Category Archives: Local elections

Benicia City Council, Kari Birdseye, Local elections, November election

Larnie Fox: Why vote for Kari Birdseye?

October 3, 2018 Roger Straw

Why vote for Kari Birdseye?

By Larnie Fox, October 3, 2018

I just got off the phone with Kari Birdseye and I am happier than ever to be supporting her bid for Benicia’s City Council. I got to know Kari this year as her teammate in Benicia’s bocce ball league. I’ve found her to be refreshingly open-minded and optimistic. Given the divisive, confusing times we are living in, I totally trust Kari to provide clear, transparent and forward-looking leadership on the Council.

Kari is a long-term thinker. She often emphasizes the difference between reactive and proactive thinking. She told me that she believes that the whole current water rate mess could have been solved in the early 2000’s if a more proactive, less divided Council had been in place. You can expect Kari to oppose deferring any more infrastructure maintenance, especially on streets and the water system.

Kari is inclusive and is a good listener. She told me that during the course of her campaign she has been hearing from many people who have been hurt by the increased water rates. Once on Council she will work hard to address the issue, especially for low-income folks and seniors on fixed incomes. You can expect her to listen carefully, take everyone’s concerns seriously, then work to implement creative, proactive solutions that will ease current problems and prevent future problems for years to come.

Kari is a consensus builder. In her job as a Strategic Communications Manager for the NRDC, she works with scientists, engineers, lawyers, the press and the public to build consensus. She can learn from and talk to anyone.

Kari is independent. She does her homework and makes her own decisions. She will not be beholden to any business, union, politician or political group. Unlike other candidates, she is taking no money from corporations or businesses. She will make her own decisions. She is not anti-refinery. She wants a better partnership with Valero, but if necessary will stand up to big oil, real estate developers or any other group to protect our long-term economic interests as well as our air, water and land.

Kari is a committed Benician. She has lived here for nearly twenty years and raised her son and daughter here. She served on the board of the Benicia Stingrays swim team for nearly a decade, and was president for two years. Her son is now a lifeguard. She’s a past Mathew Turner PTA member, and now serves on the board of the Solano County Fair. Her 96 year-old grandmother also lives in Benicia, and Kari is well aware of the issues that local seniors face.

Kari understands the value of arts and culture in Benicia, both for their economic impact and their intrinsic value – making Benicia a more interesting and inviting place.

And I like her.

Vote for Kari, and remember to thank ALL who serve, have served or are willing to serve as officials in our local democracy. Their headaches are many, and their rewards are few.

Larnie Fox

"Push poll", Benicia City Council, Christina Strawbridge, Kari Birdseye, Lionel Largaespada, Local elections

Benicia City Attorney investigating outsider election smear campaign

October 3, 2018 Roger Straw

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald
[Editor: Vice Mayor Steve Young and many others who received the call have been perfectly clear about the smear tactics of the “push poll” callers who have spread misinformation and lies about candidate Kari Birdseye. Kari’s opponents have publicly raised questions about whether there even was a bias (see Largaespada’s and Strawbridge’s highlighted comments below). For a detailed and accurate description of the blatant bias, see Steve Young: Benicia voters should be wary of fake polls. Kudos to City Attorney Heather McLaughlin for looking into this. Learn the truth about Kari Birdseye at BirdseyeForBenicia.com. – R.S.]

Benicia officials looking into push poll incident

By John Glidden, October 1, 2018 at 7:01 pm

BENICIA — City Attorney Heather McLaughlin has launched an investigation into whether the city’s campaign ordinances were violated after several residents reported receiving a survey call about the current Benicia City Council candidates.

McLaughlin confirmed last week that she will be meeting with the City Council in closed session on Tuesday about possibility initiating litigation in response to the calls.

The calls came to light after Vice Mayor Steve Young wrote a letter, first posted on the Benicia Independent website, stating he received one of the calls from Research America, Inc, a data collection company which has multiple branches throughout the United States.

Young said the call originated from a Saratoga phone number, and the pollster said she would be asking questions about the City Council, senatorial and gubernatorial contests. However, Young alleges that only questions about the council were asked.

He further said that the person asked a few questions about Christina Strawbridge, and none about William Emes, however, “there were lots of questions about Lionel Largaespada and Kari Birdseye.”

“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,” Young wrote. “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.’”

Young said the call was a push poll. Such polls are meant to sway public opinion instead of recording objective information from those surveyed.

Reached by phone Monday, a Research America employee, who declined to give his name, said the company was paid to “collect data as an opinion poll only.”

He also denied the poll was meant to sway voters. However, the employee confirmed EMC Research paid for the poll. A representative of the company couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.

McLaughlin said her investigation centers on whether the pollsters disclosed who paid for the campaign poll.

“It is a little hard to say what section (the polls) are violating since we don’t know enough about the poll,” she wrote in an email, first reported by the Benicia Herald. “If the poll is paid for by a candidate there are rules for that. If it is paid for by an independent committee there are rules for that. All of it basically boils down to disclosure. They should be disclosing who is behind the poll.”

In a letter posted online, Largaespada said he had “no involvement whatsoever with this poll.”

“I do not know who is conducting it, and it was done with no input or permission from me,” he wrote. “ I have heard from many residents about the poll, and I have heard many different opinions on how it was conducted – ranging from Steve’s claim that it is biased towards me, to residents who found it equally balanced, to others who thought it was negative-sounding towards me. As with most topics, people have differing reactions and take always based on their own beliefs and opinions. ”

Largaespada said he is against push polling as it doesn’t benefit anyone.

A blog post on Birdseye’s campaign page, “When they go low, we go high,” said the campaign had nothing to do with the poll.

“However, the telephone pollster offered lies about me and flattering comments about one of the other candidates,” she wrote.

Birdseye followed up by responding to Largaespada’s comments about the poll.

“The favored candidate has publicly denied involvement. I believe him, but then he claims that the poll wasn’t necessarily biased,” she wrote. “He suggests that people hear what they want to hear. But many Benicians have reported that the push poll is an obvious attempt to smear my good name.”

Strawbridge also said she does not favor push polling.

“It has no place in our town’s election process. That said, during most of the elections I have participated in, there has been influence coming from both outside and inside Benicia. At times the facts have not always been true for or against a candidate,” Strawbridge wrote in an email to the Times-Herald on Monday. “Since I was not surveyed and there have been conflicting reports about the content of the questions , more information is needed as to the who and the what of the poll.”

She further said forums are a great way to find out where candidates stand on important issues.

Financial records submitted by the three campaigns last week to the Benicia City Clerk’s Office show that none hired EMC or Research America to conduct the poll.

Benicia City Council, Christina Strawbridge, Kari Birdseye, Lionel Largaespada, Local elections

Campaign finance reports – Benicia City Council

October 3, 2018 Roger Straw

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald
[Editor: The Benicia Independent endorses Kari Birdseye for City Council. This report documents her fundraising success. More is needed – learn about Kari and make a donation at BirdseyeForBenicia.com. – R.S.]

Benicia City Council candidates raise funds

By John Glidden, October 1, 2018 at 3:05 pm

BENICIA — The three active City Council campaigns have had a spend-now mentality during the last three months as they spent a combined $31,735, nearly $6,000 more than what they took in, according to financial records submitted to the Benicia City Clerk’s Office last week.

Kari Birdseye, Christina Strawbridge, and Lionel Largaespada raised a combined $24,000 in cash contributions during the same three-month period from July 1 through Sept. 27, records show.

A political newcomer, Birdseye raised the most with $10,523 in cash contributions, her campaign reported. Interestingly, the campaign picked up several individual $500 donations. They included: Kathy Kerridge, Michael Keischnick, Mildred Brennan, Brian Mitchell, Kelly De witt, Tom Wilson, Jill Wilson, David Hackman, and Jeremy Hartgraves.

Other major donations include, $540 from Dirk Fulton, $300 from Benicia school board candidate Adrean Hayashi, with Jack Ruszel contributing $300, $350 coming from Ralph Dennis, and James Birdseye giving $550.

The United Democrats of Southern Solano County donated $500 to Birdseye’s campaign as well.

Almost half of the campaign’s $11,079 in expenses was spent on television advertisements and production costs. The majority of the expenses were also allocated for campaign literature, records show.

The campaign has about $3,100 in its coffers.

Former Benicia Councilwoman Christina Strawbridge received $6,900 in cash contributions during the same period.

Councilman Mark Hughes gave the campaign $250, records show. Hughes and Alan Schwartzman both decided not to seek re-election to the fiver person City Council this fall, paving the way for two new councilmembers.

Strawbridge received notable donations, including $500 from the UA Local 342 PAC fund, $500 from IBEW Local 180, $540 from the Tim Grayson for Assembly 2018, $330 from the International Association of Heating and Frost Insulators PAC, $330 from Tim Hamann, $330 from Jean Hamann, and $100 from Gary Heppell and attorney with the Vallejo-based Favaro, Lavezzo, Gill, Caretti, Heppell law firm.

Her campaign spent the most with $13,922 in expenditures since July 1. About $2,300 of that went to Mary Hand Mango Consulting, with $1,750 going to Mark Lampkin to help film a commercial. Another expense was $5,000 for a television advertisement.

According to her financial documents, Strawbridge’s campaign has nearly $6,000 in the bank.

Finally, the Lionel Largaespada for Benicia City Council 2018 campaign picked up $6,698 in cash. Hughes also donated $250 to the campaign, with additional notable contributions of $500 from Richard Bortolazzo, $500 from Sherri Bortolazzo, $540 from the Tim Grayson for Assembly 2018 campaign, $500 from IBEW Local 180 PAC, $500 from Bob Triggila, $540 from Ponder Environmental Services, $580 from the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulator and allied Workers Local 16, AFL-CIO PAC fund.

Largaespada’s campaign received $311 in non-monetary funds for a walk list which was paid for by the San Diego-based GROW Elect, a PAC which funds, endorses, and recruits Latino Republicans for public office.

The campaign had $6734 in expenses with a majority of the funds being spent on campaign literature, the same records show. About $10,354 was in the campaign’s coffers as of Sept. 27.

A fourth City Council candidate, William Emes doesn’t have a campaign committee so he wasn’t required to submit financial forms.

The election is Nov. 6.

"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?

September 29, 2018 Roger Straw

The Tenor of our Times

Related image If 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.”

Making 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.
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 Open 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.
Here 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. Giventhe 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