Category Archives: Benicia CA

Mike Thompson makes news in Benicia: “military grade assault weapons do not belong in citizens’ hands”

March 17, 2018
Congressional Representative holds Town Hall in Benicia CA on March 17
US Representative Mike Thompson, California’s Fifth District

I became a Mike Thompson fan at his Benicia Town Hall on March 17.

Our Representative demonstrated a thorough grasp of shocking gun violence statistics.  He is strongly opposed to arming teachers and supports CDC research into gun violence.  He is an expert on legislative procedural matters regarding gun control, and chairs a House Task Force on Gun Violence.  He is sponsoring a number of bills (of note, H.R. 1565) and supporting others, and was very much aware of the accelerating national opposition to NRA influence.

Although Rep. Thompson focuses primarily on practical, achievable legislative goals like strengthening background checks, he spoke plainly about assault weapons at the town hall in Benicia, California.  More than once, Thompson boldly asserted that military grade automatic and semi-automatic assault weapons “do not belong in the hands of citizens.”

What can this mean other than an assault weapons ban?  Some day.  When asked if he supports Senator Feinstein’s 2017 bill to ban assault weapons, Rep. Thompson nodded affirmatively, and said he agreed, and repeated that “assault weapons do not belong in citizen hands.”

Two current House bills proposing a ban on assault weapons are not yet supported by Thompson: H.R.5087 and H.R.4268.  And as of this writing, Thompson’s view opposing assault weapons does not yet appear on his website, nor in any press release I can find.  It seems the Congressman was unveiling a new and stronger position here in Benicia last Saturday.

Recent Thompson press releases:

Benicia High School Students stage on-campus walkout for Gun Safety

March 14, 2018
Students rally on the Quad in remembrance of those killed in Parkland FL

Prevented by Benicia School policy from leaving campus to memorialize and voice their opinions, Benicia’s high school students assembled in the outdoor Quad at 10am today.  Several student leaders spoke through loudspeakers from a balcony.

Benicia Herald reporter George Johnston was allowed on campus, and shot this 13-minute video, posted on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/GeorgesJohnston/status/973968318255194112

Mark your calendar: Sat. March 24 – Benicia Rally, #NEVERAGAIN

EARLY NOTICE – PLANNING STILL IN THE WORKS!

Please mark your calendars for Saturday, March 24.  A group of Benicia citizens, including some of our high school students, are planning a rally to remember the loss of 17 lives in the Parkland, Florida high school mass shooting – and for sensible gun control measures.

Plans for the event are still unfolding, so stay tuned here on Benicia Independent.  For UPDATES, check HERE:

Andrés Soto Letter: Benicians Deserve Better

Repost from the Benicia Herald, Forum Page

Benicia deserves better

Andrés Soto

February 21, 2018, By Andrés Soto

Benicia is the only Bay Area refinery town that does not have the community protection of an Industrial Safety Ordinance, or ISO.

In 1999, the city of Richmond and Contra Costa County adopted their interlocking ISOs. The Richmond ordinance mirrors the Contra Costa ISO, and Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Division is responsible for enforcement and reporting.

Their experience with repeated refinery and associated hydrogen plant polluting events caused the elected leaders to respond to pressure from the disproportionally impacted communities in Richmond, Rodeo and Martinez for greater protection and information about polluting incidents.

How did Benicia miss out?

Since the adoption of the ISO, there have continued to be dangerous and deadly incidents at these Bay Area refineries, albeit at reduced rates, due to the ISO. Fortunately, the Richmond/Contra Costa ISO allows for corrective provisions that have improved refinery function and provided impacted communities with timely investigative information.

Under the ISOs, a 72-hour post incident report is available to the public. Monthly reports, or more frequently if necessary, follow that report and are publicly posted. To date, neither the Benicia City Council nor the people of Benicia have received any official reports on the nearly monthlong Valero flaring disaster this past May.

Based on the success of the Richmond/Contra Costa ISO, the California legislature adopted some of the process safety management portions of the ISO and made them state law, going into effect in October.

Unfortunately, the legislature did not adopt all elements of the ISOs. Benicia’s ability to receive information, publish the results of investigations to the public and to require Valero to take corrective action simply does not exist. Can we wait for the legislature to strengthen the state law?

While Valero and PG&E point the finger at each other over who is at fault for the Valero flaring disaster in May, Benicia remains in the dark. We know Valero was given permits to construct an adequate backup generator system but only one co-generator was built and the permit for the other was allowed to expire after several extensions, probably because of Valero’s bureaucrats in Texas.

Do we Benicians think we can count on Texas oil men to put our health and safety ahead of their profits? The lesson we learned from the successful battle to stop Valero’s dangerous Crude-By-Rail Project is the company seems to stop at nothing to ensure their profits – even at the expense of Benicians.

Benicia deserves better!

Andrés Soto,
Benicia