Category Archives: Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young

Benicia City Council, Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young, California propositions, Crude By Rail, Local elections, Sierra Club

LETTER SERIES: Pat Toth-Smith – Vote for the Environment (Sierra Club endorsements)

[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]

A Vote for the Environment, Sierra Club endorses Elizabeth Patterson for Mayor, Steve Young & Tom Campbell for City Council

By Pat Toth-Smith
October 16, 2016

The election is upon us and it’s been a complete disappointment where global climate change is concerned. After having signed three petitions to have a question about climate change specifically put to the presidential and vice presidential candidates during their debates, it sadly did not happen. To my disappointment in researching the candidates’ positions on climate change I discovered that Donald Trump doesn’t believe in the science of climate change and went so far as to say, “that it is a hoax put out by the Chinese Government”, in one of his tweets. Mike Pence, as I understand, won’t accept climate change as real. I feel it is important if you’re a believer in the science of climate change and want to move the United States to a clean energy future, to be aware of which candidates are most committed to that.

Thankfully, the Sierra Club has completed a list of environmental endorsements, which I want to share, starting with our local city government election.

The Sierra Club endorses:

• Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson,
• Benicia City Council Steve Young and Tom Campbell
• District 2 Supervisor Mike Ioakimedes
• Assembly District 14 Mae Torlakson
• Fairfield City Council Pam Bertani
• Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan
• Vallejo City Council Liat Metzenheimer
• President Hillary Clinton
• Senator Kamala Harris
• Congressman Mike Thompson

The state propositions that the Sierra club endorses are as follows:

• Prop 56, cigarette tax: YES
• Prop 58, multilingual education: YES
• Prop 59, oppose Citizens United: YES
• Prop 67, plastic bag ban: YES

As a Benicia resident, I’ve had the unique opportunity of seeing Mayor Elizabeth Patterson in action. She was tireless in her effort to keep the public informed about the Valero Crude By Rail permit process as it progressed, whereas her opponent, publically attacked her for it. She is also a big proponent of the Community Sustainability Commission which promoted Marin Clean Energy (MCE) and gave a grant to study any risk to our city. My family and I are grateful because we now pay to power our home with 100% renewable energy from MCE. MCE also gave a check for over $100,000 to the city this year for net energy from the city’s solar panels.

During my three year process of participating to stop the Valero crude by rail project, I was able to observe Planning Commissioner Steve Young’s outstanding commitment to doing his due diligence in researching all aspects for the permit request. He did a very thorough job of questioning all concerned and it made me content in his abilities to protect Benicia from all future dangerous projects. I am also grateful to Mayor Patterson and council member Campbell for publicly stating their rejection of this dangerous project the day the city council was supposed to vote on it. In my estimation, they were putting our community’s safety first, regardless of the Surface Transportation Boards ruling.

Pat Toth-Smith
Benicia
Sierra Club link:
http://content.sierraclub.org/voterguide/endorsements
Local Sierra Club Chapter link: https://www.facebook.com/SierraClubRedwoodChapter/
Benicia City Council, Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young, Local elections

LETTER SERIES: Susan Lynn – 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]

Steve Young – good choice for City Council

As the election fast approaches and my mailbox is flooded with campaign literature I want to encourage everyone to vote for Steve Young for the Benicia City Council.  Since I first became aware of him, at the Planning Commission’s public hearings on the Crude by Rail project, to the recent candidates forum, I have been impressed by how carefully he does his homework… asking important questions, researching the issues from all sides and conveying the information the public needs in order to understand the impact of these issues on our quality of life. Yes, it is true that now “everyone” is against Crude by Rail but I believe it was Steve’s courageous leadership that brought the Commission and the Council to take this stand.

Steve was able to influence our elected official’s opinions because he understands the language used in EIRs and because he has worked in and with government agencies for the past 30 years. His extensive, valuable experience with community and economic development promises to be crucial to the items that are going to affect the future well-being of our town… How do we insure that we have enough clean drinking water? What kind of development do we want out on East 2nd Street?  How can the Industrial Park be made more appealing to potential businesses?   Not anti-growth as some would want you to believe, Steve recently said, “There are ways to explore how land is developed. You don’t just have to just react to whatever plans the owners presents. You need to engage the public and make sure that what gets built truly fits the needs of the town.”

With a graduate degree in Urban Planning, years of experience as the Director of Community Development for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency and a true passion for doing what is best for Benicia, he is positioned to be an excellent member of the Benicia City Council. For the future of our children and grandchildren, I hope that you will join me and vote for Steve Young.

Benicia City Council, Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young, Local elections, Northern Gateway Project, Seeno property

LETTER SERIES: Steve Young on Seeno land use

[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]

Development of the Seeno Property

By Steve Young, Benicia Planning Commission
October 6, 2016

Recently, a land use application has been submitted for development of the Seeno property, the 526 acre site located at East 2nd Street and Lake Herman Road.

The latest version of this development proposal, now called the Northern Gateway, also has a new lead developer (Schwartz Development) who has done projects with the Seeno family before.

This proposal, as described to me by the developer, calls for the construction of up to 900 single family homes along with some limited commercial and industrial parcels.

There are several problems that I see with this proposal.

First, although they insist there is adequate water for 900 homes, the City is in the middle of an extended drought and we are being asked to save water wherever we can.

Second, the developer has no intention of building either a school or a firehouse. If they don’t build these facilities, the obligation would fall upon the rest of us for those necessary amenities. Students would have to be transported to either Robert Semple elementary school (which is among the oldest properties in the District and is lacking in many amenities) or Benicia Middle School or Benicia High School, both of which are overcrowded.

Finally, the developer bragged that the homes would sell very fast, as they would be priced between $400-415,000. This price range is well below the Benicia median home price, and the addition of that many homes at that price level would not improve the property values of the rest of Benicia homes.

By contrast, at a recent candidates forum, Mark Hughes and Lionel Largaspaeda spoke in very positive tones about the possibility of the growth this project would bring.

I am not reflexively anti-growth, but object to this reactive form of planning.

This parcel will eventually be developed. But it is the City which should decide what type of development will ultimately go there, rather than simply reacting to a developer’s proposal, which is more focused on maximizing profit than in developing the last significant parcel in the City in a way that best serves the community.