Repost from Progressive Democrats of Benicia [Editor: The Progressive Dems of Benicia (PDB) have hosted an impressive series of guest speakers. The March meeting will feature candidate for Governor Delaine Eastin. Speakers at PDB meetings are not yet endorsed by the group. Endorsement decisions will be made later this year. – R.S.]
Guest speaker: Delaine Eastin, Candidate for California Governor
Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 7:00 pm
Benicia Public Library, Dona Benicia Room
150 East L Street, Benicia, CA
Our next public meeting will be at the Benicia Library, 150 East L St., in the Dona Benicia Room, on March 13th, at 7:00 p.m. Our featured speaker is Delaine Eastin, 2018 candidate for Governor in California.
Delaine Eastin, candidate for California Governor
Delaine is a former California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, following eight years in the State Assembly and six years on the Union City (Alameda County) City Council. In the June 6 Gubernatorial Primary, Delaine’s principal opposition is expected to be: Democrats Gavin Newsom, current Lt. Governor, Antonio Villaraigosa, former mayor of Los Angeles, and John Chiang, current CA State Treasurer; and, Republican candidates Travis Allen, Assemblyman and John Cox, a businessman.
Delaine is the only woman to have held the office of California State Superintendent of Public Instruction. According to her bio sheet, she was responsible for initiatives which focused on wiring schools for technology and stronger technical/vocational training for students. She also successfully sued the governor for withholding funds from K-12 schools, and joined the successful lawsuit against Proposition 187, which among other things would have used teachers as immigration agents.
In addition to Delaine as our featured speaker, we will also conduct Club business related to ongoing development of our website and present a draft of our proposed endorsement process for consideration by membership. It’s important for members to participate in these committee discussions to ensure we have sign off from membership on the direction the committees take and as our Club moves forward. We want and need your thoughts and suggestions, criticism, and support!
Please SAVE THE DATE and join us for an evening of enlightenment and hope! See you on March 13, Benicia Library, 7:00 p.m!
Local Northwest elections targeted with huge fossil fuel spending.
By Eric de Place, October 25, 2017 6:30 am
Bow of oil tanker by Roy Luck used under CC BY 2.0
With no statewide races or federal level races, 2017 is supposed to be an “off” year election. But for the fossil fuel industry and their allies it’s proving to be a spending bonanza. Coal, oil, and railroad shippers have dumped a jaw-dropping $1.5 million into three relatively small caliber Washington races: a Vancouver port commission seat, a state senate race in suburban King County, and a Spokane city ballot initiative.
Coal, oil, and railroad shippers have dumped a jaw-dropping $1.5 million into three relatively small caliber Washington races.
The big media story this election has been at the Port of Vancouver, where the oil company Tesoro aims to build a 360,000 barrel-per-day oil train facility called Vancouver Energy. Two of the three port commissioners back the project, but the outcome of the election could change that. Candidate Don Orange is likely to join current port commissioner Eric LaBrant in opposing Tesoro’s plans, and they could end the project by declining to renew the company’s lease.
Running against Orange is Kris Greene with heavy backing from the company he would be responsible for permitting. So far, the project’s backer has contributed a staggering $370,000 to Greene, far and away the largest corporate donation in the history of Vancouver’s port and the largest direct donation to any candidate in all of Washington in 2017. This princely sum comes on top of a $162,000 independent expenditure from Enterprise WA Jobs, a political action committee (PAC). The biggest donors to the PAC this year are none other than Tesoro to the tune of $200,000 and BNSF with $215,000, the two companies who profit from the terminal’s operations.
Reports from the Columbian newspaper have also revealed a shocking degree of coordination between Greene and his oil business sponsors. In effect, Tesoro has operated Greene’s campaign, doing everything from writing his press releases to speaking for the campaign to hiring DC-based communications firms with connections to some of the worst anti-environmental campaigns in the nation. (Tesoro is no stranger to big spending for right-wing spending in Washington, but 2017 marks a new level of aggression for the Texas oil company.) In September, Greene’s former campaign manager Robert Sabo even quit because of Tesoro’s outside influence on the campaign. He told the Columbian in an article earlier this month “Big Oil is completely dictating where every penny is going.”
Meanwhile, a state senate race on the eastside of Lake Washington is setting new spending records. The match in the 45th district pits Republican Jinyoung Englund against Democrat Manka Dhingra in a contest that could have major implications for the state legislature. If Dhingra wins, the Senate will flip to the Democrats, giving them majorities in both houses along with control of the governor’s office. Democratic control would likely take action on long-stalled environmental priorities like oil transportation safety requirements, funding for toxic waste cleaning up and prevention, or statewide clean energy investments.
A trio of right-wing PACs are spending big to support Republican Englund with a combined $820,000. The same Enterprise WA Jobs PAC playing in the Vancouver race is also spending big in the 45th. Beyond the hundreds of thousands from Tesoro and BNSF, the PAC has another $100,000 from Chevron and $25,000 from Koch Industries (the fossil fuel company of Koch Brothers notoriety). Meanwhile, the Citizens for Progress Enterprise WA PAC is registering another $350,000 from Texas oil company Phillips 66. And the Leadership Council PAC shows yet more oil and railroad money: $25,000 more from Tesoro, $20,000 from BNSF, and $10,000 from Union Pacific.
Backing Democrat Dhingra are the New Directions PAC and the Working Families PAC, with funding from State Democratic Campaign Committee, The Leadership Council, state unions, the Washington Conservation Voters, and big national names like Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.
In Spokane, a citizen’s ballot initiative, Proposition 2, proposes to levy fees on coal and oil trains that pass through the city. It has garnered predictable opposition from fossil fuel companies, as well as the railroads that ship their products. So far, the industry’s PAC has $180,454 worth of contributions, including an eyebrow-raising October contribution of $39,500 from Lighthouse Resources, the struggling company behind a Longview coal terminal development that was effectively killed by state permitting agencies in September. Lighthouse had previously given $25,000 to the PAC, an amount that was matched by Cloud Peak, a company that exports modest volumes of coal via a terminal in British Columbia, as well as Tesoro, and the railroads BNSF and Union Pacific.
The Northwest is proving to be the graveyard of ambitions for coal, oil, and gas schemes as a region-wide groundswell of opposition has fought back project after project. Now, stymied at every turn, the fossil fuel industry is deploying what may be its most dangerous weapon: piles of cash and a willingness to overwhelm democratic institutions, even at a local level. If the “off” year elections of 2017 prove successful for Big Oil, there is every reason to think the industry will play hardball in the big ticket races of 2018.
September 22, 2017 By Matt Krogh, Extreme Oil Campaign Director, Stand.earth
Every environmental attack by the Trump Administration further emphasizes the importance of taking local action on climate. Climate inaction at the federal level isn’t new–and neither is real success on climate action at the local level.Hidden by the barrage of bad news stories about hurricanes, wildfires, and international climate agreements, are dozens of good news stories about frontline communities defeating dirty fuel projects and municipalities leading the way on zoning out new fossil fuel infrastructure. Towns and counties have local land use powers that allow them to change regulations to prevent the siting of new fossil fuel infrastructure. Around the US, activists and NGOs have been working with these city and county governments to effectively “zone out” the ability to permit new dirty fuel projects. A few of the examples:
In Whatcom County, Washington, the County Council will hold a public hearing on 9/26/17 and vote to pass an extension of the moratorium on accepting applications for new infrastructure that could be used for unrefined fossil fuel export. This will eventually become codified in the county’s land use policy.
In Tacoma, Washington, a permitting freeze similar to Whatcom’s is close to passage, with plans to alter the port’s industrial zoning to prevent new dirty fuel projects.
In Portland, Oregon, an ordinance was passed to prevent the siting of bulk crude storage in the city. The legal challenge from industry is winding through the courts, but the ordinance has a good chance of being upheld.
If implemented broadly, passing municipal land use ordinances can prevent the growth of the fossil fuel economy, and be a critical element in fighting global warming, regardless of what the Trump Administration tries to do.
We hosted a recent webcast with activists from the efforts in Whatcom County, WA and Portland, OR.
Want the local resources mentioned in the webcast? STAND.earth has got you covered. Click here.
By Roger Straw, December 2, 2016
[Editor: The sweep of local elections by three candidates who strongly opposed Valero Crude By Rail is to be celebrated. Our next four years in Benicia will hopefully be witness to a new majority on Council, with a vision for progressive values. – RS]
The Solano County Registrar of Voters issued a FINAL day’s end report at 4:50pm Friday 12/02. Mayor Patterson has won re-election. Steve Young has been elected and Tom Campbell has been re-elected to the City Council.
A public reception for incoming and outgoing elected officials will be held at City Hall, 250 East L Street, at 6 PM on Tuesday, December 6, followed by a swearing in ceremony and a Council vote for Vice Mayor at the Council meeting.
Elizabeth Patterson
Mayor Elizabeth Patterson‘s margin of victory over challenger Mark Hughes nearly tripled since the original count, increasing from 109 votes on the morning after the election, to 332. Hughes phoned Mayor Patterson on the day after the election to concede.
Steve Young & Tom Campbell
City Councilmember-elect Steve Young was the top vote-getter by a margin of 292 votes over second-place re-elected Tom Campbell and 808 votes over unseated Councilmember Christina Strawbridge. Traditionally in Benicia, the Council candidate with the most votes becomes Vice Mayor until the next election cycle. Congratulations, Vice-mayor-elect Young !
Monica Brown
Solano County Supervisor-elect Monica Brown defeated Mike Ioakimedes by 3616 votes (18463 Brown to 14847 Ioakimedes).
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