By Stewart Hall
Special to the Herald

On July 17, I was able to attend the Benicia City Council meeting. It had been several months since attending meetings after the yearlong debate over cannabis. After seeing how that topic and how it was handled, I considered not attending or witnessing another session.
I read in the Benicia Herald a couple articles concerning Valero and monitoring, as well as the council voting on an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) at the June 19 meeting. At that meeting, it was voted down. That vote was not well-received by the mayor, so she called for yet another vote. There was also a tax on Amports being discussed. All this piqued my interest to sit in on this July 17 meeting.
The first item on the agenda of interest to me was the Fitzgerald Field renovations. This item holds a price tag of $1 million for repairs. These costs apparently didn’t sit too well with Vice Mayor Young, as he felt the money would be better spent on road repair. This led to a question and answer period from the vice mayor with staff on city finances. The vice mayor questioned monies which are being held and rate of return. Some millions of dollars collecting 1.5 percent, yet other millions collecting 2 percent an yet other millions collecting nothing. The response from staff was virtually nonexistent. When asked who was handling these finances, there was a muffed response as well the amount that was taken to handle these funds. The mayor stepped in at this point and brought the discussion to an end by saying that this is not the place for this discussion as those in the audience did not understand what was being discussed.
So on to the next topic: a tax to be placed on Amports for incoming vehicles. There is apparently a void in the lease agreement for taxation which was not discussed in 1996. This lease was instituted in 1996 and runs to 2031. Apparently, Amports has been willing to sit down with the city to discuss the lease issue, and the city is too. However, there has been no discussion to this point. The city is in a hurry to get this on the ballot suggesting 55 cents pet $1,000 of valuation. This can be a bouncing ball as the numbers are not set in stone, yet there is a feeling of urgency to get this on the ballot for voter approval. How can this be? No discussion with the tenant, no concrete dollar amount of this change in lease agreement and there is a threat of litigation from the tenant claiming one business cannot be singled out for taxation.
With this lease up in 2031, maybe all these questions can be finalized by this time.
After a short break, 14C– the ISO– was the next and final item of the night.
It is very apparent that some on the City Council and residents would like to have Valero close. Valero is the enemy. It is apparent that Amports may also fall in this same group. Here again, the city has failed to contact Valero for discussion concerning the May 2017 release. Yet, Valero commented they would discuss the issues associated with the May 2017 incident and how to improve communication.
Valero was essentially called liars about the monitoring situation. The representatives of Valero sat in the front row and took abuse with class. They were receptive to the city and how to accommodate monitoring and communication. Yet, this didn’t seem like it was enough. Those that oppose Valero want to attack them for that May 2017 incident.
In thinking about what I witnessed on that May day in 2017, apparently some schools closed and released the students to return home. The odd thing was that throughout may areas of the this city, one would see children playing outside.
In closing, I would hope that members of the City Council could close the gap on differences and could find a more positive means to deal with businesses and residents. The ability to find a financial future would continue the improvement for all citizens.

Stewart Hall is a Benicia resident, business owner and instructor for 37 years.

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