Category Archives: Benicia City Council

Benicia City Council, Evacuation, Flaring, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Valero Benicia Refinery

Vice Mayor Steve Young: letter from former City Attorney of Santa Rosa

Repost from a Benicia Nextdoor post

City Council Meeting on Air Monitors

By Steve Young, Benicia Vice Mayor, November 21, 2018
Steve Young, Vice Mayor, City of Benicia

It’s not often that the Council receives the kind of letter copied below. It is from Brien Farrell, the former City Attorney of Santa Rosa, who has retired here in town. I thank Mr. Farrell on behalf of my colleagues. After 4 hours of testimony and deliberation on Tuesday, the Council unanimously adopted a motion advancing what I hope is the mutual interest of the City and Valero in providing enhanced air monitoring for the public, as well as better communication between the two parties. We also appreciate the donation to the City Fire Department by Valero of three mobile air monitors.

Brien Farrell 4:34 PM (7 hours ago)
To Mayor, Steve, Mark, Alan, Tom

Mayor Patterson and Councilmembers:

I watched portions of last night’s council meeting on line and I watched the entire discussion surrounding the motion that was adopted.

I have attended hundreds of city council meetings. Your preparation, civility and thoughtful crafting of a compromise was a model of good government.

Our family thanks you. Air quality and economic stability are important to all of us. Our middle son is the special education coordinator at Robert Semple Elementary School. He had to be rushed to the hospital the day of the flare-up in May 2017. He did not know whether he was having a cardiac or pulmonary emergency. He had never experienced anything similar.

Evacuation planning and air quality monitoring are both critical. We strongly support local, state and federal oversight. In my past career as a city attorney, I routinely observed that local government is the most responsive and accountable.

Our son has been cleared to donate his kidney to another Benicia teacher on December 17, 2018, at the UC Davis Hospital. Upon his return to work, we worry that he might be exposed to another major air quality event or cumulative harm. Everyone assures us that his health will be normal after the kidney transplant. We would like all foreseeable risks to be minimized.

Your ongoing efforts to promote maximum transparency and protections that are fair and reasonable are much appreciated. We urge the city to impose local regulations, if it is not possible to reach compromises in six months.

Thank you for your service and dedication.

Air monitors, Air pollution, Benicia City Council, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Valero Benicia Refinery

Mayor Patterson: Air monitors and public health – Council agenda for Tuesday

From an E-Alert by Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

Much more than fence-line air monitors…

Monday, November 19, 2018

Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Mayor 2007 - present
Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Mayor 2007 – present

The regular council meeting will be at 7:00 and the agenda and staff reports and recommendations are online here.

The main item of interest is the “report” to Council about progress on installation of air monitors by Valero.  The report came about because of the request by the Industrial Safety Ordinance working group – a citizens’ steering committee which researched and developed a draft Industrial Safety Ordinance in response to the near catastrophic melt down of Valero Refinery in May of 2017 and subsequent plumes of black smoke.

The request to the city council was – and is – to have an outside subject matter expert with legal skills to review the proposed ISO and determine its legal sufficiency and report to the council.  For some reason staff does not make this clear but rather states that it is a vote up or down on the ordinance. This is incorrect.

The request to have an expert opinion report on the need, adequacy and value of the Industrial Safety Ordinance is meant to have a neutral party report to council.  I made a request for considering the ordinance in May of 2017 and soon realized that this would not be addressed quickly.  Therefore, I advised the Benicians for Safe and Healthy Community and thus they took the initiative to research, interview, have an expert panel discussion and draft the ordinance.  Naturally, this was done to expedite the process.  The small step of seeking outside advice on the draft Ordinance was voted down by the council majority.

A couple of common objections to the Industrial Safety Ordinance are:

  1. An ISO is not necessary now that the state has adopted many of the Contra Costa County ISO regulations.  It should be noted that none of the cities or county have rescinded their ordinance because they still find it meets specific needs and is subject to better reporting to local government.
  2. Now that the fence-line monitors are in place there is no need for the ISO because the county’s Program 4 suffices.  Actually this is a requirement of the state to coordinate state and local regulations and is incorporated by reference into the draft ISO.  The county does not have regulatory authority, but rather coordinates.  For instance, the county reports on inspections and status of required reports.  The coordination with local government to date has been a booth at the 2018 Peddlers’s Fair.  CalEPA requires a full public participation program for the community air monitor(s) to be implemented.  Neither the community air monitor nor the public participation program has been done.

In short the proposed Industrial Safety Ordinance is much more than fence-line monitors at the refinery or portable emergency air monitors.  It is providing a seat at the table participating with the county and state regulators and the regulated industries.  It is a guarantee to get reports and posting them on city website rather than chasing down reports at the county or state and often with broken links.  It is a fee structure to pay for continuous staff level of engagement rather than driven by budget constraints.  It is memorializing our affirmative duty to protect public health.  It establishes a collaborative relationship with regulators and the regulated refinery and not a co-dependent relationship.

Air monitors, Air Quality, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Community-wide air monitoring, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), ISO Working Group

Important Benicia City Council meeting this Tuesday Nov. 20

By Roger Straw, Monday, November 19, 2018
[Editor:  Highly recommended: Mayor Patterson’s Air monitors and public health – Council agenda for Tuesday.  Also, see Kathy Kerridge’s  invitation to this meeting.  – R.S.]

Valero and City staff report on air monitor progress required by ISO denial

You may want to attend the Benicia City Council meeting this Tuesday evening, November 20, or watch it on Benicia TV.

Last June, City Council chose NOT to review a draft Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) prepared by a local citizen activist Working Group.  However, the presentation and discussion at Council that night highlighted a unanimous concern that Benicia needs better air quality monitors and better communication between Valero refinery and the City.

At the end of the Council’s discussion last June, Council members Campbell and Schwartzman demanded that Valero install certain air monitors and undertake improved communications with the City in six months, OR ELSE.  Or else, that  is, they would vote in favor of an ISO to better protect the interests of the City.

Well, the six months has passed, and this Tuesday City Council will hear reports and discuss progress made – or not made.  As always, public comments, written or spoken, are welcome.  (See “Where to write…”)

IMPORTANT PREPARATION MATERIALS: see the Nov. 20 staff report and attachments here, beginning on p. 6 of the agenda.

City Council will meet at 7 pm on Tuesday November 20 in chambers at City Hall, 250 East L Street.  The meeting will be broadcast live on your tv at home on Comcast channel 27 or AT&T U-Verse channel 99 or via live streaming on your computer at Benicia TV, https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/btv.

Benicia CA, Benicia City Attorney Heather McLaughlin, Benicia City Council

Benicia City Council interviewing candidates to replace City Attorney Heather McLaughlin

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald

Benicia council to interview law firms on Wednesday

By JOHN GLIDDEN, November 13, 2018 at 4:38 pm
Heather Mc Laughlin, Benicia City Attorney

BENICIA » The City Council will meet in a special closed session on Wednesday to interview several law firms that have applied to provide city attorney services.

Benicia City Attorney Heather Mc Laughlin confirmed Tuesday that five firms responded to a request for proposals (RFP) the city released in September.

She declined to provide the names of the firms — citing applicant privacy.

The City Council voted 4-0 during its Sept. 4 meeting to release the RFP after Mc Laughlin announced she will be retiring as city attorney at the end of March 2019. Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson was absent from that meeting.

Mc Laughlin said Tuesday that the selected law firm will provide an individual to serve as city attorney but the person will not be a city employee. Mc Laughlin, who was hired in 1997, is a city employee.

The city attorney serves as chief legal counsel for the city, representing the City Council, city manager, and city staff.Responsibilities include attending all council meetings and advising the council regarding matters on the agenda. The person will also attend Open Government Commission, and Planning Commission meetings.

Additional services include keeping the council informed about all legislation or judicial opinions which could impact the city, recommending policies, interpreting the Benicia Municipal Code and prosecuting misdemeanor and ordinance infractions, among other duties.

It’s not known yet how much the new attorney services will cost the city, however, Mc Laughlin currently receives an annual base salary of $207,106.

Councilors are expected to award the new legal services agreement on Nov. 29 with a March 1, 2019 start date.

The general public will have a chance to address the council prior to the closed session portion of the meeting.

The special Benicia City Council meeting begins at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, and will be held inside the Benicia Community Center, Room 2, located at 370 L St.