Category Archives: Kari Birdseye

"Push poll", Benicia City Council, Christina Strawbridge, Electronically controlled pneumatic braking (ECP), Immigration, Kari Birdseye, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Lionel Largaespada, Local elections, Local news media, Positive Train Control, Swing Left, Train braking systems, US Supreme Court

Alarm bells in Benicia and beyond… what next?

The Tenor of our Times

Related imageIf you are on the Benicia Independent email list, I can pretty much be sure that your alarm bells – like mine – are going off.  A sampling…

  • Christine Blasey Ford and others accuse Judge Kavanaugh – the #MeToo movement and an FBI investigation
  • A “push poll” with Benicia election meddling by outside forces
  • Positive and effective support for one or more local City Council candidates
  • The Trump administration’s alarming “rollback” on oil train braking regulations
  • Urgent calls to help “flip” California congressional districts from red to blue
  • Continuing detention of immigrant children and families at our border
  • Deadlines for financial contributions needed for countless important causes
  • A Benicia resident – a neighbor – arrested and charged as the NorCal Rapist!

…and of course, I could go on.  I confess that it all leaves me somewhat at a loss, personally.  We’ve been on alert since The Donald won the presidential election, vowing to stand vigilant, to resist, to move the country back into the progressive mainstream.  But we’re tired.  How do we cope?

I take slivers of hope from a few recent sources:

  • Earlier this month, Barack Obama slammed the Trump administration and addressed us all in a speech at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.  The line that stood out to me and continues to hold me up was, “If you’re willing to fight for it, things do get better.”  And, “Better is good….Better is good.”

    Image result for barack obamaMaking democracy work means holding on to our principles, having clarity about our principles, and then having the confidence to get in the arena and have a serious debate. And it also means appreciating that progress does not happen all at once, but when you put your shoulder to the wheel, if you’re willing to fight for it, things do get better….Better is good.

  • Image result for flake and coons
    Senators Jeff Flake and Chris Coons

    Now just yesterday, we saw a composed survivor of sexual assault and a historically intemperate and deeply suspect judicial candidate followed by two US Senators, a Democrat and a Republican, reaching a sensible compromise on the horns of the partisan dilemma in the U.S. Senate.  Watching the proceedings from afar, we sat by, most of us helpless and dreading the outcome.  But those who could, opted for public outrage, with signs and shouting.  A few incredibly brave ones went public with their stories, and two made history confronting a Republican Senator in an elevator booth.  The combined efforts of all these activists stopped the elevator ride for Brett Kavanaugh – at least for a week.  Definitely NOT perfect… but BETTER.

  • Here in Benicia, the clearly partisan attack of a telephone “push poll” could have powerful electoral results going into our local election.  We probably will never know to what degree.  Yet, it’s GOOD that our City Attorney is looking into it, with a tough communication to the company that was hired to phone us with an attack on Kari Birdseye and thinly disguised promotional statements for one of her opponents.  It’s good that the City’s Image result for push pollOpen Government Commission will hold a last-minute public hearing on November 3rd, giving candidates a chance to defend against hit pieces and misinformation.  It’s good that there are a number of public hearings in our small town where we can go listen to and ask questions of the candidates themselves.  See the schedule of forums at birdseyeforbenicia.com/candidate-forums.
  • Here in Benicia, I have come under personal attack for favoring one candidate, Kari Birdseye, over other credible opponents.  The Solano County Democrats and Progressive Democrats have been criticized for endorsing only Kari while the Labor Council and its member unions endorse without blame.  (Well, except for complaints by some of our Benicia teachers, who resent the controlling influence over their endorsement by the Labor Council.)  Kari Birdseye is in my opinion far and away the most environmentally aware, progressive and highly qualified candidate for City Council.  I personally hope that Christina Strawbridge comes in second.  It will be great – no, GREAT – in this #MeToo year to have 3 qualified women on our City Council.  But my first priority has been and remains, to secure a seat for Kari Birdseye.  See more at birdseyeforbenicia.com.
  • Image result for facts speak louder than wordsHere in Benicia, there are excellent substantiated reasons why NOT to vote for City Council candidate Lionel Largaespada.  His registration as a Republican aside, he stood with Valero and Texas executives and attorneys in favor of dangerous and dirty oil trains cutting over the mountains and through California to Benicia.  He was paid to help defeat a 2012 California tobacco tax initiative that would have funded cancer research.  His friendly outreach and community service is notable, but he is undeniably a supporter of big business, and has demonstrated that he was impervious to community activist’s efforts to educate and organize for environmental health and the safety of the community.  Let’s cast our votes and hope that the Council can proceed without that kind of drag on a bright future for our beloved city.
  • Finally, here in Benicia our local news is disappearing.  Cutbacks at the Benicia Herald and the Vallejo Times-Herald have meant that increasingly, regular citizens have no idea what is going on at City Hall.  We are assuredly in a “news desert.”  As of this writing, yesterday was Benicia Herald editor Nick Sestanovich’s last day, and there’s no news as yet as to his replacement.  GivenImage result for news desertsthe Benicia Herald’s poor track record of owner support for staff AND the hard financial times for print media in general, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the paper close.  Wait and see.  (Nick’s good-bye is a poignant moment in local news.)
    The Vallejo paper covers Vallejo, with only an occasional nod to Benicia news.  Mostly we only see press releases issued by the city of Benicia and police and fire departments.  The Times-Herald  can only do so much with so few staff since Katy St. Clair was let go.  (Note that both Nick and Katy went to work in Vacaville.  No news desert up there.)
    Where can we look for BETTER here?  Not perfect, but better?  Increasingly, we must rely on digital media, like The Benicia Independent, NextDoor, Facebook’s BeniciaHappenings, Patch, and Google groups like BeniciaResist!  Definitely far from perfect.  Let’s make those sources BETTER.

Well, if you made it through this lengthy analysis, you deserve a thanks and kudos.  I’ll try to be more regular with my newsletters in the future.  Nice chatting with you – let’s all make Benicia a BETTER place.

Roger Straw

Christina Strawbridge, Kari Birdseye, Lionel Largaespada, Local elections, Push poll, Will Emes

Steve Young: Are outside corporations and individuals interfering with our local election?

By Steve Young, Benicia Vice-Mayor

Benicia voters should be wary of fake polls

Benicia Vice Mayor Steve Young

While relaxing at home last evening, I received a call from a Saratoga phone number. The caller said she was conducting a poll for Research America on the upcoming election for Governor, Senator and City Council.. Having more than a passing interest in the topic, I agreed to be questioned on my opinions. However there were no questions about the Governor or Senate race-it was strictly limited to the Benicia City Council race.

It soon became clear that this was a classic “push poll”.  According to the American Association of Public Opinion Research, a group of legitimate polling operations, “AAPOR defines a ‘push poll’ as a form of negative campaigning that is disguised as a political poll. ‘Push polls’ are actually political telemarketing — telephone calls disguised as research that aim to persuade large numbers of voters and affect election outcomes, rather than measure opinions.”

While there were no questions in the poll about William Emes, and limited questions about Christina Strawbridge, there were lots of questions about Lionel Largaespada and Kari Birdseye. All of the questions were in the format of “Let me read you some statements about the candidate, and tell me if they make you more or less likely to support them in the election”

The statements about Mr. Largaespada were uniformly positive and stated how, for example,  he would use his small business background to improve the City’s economy and relations with its businesses.

The statements about Ms. Birdseye were the opposite. Among these statements were “She wants to shut down Valero, costing hundreds of jobs.” and “She will bring radical left-wing politics to City Hall”.

If someone heard those statements, and believed them to be true, that would clearly influence their vote-which is the real purpose of a push poll. The descriptions of Ms. Birdseye’s positions are clearly NOT true. But that is of little concern to those paying for the operation, if they are successful in painting a false portrait of her in the minds of voters.

There was also a lengthy section on endorsements, asking if endorsements from the following people and organizations made me more or less likely to vote for a candidate. Among those listed were yours truly, the Mayor, the Central Labor Council (and their affiliates the Benicia Teachers, Police and Fire unions), Valero, the Chamber of Commerce, the Progressive Democrats of Benicia, Congressman Thompson, and the Solano County Democratic Central Committee.

Finally, there was a question about the proposed Industrial Safety Ordinance that offered two choices that boiled down to either the argument advanced by the proponents of such an ordinance or the one made by the opponents, including Valero.

When the questioning was completed, I asked the person on the other end a series of questions, and she was surprisingly talkative. First, who paid for the poll? She answered, convincingly, that she did not know, since knowing it might bias the questions.  (Of course, the questions were ridiculously biased as written). Second, who signed her paycheck? Research America. Third, where was she located? In the Poconos in Eastern Pennsylvania. When I responded that the call was shown coming from a California phone number, she said that was done all the time to convince more people to answer the phone. Fourth, was she calling from home? No, she was in an office building. Finally, how many people were making these calls on the Benicia council race? On any given day, she said, 40-80 people were making these calls.

The last answer shocked me. If true, and I have no reason to doubt any of her answers, this means that literally every Benicia voter could eventually receive these phony polling  calls.

Fortunately, I believe most Benicia voters are smart enough to see these calls for what they are-an extremely expensive effort to try and smear one candidate with false charges and to benefit another. Who would spend this kind of money to influence the Council race is the great unknown question. But there is clearly some outside person or corporation willing to spend a lot of money to try and influence this election.

Christina Strawbridge, Crude By Rail, Kari Birdseye, Lionel Largaespada, Oil trains, Valero Crude By Rail

Birdseye and Strawbridge opposed Valero Crude by Rail – Largaesapada supported oil trains

Pat Toth-Smith: Birdseye puts safety first

By Pat Toth-Smith, September 9, 2018
Pat Toth-Smith

It’s been two years since the 2016 crude-by-rail permit for Valero was denied, but a strong memory of it remains for me and probably for a lot of Benicians.  It’s because of that experience that I’m urging Benicians to vote for Kari Birdseye for the Benicia City Council.

Birdseye was a new Planning Commissioner when the permit process fell into the Commission’s authority, and she really did her homework to keep us safe in Benicia.

When I spoke to her about that process, she said she would stay up long into the night reading the stacks of material submitted to the commissioners and also would focus intently on everything the public said during the Planning Commission meetings.

She added that it was Kamala Harris, California’s attorney general at that time),who made the biggest impact on her in her comment about how local permitting measures absolutely applied to this process.  Birdseye said “I knew then, that the state of California had our back.”

Birdseye voted against the permit along with all the other Planning Commissioners.

When I asked her why she denied the permit besides the significant local reasons, her voice choked when she said “My dad, my husband, my sister and my two children live here, why would I want to risk the health and safety of my family, friends, and all Benicians by bringing in 100 crude oil rail cars into our town, when the safety of this form of transport was in question with the rapid increase of oil train explosions.  I did not want our town to be the next tragic headline news story.

She continued, “After listening to so many of the speakers say, ‘I’m afraid of this,’ ‘Let’s not do this,’ ‘We don’t need this for our community,’ ‘Valero doesn’t need this,’ and ‘There are safer ways to bring in their oil,’ our community certainly wasn’t in favor of it, so how could I possibly vote for it?“

After the planning commission denial, Valero appealed to the City Council to certify the Environmental Impact Report and issue the permit. After a five-month delay, this is where another 2018 City Council candidate, then-Councilmember Christina Strawbridge, also voted to deny Valero’s appeal for the permit. It ended up being a unanimous vote to deny Valero’s appeal for the permit, mostly based on the Planning Commission’s work.

Another 2018 council candidate, Lionel Largaespada, was also involved in the crude-by-rail process. Largaespada was in favor of approving the permit and commented to the Planning Commission before their vote, “I understand the concerns. I understand the risks. But I urge you to be objective and pragmatic. Because the fact — the reality is that we need this project to ensure Benicia’s economic future and prosperity. I urge you to certify the EIR and to issue the conditional use permit.”

Based on this recent history of our town and the way the candidates handled the CBR issue, I’m encouraging Benicians to vote for Kari Birdseye because I think she has the compassion and diligence to do the hard work to put the safety of our community first, especially when the next big permitting process comes along.  Also, praise to Christina Strawbridge, because she did the right thing.

Pat Toth-Smith is a Benicia resident and member of Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community