By Elizabeth Patterson
Benicia Mayor

(Editor’s Note: A portion of this article ran in Sunday’s Year in Review section. It is being reprinted here in its entirety.)

Mutual understanding and consensus on the most pressing issues facing Benicia will allow the city to focus its limited resources and the city council to make the necessary and often hard decisions. The issues our city faced in 2017 will undoubtedly be the focus of the campaigns of local candidates during this election year. As mayor of Benicia, I can provide some context to better understand some of the hard choices we’ve made. This article will examine the progress Benicia made in 2017 and take a look at issues our city will face in 2018.

 

Progress Made

We began 2017 by addressing our resolve for shared principles and policies regarding inclusiveness. In January, the City Council passed a resolution reaffirming Benicia’s commitment to be an “inclusive city.” Specifically, the resolution states that police and other city officials will continue the practice of not inquiring about the citizenship or immigration status of residents.

This is consistent with recently adopted state law making the entire state a “sanctuary state.”

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed in October 2017 a so-called “sanctuary state” bill that will limit cooperation between local officials and federal immigration enforcement.

While the Benicia inclusion resolution is not new policy, it was and remains important to tell undocumented people in the city that they would not have to fear the police or city government, even if there is a national push to ramp up deportations.

As I said in January, “This is meant for the community to give them a sense of safety. I know there are members of the community who are fearful.”

Two council members voted “no” on the resolution: Alan Schwartzman felt that the police department’s official policies around this issue did not entirely match up with the resolution and Mark Hughes voted “no” because he felt the resolution could constrain the ability of police officers to do their job.

Cannabis remains a divisive issue in our city. Cannabis has a long history of medicinal value, addressing nausea and lack of appetite, targeted pain relief, addressing panic attacks, among other uses. Unlike alcohol and tobacco, it is not physically addictive, by changing the brain to need the drug. However, it can be depended on to an unhealthy degree and can have profound and damaging effects on developing brains.

During 2017, the council, planning commission and community groups met 17 times, to gather information, gauge community views on permitting cannabis operations, which includes growing, manufacturing, laboratory testing and sales for either or both medicinal and adult use.

As we move to finalize our local regulations, it seems that two things are true: 1) We all share the value of keeping our city a lovely, charming, prosperous and safe place; and 2) Some of us consider cannabis a moral issue and some of us don’t.

It is certain that “we are not bringing cannabis to Benicia” as has been stated many times in public comment and testimony. Many others have testified that cannabis has been available in Benicia for as long as they have lived here – in my case thirty-five years. It has been sold on school campuses and has been a long-time black-market activity that can be associated with crime.

Our city has been given the choice; either have a continuation of strong black-market cannabis economy or an open market economy, such as the state of California has just legalized. By permitting cannabis business activities for an open market, consumers will have access to pesticide-free cannabis, certified by state permitted and licensed testing laboratories.

The Benicia Police Department will have more tools to work with to enforce strict compliance with existing laws, as with other regulated drugs, like tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceuticals. If our community chose to deny this open market approach as the state legalizes the adult use of cannabis, Benicia may actually encounter more enforcement issues with fewer resources.

I place a priority on public engagement, and when Benicians engage, it means people care. We care about the same things. What this public process has shown is that our community has differences of opinions on the morality of cannabis use. Benicians deserve and respect the process of community involvement and compromise for the best decision we can make on this divisive topic.

 A look what’s coming up in 2018

Benicia’s fiscal health: With a smart new city manager, Lorie Tinfow, at the helm, we have taken steps to address fiscal structural issues, such as noncompetitive salaries that result in employees, especially at the department head level, leaving for better salaries. Affordable salary corrections will save money in the long run, enabling our city to attract smart professionals with the skills and work ethic that we need.

Benicia conducted our first-ever five-year study to examine the time and resources dedicated to all city services, such as building permits, false alarm responses, and fire inspections. Staff and council reviewed every fee to determine an appropriate fee structure for these services. We found that in some cases, the city was practically giving away services that benefited a resident but did not represent a public benefit. After the fee by fee review and much discussion by community members, council, staff and consultants, we raised city some fees.

These fees are quite competitive with what other Solano communities charge. In some cases, we kept some fees lower, especially those that are most often used by our residents, such as water heater inspections.

Another priority for Benicia’s fiscal health is addressing and promoting economic development. This long-term effort requires our city to attract, keep and grow businesses in town. Recruitment of new businesses is also crucial to our economic sustainability and it is essential to connect people and businesses – the intersection of our creative and manufacturing community.

Water and Sewer: One cannot live without water. Other services are good to have, but water is the essence of life. And I am acutely aware of the frustration of many regarding the new water bills. While we are proud of our historic town, it can be financially burdensome to update our aging infrastructure to meet modern day needs. Modern day technology allows us to more accurately meter water usage. This year, our city staff and leadership brought our city into this century and it was painful for many of us. We appreciate your patience as we refine the new system. Providing access to safe drinking water for all Benicians is our responsibility and priority. And this year, we began paying the true cost of doing so. Other communities across the country are dealing with the same water rate increases, if in fact they actually addressing the true costs of delivering safe drinking water.

Meanwhile, how do we ensure a reliable and safe water supply in light of future droughts, rising costs of water treatment and conveyance and increasing population in the state? In 2017, one step we took was a discussion of recycling the waste water to Valero, which would be a sustainable practice and save money for the city. The ball is now in Valero’s court. Once they move forward with the process, Benicia will apply for state-backed, low interest loans to make it happen.

Climate Change: Benicia, as a community, has not met our stated goals of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels. And we have far to go before reaching that goal by the intended deadline of 2020. Our community has made good progress in reducing pollution contributing to greenhouse gases in past years, but 2017 was not a banner year. While many factors are involved, it was a major blow to lose our Climate Action Coordinator, who secured grants and other funds of more than $780,000 to help us achieve our climate action goals. Lack of a City Council majority vote to retain this position leaves us without the staff or expertise needed to address these long-range planning efforts.

Another factor in our rising GHG emissions is the redirection of funds allocated by the Valero/Good Neighbor Steering Committee Settlement Agreement that were supposed to go towards addressing this issue. In 2015, the council voted to allow Valero to spend $870,000 of these funds to update refinery boilers to save water. Therefore, funds are limited to focus on the recommendations of the Community Sustainability Commission.

The good news is that all of Benicia’s schools have installed solar panels this year, which is clearly a step in the right direction of lowering our emissions and headed towards a clean energy future.

Streets: A more noticeable aging issue are streets – you can see the streets, drive over the pot holes – it harder to see infrastructure like water and sewer pipes that are underground. Funding and staff resources are committed to fixing our roads and there is a plan in place to do so – thanks in large measure to our own Measure C and the SB 1 funds signed into law by the governor. We completed our study on the condition of the streets and submitted our plans in January for the SB 1 funds allocation. Unless overturned by the voters in November we will see more than a doubling of our street “fix it” funds for a long time. The study on the quality of our streets and roads gives us a road map on which streets are on the priority list. Our roads will continue to be fixed, repaved and updated in 2017 – unless California voters deny the new revenues – providing all of us a much smoother ride.

Protecting Benicia from Future Community Emergencies at Valero: The May 5^th near catastrophic melt down at Valero due to a sudden loss of power showed just how vulnerable we are in Benicia. We cannot eliminate risk, but we can minimize risk and that is the purpose of my request for the city to adopt an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) to better prepare Benicia for future accidents. The council must vote to direct staff to prepare the ordinance modeled on the one that all other refineries in the Bay Area have. Among many community safety items are requiring the City – based on up-to-date information from state agencies and Valero to notify Benicians about what’s happening and why in a timely manner. Other elements of the proposed ordinance will provide the City of Benicia a seat at the table with the County and State agencies so that we know what is going on. By collecting fees from Valero we can pay for this public engagement and city participation that would include experts, who we currently cannot afford, in implementing county and state regulations as well as our own local public safety needs.

I look forward to vigorous, clean and thoughtful local campaigns for open city council seats this election year. By understanding the complex issues the city council and staff has addressed recently, smart discussion and debate will inform voters of the best leadership for our community moving forward. This review of 2017 gives me hope for a healthy, prosperous and thriving city of diverse interests, beliefs and the common goal of well-being.