Category Archives: 2020 elections

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy finally starts the transition process

Trump Administration Finally Clears Way For Biden Transition To Begin

“I have always strived to do what is right,” GSA administrator Emily Murphy said in a letter to the president-elect on Monday.

Huffington Post, By Nick Visser, November 23, 2020
GSA Administrator Emily Murphy arrives to tesitfy during the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing on "GSA (General Services Administration) Oversight Hearing" on Wednesday, March 13, 2019.
Emily Murphy, Trump appointed administrator of the General Services Administration

Emily Murphy, the administrator of the General Services Administration, said the transition between President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden can begin, releasing millions of dollars in funds and clearing the way for a new administration.

“I have dedicated much of my adult life to public service, and I have always strived to do what is right,” Murphy wrote in a letter to Biden on Monday. “Please know that I came to my decision independently, based on the law and the available facts. I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official — including those who work at the White House or GSA — with regard to the substance or timing of my decision.”

Trump thanked Murphy for her work just moments later.

Biden’s campaign released a statement shortly after Murphy’s announcement, calling the decision a “needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation, including getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track.”

“This final decision is a definitive administrative action to formally begin the transition process with federal agencies,” the Biden-Harris transition executive director, Yohannes Abraham, said in a statement. “In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain complete understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to hollow out government agencies.”

The president noted on Twitter that while he still planned to fight the outcome of the election, he agreed the transition should begin “in the best interest of our country.”

“I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same,” he wrote.

The move will make $6.3 million available to Biden and his team to begin the transition process, as well as additional funds to prepare his staff and appointees.

Murphy had drawn widespread ire over her delay in “ascertaining” that Biden won the election, which is required before millions of dollars in transition funds and access to government officials can begin. She said, however, that Trump’s bevy of court losses and the certification of votes in several battleground states had allowed her to determine that Biden was the likely winner of the election.

Murphy added that she received many threats amid the delay in what she called an “effort to coerce me into making this determination prematurely,” although they, too, had not influenced her decision.

“I do not think that an agency charged with improving federal procurement and property management should place itself above the constitutionally-based election process,” she wrote Monday.

Several notable figures had lambasted the Trump administration over the delay, saying any further refusal to declare Biden the winner could hamper the country’s efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has entered its most dangerous stage as the country beings to travel en masse before the holiday season.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said last week he was “concerned” that things hadn’t gone “smoothly” and Biden said “more people may die” if Trump kept obstructing the transfer of power.

“As my chief of staff, Ron Klain, would say … a vaccine is important. It’s of little use until you’re vaccinated,” Biden said last week upon questioning about the rollout of any coronavirus preventative. “So how do we get the vaccine, how do we get over 300 million Americans vaccinated? What’s the game plan?”

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

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.

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!