A new era begins as newly elected Councilmember Kari Birdseye and Vice Mayor Terry Scott were sworn in at the council meeting on Dec. 6. Photo: Jennifer Hanley
Benicia Herald, December 16, 2022
BENICIA – At the December 6 City Council meeting, newly elected Councilmembers Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye were sworn in to serve the next four years.
Former Councilmembers Lionel Largaespada and Christina Strawbridge were honored for their service to the City and gave speeches thanking the community, fellow councilmembers and City staff for all of their hard work and collaboration.
The Council is now made up of Mayor Steve Young, Vice Mayor Scott, Tom Campbell, Trevor Macenski and Birdseye.
Benicia City Council on December 6, 2022, (l to r) Campbell, Birdseye, Young, Scott, Macenski. Photo: Jennifer Hanley
Scott and Birdseye elected to Council, Measure K Open Space passes, Measure R Funding for Local Road Repair & Infrastructure fails
By Roger Straw, November 30, 2022
Today, the Solano County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Tim Flanagan certified the final official results of our November 8 General Election. I will detail the Benicia results below. For the full Solano County report check out these official Solano links:
Benicia voters elected Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye for City Council 4 year terms. Both had run for Council and lost by narrow margins in recent years, but mounted strong and positive campaigns with backing from a wide variety of electeds, community leaders and local groups. For more about our new Councilmembers, see TerryScottForBenicia2022.org and KariBirdseyeForBenicia.com.
The two incumbents, Christina Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada, ran their own campaigns, but were independently backed by a massive outlay of spending by Valero’s Benicia Refinery and some local labor groups. That PAC interference in our local elections became an issue in the campaign, and may have contributed to the incumbents’ failure to win re-election.
Detailed breakdown of City Council voting: Scott received 235 more votes than Birdseye, who received 152 more votes than Largaespada, who received 456 votes more than Strawbridge, who received 3,160 votes more than Innes.
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Percentages of total vote:
Scott 24.78%. Birdseye 23.75%. Largaespada 23.09%. Strawbridge 21.10%. Innes 7.29%.
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Measure K – Overwhelming support
By an 82% to 18% margin, Benicia residents passed Measure K, renewing the City’s Urban Growth Boundary for another 20 years. The area beyond our UGB will now be protected from development for 20 years. This means that the hills north of Lake Herman Road will be protected from development until 2043!
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Measure R – Narrowly defeated
Measure R was the Benicia Local Road Repair & Infrastructure Measure, which would have provided the necessary funding to fix and maintain, our roads, increasing the sales tax on certain purchases made in Benicia by 3/4 of 1 cent. The measure failed by a 49% to 51% margin. Vote by mail voters approved Measure R by a narrow margin, but election day voters were strongly opposed.
Solano County shows “no outstanding ballots to process” – final result is unofficial, but election is all but complete
By Roger Straw, November 18, 2022
Day by day vote results Nov 8-18
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All ballots counted, handful of exceptions…
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ALL mail-in ballots and provisional ballots have now been counted. The Registrar of Voters can still receive ballots dropped off at other counties, and signature cure letters can be received until November 28th. The Registrar of Voters expects to certify the final result by November 30.
All mail-in and election day ballots counted, bulk of provisional ballots counted, only about 300 countywide remain to be counted, only about 30 for Benicia, not enough to affect the outcome.
By Roger Straw, November 16, 2022
Wednesday’s count of provisional ballots at our Solano County Registrar of Voters did not affect the final outcome of Benicia’s City Council race. Frontrunners Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye maintained a solid lead, and are now assured victory.
Today’s Preliminary Results (click image to enlarge)
Click image to enlarge. Source: Solano County Registrar of Voters.
Yesterday, Nov 15
Today, Nov 16
Scott: 5,613 votes, 24.74%
Scott: +29 votes = 5,642votes,
24.77%
Birdseye: 5,391 votes, 23.76%
Birdseye: +23 votes = 5,414 votes, 23.77%
Largaespada: 5,243 votes, 23.11%
Largaespada: +17 votes = 5,260 votes, 23.09%
Strawbridge: 4,793 votes, 21.13%
Strawbridge: +17 votes = 4,810 votes, 21.11%
Innes: 1,645 votes, 7.25%
Innes: +10 votes = 1,655 votes,
7.26%
Scott’s lead over Birdseye increased today by 6 from 222 to 228. Birdseye’s lead over Largaespada increased by 6 from 148 to 154.
Votes outstanding (click image to enlarge)
Click image to enlarge. Source: Solano County Registrar of Voters.
ALL mail-in ballots have now been counted. Another 322 or so provisional ballots – countywide – must be counted. Benicia is typically about 10% of total Solano votes, so there are perhaps 30 or so provisional ballots for Benicia, clearly not enough to change any of the final results. This election race is over for sure!
The Registrar of Voters expects to certify the final result by November 30.
Official Election Results – Summary
Benicia voters elected Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye for City Council 4 year terms. Both had run for Council and lost by narrow margins in recent years, but mounted strong and positive campaigns with backing from a wide variety of electeds, community leaders and local groups. For more about our new Councilmembers, see 
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