By John McGuire
Special to the Herald

We are being asked in this election to vote for one of two people running for mayor of the City of Benicia. While I had thought that our community of Benicia was free of the negative campaigning that seems to occur far too often on the federal and state level, I apparently was wrong. In the last week I have read Forum articles written with an agenda; an agenda not to support a candidate, but rather to degrade and make false and inflammatory statements about Mark Hughes, the current vice mayor of Benicia.
My family has lived in Benicia for over 30 years now and we have known Mark and his family for most of that time. Mark has based his campaign on his “Proven Leadership and Integrity,” as his slogan says, through his time on the City Council, the Parks and Recreation Commission and in the numerous volunteer efforts he has been part of for the past 34 years, including the Solano County Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors, the Association of Bay Area Governments Board of Directors, the Benicia Youth Action Coalition, the Benicia Finance Committee, and many, many other boards, commissions, and committees.
Mark interviewed for the endorsements of the Benicia Police Officers’ Association and the Benicia Firefighters’ Association; so did Elizabeth Patterson. After the interview, these associations chose to support Mark. Mark also has the unprecedented endorsement of every other sitting member of the City Council of Benicia. He has been endorsed by four of the five trustees on the Benicia Unified School Board, the Benicia Teachers’ Association, the Benicia Chamber of Commerce, the Napa-Solano Central Labor Council, three of the five Solano County Supervisors, former Benicia mayors Jerry Hayes and Steve Messina, and many other current and former elected officials in Benicia and throughout Solano County.
It’s very important to note that Elizabeth Patterson also interviewed and sought most of these same endorsements. It’s equally important to keep in mind that these are individuals and organizations that both Mark and Elizabeth have worked with for many years, yet all of them are publicly endorsing Mark. I think this speaks volumes about Mark’s leadership, and the success he has had in earning the trust and respect of the people he works with, and his ability to establish strong working relationships with others. Mark received many of these same endorsements in prior elections, and has never demonstrated any favoritism towards any of the organizations or individuals. In fact, over the years, I have never heard one word said that questioned Mark’s integrity, until it was mentioned in a Forum article this week.
Mark has character and integrity we need at this time to lead the city forward. Look at his record and feel free to ask him questions; I have many times over the years.
Contrary to what some have written and hope you believe, Mark never stated he was in favor of the Crude-By-Rail Project. What he did say is that he wanted to review all information available on the subject so that he could make an informed decision when casting his vote. This included the information from the Surface Transportation Board. Once Mark received this information, he felt more comfortable denying the project’s use permit because as he stated, “the level of uncertainty is too high, and the risks associated with the project are too great for me to accept for our community.”
Mark has never said he supports housing in the proposed Northern Gateway project (aka, the Seeno property). In fact he’s publicly stated at City Council meetings and in candidate forums that he is not interested in having residential development in the Industrial Park. He also said that he is open to listening and discussing alternative project concepts/proposals with the developer who currently has an option to purchase that property. Isn’t this what we want in an elected official, someone with an open mind who wants all the facts before making a decision?
I have also read anti-Hughes statements that say Mark is pro-development and pro-corporate. In the years that I have watched Mark work on the City Council, the only thing I’ve seen from him is pro-Benicia. He possesses amazing listening skills, he is very thoughtful in his decision-making process, he doesn’t have a personal or hidden agenda, and he consistently and effectively listens to and considers all sides of an issue prior to casting a vote.
Mark told me at the beginning of his campaign that he made a personal commitment to run a very positive campaign. He said that he’s heard and read the data and statistics indicating that negative campaigning works, but that it didn’t matter to him. He would rather take the high road and lose the election, rather than compromise his integrity in an effort to win it. He’s also encouraged all of his supporters to follow his lead, reminding them to keep things positive and focused on Mark, rather than negative and critical about other candidates for Mayor and City Council. Based on some of the things I read in the newspaper and on social media recently, it’s unfortunate to see that others have decided to go negative, and have unfairly questioned Mark’s character and integrity, in order to make their preferred candidate look better. This strategy might be one that is acceptable in Washington D.C., but I don’t believe it’s what Benicia voters want.
One final comment on Mark Hughes. Ten years ago our daughter was hit by a car and ended up in the hospital trauma unit for 6 days during her freshman year at college. After hearing about what happened through the grapevine, Mark called me to ask how our daughter was and to see if there was anything he could do to support my family. Mark and former Police Chief Jim Trimble were the only representatives from the city of Benicia who reached out to my family. Character. Leadership. Integrity. Again, aren’t these the qualities we want in our elected representatives?

John McGuire is a Benicia resident

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