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Meeting notices, Solano County

Our Next Meeting – Tuesday, August 8

MEMBER MEETING
TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2023, 7:00 PM

ZOOM MEETING

___________________________________________________________________________

Our next general membership meeting will be on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, at 7pm, via Zoom (scroll down to find the link, which will be included in a reminder email as well). We have a program lined up that could not be more pertinent to the times we live in.

Our feature speaker will be Johnathan Cook from the Solano Pride Center.  He’ll be speaking about the attacks on the LGBTQI+ community.

We will also have a discussion about the boards and commissions in Solano County.  Supervisor Monica Brown and Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board (ADAB) Chair Rámon Castellblanch, Ph.D. will discuss the future of the boards.

Steering committee members will also be on hand to share more about the PDB Google Group and why you should sign up to join it.

Sept. Meeting Date Moved for State Senate Endorsements

Our September meeting will be on Wednesday, September 13 to accommodate our speakers.  We will be hearing from all three candidates who are running to replace Bill Dodd in the State Senate.

We want to give our members an opportunity to exchange ideas about who to endorse, but we won’t have time at the September meeting itself to do that.  At our August meeting, we will ask current members to vote on whether to have a separate, follow-up meeting or carry on that discussion over our Google Group.  We will also ask the members to approve a questionnaire that will be sent to the candidates.

Our bylaws state “New Members shall be entitled to vote on all Club matters sixty (60) days after payment of dues. Existing members, upon payment of membership renewal dues, shall be eligible immediately to vote on all Club matters.”

In other words, if you haven’t yet renewed your membership, please do so as soon as possible to ensure you are eligible to vote on the endorsements in September.

The United Democrats of Southern Solano are holding in-depth, hour-long interviews with each state senate candidate.  The recordings of these are or will be made available on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/UnitedDems.  They have already interviewed Jackie Elward, a City Council Member from Rohnert Park (here is the video).  In August, they will interview Christopher Cabaldon, former mayor of West Sacramento.  Their last interview will be for Rozanna Verder-Aliga, Vice-Mayor of Vallejo, and will take place in the first week of September.

An endorsement from the Progressive Dems is important both to candidates and to our club, and there may not be unanimity in our membership regarding who we support. Watching these interviews in advance, reading the questionnaires and seeing all three on the same night should give you the information you need to make an informed decision.

Our Zoom meeting details are below.  Our Zoom link and sign-in details will be the same through October if you would like to save them to your calendar.

Join PDB Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82362109045?pwd=bG9SMzE3RnA5VlJWeXhUMWhUNjk5Zz09

Meeting ID: 823 6210 9045
Passcode: 039610
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,82362109045#,,,,*039610# US (San Jose)
+16694449171,,82362109045#,,,,*039610# US

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdtJHvmFU6

Don’t miss this important meeting!

See you on Zoom, Tuesday, August 8 at 7:00 PM! 

 

Anti-racism, Benicia Unified School District, Equity and Diversity, Meeting notices

Our Next Meeting – Tuesday, June 13

MEMBER MEETING
TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 2023, 7:00 PM

ZOOM MEETING

___________________________________________________________________________

Our next general membership meeting will be on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at 7pm, via Zoom (scroll down to find the link, which will be included in a reminder email as well).

First, we have one speaker that we could not fit in last month for our refinery discussion. Liam Kane is an undergraduate student at Drexel University, majoring in Global Sustainability Analytics and a member of the Fair Tech Collective research group. Working under the direction of Dr. Gwen Ottinger, Associate Professor in Drexel’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society, Kane has been developing methods of analyzing continuous air monitoring data that speak directly to community concerns.

This month our meeting topic is “Racism in Schools.” 

The rest of our program will focus on racism in our schools.  Our guests will be Sheri Leigh, a concerned Benician who has raised the alarm about the “La Migra” game, and Sheri Zada, President of the Benicia Unified School District School Board.

Sheri Leigh (left) and Sheri Zada (right)

Sheri Leigh has a post graduate certification in Hazardous Materials Management and a Masters of Science in Educational Psychology.  She has been actively involved in the public school system since her son attended kindergarten in 1991.  Sheri worked as a high school and middle school counselor; prior to that, Sheri owned an environmental consulting business, specializing in waste management and pollution control.  She also teaches piano, which is her primary occupation at this time.

Sheri Leigh has been involved in matters of equity and restorative justice practice throughout most of her adult life. She has volunteered on Equity committees at nearly all of her workplaces; at three different high schools, she introduced and facilitated “Link Crew,” a program designed to welcome and include all high school newcomers. She has been a supporting member of Benicia Black Lives Matter since 2020. Sheri is the facilitator and author of the “Our Voices” articles on matters of current and historical racial injustices, and is currently working on exposing the complex, somewhat dangerous, and often damaging tradition of Benicia’s “La Migra” games.

Sheri Zada is President of the Benicia Unified School District School Board.  She has been on the board since 2018.  Sheri is a retired school librarian and union rep.  She also has worked with special needs children.  She is the mother of two sons.  Sheri has also been on the City of Benicia Tourism Committee.  She is a strong advocate to stand up against gun violence and was an organizer for the first  Benicia March for Our Lives.

Our Zoom meeting details are below.  Our Zoom link and sign-in details will be the same through October if you would like to save them to your calendar.

Join PDB Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82362109045?pwd=bG9SMzE3RnA5VlJWeXhUMWhUNjk5Zz09

Meeting ID: 823 6210 9045
Passcode: 039610
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,82362109045#,,,,*039610# US (San Jose)
+16694449171,,82362109045#,,,,*039610# US

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdtJHvmFU6

Don’t miss this important meeting!

See you on Zoom, Tuesday, June 13 at 7:00 PM! Please invite your friends and anyone who is interested in Benicia’s schools.  

Air monitoring, Air quality, Bay Area refineries, Benicia Community Air Monitoring Program (BCAMP)

Meeting Reflections – May 9, 2023

MEETING REFLECTIONS
MAY 9, 2023

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Our May meeting was held on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 via Zoom.

Agenda:

  • Call to Order
  • Quorum
  • Treasurer’s Report
  • Acknowledgements
  • Announcements
  • Program: Clean the Air on Our Local Refineries
    • Gregg Karras, Environmental Consultant
    • Constance Beutel, Good Neighbor Steering Committee
    • Heidi Taylor, Healthy Martinez
    • Maureen Breenan, Haz. Mat. Committee for CoCo
    • Terry Mollica, Chair, Benicia Planning Commission
    • Kari Birdseye, Benicia City Council Member
  • Wrap Up – Actions

Announcements

  • Solano County Democratic Central Committee Barbeque in the Park – May 20, 2023, Allan Witt Park in Fairfield – Important Fundraiser!
    • On-line Art Auction is going on now, up until May 20th, at this link
  • PDB is looking for members to join the ByLaw Subcommittee
  • Mayor Steve Young reported on:
    • the Benicia Water Line repair
    • the Pedestrian Bridge repair
    • the upcoming City Council meeting’s discussion of user fees
    • May 23, 2023 City Council Goal Setting

Program

  • Gregg Karras, a scientist and environmental consultant with Community Energy reSource, provided us with useful background and perspective on challenges posed by Bay Area refinery operations.
  • Constance Beutel, of the Good Neighbor Steering Committee, gave us information how to sign up to receive push notifications when emissions exceed health limits.
  • Heidi Taylor, a Martinez resident who lives close to its refinery and is a founding member of Healthy Martinez: Refinery Accountability Group, relayed what happened in Martinez with its release of a severe level of pollutants over Thanksgiving, and how Benicia could be affected by such incidents.
  • Maureen Breenan, a member of the Hazardous Materials Committee for Contra Costa County, the Fenceline Working Group for Philipps 66 and the Sunflower Alliance, spoke about her experience with the Industrial Safety Ordinance in Contra Costa County.
  • Terry Mollica, a Benicia-based attorney and the Benicia Planning Commission Chair, discussed features and benefits of a potential Industrial Safety Ordinance here in Benicia, as well as how the need for an ISO may have increased in recent years.
  • Kari Birdseye, Benicia City Council Member, drew in part on her extensive experience in the environmental field to discuss ways in which communities can seek to protect their health and safety, and discussed the importance of SB 674.

Here is the link to the video recording of this important meeting! If asked, enter the passcode:   f5S0Qw6%

Monthly Action

Senate Bill 674: Air pollution: refineries: community air monitoring systems: fence-line monitoring systems, will come up for a vote in the Senate within days. Contact Senator Bill Dodd urging his support of this bill. Although the bill won’t be in front of the Assembly for a while, also contact Assembly Member Lori Wilson urging her support.

Next Meeting: June 13, 2023 at 7:00 pm

Our next meeting will focus will be a collaboration between Benicia Black Lives Matter, PDB and others. You won’t want to miss this important meeting.

See you on Zoom, Tuesday, June 13 at 7:00 PM! Please invite your friends and anyone who is interested in keeping Benicia thriving.