Galen Kusic, Editor

Councilmember Steve Young brought a proposal to the Benicia City Council on April 7 to provide an immediate boost to Benicia businesses and residents. The proposal includes the City giving $50,000 to Benicia Main Street to manage and distribute Downtown Dollars to residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the item was not listed on the agenda, the council voted down the proposal 3-2, preventing future discussion of the plan moving forward. Young requested a two step request on March 24, but Mayor Elizabeth Patterson asked to wait until the April 21 meeting due to remote teleconferencing with a current lack of video.

“A month from now may be too late. I keep emphasizing quickly for a reason. A lot of businesses are ready to fold, they’re over the edge,” said Councilmember Tom Campbell.

Young’s plan includes certifying eligibility of the people that would receive Downtown Dollars that could be used citywide at any business still operating. The program would be available to any Benicia resident that has been furloughed, laid off or had hours cut due to the pandemic. Residents would have to verify a Benicia address and the circumstance for being laid off.

The $50,000 would represent 500, $100 dollar certificates. Couples would be eligible for $200. Businesses would then redeem the dollars at Benicia Main Street for payment.

Nancy Martinez, Executive Director of Benicia Main Street was very enthusiastic to help out and manage the program since city staff is currently unable to take on any new projects during the crisis, according to City Manager Lorie Tinfow. Benicia Main Street already has $40,000 on hand to provide expedited funding for the program, but the City would have to reimburse the organization. Benicia Main Street would only charge a five percent fee to manage the program.

Young talked to a number of restaurants downtown last week in favor of his plan, reporting that several had applied for the federal loan but that banks were unfamiliar and hadn’t received appropriate guidance to take swift action.

This is another reason Young and Campbell were pushing for some kind of immediate relief for businesses and residents.

“This is the type of program the longer it takes to implement, the less effective it becomes,” said Young. “50,000 is not a lot of money. It’s an important statement to make to the community. A visible, tangible thing offered to residents and businesses.”

Patterson asked City Attorney Benjamin Stock if it was possible to make decisions without the bureaucratic process and accelerate the concept of Benicia dollars with more flexibility for expenditure of funds due to the City’s declared state of emergency.

“I think the council has a liberty to move forward and bring back at a future date,” he said. “I don’t think it matters at the end of the day. Given the circumstance, if the majority of the council wants it to move forward, staff will figure out how to move it forward.”

Young and Campbell were both in favor of the plan, but the other three members had their reservations about the proposal.

“I believe the plan has not been well thought out,” said Vice Mayor Christina Strawbridge. “This is not a prudent way to spend tax dollars and is setting Main Street up for failure. Most businesses are not open. The City needs to be funding ways to keep all of our businesses solvent.”

Strawbridge added that while Main Street is experienced in issuing Downtown Dollars, they have never managed a grant program.

“I think this is jumping to a great idea and we’re not looking at process,” said Strawbridge. “We really need to look at how we invest going forward.”

Patterson agreed with Strawbridge, questioning if this was truly economic recovery. She cited issues with establishing the criteria for small businesses, identifying qualifying households and how to show proof that residents were unemployed due to COVID-19. She noted that while it is a “good gesture,” and “well-meaning,” the “randomness of certificates is troubling” and that a “lack of strategy” is also a problem.

“The idea is attractive on the surface,” she said. “I care about how we steward it for economic recovery…I just want to have it strategic, and I don’t see this as strategic.”

She continued that the City has limited resources to attain economic recovery and suggested that throwing money at something without any sense of the outcome is not the most responsible use of taxpayer dollars, especially with an estimated $6.5 million in City tax revenue deferred until next year.

“Are we really going to restore these businesses?” she asked. “With the loss of sales tax for a year, we are going to have to figure out a way we are efficient in economic recovery. I don’t see how this generates economic recovery. We have some pretty serious thinking we have to do.”

Campbell was strongly in favor of the proposal as a small business owner.

“How many people have you laid off in the last week? I’ve laid off seven. I know exactly the problems that people are facing right now,” he said. “Every single dollar you put into this economy generates and multiplies more money. Every single dollar is beyond belief important at this point.”

Campbell went on to explain that restaurants are experiencing a 70-90 percent reduction in revenue and that these dire times require an immediate response in the next few days.

“We need to put money downtown right now,” he said. “We have to start getting some money to the businesses so they can pay their employees. I think government can help at the local level.”

The entire council cited the importance of the current small business loans that are available from the federal Payroll Protection Program, state and county and that city staff is doing an excellent job providing help for businesses in acquiring these loans.

At the same time, the council recognizes more needs to be done.

“We have to be ahead of this game,” said Strawbridge. “As the only councilmember that has a business on First St., I have first hand knowledge and experience with what’s going on downtown. It is scary. We are facing the potential for many businesses not to re-open…We have to figure out how to take advantage of loans and grants that are available.”

In other COVID-19 relief efforts, the council approved $50,000 in funding for the Family Resource Center. They also directed staff to establish an Economic Recovery Task Force and report progress back to council at the April 21 meeting.