Category Archives: Benicia CA

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, BISHO, EngageBenicia.com

TONIGHT! Join one of two City of Benicia meetings to discuss industrial safety (5-6 or 6-7pm)

Industrial Safety Ordinance Development Community Meeting
Two Options: In Person or Virtual

The Benicia City Council has appointed a Council Subcommittee consisting of Vice Mayor Terry Scott and Councilmember Kari Birdseye, with Fire Chief Josh Chadwick as the appointed staff member, to create an Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance (ISO) for the City of Benicia. As part of the ISO development process, the subcommittee is conducting public outreach, gathering input from key stakeholders, and consulting with subject matter experts in the field of industrial safety.

As part of the public outreach process, the subcommittee is hosting a series of community outreach meetings. The first option is an in-person meeting at the Benicia Public Library on Tuesday, March 26. Due to the size of the Dona Benicia room, there will be two sessions of the same content: one at 5 p.m. and one at 6 p.m. Please attend only one session to allow for more participation.

There will also be a virtual community outreach meeting with the same content on Wednesday, April 3 from 6 -7 p.m. To join the meeting, visit https://tinyurl.com/yxb39xv6 and use passcode 162947.

To learn more about the project and the public engagement process, please visit the City’s public engagement website, www.EngageBenicia.com.

Benicia, Benicia CA, Benicia Unified School District, La Migra, Sheri Leigh

ALERT: BUSD Superintendent warns of ‘infamous tradition’ La Migra, urges families to discuss chase-game’s racist origin and danger

[Note from BenIndy:  Benicia Unified School District (BUSD) issued a district-wide warning that the annual occurrence of the racist, violent “game” Benicia High School students call “La Migra” is anticipated to occur soon. For more than 20 years, the La Migra “chase-game” has inflicted deep emotional and often physical harm on Benicia’s vulnerable youth, especially our youth of color. La Migra also claims countless hours of our police department’s time, tying up emergency resources and costing Benicia thousands in overtime wages and related spending. After you read Superintendent Damon Wright’s warning, please keep reading to learn more about an amazing event coming to Benicia tomorrow!]

Infamous Traditions

Posted by Benicia Unified School District, March 22, 2024

We want to bring your awareness to an unsanctioned and dangerous activity that Benicia teens have participated in over the last twenty years, an underground, unwelcome event in our community. It is a chase-and-capture game referenced as “La Migra”. This activity happens in the Spring, usually on a Friday evening in late March or April.

While this activity is not in any way organized or condoned by the schools, Benicia Unified School District, or the City of Benicia, there is an urgent need to provide our community with information and ask for your partnership in putting an end to this event once and for all. We want to provide awareness about this event and see it stopped for two important reasons: the inappropriate, racist, and offensive nature of the game and the incredible safety concerns for our students and innocent bystanders.

“La Migra” is slang for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is the name used for this controversial game based on ICE agents deporting undocumented immigrants. The event involves older students chasing younger students through the city, trying to catch them, and possibly transporting or holding them against their will. The event begins at one location, typically a park in town, with the younger students attempting to get to a second designated location without being caught by an older student. A student who is captured is sometimes dropped off in an unknown location. There are reports of highly unsafe situations in the course of this event, including dangerous driving, students dressed in all black with masks running through backyards and private property, speeding, physical contact causing injury, unsafe physical detainment, and students being left without the ability to contact someone to pick them up. BUSD along with various community partners are working to stop this activity immediately to keep students from being injured or harmed.

In addition to the physical safety concerns, Benicia Unified School District strongly advocates for respect for all individuals, regardless of race, place of origin, sexual orientation, or disability. A game such as “La Migra” causes harm, both physical and emotional, to members of our community.

We urge every family to discuss this event, use this as an opportunity for education and understanding, and help us end this game in our community.

Respectfully,

Damon J. Wright, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Benicia Unified School District

 

Reminder: Fiestas Primavera Saturday, March 23, 2024

The Solano Aids Coalition (SAC), along with logistical support from the City of Benicia, the Benicia Public Library, the Benicia Unified School District, Benicia Black Lives Matters, and the Kyle Hyland Foundation, is proud to announce the creation of a beautiful and inclusive Benicia cultural event “Fiestas Primavera” a Mexican/Latino Indigenous tradition to celebrate and honor the coming of spring. Please review the promotional video linked here: Fiestas Primavera

Fiestas Primavera spring fest benicia gazebo park open 10:30am to 5:00pm

For more information about Fiestas Primavera and La Migra, check out our archives!

Benicia, Benicia CA, Benicia Unified School District, La Migra, Sheri Leigh

Fiestas Primavera / Spring Festival at Benicia City Park, Sat., March 23

Let’s Educate and Celebrate, Not Denigrate

Click the image to enlarge.

Benicia, California – On March 23, 2024, Solano Aids Coalition, in partnership with the Benicia Unified School District, the Benicia Public Library, and Benicia Black Lives Matters, with help and support from a wide host of agencies and local businesses and non-profit groups, are bringing a spectacular cultural event to Benicia. Fiestas Primavera Benicia is a Mexican/Latino and Indigenous celebration of spring. This inclusive and free event will take place at Benicia City Park by the gazebo from 10:30am until 6pm and will be an extravaganza of ceremony, music, dance, art, education, vendors, food, and children’s and teen activities. There will even be a small classic car show and virtual reality trips to the past.

The Solano Aids Coalition has been producing cultural events throughout the county for many years, including the beautiful Dia De Los Muertos Festival, Fiestas Patrias, and Cinco de Mayo. This will be the first of its kind in Benicia, and will host vibrant entertainment, including elaborately costumed Aztec Dancers and Diablos de Oaxacanos, culminating with a Latin pop and jazz band which will get you out of your chair and onto the dance floor.

The children’s activities include catrina face painting, pinata making, clowns or payasos, and an exploration of the Mexican/Latino and Indigenous cultures and their own heritage through educational art projects and displays. Students will have the opportunity to display their artwork and read essays that demonstrate their passion for equity and inclusion. There is even a scholarship for two Benicia juniors and two sophomores for those who submit meaningful essays on history, immigration, and the impacts of racism on our community.

The purpose of this event is to bring education, awareness and celebration of the Mexican/Latino and Indigenous cultures to this community. The population of Benicia includes at least 14% Latino/Hispanic, making it the second largest ethnic group in the City, with another 13.5% of the population reporting to be of mixed race. More than 30% of our population is non-white. Benicia is ready to honor its cultural make-up and heritage through this interactive and inclusive event.

Fiestas Primavera Benicia is born out of the need for more community understanding and acceptance of our cultural make-up and the social and economic benefits of immigrants. Students in Benicia have been sponsoring a game they call, La Migra, which is an unsanctioned chase game modeled after the brutal and tragic capture and return of undocumented immigrants by INS agents. Teens have been playing this racist-based and bullying inducing game for decades, generally during the early spring. It has been the cause of much individual trauma and is a huge public safety concern.

“We need to focus on the benefits that immigrants bring to our country and communities, and not allow our children to grow up believing that immigrants should be sent back to where they belong.” says Mario Saucedo, Director of the Solano Aids Coalition and producer of community wide cultural events. “This country is built by immigrants – in fact, almost everyone in this country has an ancestral history of immigration, whether it was a decade or centuries ago. We really are all one people – the human race. So let’s celebrate – not denigrate – our cultural make-up and our history.”

Solano Aids Coalition and the supporting community of Benicia invite you to attend this amazing event on March 23 in Benicia City Park by the Gazebo. It will be a beautiful and inclusive celebration and eye opening event for all people of all ages.

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, BISHO, EngageBenicia.com

City of Benicia to hold public meetings about industrial safety and oversight on March 26 (in person) and April 3 (virtual)

[Note from BenIndy: Please save the dates so you can share your ideas and opinions on the extremely important topic of industrial safety and oversight; you can visit the Benicia Industrial Health and Safety (BISHO) Working Group’s webpage at BISHO.org to learn more about the push for Benicia to adopt an industrial safety ordinance (ISO) from the perspective of supporters. We can’t find much from the perspective of opponents yet, although that’s sure to be coming soon. This message came from City of Benicia This Week (COBTW), a weekly newsletter from the City Manager of of Benicia that is sent out on Monday mornings so Benicians can see what’s coming up for the week and sometimes beyond. We encourage every Benician to sign up to have it delivered directly to your inbox every Monday morning – visit this page for instructions on how to subscribe. Please also note the introduction of Benicia’s new public portal for public participation, EngageBenicia.com.]

Industrial Safety Ordinance Development Community Meeting
Two Options: In Person or Virtual

The Benicia City Council has appointed a Council Subcommittee consisting of Vice Mayor Terry Scott and Councilmember Kari Birdseye, with Fire Chief Josh Chadwick as the appointed staff member, to create an Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance (ISO) for the City of Benicia. As part of the ISO development process, the subcommittee is conducting public outreach, gathering input from key stakeholders, and consulting with subject matter experts in the field of industrial safety.

As part of the public outreach process, the subcommittee is hosting a series of community outreach meetings. The first option is an in-person meeting at the Benicia Public Library on Tuesday, March 26. Due to the size of the Dona Benicia room, there will be two sessions of the same content: one at 5 p.m. and one at 6 p.m. Please attend only one session to allow for more participation.

There will also be a virtual community outreach meeting with the same content on Wednesday, April 3 from 6 -7 p.m. To join the meeting, visit https://tinyurl.com/yxb39xv6 and use passcode 162947.

To learn more about the project and the public engagement process, please visit the City’s public engagement website, www.EngageBenicia.com.