Category Archives: Christopher Cabaldon

Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Benicia Herald, Benicia Measure A, Benicia Measure B, BISHO, Christopher Cabaldon, Stephen Golub

“BISHO, Revenue Measures and Cabaldon: Three Steps We Can Take on March 5 for a Safer, Healthier, Better Benicia”

[Note from BenIndy: What luck! A second installment from Benicia Herald columnist (and author, blogger, and Benicia resident) Stephen Golub, just in time for Election Day and the March 5 Benicia City Council Meeting.]

Photo by Phil Scroggs on Unsplash.
Benicia resident and author Stephen Golub.

By Stephen Golub, first appearing in the Benicia Herald on March 3, 2024

As demonstrated by the February 24 Valero spill, which put potentially dangerous levels of toxic hydrogen sulfide into our air, we can’t be complacent about protecting the safety and health of Benicia’s kids, older adults, people with medical problems and entire community. Here are three steps we can take on March 5 to keep Benicia beautiful and wonderful.

SUPPORT AN ISO AT THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING AND AT BISHO.ORG

At the March 5 City Council meeting, a report will be presented on the status of a Council subcommittee’s work to prepare an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO). This potential legislation, which every other Bay Area locality which hosts a refinery has, could help prevent Valero violations and accidents that can spark dangerous emissions and explosions.

In the wake of the February 24 accident, and amidst increasing indications that Valero adamantly opposes an ISO (which, again, other Bay Area refineries manage to live with), it’s important to show support for the ordinance and for the diligent, dogged work of Vice Mayor Terry Scott and Councilwoman Kari Birdseye to bring it about.

The meeting starts at 6 pm. Attending and speaking up in person is important. But those who prefer to participate by video can go to https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas and click the Agenda or Zoom links at the top of the page.

An additional, easy way to back an ISO is to go to the website BISHO.ORG and indicate support at the online form there. BISHO stands for Benicia Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance, a desired title of the City’s ISO because it includes the word “safety” to emphasize what’s at stake. The site has been put together by and for the many Benicians seeking to make our town safer and healthier through an ISO.

VOTE “YES” ON MEASURES A AND B

Along with our votes in the March 5 primary contests (more on that below), that day also represents our chance to cast our ballots to help ensure Benicia’s financial future.

If we vote YES on Measure A, the result will be a slight increase in the tax for hotel guests; residents are unaffected. It will produce up to a few hundred thousand dollars per year for the City.

If we vote YES on Measure B, it will yield millions of dollars in increasing sales tax revenue annually for the City, at the cost of just 75 cents per $100 spent. The proposal is backed by the City Council and by other leading Benicians across the political spectrum.

Coupled with other Council initiatives, including economic development plans that can yield increased revenues down the line and cutting Benicia government jobs and costs that are improving the budget situation right now, Measures A and B will help the City dig out of its current fiscal crisis. Since about half of the City budget goes to our fine police and fire departments, the two measures will go a long way toward protecting our public safety by protecting funding for those vital services – as well as protecting other city services from being gutted.

VOTE FOR CHRISTOPHER CABALDON FOR STATE SENATE IN THE MARCH 5 PRIMARY

Democrat Christopher Cabaldon is running to be state senator for California District 3, which includes all of Solano County and many adjoining areas. Endorsed by Benicia Mayor Steve Young, Vice Mayor Terry Scott, former Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, former Council Member Dan Smith and dozens of other officials from across Solano and the region, Cabaldon is by far the best candidate seeking that position.

In a candidates forum I attended, which included fellow Democrats Jackie Elward and Rozanna Verder-Aliga, Cabaldon offered by far the broadest and deepest knowledge of issues affecting Benicia and the other areas he’d represent if elected. Those opponents do not bring nearly the same degree of expertise and experience to bear as Cabaldon does by virtue of his successful 22-year tenure as West Sacramento mayor and his numerous other types of local, state and national service.

One opponent, Verder-Aliga, prompts particular concerns. Most notably, as a member of the Vallejo City Council, in 2017 she led the way in extending consideration of an (ultimately unsuccessful) proposal to build a cement plant and deep-water port in Vallejo, despite widespread community opposition and a nearly unanimous vote against the project by the Vallejo Planning Commission. The development, which would have imported and processed an industrial byproduct with an apt and ugly name, “slag,” could have caused havoc for Vallejo, Benicia and surrounding areas in term of pollution, health risks, heavy industrial truck traffic and a lengthy, dust-spewing construction process.

TO SUM UP…

Please back a safer, healthier, better Benicia by supporting an ISO at the City Council meeting  and at BISHO.ORGand by voting for Measures A and B and for Christopher Cabaldon for state senate.

California State Senate, Christopher Cabaldon, District 3 State Senate

Benicia resident Larnie Fox: Do your homework, then vote for Cabaldon

State Senate Candidate Christopher Cabaldon. | Kevin Fiscus / CabaldonforSenate.com.

By Larnie Fox, February 20, 2024

Benicia resident and artist Larnie Fox.

Benicia’s local Democratic Club hosted a Zoom meet-your-candidates event last month. Christopher Cabaldon and Rozanna Verder-Aliga were both present, and I watched and listened carefully. Christopher was attentive, well informed, and answered questions clearly. His values aligned with mine, and most of the other virtual attendees. Rozanna, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to figure out what we wanted her to say ~ a bit cluelessly. Our club easily voted to endorse Cabaldon. 

If you want to research Cabaldon, skip his campaign materials and read his Wikipedia profile. He was appointed by Obama to the National Advisory Board of America’s College Promise, chaired by Dr. Jill Biden. He did wonders during his 20+ year stint as Mayor of West Sacramento. He started college savings accounts for their kindergarteners, and he made West Sac the first city in the nation to send a letter of college admission and a scholarship offer to every graduating high school senior. He chaired the Jobs, Education and the Workforce Committee at the United States Conference of Mayors, who also awarded him and his town the “America’s Most Livable Small City” award. 

Rozanna, on the other hand, as a Vallejo City Councilwoman supported the Orcem cement plant and marine terminal ~ a project that would have polluted a low-income community, snarled traffic with 100 car trains and hundreds of semi trucks on city streets but would have created only 25 permanent jobs. The project was finally defeated by a fierce public outcry. Orcem helped finance Verder-Aliga’s council campaigns. 

On her watch the Vallejo Police Department attracted national attention for their violent culture ~ so bad that the City has declared a state of emergency and is now being sued by the State of California for failure of oversight, and by its many victims. 

Rozanna served on the Vallejo School Board for 11 years, and was its president in 2004 when the district went bankrupt. A grand jury found the school board failed in its responsibilities to stay informed and to inform the public. 

For me, it’s a pretty easy choice. You probably have been seeing plenty of hit pieces, equating Cabaldon with all things evil. The question is ~ what are they afraid of? Do your homework, then vote for Cabaldon. 

*Senate District 3 includes the counties of Solano, Napa, and Yolo as well as portions of the counties of Sonoma, Contra Costa and Sacramento.

Note from BenIndy: The race to become the state senator for District 3 is heating up and we are interested in hearing from you! To submit your recommendations for this or any other office, or ballot measure, please email us. Publication is subject to factchecking and, ultimately, the BenIndy’s discretion. 

California State Senate, Christopher Cabaldon, District 3 State Senate, Stephen Golub

Benicia resident Steve Golub: Christopher Cabaldon Deserves Our Votes for State Senate

Benicia resident and author Stephen Golub, A Promised Land

By Stephen Golub, first published in the Benicia Herald on February 18, 2024

Before I get into the main point of this column, PLEASE PUT MARCH 5 ON YOUR CALENDAR TO ATTEND OR ZOOM INTO THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING ON A BENICIA INDUSTRIAL SAFETY ORDINANCE (ISO).

On December 19, the Council unanimously voted to back a trailblazing ISO proposal by Vice Mayor Terry Scott and Councilwoman Kari Birdseye. The ordinance will help protect our children, our seniors and all of us from the risks of toxic pollutants that the Valero Refinery spewed into the air for years, vastly exceeding regulatory limits, and from the kinds of massive industrial fires and explosions that have plagued other communities across the country. Benicia is the only Bay Area community that has a nearby refinery but that is not protected by an ISO.

The March 5 meeting is part of a process that will result in an ISO, as decided by that unanimous Council vote on December 19. But the devil is in the details, and it’s crucial that the community turn out to show support for a strong ordinance rather than one that could be watered down along the way.

State Senate Candidate Christopher Cabaldon. | Kevin Fiscus / CabaldonforSenate.com.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled column…

Christopher Cabaldon is running to be state senator for California District 3, which includes all of Solano County and many adjoining areas. Endorsed by Benicia Mayor Steve Young, Vice Mayor Terry Scott, former Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, former Council Member Dan Smith and dozens of other officials from across Solano and the region, Cabaldon is by far the best candidate seeking that position.

He deserves our votes in the nonpartisan primary, in which we can vote by mail right now or in person on March 5. The two candidates gaining the most support will go on to compete in the November general election.

In seeking office, Cabaldon is running against fellow Democrats Jackie Elward and Rozanna Verder-Aliga, as well as Republicans Thom Bogue and Jimih Jones. In the candidates forum I attended, which involved the three Democrats, he offered by far the broadest and deepest knowledge of issues affecting Benicia and the many other areas he’d represent if elected. He also came across as someone who is not just a fine speaker, but a good listener, eager to engage with constituents.

At another event, he provided the clearest analysis I’ve heard or read about the “California Forever” initiative that would allow ultra-wealthy and secretive Silicon Valley investors to pretty much do as they please with the large swaths of Solano County they secretly purchased in recent years. I came away from that talk with a clearer understanding of their still-murky motives and plans. (One possibility: They might be motivated by zoning changes that could allow them to reap prodigious profits by reselling the land to developers, despite their promises to build model, affordable cities.) With Cabaldon in office, Benicia would have an important ally in protecting not only our interests but all of Solano County and District 3.

As summarized in a Mercury News editorial endorsing him, “Cabaldon brings an impressive resume: He was West Sacramento mayor for 22 years, worked in the Assembly for eight years as chief of staff to the Appropriations Committee chairperson and staff director for the Committee on Higher Education, served as a California Community Colleges vice chancellor, and as president and CEO of EdVoice led an education advocacy group aimed at reshaping public education to better serve low-income groups. Cabaldon is one of the best-prepared candidates for the state Legislature that we’ve seen this year.”

Given the length of his tenure as West Sacramento mayor, he merits special credit for leading that one-time sleepy backwater’s growth, with its emergence as a dynamic town that won an award as “America’s Most Livable City” from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The elements of that success are too numerous to enumerate here. But his leadership has contributed to rising incomes and real estate values, as well as expansion of affordable housing and initiatives regarding flood plain management, sustainable land use and urban farming.

Furthermore, as praised at the state/local governance website Governing, another Cabaldon initiative “includes universal preschool for every 4-year-old, a college savings account for kindergartners, guaranteed internships for high school students and a program for one year of free community college. West Sac now has its own on-demand rideshare service run by a private company that allows residents to get anywhere in the city for $3.50.”

Cabaldon has demonstrated a wide array of expertise and experience, progressive in some regards while working across the aisle in others. He was appointed to national and state commissions by former President Obama and by five California governors from both parties. His many other accomplishments have included  serving as National President of Asian and Pacific Americans in Higher Education and Inaugural Chair of the National LGBTQ Mayors Alliance, as well as receiving the following honors: Innovation & Vision in Government Award by Governing Magazine, Public Champion for Business by the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce , Executive of the Year by the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce, Equality Leadership Award by Equality California and Outstanding Elected Official Award by the Mexican American Concilio of Yolo County.

Cabaldon’s Democratic opponents do not bring nearly the same degree of expertise and experience to bear as he does. Rohnert Park Councilwoman Jackie Elward does offer an admirable background as an educator, organizer and immigrant, but did not demonstrate nearly Cabaldon’s qualifications and grasp of the issues at the aforementioned forum and otherwise. She has a promising future, but for now a vote for her would be a vote taken away from Cabaldon, who is District 3 progressives’ and moderates’ best hope to achieve effective representation in Sacramento. This is especially important, because…

Cabaldon’s other Democratic opponent is Vallejo City Councilwoman Rozzana Verder-Aliga. Though she brings her own wealth of experience to the table, in certain ways it includes acting in ways potentially detrimental to Vallejo, Benicia and Solano County. Most notably, in 2017 she led the way in the Vallejo  Council extending consideration of an (ultimately unsuccessful) proposal to build a cement plant and deep-water port in Vallejo, despite widespread community opposition and a nearly unanimous vote against the project by the Vallejo Planning Commission.

The development, which would have imported and processed an industrial byproduct with an apt and ugly name, “slag,” could have caused havoc for Vallejo, Benicia and surrounding areas in multiple ways, including: polluting the waterfront, the Bay and the Napa River; spouting  clouds into the air during construction; in case of overexposure to slag, causing “chemical burns, irreversible skin and eye damage, lung failure and cancer”; and burdening the transportation network with loads of heavy vehicles moving back and forth.

It also was reported that Verder-Aliga and the three other Council members voting to extend consideration were backed by a PAC funded by pro-cement plant interests, including the parent company of Orcem, the firm proposing to build the plant and port.

I’d add that in the candidates’ forum I attended, Verder-Aliga seemed ignorant of or otherwise out of touch with issues of concern to Benicia and the region, in contrast to her two opponents, particularly Cabaldon. It’s also noteworthy that Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell has endorsed Cabaldon over Verder-Aliga, as have several other current and former city officials. While she’s received the California Democratic Party endorsement, that can be chalked up to the influence of certain vested interests more than to attributes or accomplishments.

Unfortunately, Cabaldon has been the victim of a smear campaign and repeated mailings aiming to smear him with poorly documented claims. Suffice to say that such attacks do not seem well-founded.

In sum, then, the choice is clear: Christopher Cabaldon for State Senate. Please remember to vote by mail or, at the latest, in the primary on March 5.

[Full disclosure: I have donated to Cabaldon’s campaign.]

*Senate District 3 includes the counties of Solano, Napa, and Yolo as well as portions of the counties of Sonoma, Contra Costa and Sacramento.

In addition to this Benicia and Beyond column, Steve Golub writes about democracy and politics, both in America and abroad, at www.apromisedland.org.

Note from BenIndy: The race to become the state senator for District 3 is heating up, and we are interested in hearing from you! To submit your recommendations for this or any other office, or ballot measure, please email us. Publication is subject to factchecking and, ultimately, the BenIndy’s discretion.

California State Senate, Christopher Cabaldon, District 3 State Senate

Vallejo resident Ann Carr: State Senate race smears against Cabaldon show us how scared big-money special interest groups are

State Senate Candidate Christopher Cabaldon. | Kevin Fiscus / CabaldonforSenate.com.

By Ann Carr, first published in Vallejo Times-Herald on February 15, 2024

For state Senate District 3, Christopher Cabaldon is far and away the most qualified candidate. He has the experience to hit the ground running; he’s already skilled in change-making at the local, regional, state and even national level.

As mayor, Cabaldon transformed West Sacramento from a forgotten industrial town into an entrepreneurial city recognized as “America’s most Livable City.” Elected in 10 city-wide elections, and appointed to various boards by 5 California Governors and even President Obama, Cabaldon is a stand-out candidate for state Senator.

As the Mercury News said in endorsing him:

“Unlike his opponents, Cabaldon was consistently knowledgeable and articulate about the state’s budget, the volatility of tax revenues, mental health funding, minimum wage for health care workers and the state’s new incentives for housing construction.”

Cabaldon brings an impressive resume: He was West Sacramento’s mayor for 22 years, worked in the Assembly for eight years as chief of staff to the Appropriations Committee chairperson and staff director for the Committee on Higher Education, served as a California Community Colleges vice chancellor, and as president and CEO of EdVoice led an education advocacy group aimed at reshaping public education to better serve low-income groups.

Cabaldon is one of the best-prepared candidates for the state Legislature that we’ve seen this year. He already knows the policy and the process well.

Cabaldon has so much experience that it’s difficult to summarize. But a measure of his effectiveness is revealed by the big-money special interests who oppose him. So far they have amassed $342,500 to print vicious and untrue direct mail hit pieces, apparently trying to knock Cabaldon out in the March 5 primary.

Could this big money be aligned with the California Forever proposal? Cabaldon has taken a clear stand against the billionaires’ land grab, and some people are very scared! The smear campaign reflects just how good Cabaldon would be.

If you want a state Senator who will work for average people, not just billionaires and special interests, join me in voting for Cabaldon in the primary, now. Ballots are due now through March 5; the top two vote-getters in the primary will proceed to the General Election in November.

Vote on or before March 5 for Christopher Cabaldon for state Senate District 3.

*Senate District 3 includes the counties of Solano, Napa, and Yolo as well as portions of the counties of Sonoma, Contra Costa and Sacramento.

Note from BenIndy: The race to become the state senator for District 3 is heating up, and we are interested in hearing from you! To submit your recommendations for this or any other office, or ballot measure, please email us. Publication is subject to factchecking and, ultimately, the BenIndy’s discretion.