Tag Archives: Benicia City Council

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, BISHO, Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance, Valero Benicia Refinery

Show up NOW! Benicia City Council meeting starts at 6pm

UPDATE: Good news! On March 4, Benicia City Council voted unanimously in favor of moving forward on the draft Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance. 

All Hands on Deck! Valero already has a bunch of their people present, hoping to take up all the seats!

** If you can’t attend in person,
you can participate online here: ZOOM link.
(Checking in on ZOOM later than 6pm is ok!)

Valero Refinery is scheduled to give a 15 minute presentation. Those who have organized and researched and labored for years on this project need YOU, need an overwhelming show of support this Tuesday, to forestall any attempts to weaken or delay the Draft ISO. Please attend in person or online!

Benicia residents need to show that we are not intimidated by an outside mega-corporation. Please show support for our City Council and Fire Chief as they take the first of two votes to adopt an ordinance that will keep us and our friends and families safe.

BELOW is the BISHO Working Group’s latest press release.

If you can’t attend in person, you can participate online here: ZOOM link.

See you there!

BENICIA CITY COUNCIL TO HEAR FIRST READING OF DRAFT ISO, MARCH 4

Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance group (BISHO), February 28, 2025

Benicia, CA (February 28, 2025) – Benicia’s long-awaited Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance (ISHO) will receive its first official reading before City Council on Tuesday, March 4. After more than a year of staff research, public hearings, discussions with stakeholders and four drafts, all led by Councilmembers Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye and Fire Chief Josh Chadwick, the ISHO will be presented formally at next week’s council meeting. New City ordinances must go through two readings before they can be adopted.  If the draft ISHO passes this first reading, a second reading and vote will be scheduled. [March 4 Agenda.]

More than 90 people showed up for an ISHO status update on February 4, including 30 who spoke in favor of passage of the draft ordinance. Other supporters sent emails, letters and texts to Council members urging passage. There was no opposition at that meeting, but it is anticipated that Valero, one of the industries that will be subject to the ISHO requirements, will present its opposition.

“The March 4 meeting is critical, and we are hoping for another large turn out by supporters,” said Terry Mollica, community activist and member of the Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance group (BISHO) which has been working toward an ISO passage for a number of years. “We have heard that Valero does intend to attend the March 4 meeting, and apparently they have been granted a significant block of time to express their ongoing opposition including their threat of litigation.”

“We believe that the opponents will use the March 4 meeting as an opportunity to push back, to try to weaken the ISO, to get a foothold on the critical Oversight Commission, and attempt to turn some votes with threats of a lawsuit. We can’t let that happen. It’s more important than ever that we have a strong presence,” he said.

“We are asking all community members who believe in the ISHO and who want to see more accountability, transparency and protections against what goes into our air to show up at City Council on March 4 and make your voices heard,” Mollica added. “With the uncertainty of any air quality protections from the federal government these days, it is more important than ever that we protect our own community.”

City Council will begin Tuesday, March 4 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 250 East L Street, Benicia. For more information about the draft Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance and its importance and effect on the community, visit https://BISHO.org.

NOTE: Those who cannot attend City Council in person can participate via Zoom:

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, BISHO, Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance, Valero Benicia Refinery

Show up NOW! ZOOM or in person, Benicia City Council starts at 6pm

UPDATE: Good news! On March 4, Benicia City Council voted unanimously in favor of moving forward on the draft Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance.

All Hands on Deck! Valero already has a bunch of their people present, hoping to take up all the seats!

** If you can’t attend in person,
you can participate online here: ZOOM link.

Valero Refinery is scheduled to give a 15 minute presentation. Those who have organized and researched and labored for years on this project need YOU, need an overwhelming show of support this Tuesday, to forestall any attempts to weaken or delay the Draft ISO. Please attend in person or online!

Benicia residents need to show that we are not intimidated by an outside mega-corporation. Please show support for our City Council and Fire Chief as they take the first of two votes to adopt an ordinance that will keep us and our friends and families safe.

BELOW is the BISHO Working Group’s latest press release.

If you can’t attend in person, you can participate online here: ZOOM link.

See you there!

BENICIA CITY COUNCIL TO HEAR FIRST READING OF DRAFT ISO, MARCH 4

Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance group (BISHO), February 28, 2025

Benicia, CA (February 28, 2025) – Benicia’s long-awaited Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance (ISHO) will receive its first official reading before City Council on Tuesday, March 4. After more than a year of staff research, public hearings, discussions with stakeholders and four drafts, all led by Councilmembers Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye and Fire Chief Josh Chadwick, the ISHO will be presented formally at next week’s council meeting. New City ordinances must go through two readings before they can be adopted.  If the draft ISHO passes this first reading, a second reading and vote will be scheduled. [March 4 Agenda.]

More than 90 people showed up for an ISHO status update on February 4, including 30 who spoke in favor of passage of the draft ordinance. Other supporters sent emails, letters and texts to Council members urging passage. There was no opposition at that meeting, but it is anticipated that Valero, one of the industries that will be subject to the ISHO requirements, will present its opposition.

“The March 4 meeting is critical, and we are hoping for another large turn out by supporters,” said Terry Mollica, community activist and member of the Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance group (BISHO) which has been working toward an ISO passage for a number of years. “We have heard that Valero does intend to attend the March 4 meeting, and apparently they have been granted a significant block of time to express their ongoing opposition including their threat of litigation.”

“We believe that the opponents will use the March 4 meeting as an opportunity to push back, to try to weaken the ISO, to get a foothold on the critical Oversight Commission, and attempt to turn some votes with threats of a lawsuit. We can’t let that happen. It’s more important than ever that we have a strong presence,” he said.

“We are asking all community members who believe in the ISHO and who want to see more accountability, transparency and protections against what goes into our air to show up at City Council on March 4 and make your voices heard,” Mollica added. “With the uncertainty of any air quality protections from the federal government these days, it is more important than ever that we protect our own community.”

City Council will begin Tuesday, March 4 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 250 East L Street, Benicia. For more information about the draft Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance and its importance and effect on the community, visit https://BISHO.org.

NOTE: Those who cannot attend City Council in person can participate via Zoom:

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, BISHO, Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance, Valero Benicia Refinery

ALERT! Important to attend Benicia City Council this Tues. March 4 at 6pm

UPDATE: Good news! On March 4, Benicia City Council voted unanimously in favor of moving forward on the draft Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance.

All Hands on Deck! Benicia City Council to hear first reading of draft ISO, march 4

Word is that Valero Refinery is scheduled to give a 15 minute presentation. Those who have organized and researched and labored for years on this project need YOU, need an overwhelming show of support this Tuesday, to forestall any attempts to weaken or delay the Draft ISO. Please attend in person or online!

Benicia residents need to show that we are not intimidated by an outside mega-corporation. Please show support for our City Council and Fire Chief as they take the first of two votes to adopt an ordinance that will keep us and our friends and families safe.

BELOW is the BISHO Working Group’s latest press release.

If you can’t attend in person, you can participate online here: ZOOM link.

See you there!

BENICIA CITY COUNCIL TO HEAR FIRST READING OF DRAFT ISO, MARCH 4

Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance group (BISHO), February 28, 2025

Benicia, CA (February 28, 2025) – Benicia’s long-awaited Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance (ISHO) will receive its first official reading before City Council on Tuesday, March 4. After more than a year of staff research, public hearings, discussions with stakeholders and four drafts, all led by Councilmembers Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye and Fire Chief Josh Chadwick, the ISHO will be presented formally at next week’s council meeting. New City ordinances must go through two readings before they can be adopted.  If the draft ISHO passes this first reading, a second reading and vote will be scheduled. [March 4 Agenda.]

More than 90 people showed up for an ISHO status update on February 4, including 30 who spoke in favor of passage of the draft ordinance. Other supporters sent emails, letters and texts to Council members urging passage. There was no opposition at that meeting, but it is anticipated that Valero, one of the industries that will be subject to the ISHO requirements, will present its opposition.

“The March 4 meeting is critical, and we are hoping for another large turn out by supporters,” said Terry Mollica, community activist and member of the Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance group (BISHO) which has been working toward an ISO passage for a number of years. “We have heard that Valero does intend to attend the March 4 meeting, and apparently they have been granted a significant block of time to express their ongoing opposition including their threat of litigation.”

“We believe that the opponents will use the March 4 meeting as an opportunity to push back, to try to weaken the ISO, to get a foothold on the critical Oversight Commission, and attempt to turn some votes with threats of a lawsuit. We can’t let that happen. It’s more important than ever that we have a strong presence,” he said.

“We are asking all community members who believe in the ISHO and who want to see more accountability, transparency and protections against what goes into our air to show up at City Council on March 4 and make your voices heard,” Mollica added. “With the uncertainty of any air quality protections from the federal government these days, it is more important than ever that we protect our own community.”

City Council will begin Tuesday, March 4 at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 250 East L Street, Benicia. For more information about the draft Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance and its importance and effect on the community, visit https://BISHO.org.

NOTE: Those who cannot attend City Council in person can participate via Zoom:

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Stephen Golub

Benicia and Beyond: It Takes a Penguin

MY PENGUIN FRIEND | Official Trailer – YouTube

It takes a Penguin – Sometimes the silliest things inspire the strongest sentiments….

By Stephen Golub, Benicia resident and author, “Benicia and Beyond” column in the Benicia Herald, Mar 2, 2025

 Stephen Golub, A Promised Land – America as a Developing Country

Perhaps like some of you, I’ve been despairing lately about what America’s current course means for the country and the world. That course includes the Trump Administration: siding with Russia regarding its mass-murdering war on Ukraine; backing a German Neo-Nazi party; letting the world’s richest man gut foreign aid, thus facilitating thousands of poor people’s deaths; and otherwise preaching and practicing cruelty as policy. Combined with other Far Right transgressions in other nations, it’s left me eager for something to recharge my faith in humanity.

And then I saw the penguin, or more specifically a penguin nicknamed Dindim, or even more specifically the movie “My Penguin Friend.” The dramatization is based on the true story of a small penguin that got separated from its colony and soaked by an oil spill during the colony’s annual 5,000-mile migration from southern Argentina to near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, only to be rescued on the verge of death by an elderly villager. The Brazilian, Joao Pereira de Souza, nursed the bird back to health, whereupon it stayed with him and his wife for months before undertaking the return trip south.

The element that converts a heartwarming tale into incredible inspiration, though, is the fact that Dindim returned annually to Joao’s seaside home for eight years, each time spending months in his fishing village before returning to Argentina. When a fellow villager refers to the bird as a pet, Joao says no, he’s his friend.

If you see the film, you see why. Years before Dindim’s arrival, a tragic death led to Joao living a life of grief. The penguin’s friendship filled a void, restoring Joao’s love for  life and community.

Which brings me back to America. I’m not hopeless by any means; I see sparks of pro-democracy resilience and resurgence. But when I also see so many developments here and abroad driven by lies, hate and retribution, I have flickers of doubt about not just where we are as a country, but where humanity is as a species.

In its small but heartwarming way,  “My Penguin Friend” counters all that. It portrays admirable qualities that we humans are capable  of, not least love for a stranded animal, considerable kindness and remarkable resilience. It testifies to the many wonderful, amazing things we don’t fully understand, including how a little creature decided each year to separate himself from the security of his colony’s migration to visit his friend.

The saga of Joao and Dindim reminds us that the best of humanity and the world is beautiful and that we can find that beauty in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

That being said, to call this film corny and sappy and a tearjerker would be a major understatement. It also takes some considerable (and unnecessary)  liberties in telling the tale of the penguin and his human friend. But the movie remains true to its remarkable core story.

As someone who could use tears of joy rather than tears of sorrow these days, I heartily recommend it. So many sayings highlight how overcoming tough times hinges on hope, heart, determination or a village. I’ll add one more variation: It takes a penguin.

I believe that “My Penguin Friend” is available via Apple TV, Amazon, YouTube TV and perhaps other streaming services, but since I saw it on a plane and am out of the country right now, I can’t vouch for that for sure. Regardless, it’s worth searching or waiting for. (Being out of the country, I regrettably won’t be preparing a column for the next two weeks.)

Another thing well worth doing is attending or zooming into the Tuesday, March 4 City Council meeting, starting at 6 pm, at which it will take the crucial vote that will help prevent toxic pollution (including the kind of oil spills that nearly killed Dindim), explosions and fires at the Valero refinery and other hazardous facilities in Benicia. If the Council passes the proposed Industrial Safety Ordinance, which Council Members Kari Birdseye and Terry Scott as well as Fire Chief Josh Chadwick and Management Analyst Della Ohm have labored over for well over a year, we’ll join all the other Bay Area refinery-hosting communities that already have such ordinances.

Benicia resident and author Stephen Golub, A Promised Land