Tag Archives: Kari Birdseye

Benicia City Council, Kari Birdseye, karibirdseyeforbenicia.com, Local elections

June Mejias: Kari Birdseye for City Council

Kari Birdseye for Benicia City Council

By June Mejias, Benicia resident, May 22, 2022

Kari and June

A seat on a city council is an important job within one’s community! In thinking of such responsibility, key descriptive words come to mind for me: “commitment, compassion, relevance, dedication, awareness, knowledge, compatibility, direct approach, honesty and experience”. Kari Birdseye has all of those qualities!

Kari serves as Chair of the Benicia Planning Commission where she has held that position for five years out of her seven-year association with this vital City office. Prior to that, Kari worked for the Benicia Human Services Board for three years. She has also worked tirelessly in many volunteer activities while raising her two children.

She also currently works with the environmental organization NRDC, (Natural Resources Defense Council) and keeps reporters up-to-date on issues concerning our very important planet Earth, which includes people, plants, animals and the natural systems on which all life depends!

Before settling in Benicia, Kari worked for CNN for 11 years. While there, she served as a producer and was part of a team that won an Emmy for covering the Centennial Park bombing at the 1996 Olympics!

I know Kari to always be the person who will listen to everyone and regard their personal experience. Her motto is “respect and civility above all else!” As a parent and a person devoted to our environment, she will work tirelessly for the highest quality of life for Benicians!

Kari Birdseye will bring authenticity to her role as our next Benicia City Council Member!!

Join me in electing Kari!

June Mejias,
Benicia Resident

More letters, news & links about Kari here on the BenIndy

And best of all – Kari’s website!

Kari Birdseye For Benicia City Council 2022
https://karibirdseyeforbenicia.com
Benicia City Council, Kari Birdseye, karibirdseyeforbenicia.com, Local elections

Kari Birdseye to announce 2022 run for Benicia City Council – Rally this Sunday!

Kari Birdseye Campaign Kickoff Rally
This Sunday May 22, 2 pm, Benicia City Park

Festive Gathering at the Gazebo to Announce Run for Benicia City Council

Benicia Planning Commission chairperson Kari Birdseye will run for City Council in November’s election, and strong support for our friend is already building.

Benicia enthusiasts have organized a Kickoff Rally around the Gazebo in City Park for this Sunday, May 22 starting at 2pm.  The Rally will feature music, banners, a short but impressive lineup of speakers and opportunities to volunteer and donate.  It will be a great time to mingle with like-minded friends.

More information and volunteer possibilities can be found at karibirdseyeforbenicia.com.

Many BenIndy readers will be turning out for Kari and offering to help organize a strong campaign.  You are invited to join in this Sunday, 2-4pm at the Gazebo.  See you there!

Kari Birdseye For Benicia City Council 2022
https://karibirdseyeforbenicia.com
2020 elections, Benicia elections, Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Mayor Steve Young, Christina Strawbridge, Climate science, Kari Birdseye, Lionel Largaespada, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero PAC

KQED: Candidate Targeted by Valero Wins Benicia Mayoral Race

[Significant quote: “The fact that Young withstood the Valero PAC’s campaign is hugely significant, according to Matto Mildenberger, an assistant professor of political science at UC Santa Barbara, who focuses on oil politics.  ‘It means that Benicia voters are willing to take their climate future into their own hands and are going to resist efforts by oil companies to control local politics.'”] [See also KQED’s Oct 28 report on Valero PAC spending.]

Benicia Election Update with candidate quotes

KQED Election Updates, By Ted Goldberg, November 4, 2020

Benicia Councilman Steve Young, a candidate attacked by a political action committee funded mainly by the Valero Energy company, will be the city’s new mayor.

The Working Families for a Strong Benicia PAC raised more than $250,000 to defeat Young and support Councilwoman Christina Strawbridge. The committee said Young would put blue collar jobs, like those at Valero’s Benicia refinery, at risk.

But city’s voters were not swayed.

With Young leading the race with close to 52% of the vote, Strawbridge, who garnered about 31%, conceded the election Wednesday morning.

“I believe the voters reacted strongly against the negative ads and mailers that the Valero-funded PAC tried to use against me,” Young said.

“Hopefully, Valero will learn the obvious lesson from this result: Interference in Benicia elections will be rejected in the future as well,” Young said.


Strawbridge called Young’s election a “decisive victory.”

“Congratulations to him,” Strawbridge said, adding that the two lawmakers exchanged text messages Wednesday morning. “Even though it was a tough election, we have and will work together for Benicia.”

Since 2019, Valero has donated $240,000 to the political action committee targeting Young. The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 549 donated some $50,000 as well.

The same PAC spent thousands to help Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada win seats on the Benicia City Council, and to defeat Kari Birdseye, a former chair of the city’s Planning Commission that denied Valero’s crude-by-rail expansion project.

Young will take over from Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, a critic of Valero who has served in Benicia city government for two decades.

Patterson had become increasingly outspoken about efforts to place more regulations on the Valero plant, scene of the two worst refinery accidents in the Bay Area in the last three years.

The fact that Young withstood the Valero PAC’s campaign is hugely significant, according to Matto Mildenberger, an assistant professor of political science at UC Santa Barbara, who focuses on oil politics.

“It means that Benicia voters are willing to take their climate future into their own hands and are going to resist efforts by oil companies to control local politics,” Mildenberger said.