SUSAN STREET – WE NEED TO GATHER EVERY THURSDAY AGAIN!
Beginning April 3 . . .
VIGIL FOR DEMOCRACY
Every Thursday, 5-6:30 p.m. On the sidewalk by the Gazebo
[map / directions]Come whenever you can, stay as long or as briefly as you can. Bring your signs, bells, kazoos, noisemakers. Invite ten people to join us.
Stay on the sidewalk. Don’t block anyone attempting to walk through. Ignore any harassment.x
WHY DO THIS?
As Timothy Snyder has said, “When strange things happen and nobody reacts, that’s ‘normalizing.’”
Folks gathering and making noise “arrests people’s attention, makes them stop and think.”
Make noise. What’s happening isn’t normal. Isn’t democracy.
FORMER MAYOR BLASTS VALERO, BUSD, AND BENEFICIARIES OF DONATIONS AND GRANTS
BENICIA STRONG
Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Mayor 2007 – 2020
By Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Mayor 2007-2020, March 9, 2025
The Benicia Unified School District which represents the stewards of science education and protectors of young people is so worried that Texas based Valero may cut them off from the refinery donations that they testified at the City Council last Tuesday. The BUSD administrators detailed the “generosity of Valero” implying that the proposed Industrial Safety Ordinance was a threat to the noted Valero donations.
So, did Valero tell BUSD that that is what would happen if the ISO was adopted by the City – cut donations and grants to BUSD – or why else would they testify? A public member in the council chambers asked for a point of order (and was told that was not in order!) because the subject for public comment was the Industrial Safety Ordinance. Yet, speaker after speaker including the Benicia Chamber of Commerce testified about donations, grants and the business benefits of Valero. There was no acknowledgment of air pollution, safety concerns and public health protection.
And what does the ordinance do that is such a threat to Valero’s existence that the recipients of Valero’s generosity spoke for nearly two hours?
The introduced ISO ordinance establishes that the City of Benicia is entitled to any and all reports filed to federal, state and county regulatory entities. In other words, a seat at the table. No audit. No requests for more information. Just provide the city the same information as the regulators.
The ordinance provides for a process of installing air monitors throughout the city in anticipation of the Bay Area Air District dedicating about $60 million of the $82 million from the largest fine assessed for air quality violations in California. Against Valero. Here in Benicia.
Other Industrial Safety Ordinance’s elements include a citizen’s oversight commission to provide opportunities for the public to learn about public health, air quality, meaning of actions taken by the regulators and direct access to city staff. This is everything a community deserves – information, facts, transparency of what the regulators are doing or not doing and sharing among qualified commission members.
The commission is an opportunity to have ex officio members (An ex officio commission member typically holds expertise in a particular area that can be helpful to the commission in carrying out its duties). The ISO explicitly provides for non-votingex officio members. This is modeled after the Benicia Community Sustainability Commission which has designated seats for Valero, Good Neighbor Steering Committee and BUSD.
Industrial Safety Ordinance supporters highlighted “incidents” over two decades to stress the need for involvement in understanding causes and corrective actions. They detailed air monitoring that is currently inadequately detecting toxic air pollution affecting Benicia businesses and residents.
Clearly the most egregious failure of Valero operations is the hydrogen vent at the refinery leaking 2.7 tons of toxics into the air for 15 years and never reported until the Bay Air District discovered the leaks. That is the reason for the largest fine assessed for air pollution and refinery standards.
During the City Council meeting for the introduction of the final version of the ISO, a spokesperson effectively represented the ISO supporters, thereby saving the City Council from additional hours of testimony. Because the supporters participated actively at the subcommittee stakeholder table throughout the sixteen months, they had made their interests and concern known throughout that period.
The opponents were given every opportunity to refine and improve the ISO. The last-minute effort apparently orchestrated by Valero to torpedo the introduced ISO failed. The City’s process shows that stakeholders should participate and discuss the necessity of ISO based on facts, not fear.
Time will tell if Valero punishes BUSD, youth sports, charitable organizations, the arts and the host of beneficiaries of donations and grants because the City Council unanimously agreed the city has a need for and deserves a seat at the table. Bravo to the City Council: public health and safety first. Benicia strong.
The Benicia City Council plans to vote on a controversial industrial safety ordinance next month despite fierce opposition from oil giant Valero and other industrial businesses that operate in the city.
Oil executives, employees and residents packed a City Council meeting Tuesday to weigh in on the proposal, which would create a citizens’ oversight commission, boost community air quality monitoring and empower city officials to issue fines for safety and air quality violations.
The new law would replace an existing agreement with Benicia. Valero has threatened to sue the city if it moves ahead with the ordinance.
“It’s a governmental overreach, significant governmental overreach — even in California!” Lauren Bird, general manager and vice president of the Benicia refinery, told the council. He touted the facility’s track record of responding to and containing plant malfunctions.
“ We work hard every day to maintain a safe operation,” Bird said. “Are we perfect? Absolutely not. But we work round the clock, 24/7, 365 days, multiple times a shift, multiple people, dedicated people who work hard, who are well trained, who are capable.”
Dozens of refinery employees and company supporters praised Valero for financial contributions to the community and warned against alienating the town’s largest taxpayer.
“ If you keep poking that golden goose, one day it’s going to fly away,” said Mark Hughes, a former council member. “And that’s not a threat, that’s not any inside information I have about Valero. It’s just the likely outcome of a company that constantly feels that it’s being pushed away.”
But Anthony Burnasconi said residents like him are paying too high a price for Valero’s community investments.
“Valero can build baseball fields and donate to the schools, and that is good,” Burnasconi said. “But Valero is also a multibillion-dollar corporation that can spill poison into our air.”
Last year, the regional air district fined the company $82 million for failing to report excess toxic emissions at the Benicia refinery. Those releases occurred between 2003 and 2019 and were not disclosed to the public until 2022.
“More important than the amount of money involved was the number of years that the problems had been ignored,” said ordinance proponent Terry Mollica, speaking after Tuesday’s vote. “Sixteen years of just sweeping the problem under the rug. That’s what people want the ISO to address.”
“Benicia showed up tonight,” said Councilmember Kari Birdseye, who, along with Councilmember Terry Scott and Benicia Fire Chief Josh Chadwick, refined the industrial safety ordinance over 14 months and held dozens of meetings with stakeholders.
“Whether they were for or against it, all of the testimony was very impactful and meaningful to our final decision, and I am over the moon with the 5–0 vote,” Birdseye said. “It showed that our council takes the health and safety of Benicia very seriously.”
Supporters of the ordinance held sunflowers while the dozens who came to speak against the ordinance sported Valero’s dark blue uniforms and T-shirts. Parents on both sides brought their children.
Resident Julian Christi put it simply, saying, “I just want to keep my family safe.”
His daughter Charlotte also addressed the council.
“I am 10 years old, and I’ve lived in Benicia all my life — it’s all I know,” she said. “I go to Joe Henderson Elementary, and I would like to say that I am also in favor of the ISO.”
BISHO Working Group report on the March 4th City Council Meeting
By BISHO Working Group, concerned citizens supporting adoption of the Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance (BISHO), March 5, 2025
The BISHO Working Group is very pleased to announce that the Benicia City Council unanimously voted last night to approve the latest draft of the Industrial Safety Ordinance (“ISO”). The 5-0 vote approved of the “first reading” and will now progress forward to a “second reading” sometime late March to mid-April, 2025. This is a huge victory!
Council Chambers were packed with both opponents and supporters of the ISO. The public comment from both sides lasted several hours.
Opponents included Valero Benicia Refinery Vice President and General Manager Lauren Bird and numerous employees, contractors and tradesmen, as well as several civic organizations who were concerned that Valero’s charitable support for school, civic and sports programs might cease if the ISO were adopted.
Proponents pointed out that while Valero’s civic and charitable work is much appreciated, its spotty track record for health and safety was not.
Others spoke passionately and told stories about how these emissions have affected them and their families personally.
Terry Mollica spoke on behalf of BISHO and pointed out that Valero had been fined $82 million by the Air Resources Board for 16 years of violations between 2003 and 2019 for releasing hydrogen sulfide at a rate of 2.7 tons per day, over 360 times the legal limit – and that as recently as Monday, March 4, 2025, fence-line monitors showed emissions over three times above safe levels.
The March 4 vote will not be the final step in the adoption process, but it now seems likely that the draft ordinance will be adopted at the “second reading.”
Mayor Steve Young explained that the City had commissioned a study from a private consultant to estimate the fees necessary to administer the program, as had been requested by Valero and other regulated businesses. That report is expected to be released in draft form in late March or early April, 2025. The “second reading” will take place after that report is available
Though we are pleased with the progress to date, there is still much to be done to implement the law once it is adopted, especially making recommendations for appointees to the Oversight Commission. BISHO is actively investigating potential nominees and will make recommendations, and encourage likely candidates to apply. Please let us know if you have an interest serving on that commission.
The Working Group is asking supporters to express their appreciation to the City Council, and especially to Vice Mayor Terry Scott, Council Member Kari Birdseye, and Chief Chadwick, who have worked so hard to bring us to this point. Below is their contact information:
And… a big thanks to you for your support, for showing up, for contacting your elected officials. It wouldn’t have happened without all of us working together.
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