Benicia City Council, Christina Strawbridge, Dana Dean, Kari Birdseye, November election

Progressive Democrats of Benicia endorse Kari Birdseye & Dana Dean

Repost from Progressive Democrats of Benicia

Kari Birdseye for City Council, and Dana Dean for Solano County Board of Education

At its August 14 membership meeting, the Progressive Democrats of Benicia interviewed Democratic candidates for Benicia City Council and Solano County School Board. Ballots were cast, and today were made public.

Kari Birdseye for Benicia City Council

Only one of two declared Democratic candidates for City Council received a majority vote earning endorsement: Kari Birdseye. The Progressive Democrats of Benicia are proud to endorse Planning Commission chair Birdseye. Find out more about Kari and offer your support at her campaign website, BirdseyeForBenicia.com, and be in touch on her Facebook page.

Christina Strawbridge, candidate for Benicia City Council

Democratic candidate for City Council and member of Progressive Democrats of Benicia Christina Strawbridge narrowly lost her bid for endorsement.  Find out more about Christina at her campaign website, Christinaforbeniciacouncil.com  and be in touch on her Facebook page.

Dana Dean for Solano County Board of Education

Also interviewed was candidate for Solano County School Board Dana Dean.  Dana is unopposed in her bid for re-election, and was also endorsed by a majority of Progressive Democrats at last night’s meeting. In her presentation, she declared victory, as no other candidate has filed to run against her.  Find out more about Dana at her campaign website, danadeanforboardofeducation.com and be in touch on her Facebook page.

Alan Schwartzman, Benicia City Council, Mark Hughes, November election

Valllejo Times-Herald: Hughes, Schwartzman not running for re-election to Benicia council

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald
[Editor: Thanks to Vallejo Times-Herald reporter John Glidden for this. Like so many print newspapers, the Times-Herald is operating under severe financial duress.  We recently lost the Times-Herald’s only Benicia reporter, and last I knew, the paper had no plans to cover news in Benicia. Yay – thanks John! – RS]

Hughes, Schwartzman not running for re-election to Benicia council

By John Glidden, 08/13/18, 4:22 PM PDT

BENICIA >> Changes are coming to the City Council as incumbents, Mark Hughes and Alan Schwartzman, failed to file candidacy paperwork prior to the Aug. 10 deadline, the Benicia City Clerk’s Office confirmed Monday.

This has triggered an automatic extension of the filing deadline — which is now 5 p.m. Wednesday — allowing the opportunity for additional residents to submit candidacy paperwork.

The current council contest is shaping up to be interesting as three residents have already qualified for the November ballot. They include former Benicia Councilwoman Christina Strawbridge, chair of the Planning Commission Kari Birdseye, and current Economic Development Board Chair Lionel Largaespada.

Strawbridge served on the council from 2011 until 2016 when local voters decided to go in another direction. Largaespada was spurned by voters too in 2016 as he placed fourth out of five candidates.

Having served on the council for 13 years, Hughes said he had decided to focus more on his family.

“Spending more time with my family, including my 96-year-old mother, my 11-month-old granddaughter, and all family and friends in between, is a very high priority for me,” Hughes wrote in an email to his supporters, which was shared with the Times-Herald. “And at this point in our lives, it’s important for Michele and I to have more flexibility in our schedule to accomplish this.

Prior to his run on the council, Hughes was appointed to the city’s Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Commission.

In 2016, Hughes ran for mayor, but was defeated by incumbent Elizabeth Patterson.

Schwartzman also has an extensive political history in Benicia having being first elected to the council in 2005 after serving six years on the Planning Commission.

He couldn’t be reached for comment Monday regarding his decision to not seek re-election.

Benicia City Council, BirdseyeForBenicia.com, Christina Strawbridge, November election

Benicia City Council: Hughes & Schwartzman not running, Birdseye official

City Clerk posts only 3 candidates for City Council at deadline

At close of business on Friday, August 10, City Clerk Lisa Wolfe listed only three candidates who filed to run for the two open seats on Benicia’s City Council in November’s election.

Rumors had been circulating that both incumbents had decided against running again.  But until Friday, no one was sure.  Now it’s certain: Councilmembers Mark Hughes and Alan Schwartzman will not run.  City Council will definitely have a different look after this November’s election – including at least one more woman.

Both Christina Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada declared as candidates soon after their defeat in the 2016 election that they would run again in 2018.  Both have filed and are in the race.

Kari Birdseye, candidate for Benicia City Council

The new face on the ballot will be Planning Commission chair Kari Birdseye.  Kari  has a long history of community service and excellent credentials – she will be a breath of fresh air on our City Council.  I take this  opportunity to endorse her 100%, and to send you to her website
BirdseyeForBenicia.com and her Facebook page.

Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, California Public Utilities Commission, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Pacific Gas & Electric (PGE), Valero Benicia Refinery

Benicia Mayor Patterson on State decision not to penalize PG&E

From Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson’s E-ALERT
[See also: KQED NEWS, California Report.]

From: Mayor Elizabeth Patterson
Sent: Thursday, August 9, 2018 9:32 AM
Subject: State Decides Not to Penalize PG&E for Major Valero Outage

My full statement to KQED was:

Without an Industrial Safety Ordinance residents and workers in Benicia are at risk because the CPUC cravenly fails to ensure that PG&E provide adequate training when working on power supply to Valero Refinery.  Without an Industrial Safety Ordinance Benicia has no way to check on the adequacy and timeliness of PG&E training.   

On top of that the city cannot require Valero to “power down” when major work is being done by PG&E.  The CPUC fails to consider the public – the City of Benicia and its school district are the only public entities in the near catastrophic May 5th PG&E power outage at Valero Refinery. The Public Utilities Commission fails to consider the city in its investigation.  There was no effort to determine the costs to the city for opening and operating the Emergency Center; no cost for deploying our police and fire personnel; no cost for all staff on deck for the entire episode; no cost for the loss of public trust .  No effort to determine the costs to the BUSD for shelter in place.  No effort to determine the cost to loss of business in the Benicia Industrial Park.  Without the ISO the City of Benicia could not present this information to the CPUC.  Sleeping on the “Public” of the CA Public Utilities Commission does not extinguish the need for Californians’ access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services.

  • Mission Statement:  The CPUC regulates services and utilities, protects consumers, safeguards the environment, and assures Californians’ access to safe and reliable utility infrastructure and services.
    CPUC Investigation Conclusion:
  • My [CPUC] investigation found that PG&E violated General Order 174, Rule 12 because: 1) PG&E failed to maintain the CCTV for its intended use and also2) PG&E failed to provide adequate training, documents, or diagrams for its operators to identify the CCVT as part of the anti-islanding protection scheme since the documents, diagrams, and training on the protection scheme did not provide enough clarity on the activation conditions and how they relate to the failed CCVT.