Bay Area-based law and lobbying firm that specializes in political and public-sector cases. Chevron Corp., Valero Energy and Philips 66 are listed as clients on the firm’s website.

Steven Lucas, the coalition’s registered agent, did not respond to requests for comment.

Barrett said she believed the outside spending was an attempt to bolster the chances of her rivals for the mayor’s post and deny her a public platform. Barrett is a strong pro-environment voice who serves on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which regulates regional refineries. The district’s leadership comprises local elected officials, and Barrett would have to step down if she came up short in the mayor’s race, she noted.

Benicia Open Government Commission, Final Word Forum, Kari Birdseye, Negative ads, Negative campaigning, Organized labor, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Services Inc.

City decides NOT to post Final Word forum video- last rebroadcast Monday night 7pm

By Roger Straw, November 5, 2018
[Editor: At around 6pm tonight, City Manager Lorie Tinfow responded to urgent citizen requests to air the video.  She wrote, “We are treating the video of the Candidates Forum on Saturday in the same way we have treated previous videos of this forum when held. We are showing it twice on the cable television station and are making it available on a DVD for those who don’t have cable. If you would like to pick up a DVD tomorrow morning, please contact my office at 707-746-4200 or send me a message. We will make them available for pick up as soon as possible.”  UPDATE:  On election day, Nov. 6, the Benicia Independent obtained and posted a copy of the video.  – R.S.]

This afternoon, the City of Benicia pulled back from its original plan to post a video recording of the November 3 meeting of Benicia’s Open Government Commission.  The meeting included a “Final Word” forum, in which candidates for City Council and the public responded to recent campaign “hit pieces.”

All four candidates joined with many residents at the forum in severely criticizing the misleading and untruthful claims made against candidate Kari Birdseye by a Valero/Labor political action committee (PAC).  One anti-Birdseye speaker refused to be civil and had to be escorted out by a Benicia police officer.

The City recorded the meeting, but for unknown reasons has decided NOT to publish the video on its website page of Agendas, Minutes and Videos.

At the time of this writing, you can still catch the City’s final rebroadcast of the meeting at 7pm tonight, Monday, Nov. 5, via live streaming on your computer at Benicia TV, https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/btv or on your tv at home on Comcast channel 27 or AT&T U-Verse channel 99.

NOTE: On election day, Nov. 6, the Benicia Independent obtained and posted a copy of the video.