One year later, still time for an ISO

Thank you to the Benicia City Council for developing the priority based budgeting system this year. The results of the process made clear that many Benicians want the city to prioritize the adoption of an Industrial Safety Ordinance and the protections Benicians deserve.
Valero’s massive month long flaring debacle of May 2017 has not resulted in any public report with an objective root cause analysis, local environmental health and safety impact study, nor any corrective actions that could or should have been made by Valero in advance of the incident.
Even if somehow by a miracle the Solano County Hazardous materials Division had issued such a report, Benicia still would have no mechanism to require corrective action by Valero.
We know Mayor Elizabeth Patterson and Councilmember Steve Young have been responsive to the pleas of Benicians who want to be given at least the equal protection as the residents of Richmond, California and Contra Costa County, by supporting the need for adoption of an Industrial Safety Ordinance and to have the debate of: Why is Benicia the only Bay Area refinery town not protected by an Industrial Safety Ordinance?
Let’s hope the other councilmembers are listening as well.

Andres Soto,
Benicia

BUSD expenditures

Can someone please explain to me why we need three maintenance/custodial supervisors? There was a minor snafu at the middle school Thursday. I saw three guys standing around with their hands in their pockets trying to make a decision anyone with a bit of smarts could have made. If you have an issue with sewage, then you use a professional to clean it up. Am I wrong? So, why did it take three guys to make a decision? Again i ask, why do we have three supervisors in our small district? I can only imagine how much they receive in pay and benefits that could be going to our teachers.*   Speaking of pay and benefits, how can we pay an assistant accountant $70,000, which is far more than many of our teachers?  We pay to support people in the district and the cit, way too much money if you compare it to our teachers salaries. Sad to see how we prioritize employees.
Truthfully, I hope the teachers walk if the school district keeps dragging their feet. I see nothing but the same old tired excuses about no money. I have been hearing this lame excuse since I moved here 10 years ago. I wonder if may the district has too many supervisory types? I don’t believe in the power of unions or free rides for life, but it is what it is out here, so addressing the needs of the monster California created is vital. The problem is not going away. I will support the teachers if they walk simply because I believe in the value of education for our kids. We have great teachers here, and I know that keeping them happy is definitely in our best interest.
So cough it up, you feet-dragging bureaucrats. Please make this issue go away before it gets any worse. Revise the system of benefits/insurance and maybe remove teachers who are simply there for the paycheck. The things I have heard throughout the school district would curl the hair in your ears.
Now I can only hope the school district accounting people don’t start making “mistakes” on my check. I am available for any further discussions. I look forward to all the naysayers who will come out to disagree with me.
One last thing to comment on for now. We have to spend over a million dollars for a tiny little ball field restoration? I again question the prioritizing of tax fund use. Don’t hire the people who fixed the middle school roof, because it leaks already.

Rob Pearson,
Benicia

Gizzi a great candidate for judge

As a former military Judge Advocate General who did tours at Travis AFB, and a State District Court and Federal Judge, I am writing to express my support for Mr. Steve Gizzi to be elected to the Solano County Superior Court bench.
Mr. Gizzi has already been a wonderful pro tem jurist, who has already had a significant impact on the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of judicial operations in Solano County.  The court would be well served to have him serve on the bench because I personally know him to have the integrity, work ethic, and legal acumen required to serve the citizens of Solano County well as their next judicial officer.
I first met Steve Gizzi when I was a judicial student and he was teaching at the National Judicial College. I was initially impressed by his passion for the law and his innate sense of fairness and justice.  His enthusiasm ultimately led me to serve as his teaching assistant, and later to also become a faculty member at the National Judicial College. I attribute this, in part, to Mr. Gizzi’s love of the law and sense of justice, which is contagious, once you interact with him. On a personal level, it becomes immediately self-evident that he is a person whose strength of character and commitment to community is a strong and honest one.
From my perspective as a former military JAG and State and Federal Judge, I truly believe that Mr. Gizzi’s energy, intelligence, character and fortitude make him an outstanding candidate to be a Superior Court Judge. I encourage your support of his candidacy.

Hon. (Ret.) Vincent White; Lt. Colonel (Ret.), USAFR, Judge Advocate General, 1991-2015;
District Court Judge (Ret.), 18th Judicial District, Colorado, 2005-2014;
Federal Immigration Judge, San Francisco, California, 2015-2016    

Sharing is caring!