Category Archives: Benicia City Council

Benicia City Council, Local elections, Steve Young

LETTER SERIES: C. Bart Sullivan – Steve Young for City Council

[Editor: Benicians are expressing themselves in letters to the editor of our local print newspaper, the Benicia Herald. But the Herald doesn’t publish letters in its online editions – and many Benician’s don’t subscribe. We are posting certain letters here for wider distribution. – RS]

Young for Council

By C. Bart Sullivan
October 30, 2016
C. Bart Sullivan
C. Bart Sullivan

I am writing this letter in support of Steve Young for City Council.

I was first introduced to Steve as a Planning Commissioner during the commission’s deliberations on the crude-by-rail project.  I was astounded by Steve’s depth of understanding, thoughtful questions, concerns about the project, and his ability to lead the discourse in a manner that helped the public understand the impact the project would have on the community.

His handling of the crude-by-rail project gave me my first insight into Steve’s incredible attention to detail, and his passion for this community.

The more I learn about Steve, the more I feel the city of Benicia would be lucky to have someone like Steve to represent the citizens of our town, and help Benicia grow and thrive as a community. For example, I learned that Steve led a team to redevelop McClellan Air Force Base into McClellan Business Park and the redevelopment of Mather Air Force Base in Sacramento. He was instrumental in preserving the historic town of Locke from extinction. These successful projects are just a few of the projects showcasing Steve’s 30 years of experience in economic development and urban planning.

During the discussion of these projects, I noticed that Steve consistently praised his team.  Steve was able to nurture, lead, and work with people in tackling complicated projects. This all illustrates Steve’s respect for others, and his ability to work well as a leader.

I recently met with Mario Giuliani, our city Economic Development Manager, who explained the economic challenges we face as a community. From that discussion, it became clear to me that we have a rare opportunity to elect someone like Steve Young who has the depth of experience, passion to take action, and the ability to work with our City Council to meet and overcome such challenges.

I urge you to join me in voting for Steve Young for City Council.

C. Bart Sullivan, Benicia
Benicia City Council, Local elections, Steve Young, Valero Benicia Refinery, Wastewater, Water recycling

LETTER SERIES: Steve Young – On the Proposed Recycled Water Project

[Editor: Benicians are expressing themselves in letters to the editor of our local print newspaper, the Benicia Herald. But the Herald doesn’t publish letters in its online editions – and many Benician’s don’t subscribe. We are posting certain letters here for wider distribution. – RS]

On the Recycled Water Project

By Steve Young
October 28, 2016
Steve_Young
Steve Young for Benicia City Council

I would like to thank Mr. Gartrell for his letter and calling attention to this proposal.

Currently, Valero pays approximately $1 million per year for roughly half of the water used in the City. This is raw, untreated water that is used in their cooling towers and refinery process. The rest of the City customers pay around $6 million for the other half of the treated, potable water. Clearly the treated water is of greater value than untreated water, but one can wonder if it is 6 times more valuable?

The proposed wastewater conversion project, which Valero has described as “drought insurance”, is estimated to cost approximately $25 million. This could presumably be financed by a loan from the State, where the payments (according to City staff) would be approximately $1.5 million per year. Both the City and Valero agree that the technology is achievable, and the main question remaining is who should pay the premiums for this drought insurance (i.e. loan payments).

Since the conversion project would result in wastewater being treated by the City to Valero’s specifications, and would be pumped in new lines from the treatment plant directly to Valero for their exclusive use, it is not unreasonable (or illegal) to expect them to pay the costs of that project. I believe that this is in compliance with Prop. 218.

Clearly, there would be benefits to the City from this project as well, since it would free up more water for the community to accommodate both current residents and any future growth the City may choose to embark upon. And the development of the technology of wastewater conversion could ultimately benefit the City if extended to irrigation purposes for parks, school fields and other public uses-although to do so would require some expensive re-plumbing to direct that reclaimed water for those purposes.
The cost of those uses, of course, would be public costs.

The negotiation of the terms of this project would have to be approved by the new City Council and Valero’s corporate offices in San Antonio, TX.

I remain optimistic that this project could be significant in terms of serving the long term water needs of both Valero and the City.

Benicia City Council, Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young, Local elections

LETTER SERIES: Kathy Kerridge – how to elect Elizabeth and Steve

[Editor: Kathy Kerridge asked me to help distribute her letter, below.   – RS]

How you can help elect Elizabeth Patterson and Steve Young

By Kathy Kerridge
October 24, 2016
kathykerridge2016-09-08-150
Kathy Kerridge

There are only two weeks to go before the election and Mayor Patterson and Steve Young need your help.  This will be a close election and if you want to see Mayor Patterson reelected and Steve Young elected to city council please donate an evening or two of your time.  We need help phone banking on Oct. 25, 27, Nov. 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 (from 6 to 8:30) and on November 8 (8am on).  We also need help walking precincts on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 to 2.  Please email Kathy Kerridge at kkerridge@sbcglobal.net, or call 745-8049 to let us know when you can help.

Mayor Elizabeth Patterson will put Benicia First.  She is the best mayor we’ve ever had in my opinion.

    • She raised safety concerns early in the process and led the council to a no vote by voting against the project at the first opportunity.
    • She has shown leadership on ensuring a safe and reliable water supply.
    • Mayor Patterson is leading efforts at the city council to put a cap on refinery emissions – no increase in air pollution.
    • She wants to diversify our businesses to be less dependent and beholden to Valero.
    • Elizabeth will promote Clean Tech.
    • She believes in protecting open space (endorse by Solano County orderly Growth Committee and Sierra Club).
    • Elizabeth Patterson is endorsed by Solano Democrats, Mike Thompson and Mariko Yamada.

Steve Young has served for the past four years as a planning commissioner.   He will provide new ideas and leadership to the council.

    • Steve has 30 years of experience in managing and directing local government projects in the fields of military base conversion, redevelopment and economic development.
    • He served on Benicia’s Planning Commission since 2012, where he thoroughly studied, raised questions and voted to oppose Valero Crude by Rail.
    • Steve will bring new ideas to our city council and has the ability to ask tough questions.
    • Steve believes the city should decide how to develop the Seeno property rather than just responding to a residential development application.
    • Steve supports the proposal to replace half of the city’s water used by Valero with treated wastewater.

– Kathy Kerridge

MORE:
Elizabeth’s website is ElizabethForMayor.org
Steve’s website is SteveYoungForCityCouncil.org

Benicia City Council, Benicia Independent, Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young, Crude By Rail, Local elections

Benicia Independent enters a new phase… crucial Benicia elections

By Roger Straw, October 21, 2016

Benicia Independent enters a new phase…

stopped-steve-and-elizabeth-800Following our astounding victory over Valero’s oil train proposal this fall …

…following this grand conclusion to our 3½ year volunteer-led effort to defeat Valero’s plan … I was exhausted.

The Benicia Independent – a one-person operation – will be entering an entirely new phase, starting today. I will be on a “sabattical leave” from oil train news for at least the next 3 months, maybe a year.

The Benicia Independent was born in 2007, an act of necessity when many felt that our local print newspaper was not representing candidates for Mayor impartially and fired its editor. The Independent came to life again in 2008-9 to oppose the Seeno development proposal and promote a Green Gateway alternative for Benicia’s last large privately-owned open space. After a period of dormancy, the Independent wakened again for the 2011 elections in Benicia, and again after a period of hibernation, re-invented itself in January, 2014 as “Crude by Rail in the News.”

So … the Benicia Independent has evolved as a single-issue blog on a series of emerging issues of local significance.

Right now, the most important local news to cover is our elections for Mayor and City Council.

There is a CLEAR CONNECTION between our last 3 years of David and Goliath struggle to stop oil trains and the 2016 elections. It is critical that we elect two city officials who gave great leadership in stopping Valero’s proposal: Mayor Elizabeth Patterson and Planning Commissioner Steve Young. The Benicia Independent endorses them both, and will post articles to support their candidacy for the remaining weeks of this election.

>> Mayor Elizabeth Patterson is a long-time environmental scientist and Democrat, with progressive views and a strong record of local and statewide accomplishments. She is being challenged by sitting Councilmember Mark Hughes, a retired PG&E executive and Republican, who is business and development friendly, does not wholeheartedly embrace the science behind climate change, and has voted in support of the Seeno proposal. Hughes’ candidacy is supported by outside PACs, and Mayor Patterson’s election is not at all guaranteed. This is a MUST WIN! More at ElizabethForMayor.org.

>> Planning Commissioner Steve Young was incredibly insightful and persistent when, after 3 years of study and hearings and thousands of pages of environmental review, City staff finally allowed Commissioners to raise questions. Steve was not bullied by 3 years of staff, paid consultants and Valero executives favoring the project. He asked hard and penetrating questions for over 3 hours that night, and helped the Planning Commission come to a unanimous vote to deny oil trains in Benicia – a victory for Benicians, communities uprail from here, and for the planet. Steve is running against 4 other candidates for a seat on City Council. It is important that we defeat Republican media consultant Lionel Largaespada. Steve Young deserves our vote, and he’s definitely got mine.  More at SteveYoungForCityCouncil.org.