4-1 vote: Young, Campbell, Largaespada and Patterson YES, Strawbridge NO
Late last night, Benicia resident Judi Sullivan reported:
Late last night, Benicia resident Judi Sullivan reported:
On Tuesday January 21, Benicia’s City Council will consider a proposal to change our electoral process from At-Large voting for Council candidates to four newly-defined small geographical districts.
Benicia citizens are writing letters in opposition and planning to attend at Council. [7pm at City Hall TONIGHT – Agenda and staff reports here]
On Tuesday January 21, Benicia’s City Council will consider a proposal to change our electoral process from At-Large voting for Council candidates to four newly-defined small geographical districts. Benicia citizens need to pay attention to this – it may sound ok, but consider…
I think our ability to join forces against the massive and mean-spirited outside corporate influences we saw in our 2018 election would be immeasurably weakened by adoption of district voting.
In 2018, a PAC funded by Valero Services and organized labor spent over $200,000 to smear and defeat Council candidate Kari Birdseye. (See below for background.) A similar campaign was waged against candidate Elizabeth Patterson in 2007.
A Council campaign funded and run in a small Benicia district would not be capable of standing up to limitless corporate PAC money. And Benicia is way too small to be divided into four districts capable of finding and supporting multiple competitive candidates across the political spectrum.
In many cities, district voting makes sense as a measure to strengthen and empower concentrated minority groups. Note that I am decidedly in FAVOR of empowering minority voting strength, especially when it comes to racial and ethnic minorities. Most of us would agree. But Benicia’s racial and ethnic mix is not concentrated in any linear district – so district voting would do absolutely nothing to advance minority voting strength.
What about other sub-groups in geographically defined parts of Benicia?
Our Southampton hills 1) is already represented by Mr. Largaespada, 2) could have elected Kari Birdseye as a Southampton neighbor if she hadn’t been targeted and smeared, and 3) had Mark Hughes as a resident Council member for years. I’m guessing Southampton probably had a few more Council members going back before my time.
A case CAN probably be made that Benicia’s East Side has been underrepresented over the years – but district voting would create more problems than it would fix for Eastsiders. IMPORTANT: How could an underfunded campaign in a smaller population on the East side possibly put up a fight against Valero and organized labor?!
CORRECTION: A kind reader has pointed out that current Council member Tom Campbell lives on Benicia’s East side. Campbell and former Council member Jan Cox-Golovich live in a section of town north of Military and just EAST of an imaginary First Street dividing line.
MY CONCLUSION: District voting would only give outside big money greater strength to stack our City Council.
Contact: Teri Davena
City of Benicia, Economic Development Specialist
(707) 746-4202
Email: tdavena@ci.benicia.ca.us
Benicia, CA (January 14, 2020) — The City of Benicia learned early Tuesday that Benicia has been selected as one of the “Top 5 Towns” in the competition to be the featured town in season 5 of the hit Hulu series The Small Business Revolution, an original series by Deluxe, hosted by Amanda Brinkman and Ty Pennington.
Each season the Deluxe team invests $500,000 to revitalize selected main street small businesses through makeover and marketing assistance while filming the process for the series.
According to Deluxe, thousands of towns are nominated each year. The list is narrowed to the top 20, then to the top 10. The Deluxe team makes site visits to the top 10 towns, assessing their needs and opportunities. They were in Benicia on December 4th and 5th visiting First Street businesses. After site visits, the team narrows the list to the top five for public voting, which will determine the winner.
Public voting opened on Tuesday, January 14th and continues for one week through Tuesday, January 21st online at SmallBusinessRevolution.org. Voters may vote one time per day, per device.
“I am excited for our town and the chance for so many viewers to see what we get to experience each day,” said Mario Giuliani, Economic Development Manager. “Our small business owners have helped create a renaissance for us on First Street, now it is our turn to help them with a “Revolution”! I encourage everyone to vote every day for Benicia.”
Benicia is the only California town in the running. Other towns in the top five are Fredonia, NY; Livingston, MT; Spearfish, SD; and The Dalles, OR.
The series is available for viewing online and on Hulu and Prime.
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