Tag Archives: Benicia City Council

Benicia City Council, Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

TONIGHT! Benicia City Council to honor our friend, Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

Benicia council to say goodbye to outgoing mayor

by John Glidden | Nov. 30, 2020

BENICIA – Outgoing Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson will be honored on Tuesday by elected officials after nearly 20 years of public service on the City Council.

Patterson, who was first elected to the City Council in 2003, began her run as mayor when she was elected to the position in 2007. She went on to be re-elected twice before deciding earlier this year not to seek a fourth term as mayor.

She told the Fairfield Daily Republic in July that she will be focusing her energies on fighting climate change.

Patterson will be presented with a resolution honoring her service to Benicia.

The resolution, in part, states that she “worked tirelessly to protect and promote Benicia’s interests on a wide range of issues, from public safety to fiscal responsibility, and that of the larger community, by promoting sustainability and climate awareness.”

It also praises Patterson’s “advocacy for environmental sustainability dovetailed with her passion for planning, which led to a leadership role in forming the Community Sustainability Commission.”

The Benicia City Council will hold two meetings Tuesday night.

At 6 p.m., the council will meet in closed session to discuss once case of potential litigation. Then at 7 p.m., in open session, the council is expected to certify the election results of the council and mayor contests and also honor Patterson.

Councilman Steve Young won election to the mayor’s seat, defeating Vice Mayor Christina Strawbridge for the position. Councilman Tom Campbell won re-election to the five-person council with Planning Commissioner Trevor Macenski narrowly edging out Benicia Arts and Culture Commission member Terry Scott by less than 130 votes for Young’s council seat.

During the second meeting at 7:30 p.m., Young, Campbell, and Macenski will be sworn in for their new terms. They will join Strawbridge, and fellow Councilman Lionel Largaespada.

Those wishing to submit a comment for the either meeting can do so by emailing the comments to Benicia City Clerk Lisa Wolfe at lwolfe@ci.benicia.ca.us.

The general public can view the public three ways: Cable T.V. Broadcast on Channel 27; livestream online at http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas, or by Zoom meeting.

The Zoom link is
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83511032155?pwd=b3Z6S3UxcnhmaUhxWlRUc2ttSkpRQT09
• If prompted for a password, enter 454382.
• Use participant option to “raise hand” during the public comment period for the item you wish to speak on. Please note, your electronic device must have microphone capability.

Or the public can dial in with phone:
Before the start of the item you wish to comment on, call any of the numbers below. If one is busy, try
the next one.
1 669 900 9128
1 346 248 7799
1 253 215 8782
1 646 558 8656
1 301 715 8592
1 312 626 6799
• Enter the meeting ID number: 835 1103 2155 please note this is an updated ID number.
• Enter password: 454382
• When prompted for a Participant ID, press #.
• Press *9 on your phone to “raise your hand” when the Mayor calls for public comment during the item you wish to speak on. Once unmuted, you will have up to 5 minutes to speak.

2020 elections, Benicia City Council, Benicia elections, Terry Scott

An encouraging word of congratulations from Benicia City Council candidate Terry Scott

By Terry Scott, November 18, 2020

Terry Scott, 2020 candidate for Benicia City Council

Fellow Benicians, I’d  like to offer my sincerest congratulations to Trevor Macenski and Tom Campbell for your election wins to the Benicia City Council.

I’d also like to again congratulate Steve Young for his decisive Mayoral race win.

Benicia is such a wonderful town. I met some incredible folks along the campaign journey.  I owe a humble and heartfelt debt of gratitude to all  of my campaign team, volunteers, and the many folks who graciously supported my candidacy for City Council.

Soon the baton will be passed to a new Mayor and City Council.

But before we see the baton pass, I believe we must give Mayor Elizabeth Patterson a huge thank you for her contributions, leadership and commitment to our community.

Thank you Elizabeth.

I believe in Benicia and its resilient ability to prosper and sustain itself as we meet head-on the immediate impact of the pandemic and beyond.

I have great confidence in our new City Council leadership team and wish them the best in keeping Benicia such a special place.

Congrats Councilmember-elect Trevor Macenski, new Vice-Mayor Elect Tom Campbell and Mayor-Elect Steve Young.

Terry Scott

2020 elections, Benicia elections, Benicia Mayor, Benicia Mayor Steve Young, Campaign finance, Fair elections, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero PAC

Valero PAC final 2020 campaign spending report: over $227,000 spent in failed bid

By Roger Straw, November 16, 2020

Valero PAC spends over $227,000 in failed bid to oppose Mayor-elect Steve Young, discloses $128,173 of that total in outstanding debt

The anti-Young Valero PAC submitted two more campaign financial reports as required by law on November 6, 2020.

Form_460_Pre_Election_4.pdf shows the following:

During the period Oct. 26 – Nov. 3
  • Income of $24,000 from the Int. Brotherhood of Boilermakers, etc. (previously reported here on the BenIndy on Nov. 3).
  • Accrued unpaid bills totaling $18,106
    • $5,000 for Live Calls (Winning Connections, Washington, D.C.)
    • $13,106 for professional services (law firm Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni LLP, Sacramento)
2020 Year to date
  • Total Income of $49,000
  • Cash payments of $99,333
  • Accrued unpaid bills of $128,173
  • Total Expenditures (cash & unpaid) $227,506
Current Cash Statement
  • Ending Cash Balance of $197,779

The PAC’s ending balance of $197,779 can pay its accrued unpaid bills of $128,173 leaving over $51,000 in Valero’s war chest for future projects.  Sigh….

Another form submitted, Form__465_3.pdf, did not disclose any new information.

Final accounting?

According to a Nov. 12 email from Benicia City Clerk Lisa Wolfe, no further campaign finance reports are anticipated until December 31, 2020.   Evidently, the Valero PAC will not need to report payment of its unpaid bills and any further income or outlays until then.

2020 elections, Benicia City Council, Benicia elections, Solano County Registrar of Voters, Terry Scott, Trevor Macenski

Benicia City Council – Friday update, Terry & Trevor both score 17 more votes

By Roger Straw, November 14, 2020

Scott still trails by 130 votes, with only 40-140 Benicia votes yet to count – I’m calling the race: Macenski the winner

Solano County didn’t post it’s Friday Nov. 13 update until Saturday, but it’s there now, showing that more mail-in ballots and provisional ballots were processed.

The one close race in Benicia was for the second seat on Benicia’s City Council.  Both Trevor Macenski and Terry Scott netted 17 more votes in the latest Solano Registrar of Voters report.  So Macenski continues to lead Scott by 130 votes.  And I’m calling the race.

CANDIDATE NAME TOTAL VOTES PERCENTAGE
8,627 36.45%
7,587 32.05%
7,457 31.50%

Potential ballots remaining to be processed, as of Friday’s Solano County report, include 0-250 mail-in ballots and 500-1,500 provisional ballots.  By my own calculation, Benicia might account for about 8% of those remaining ballots, or 40-140 outstanding votes.

It begins to look like a 130 vote margin is not at all likely to be overcome.  So I think we can say that Trevor wins, given the odds.

The Registrar of Voters won’t offer a FINAL count for awhile.  We’ll just have to wait for them to finish counting and certify the winner.  But meanwhile, we can offer sad well-wishes to our candidate Terry, and congratulations to Trevor Macenski.  Here’s hoping the next City Council will work together well and accomplish much!