Category Archives: Benicia City Council

Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Benicia city staff, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Keeping Watch on Earth News, Valero Benicia Refinery

TODAY! – Ask City Council to protect Benicia’s health and safety at the Dec. 19 Council Meeting

A Message from the Benicia ISO Working Group:

The crucial City Council meeting on whether Benicia should consider an Industrial Safety Ordinance will take place on TODAY, Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 6 pm at the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 230 East L Street. It is vital that supporters of a strong ISO attend and voice our support. Valero is gearing up to oppose this and may bring personnel to the meeting to voice opposition.

By attending and offering comments, you can offer support for the proposal by Vice Mayor Terry Scott and Councilmember Kari Birdseye, to be voted on by the Council on Dec. 19, instructing City staff to look into the possibility of Benicia adopting an ISO.

In addition, please voice support for not just the Scott-Birdseye proposal but for a strong ISO. This has become all-the-more important because of a problematic Benicia City staff report that, perhaps unintentionally, repeatedly presents incomplete and potentially misleading information that paints Valero’s refinery in a favorable light compared to Contra Costa County refineries covered by ISOs. The report neglects to mention evidence and experience to the contrary.

For instance, the report lists accidents that have occurred only at Contra Costa refineries. Yet it makes no mention of the many instances of severe violations by Valero, including the 2022 revelation about its Benicia refinery’s over fifteen years of unreported toxic emissions, hundreds of times regulatory limits.

In fairness, however, the report briefly notes, “In the years following [the Contra Costa County ISO’s implementation], it is believed to have contributed to a decline in accidents and releases at refineries in Contra Costa.”

The point is that voices for a strong ISO can help counteract any misimpressions that staff report might leave to the contrary.

If at all possible, your showing up early can help ensure that supporters of a strong ISO are near the front of the audience. But even if you can’t make it by 6 pm, that will be ok as the discussion of this matter probably won’t start until close to 6:30 pm (or possibly even later if the Council does not move this priority item to early in the agenda).

Also, participation by Zoom is an option. You can find the link that explains how to access the meeting here: https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/benicia/5f807fdd4c4cce692977198f6f31acd30.pdf. 

Thanks very much for considering all this and for any support you can show for making Benicia safer and healthier for our kids, our older adults and all of us.

See www.bisho.org for more information.

Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Benicia city staff, Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO), Keeping Watch on Earth News, Valero Benicia Refinery

Ask City Council to protect Benicia’s health and safety at the Dec. 19 Council Meeting

A Message from the Benicia ISO Working Group:

The crucial City Council meeting on whether Benicia should consider an Industrial Safety Ordinance will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 6 pm at the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 230 East L Street, It is vital that supporters of a strong ISO attend and voice our support. Valero is gearing up to oppose this and may bring personnel to the meeting to voice opposition.

By attending and offering comments, you can offer support for the proposal by Vice Mayor Scott and Councilmember Birdseye, to be voted on by the Council on Dec. 19, instructing City staff to look into the possibility of Benicia adopting an ISO.

In addition, please voice support for not just the Scott-Birdseye proposal but for a strong ISO. This has become very important because of a highly problematic and highly unusual Benicia City staff report issued a few days ago. We will be in touch with more details in the next 24 hours.

If at all possible, your showing up early can help ensure that supporters of a strong ISO are near the front of the audience. But even if you can’t make it until later, that will be ok since other agenda items may take up some time.

Also, participation by Zoom is an option. You can find the link that explains how to access the meeting here: https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/benicia/5f807fdd4c4cce692977198f6f31acd30.pdf. 

Thanks very much for considering all this and for any support you can show for making Benicia safer and healthier for our kids, our older adults and all of us.

See www.bisho.org for more information.

Benicia Black Lives Matter, Benicia City Council, Benicia Committee United for Racial Equity (CURE), Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE)

URGENT – Benicia Black Lives Matter on City Council meetings this week!

[The following message was received from Benicia Black Lives Matter by email today. – BenIndy contributor Roger Straw]

Important Upcoming City Council Meetings-Supporters Needed!

There are two important City Council meetings coming up, tomorrow (12/18/23 at 9AM) and Tuesday (12/19/23 at 6PM). Despite the late notice, if anyone is able to call in, write in, or attend to give public comment, this would be a great time to participate.

We need to fight to keep the CURE Commission, the DEI Manager, and our membership in GARE (Government Alliance on Race & Equity.) Even a brief comment of a sentence or two to express support for these items will be helpful.

Below you can find meeting agendas, Staff reports, and details on how to submit comment:

Save DEI in Benicia: Agenda Item #20.A

The UPCOMING City Council meetings are:
MONDAY, December 18th at 9:00AM
TUESDAY, December 19th at 6:00PM

12/18/23: Item 11.A – RESILIENCY PLAN WORKSHOP – FINANCIAL SCENARIO REVIEW (Deputy City Manager) As part of the path forward for addressing the City’s structural deficit, the City is updating its Strategic Plan and developing a Resiliency Plan. Recommendation: Provide feedback and direction on the draft elements of the Resiliency Plan.

12/19/23 Item 20.A – NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES’ CONTRACT AMENDMENT AND UPDATE ON EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION WORK (City Manager)

  • PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR AGENDA ITEMS WILL START AFTER THE ITEM IS INTRODUCED. Detailed information about how to submit comments via phone call or Zoom is below. While emails/letters submitted to City Council after the deadline of last week members may be read, they will not be entered into the public record nor will they appear in the agenda packets.
  • FOR WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENT BY EMAIL
    Members of the public may provide public comments to the City Clerk by email at lwolfe@ci.benicia.ca.us but the window of time to have those comments entered into the public record and added to the City Council agenda packet has closed. Any emails sent may or may not be read by City Council and Staff. Make your choices accordingly.
  • ACCESSING THE MEETING (NOT BY ZOOM)

1) Attend in person at Council Chambers
2) Cable T.V. Broadcast – Check with your cable provider for your local government broadcast channel.
3) Livestream online at www.ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas.
4) Zoom Meeting (link below)

  • FOR PUBLIC COMMENT BY ZOOM OR PHONE (5-MINUTE LIMIT)

The public may view and provide public comment via Zoom (via computer or phone) link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88508047557?pwd=cHRsZlBrYlphU3pkODcycytmcFR2UT09

If prompted for a password, enter 449303.

    • Use participant option to “raise hand” during the public comment period for the item you wish to speak on. Please note, your electronic device must have microphone capability. Once unmuted, you will have up to 5 minutes to speak.

Dial in with phone:
Before the start of the item you wish to comment on, call any of the numbers below. If one is busy, try the next one.

    • 1 669 900 9128 
    • 1 346 248 7799 
    • 1 253 215 8782 
    • 1 646 558 8656 
    • 1 301 715 8592 
    • 1 312 626 6799
  • Enter the meeting ID number: 885 0804 7557 *please note this is an updated ID number*. Once unmuted, you will have up to 5 minutes to speak.

Any member of the public who needs accommodations should email City Clerk Lisa Wolfe at lwolfe@ci.benicia.ca.us, who will use her best efforts to provide as much accessibility as possible while also maintaining public safety.

  • PUBLIC COMMENT TEMPLATE OF TALKING POINTS (OPTIONAL) 

*YOUR OWN WORDS WILL BE THE MOST IMPACTFUL, BUT THESE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT YOU CAN SAY. Adjust the language to suit your voice as these were all mostly written by the same person and really sound like it. 

*The basic idea is to express support for continuing the DEI work the city has undertaken, by continuing the CURE Commission, the DEI Manager position, and membership in GARE (Government Alliance on Race & Equity). Even a one or two sentence comment expressing your support for these items is useful and crucial. 

Equity issues continue in all areas including government, education, business culture, housing, and continued work is essential. 

Importance of continuing the work that has been started, for the importance of the work, but also not to waste the investment that has already been made.

City Council—all white, all but one white men

What CURE has actually accomplished (see report)

What CURE was intended to be and how it was sabotaged

Value of being model city

More than lip service DEI considerations attracts and retains talent, young people

Ideas to get started

Benicia, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Benicia City Council Member Kari Birdseye, Benicia High School, Benicia Police, Benicia Police Department, Benicia School Board, Benicia Unified School District, La Migra

‘La Migra’ – It’s Everyone’s Issue!

Sheri Leigh speaks with Benicia City Council Member Kari Birdseye for a City – and Parent – Perspective

Sheri Leigh
Sheri Leigh, Benicia resident and educator.

This is the perspective of Benicia City Council Member Kari Birdseye, a 23-year Benicia resident and parent of two Benicia public school alumni.  As an elected official and a full-time communications manager for a non-profit environmental organization, Kari is a busy woman.  I ran into her at a recent Benicia Arts Council event and was grateful that she was willing to give me her perspective on the La Migra Games.  We had a very informative phone conversation between her work-related engagements.  

Benicia City Council Member, 23-year Benicia resident, and parent of two speaks to Sheri Leigh about ‘La Migra.’ | Photo from Kari Birdseye’s 2022 Campaign.

Benicia City Council Member Kari Birdseye and the other members of the Benicia City Council stand together with the Benicia police and the Benicia Unified School District (BUSD) on the matter of the student-orchestrated, traditional annual chase game they call La Migra.  Recognizing the racist overtone that is self-evident in the title of the game, the potential physical and emotional harm to individuals, and the ongoing threat to public safety, they want the games stopped – permanently.  This year, City Council and staff publicly acknowledged that this is a community issue that affects everyone in Benicia and teamed up with other municipal stakeholders.  

Ms. Birdseye is proud of the efforts that took place between City Hall, the police, and the school district this last year.  All three agencies worked together to notify the public about the upcoming game, sending out emails and issuing warning notices on their websites, in local news publications, and on social media pages.  The school district actively reached out to BUSD parents to educate them about the dangers of the game, urging them not to allow their children to participate.  Student leaders also urged their classmates to stay away from the games and out of trouble. The police department put extra patrols on duty on the night that was selected for the game.  

Click to enlarge. On March 29, 2023, BUSD issued a warning to parents and families of students that the game was imminent, describing its rules and warning of the potential physical and emotional harm.

According to Council Member Birdseye, the coordinated agency efforts made some impact: student participation was down from the previous year.  Over the course of the evening, police ‘apprehended’ dozens of students, keeping them at the station until they were safely remanded to parent or guardian custody.  When parents and guardians arrived at the station, they were provided with information about the game and warned to be more cautious about and aware of their children’s activities.  

The La Migra “games” has been going on for decades. They were happening when Ms. Birdseye’s children were in high school, and they vividly recall the experience.  Her daughter, who graduated in 2017, was (and still is) a social-justice warrior.  She was offended by La Migra games as a high school freshman, immediately seeing the racial harm.  Ms. Birdseye’s daughter actively advocated to her friends and classmates NOT to participate, continuing her efforts throughout her high school years.  She is now pursuing her Master’s degree in Education at San Francisco State.  

Some Benicia High School students have taken action against the game, posting warnings to discourage peers from participating. | This image is a still from a 2023 NBC Bay Area report.

Ms. Birdseye believes that the underclassmen are highly influenced by their desire to fit in.  They might not yet understand the harm or the danger of the game.  It’s the seniors, she feels, who should know better.  They are deliberately choosing to be in the role of pursuer, emulating and perpetuating a painful history, in effect weaponizing that history against our community’s Latino citizens and immigrants, and against those who are most vulnerable in our society.   

The work that the municipal agencies have begun towards dismantling this damaging tradition is just the beginning.  Ms. Birdseye assured me that each of the agencies, City government, police and the school district, are committed to maintaining their efforts to curtail the La Migra games.

But this is not just an agency problem.  We are all affected by this issue.