By Tom Campbell, The Benicia Herald, September 18, 2026
Jing di zhi wa is a Chinese idiom that means you know as little about the real world as a frog at the bottom of a well. I think this might well describe Justin Zollars. From what I’ve been reading from his posts, candidate debate, and candidate’s statement, he seems to be a one trick pony focused on Flock cameras. I haven’t seen him post anything on how he’ll address what are monumental generational issues that are in front of the City Council right now. Issues like, “What are we going to do with the Seeno property” where a billionaire developer does not seem to be on the same page as the City Council. Or “What are we going to do with the port which after 62 years Benicia finally gets back in four years.”
A port that due to poor judgement in 1964 by a Benicia City Council the City has not gotten a penny in port operations for 62 years and counting, even though Benicia owns the wharf and all land accessing the water. Or how about the closed refinery that looks more and more like the State wants to keep as a gasoline tank farm even if it means Benicia will have to forsake any future development. The State seems to want Benicia to fall on its sword and ignore its future for the sake of keeping the rest of California’s drivers happy with a large supply of cheaper gas. Am I wrong? Then show me a time line for the clean-up and development of the refinery land. Afterall it’s been a year and a half since the announcement of the refinery closure and still nothing.
Those three big issues in front of the City Council right now are going to decide what the lives of the next generations in Benicia will be. Same as the decisions of the 1964 City Council decided the lives of the last three generations of Benicians after the Arsenal closed. There are very big issues at stake in this election. When you would rather talk about Flock cameras instead, it’s no different than if your house was on fire and you’re running around and you stop in the dining room and go “that silverware on the table just doesn’t go with the dishes’ floral pattern.” There’s a lot bigger issue staring you in the face at that particular moment than floral patterns. The same holds true for the generational challenges facing Benicia at this very moment.
So given the gravity of the challenges Benicia faces right now there is no time for an untested rookie with no civic history to navigate a steep learning curve immediately. I was on the City Council for 21 years and before that the Planning Commission, over 30 years total in Benicia City government. In that entire time, I can say the best Council I was ever on was the last City Council I was on. That Council had both Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye on it. What they showed me was that they could look at what had to be done and do it even if it meant a huge blowback. You have to put what’s best for the community ahead of your own ambitions. Not every Council could do that.
Kicking the can down the road is just a nice way of saying you don’t have the backbone to face unpopular but necessary votes. I never saw Kari or Terry back away from what had to be done. This is important because in the next few years the next City Council will have to deal with the State of California and billion dollar corporations that are going to try and throw Benicia a bone and say “Hey what’s the problem, we’re doing you a favor.” This Council is going to have to have the backbone to tell these corporations and the State what they can do with that bone.
I want someone on the City Council who knows and understands these generational issues and will protect our future. That’s why I’ m voting for Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye. I’m sure in that burning house that I mentioned above they would have been looking for a fire extinguisher and not a useless floral dish pattern.
The League of Women Voters of Solano County is hosting a Local Elections Candidate Forum in a few weeks. Come with your questions on September 30, 6:30-8PM at the Benicia Public Library!
Get informed before you vote! Join the League of Women Voters of Solano County for a nonpartisan Candidates Forum featuring local election candidates. Hear directly from those seeking your vote, learn where they stand on important community issues, and submit questions. This free public event is open to everyone. Make your voice count—be an informed voter!
Local Elections Candidate Forum September 30, 2026 | 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm In the Doña Benicia Room.
Below you’ll find more information on each of the candidates.
KARI BIRDSEYE:
Kari Birdseye was elected to serve on Benicia’s City Council in 2022. She began her service in Benicia city government in 2012 at the Benicia Human Services Board and served on Benicia’s Planning Commission for eight years, as Chair of the Commission for six years. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Solano County Fair Board Association and the Benicia-Vallejo Chapter of the American Association of University Women Executive Board.
She has a BA in Journalism from San Francisco State and a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco. Kari is former CNN journalist, where she was part of a team that earned an Emmy Award for news coverage of the Olympic Park bombing in 1996. Kari and her husband James have raised their two kids, Julia and Joey in Benicia, and have lived in Benicia since 2000. She has served as president of two local boards: Matthew Turner PTA and the Benicia Stingrays Swim Team. Kari is employed by Natural Resources Defense Council as a Regional Media and Public Affairs Director.
In her City Council capacity, Kari currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Green Empowerment Zone, Marin Clean Energy and is the 1st Vice President of the League of California Cities, North Bay Division.
TERRY SCOTT:
Terry is a 14-year Benicia resident, businessman, futurist, and philanthropist committed to building a stronger future. He served as Vice Mayor and currently sits on the Benicia City Council.
His first term delivered measurable results: a balanced budget, department reorganization, optimized staffing, new purchasing efficiencies, priority-based budgeting, new revenue streams, and advanced air quality and safety measures. That foundation now positions Benicia to seize what’s next — requiring the experienced fiscal leadership and proven results Terry brings, which is why he’s running for re-election.
His public service spans the Tax Oversight Commission, CURE Commission, CAP/Valero Advisory Panel, Tula Sister City Program, multiple Solano Transportation Authority commissions, and the WETA Ferry 2050 Visioning Team. He was appointed SolTrans Board Chair for an unprecedented third term, co-founded and led the Benicia Community Foundation as Executive Director, and chaired the Benicia Arts and Culture Commission (2015–2022).
He holds a degree from Kent State University and completed Executive Studies at Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College.
JUSTIN ZOLLARS:
Justin Zollars, candidate for Benicia City Council, brings 15 years of technology experience from companies including Adobe and Veracyte, where he currently works as a software engineer in cancer genomics. Justin holds an MS in Biology and has founded and led his own startup, giving him hands-on experience managing budgets and coordinating between engineers, partners, and customers. In 2008, Justin represented his community as an elected delegate to a presidential nominating convention. A Benicia homeowner and civic advocate, he’s running in opposition to Flock Safety’s license plate reader cameras over serious privacy concerns. Justin is dedicated to protecting resident privacy, improving parks and roads, and preserving Benicia’s small-town character.
Questions by Stephen Golub… “Above and beyond the city’s post-Valero budget gap…”
By Stephen Golub, Benicia resident and author, “Benicia and Beyond” column in the Benicia Herald, August 2, 2026
Terry Scott, Benicia City Council
Recently, City Council Member Terry Scott kindly took the time for an interview regarding his background, Benicia’s challenges/opportunities and (having first been elected in 2022) his recently launched campaign for reelection this November. Here are my questions and his thoughts for Part Two of the interview. (Part One was published last Sunday.)
Above and beyond the city’s post-Valero budget gap, which we discussed last week, the cessation of its refinery’s operations presents great challenges and opportunities for Benicia. Valero has contracted with the Signature Development Group to plan the redevelopment of the property – presumably as a mixed-use site featuring residential, commercial, and light industrial areas. What directions, in terms of both community input and the eventual results, would you like to see such redevelopment take?
Above all, this must be a collaboration between the City, community, Signature Development Group, and the landowner, Valero Energy Corp. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape roughly 900 acres, and the right result only comes if all four are genuinely at the table together engaged and active. Won’t work if the community is simply reacting to a plan built without it. That starts with real community committees representing the full breadth of Benicia and by identifying our own needs and wants to maintain our small-town values as this moves forward.
Additionally, input should guide a careful balance: enough housing including a dedicated senior housing component, designed as mixed-use with single-floor units, alongside the affordable housing components and market priced homes.
Retail should serve the neighborhood, including addressing the grocery desert that affects the East 2nd corridor, without competing with our downtown.
On the industrial side, community and Signature collaboration should focus on jobs and economic development as the top priority, while making sure whatever is built there doesn’t exacerbate the long-term environmental hazards already present and isn’t endangered by those hazards.
And underlying all of it: we still need the EIRs [Environmental Impact Reports], test drills, and a public remediation timeline before any of this can be built.
While Valero has decided to cease operations (except temporarily as a fuel storage depot, aka a marine terminal or “tank farm”) and sell the property, the timing and nature of the site’s remediation and redevelopment may hinge on California state government decisions. These include the state influencing how long the site will remain a fuel depot, since full redevelopment could be delayed as long as the depot is in place. What do you feel the state should do? Could Benicia affect this?
The first thing we need is clarity on whether the state has worked out an arrangement with Valero to maintain the marine terminal and for how long. My guesstimate is that it will take the state roughly two years to stabilize its refined gasoline supply. The state should put a firm mandate in place: within a two-year window, Valero should stop importing refined gasoline through Benicia.
Could Benicia affect this? To a degree. We’re putting pressure on our state senator and assemblymember and met with state agencies to make our views known. But to be clear: Right now, we don’t have a firm answer on how long the state intends to keep this as a marine terminal, and that’s a real disadvantage for us — it’s outside our control.
There is good news. This isn’t lost time. Realistically, it will take Signature a year and a half to two years to put together a development plan that’s plausible, meets community standards, and genuinely incorporates community input. So if the state does mandate the marine terminal for around two years, we should be arriving at that point right as the planning and permitting groundwork is finally ready — putting us in position to talk about a first shovel in the ground, rather than losing ground.
The eventual redevelopment of the Valero property as well as other major projects (including state-mandated new housing in other Benicia locations) could cause considerable population growth and other changes in Benicia. How should we handle the resulting challenges and opportunities?
Valero property will be redeveloped, and that’s necessary. Housing, industrial and technology development is coming. Accept the fact we either change or we die. New growth means more stable revenue through property taxes, jobs, development fees, and then downstream business activity that generate sales tax. It also means real increases in Benicia Unified School District enrollment. And yes, as new housing draws families, there will be huge traffic pressure. We need to study it now particularly around Lake Herman and Rose roads, and the 780 access point into the industrial park.
History is important to remember here. Each phase of Southampton’s build-out ending with Waters End, was met with the same response: “enough, we don’t want any more.” By around 2000, building came to a screeching halt. The truth is, Benicia absorbed roughly 2,000 homes in Waters End without really changing the makeup of our community; it added residents in an area that’s remained somewhat detached from the rest of town.
That’s the real challenge ahead. It’s not whether we can absorb this growth, since we’ve shown, we can but whether we can make these new developments genuinely part of the community, not just connected through the school district and the occasional event. We must grow, but grow in a way that ties people in, not off to the side
One aspect of your City Council work involves Benicia’s roles and integration in regional planning, projects and policies. Could you address how this might be important for our city?
Much of this comes down to relationships. If the House flips Democratic in November, our Congressman, John Garamendi, is expected to land a major committee seat — putting him in a strong position to help fund Benicia priorities like the Bay Conservation and Development Commission marina cleanup and infrastructure repairs. He’s already been a good listener to Council voices on these issues.
As Solano Country Transit (SolTrans) board chair, I’ve focused on stretching our transit dollars further. Our Benicia Lyft rideshare program has grown from under $40,000 to roughly $300,000 in Solano Transit Authority(STA)/Transportation Development Act paid support over four years, driven by rising demand and helped by Mayor Young and myself as the two advocates at the table.
SolTrans and STA have also delivered real value through Safe Routes to School and Youth Ride-Free programs, which help address rising truancy and curb and sidewalk infrastructure.
More broadly, every regional board I serve on — SolTrans, STA’s committees, and the county’s senior housing plan, is a chance to make sure Benicia’s voice is heard wherever regional decisions get made.
As Benicians may or may not realize, serving on the City Council involves a lot of work with very little compensation. Why do you want to run again?
It’s never been about the money — it’s about commitment, and the ability to make a difference. I’m downtown, in the parks, at ballgames, at three or four ribbon-cuttings a month for new business owners excited to be part of this community. I serve food. I deliver food. I was raised in a family that believed giving back is a responsibility and not an option.
There’s also the incalculable part of the job like being in the grocery store, a restaurant, at Lucca, wherever, and having a resident come up with an issue. Working with them and with city staff to solve those problems is real work, too. Council members represent the community, and you can’t do that well without being out there every day, feeling the pulse of the community.
The time commitment is real with some weeks highly time consuming with committees, Council meetings, roundtables and more. Preparation for Council meetings can be several hours a week. SolTrans is another major commitment. But it serves City residents in many ways.
This isn’t a regular job. You either have the passion, or you don’t.
I believe I’ve built the toolbox consisting of four years of experience with my council colleagues, countless hours with residents, business owners and the Chamber of Commerce, the Benicia Industrial Park Association, and have a real understanding of this community’s needs. In short, I want to run again because the job isn’t done.
What do you hope Benicia will look like in 20 years?
My hope is that, in the ways that matter most, Benicia won’t have changed all that much. There will obviously be development and retail especially along the East 2nd Street corridor. But I believe the historic, quirky feel of our downtown and neighborhoods will remain intact. I hope we’re still saving seats on First Street for the Torchlight Parade. What makes Benicia special is our small town feel and values, our welcoming downtown, our engaged community. I don’t think this is going to change. The key is integrating the new with the existing.
Growth is necessary. We must change to work through the demands of the post-Valero era. Yup more housing, retail, more parks, more recreation. Maybe a light rail on East 2nd Street. Can you say Trader Joe’s? A ferry to SF at the renovated Marina. A destination pier. But, growth here has real limits, by design, because the major parcels will be built out.
More than anything, I hope Benicia becomes the “new Benicia” that its residents want. It should be a reflection of a younger generation taking the torch from those who led this community in the past. I believe it will be a place where people can raise their families, keep those families close, work near where they live, shop near where they work, and feel genuinely welcomed.
**BENICIA, Calif. [August 1, 2026] — Benicia City Council Member Kari Birdseye today announced she is running for reelection in November 2026, seeking a second term to continue the work she began after taking office in 2022.
Birdseye’s first term coincided with one of the most consequential periods in Benicia’s recent history, as the city confronted the winding down of Valero’s refinery operations and the loss of a major piece of its tax base. During that time, she helped lead the council’s development and implementation of the new Industrial Health and Safety Ordinance, chaired the city’s task force coordinating with Benicia Industrial Park businesses and the Port of Benicia on the refinery site’s transition, and consistently promoted economic diversification, including exploring the port’s potential role in offshore wind manufacturing.
“‘We’re in the middle of the most important transition Benicia has faced in decades,” said Council Member Birdseye. “I’m running for reelection to continue my transparent, intelligent, independent leadership to this city. The next four years will require a steady focus on what’s best for our community in the short and long term. I’m ready, steady and committed to service.”
Birdseye’s public service in Benicia predates her council seat by a decade. She joined the Human Services Board in 2012, was appointed to the Planning Commission in 2014, and later chaired that commission — including during its 2016 decision to reject Valero’s proposal to bring crude oil into the city by rail.
Before entering local politics, Birdseye spent 11 years at CNN, where she was part of an Emmy Award-winning news team, and later worked in communications for the Wine Institute and Earthjustice. She currently serves as Director of Regional Media and Public Affairs at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
Birdseye and her husband, James, have lived in Benicia since 2000 and raised their two children, Julia and Joey, in the city’s schools.
Her campaign says the reelection bid will center on finishing the work started in her first term: guiding the redevelopment of the former refinery site, protecting Benicia’s air and water, and stabilizing the city’s finances for the long term. More information on Birdseye’s campaign, including how to volunteer or donate, is available at VoteKariBirdseye.com.
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