Tag Archives: Benicia Unified School District

Opinion: BUSD election – use disappointment as motivation

The BUSD Election, the unwinding of possibility and what keeps us going

By Ashton Lyle, April 27, 2023

Portrait of Ashton Lyle
Ashton Lyle

According to the Solano County Registrar of Voters, Ariana Martinez has lost her bid to maintain her appointment to the Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees. As a former Benicia student, I am left with the sinking feeling that follows the unwinding of possibility. It’s hard to believe that even in this small liberal town on the Bay, there are losses. 

I am only 24 years old, but I spent almost 13 years in Benicia, from kindergarten through senior year. I remember the grassroots coalition that came together to prevent Valero’s attempt to import Crude by Rail, which could have resulted in a disaster like we just saw in East Palestine, Ohio. I participated in a march on City Hall with hundreds of Benicia students who refused to let arts funding go without a fight. I know the people of Benicia, and especially its young folks, will turn out when needed.


It’s a reminder that the political process is exhausting. We cannot win every issue on every ballot, and we will continue to feel the sharp sting of disappointment.


The hard truth behind Ariana’s loss is that we failed to pull enough of us together to protect Benicia’s future. It’s a reminder that the political process is exhausting. We cannot win every issue on every ballot, and we will continue to feel the sharp sting of disappointment.

The inevitability of failure in a democracy can wrestle hope from all of us, myself included. In my worst moments, I find the weight of what could have been driving me toward pessimism and passivity. It is the awareness of a better world slipping through our fingers that makes these encounters with political failure so tragic, especially for young people, who have the older generations’ total failure to take responsibility on climate change as their most immediate political experience. In this stalemate, it can be hard to imagine successful activism and civic engagement.

I end up asking myself again and again how I can learn to live with the feeling that our town, state, or country is not progressing but rather sliding backward. For myself, it is essentially a question of sustainability: how do we preserve our activism and even our faith when the results of politics continue to fail us?

This absurd human condition we find ourselves muddled in concerned one of my favorite writers, Albert Camus. It is one of his essays, The Myth of Sisyphus that helps provide a path forward from that valley of cynicism where I have found myself thus far. In this essay, Camus describes Sisyphus, a man undergoing horrific torture as punishment from the ancient Greek gods. Sisyphus labors endlessly, rolling a massive boulder up a hill that he will never summit. 

Sisyphus’s fate is a truly human one. However, Camus does not imagine him tormented, but happy.

Camus explains that Sisyphus smiles because the process of moving his rock gives him purpose. Sisyphus accepts he will never achieve his goal but comes to love each “struggle towards the heights” as meaningful and essentially distinct from the moment the rock inevitably slips from his grasp and rolls down into the valley. It’s a reminder that the act of striving for a better future is valuable in itself.


We must remember to find meaning in the process of democracy.


We must remember to find meaning in the process of democracy. Valuing the exercise of politics reminds us, as Camus said, that fate is in our own hands. The failures and disappointments will come all on their own, but success arrives solely by rededicating ourselves to the democratic process. Activism will not always overcome the odds, but the disappointments we feel in our town can only be seen as failures because our actions have consequences.

There is always more to be done. Our roads are falling apart, Valero releases toxins into our air — and funds into our elections — but casting our votes and making our voices heard remains essential to creating a better future for our community. Action is needed now more than ever because, to paraphrase John Lewis, democracy is an act, and it is continuously under threat by passivity in the face of those who aim only to advance themselves.


The age-old cure for feelings of helplessness and disappointment is action . . . 


If I can urge anything to the young and old of our town it is to use disappointment as motivation to get even more involved in what makes Benicia great. Volunteer or donate to a local nonprofit (such as the Kyle Hyland Foundation), send messages or call potential supporters for a politician you really believe in, and of course stay informed by reading news outlets such as the Benicia Independent. The age-old cure for feelings of helplessness and disappointment is action, and there are plenty of good causes to work for in Benicia.


[BenIndy Contributor Nathalie Christian: This post will serve as our final announcement regarding BUSD election results. I was not eligible to vote in this election, but 4,110 other Benicians were. Of them, 1,060 chose to cast ballots. That’s a voter turnout of 27%.  Compare this with the ~60% turnout for our last general election. While the results remain uncertified, Amy Hirsh is the clear winner of the vacant board seat. That said, I’m not sure there were any real winners in this special election, especially when our schools — and the students they serve — suffered most from its massive, unnecessary cost. —N.C.]

Special Election for Area 5: Results update

Candidate Amy Hirsh pulls even further ahead with what may be an insurmountable lead

By Nathalie Christian, April 12, 2023

The Solano County Registrar of Voters (ROV) posted a second round of vote totals last night at 8:40 PM. The results show candidate Amy Hirsh is still leading by a significant margin.

The ROV reported about 50 unprocessed provisional and mail-in ballots remaining, and it will continue to count mail-in ballots as they trickle in through the next week or so.

Low turnout

While the number of late mail-in ballots could swell dramatically during this next week, it is much more likely that voter turnout for this Special Election will remain where it is: very low.

As of today, the voter turnout for this Special Election sits at about 25%. As a basis for comparison, the 2022 General Election saw Benicia’s voter turnout at a robust 65% — meaning about 65% of eligible voters chose to cast ballots.

Even though it is unlikely either Ariana Martinez or Ali Mansouri will be able to catch up to Ms. Hirsh’s lead, final results will be posted here when they become available.

Here is the current count:

A screenshot of Solano ROV Election Day results
Updated results from the Solano County ROV show Amy Hirsh leading with what is likely an insurmountable advantage.

Special Election for Area 5: Early results

Candidate Amy Hirsh leads with about 23% of the vote counted

By Nathalie Christian, April 11, 2023

The Solano County Registrar of Voters posted its first round of vote totals at 8:01 PM tonight, showing candidate Amy Hirsh leading by a significant margin. Only 943 out of 4,110 potential ballots have been counted so far, and these have all been mail-in ballots. Ballots cast in person have apparently not yet been counted.

Stay tuned! We will continue to keep an eye on the results and report on them as we can.

Here is the current count:

Benicia USD Area 5 - Special Vacancy Election (Early results)
Early results from the April 11 election show Ms. Amy Hirsh in the lead for mail-in ballots. Election Day results are still unavailable.

How to vote in today’s Special BUSD election

Looking for your polling location? Ballot drop-off information? Keep reading!

April 11, 2023

Registered voters living in Area 5 of Benicia (see below for a map) — this is your reminder to VOTE in the Area 5 Special Benicia Unified School District Trustee Vacancy Election TODAY. According to the Solano County Registrar of Voter’s (ROV) website, the first update with election results will be at 8:15 pm today.

Ballot drop boxes and in-person voting locations

In-person voting is taking place at Matthew Turner Elementary from 7 am to 8 pm. Mail-in ballots can still be dropped off at any location below (including Turner Elementary) during the listed times.

Matthew Turner Elementary (540 Rose Dr., Benicia)
  • TUESDAY — VOTE IN PERSON or drop off your mail-in ballot between 7 am and 8 am.
Benicia Pedrotti Ace Hardware (830 Southampton Rd., Benicia)
  • TUESDAY —  Drop off between 8 am to 6 pm.
Solano County Registrar of Voters (675 Texas St., Fairfield)
  • TUESDAY — Drop off in the 24-hour drop box on Union Ave., but note that the ROV will likely close the box by 8 pm.

A vote for Ariana Martinez is a vote for our kids

Ariana Martinez, LCSW, candidate for Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees, Area 5

If you’ve been following along, you may know that the Benicia Independent has endorsed Ms. Martinez. Ms. Martinez  has also been endorsed by the following organizations and officials:

  • Benicia Teacher’s Association
  • Napa-Solano Central Labor Council
  • California State Senator Bill Dodd
  • Benicia Mayor Steve Young
  • Benicia Vice-Mayor Terry Scott
  • Benicia City Council Member Kari Birdseye
  • Solano County Board of Supervisor Monica Brown
  • Benicia Unified School Board President Sheri Zada
  • Benicia Unified School Board Member Mark Maselli
  • Benicia Unified School Board Member Dr. Gethsemane Moss
  • Former Benicia Unified School Board Member Andre Stewart
  • Former Benicia Unified Board Member Gary Wing
  • Former Benicia Unified School Board Member Gary Wing
  • Former Benicia City Council Member Dan Smith
  • Solano County Office Associate Superintendent of Human Resources and Educator Effectiveness Michael Minahen
  • Fairfield-Suisun Unified District School Board Member Jack Flynn
  • California School Employee Association Benicia Chapter 1096

Ms. Martinez is a Bay Area native, Benicia High School graduate, and Licensed Clinical Social Worker with hands-on experience in the areas of cognitive psychology, social sciences, organizational development, and education. Read more about Ms. Martinez at www.ariana4busd.com.

Only residents of Area 5 may vote in this special election (see map below).


BUSD Area Map (click to enlarge)
*BUSD Area 5 includes: Mathew Turner School, Lake Herman, Water’s End areas.  Click on map to enlarge. Area 5 is in purple.

More information on this matter can be found by searching online for “Important Message From BUSD Governing Board re: Trustee Area 5 Appointment and Petition“.


Earlier on BenIndy:
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