City Council Set to Fill Vacancy on Wednesday; State of Emergency Declared from Storms; Latest on Refinery Incidents

11 residents have applied for the District 3 vacancy on the City Council and will be interviewed at Wednesday's council meeting

Happy New Year! The City Council’s first major order of business in 2023 will be to fill the District 3 vacancy created when Brianne Zorn was elected and sworn in as mayor. In 2020, Zorn was elected to a four-year term representing District 3 on the council (which has since been redrawn by an independent redistricting commission). She vacated the seat when she replaced Rob Schroder as mayor last month, and the council decided to fill it through an appointment process rather than calling a special election (which would have cost taxpayer dollars).

Whoever the council appoints to the seat at Wednesday’s special meeting (assuming the four members can agree on a candidate) will serve out the remainder of Zorn’s term, which expires in 2024. The appointee will then have an opportunity to run for a full four-year term in the 2024 general election, along with any other residents of the newly drawn District 3 who choose to run. Because the boundaries of District 3 were changed during Zorn’s term, the council, following legal advice from the city attorney, chose to open applications for the seat to residents of both District 3 as it was configured when Zorn was elected in 2020 as well as the new boundaries that were implemented last year.

Surprisingly, 11 residents have applied for the opening, far more than I and I think most residents and council members probably anticipated. At a December council meeting where the vacancy was discussed, there was some concern expressed among council members about how few candidates had stepped forward as of that date. The council will certainly have its work cut out Wednesday weighing the 11 candidates and what each would bring to the position.

The candidates are: Satinder Malhi, Logan Campbell, Matthew Toth, Pierre Bigras, Terry Benshoof, Vera Knowles, John Cooper, Debi Mackey, Ronald Paquette, Stacey Lundy and Jason Corbett. Each applicant other than Campbell filed a candidate statement with their application. They can be reviewed here.

Wednesday’s meeting to discuss and likely fill the vacancy will be held both in person at the City Council chamber and on Zoom starting at 6 p.m. Information on how to attend the meeting can be found here.

I encourage members of the public to make their voice heard during public comment on Wednesday about what they want to see in the new council member representing District 3 and what factors the council should weigh in making the decision. This is an elected position that would normally be filled by voters; the fact that four members of the council will be making the choice instead makes the public’s role at Wednesday’s meeting all the more vital. The person chosen will have one of five votes over the next two years in determining important matters regarding the spending of taxpayer dollars, city priorities and our quality of life as residents. Your voice should and does matter!

The process for making the appointment at Wednesday’s meeting is detailed in the city staff report as follows:

Applicant Statement

In the order listed above, each Applicant will be called forth to provide an opening statement. Each Applicant will be allowed two (2) minutes to make their statement.

Round 1: Council Questions

After an Applicant has made their statement, each Councilmember will ask the Applicant one question. Each Applicant will be asked the same question by the same Councilmember. City Council is not allowed to ask any additional questions. The Applicant will have ninety (90) seconds to respond to each question. The questions that will be asked are as follows:

1. Vice Mayor Ross: What is your experience with volunteering or serving in the City?

2. Councilmember McKillop: What are your ideas to support our local economy in not only the Downtown but other parts of Martinez, and help it grow?

3. Councilmember Howard: How do you plan to involve residents in the decisionmaking process in our City?

4. Mayor Zorn: Given the limited nature of this appointment to November 2024, what short-term objectives do you believe are most important to position the City for long-term success?

Public Comment

After all Applicants have made their statement and answered each Councilmember’s question, the Mayor will open public comment.

Round 1: Balloting

The Council will conduct a balloting process explained in the steps below that are intended to narrow the number of applicants to one individual for appointment to the City Council.

Vote for Three: The Clerk will call on each Councilmember to verbally state, in no particular order, the names of their top three nominees. The Clerk will record the votes to a spreadsheet that will be displayed. If a nominee receives a total of three or more votes, the nominee will advance to the next interview phase. The nominee(s) with the least amount of votes will be eliminated from the ballot. In the case of a tie, the Mayor will allow the Council to discuss the nominees further in advance of another round of balloting. Balloting will be conducted again to resolve the tie vote.

Round 2: Council Questions

Each Councilmember will ask the top three Applicants one question. Each Applicant will be asked the same question by the same Councilmember. City Council is not allowed to ask any additional questions. The Applicant will have ninety (90) seconds to respond to each question. The questions that will be asked are as follows:

1. Councilmember McKillop: What is your understanding about the current City budget and fiscal position?

2. Vice Mayor Ross: Do you have any personal or professional relationships that could become a conflict of interest while serving as a council member, including but not limited to City Council, business profession, etc…?

3. Mayor Zorn: When you hear about something that concerns you in the City, what steps would you take to see that this concern is addressed?

4. Councilmember Howard: What are your ideas for helping the City plan for more housing options to support all levels of income?

Round 2: Balloting

The Council will conduct a balloting process explained in the steps below that are intended to narrow the number of applicants to one individual for appointment to the City Council.

Vote for Two: The Clerk will call on each Councilmember to verbally state, in no particular order, the names of their top two nominees. The Clerk will record the votes to a spreadsheet that will be displayed. If a nominee receives a total of three or more votes, the nominee will advance to the next interview phase. The nominee(s) with the least amount of votes will be eliminated from the ballot. In the case of a tie, the Mayor will allow the Council to discuss the nominees further in advance of another round of balloting. Balloting will be conducted again to resolve the tie vote.

Vote for One: The Clerk will call on each Councilmember to verbally state their top nominees. The Clerk will record the votes to a spreadsheet that will be displayed. If a nominee receives a total of three or more votes, the nominee may be appointed.

Appointment

The nominee who receives 3 votes in the Vote for One round of balloting, a motion may be made to appoint the individual to the vacancy. The newly appointed Council Member will be provided the Oath of Office before the January 18, 2023 City Council Meeting and begin serving as a Member of the City Council.

Refinery Updates

Recent emissions and flaring incidents at the Martinez Refining Co. refinery on Pacheco Boulevard have been a source of much community discussion and concern in recent weeks. Here are the latest updates.

• In a Thursday news release, Contra Costa Health Services (CCH) announced that it is asking the District Attorney’s Office to pursue legal action against the Martinez Refining Co. for the Thanksgiving night hazardous materials release that blanked the community with toxic dust from “spent catalyst” containing elevated levels of metals. The announcement stated: “MRC did not report the release via the county's Community Warning System or directly to CCH, as required by the county's notification policy. CCH learned about the release from media accounts two days after it began. Had MRC followed the notification policy, the Community Warning System would have been activated to notify the community about the hazard at the time of the accident.” CCH said that elevated levels of aluminum and other metals in the dust “could have potentially caused respiratory symptoms in people who breathed it. Prolonged exposure to these metals can lead to health concerns.” The DA’s Office has approximately 30 days to decide whether to pursue legal action against MRC, according to the news release.

• The Contra Costa Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) Ad Hoc Committee, which is appointed by the County Board of Supervisors, is expected to order an independent investigation and risk assessment of the accidental release when it meets this Thursday at 1 p.m. The ad hoc committee consists of county supervisors Federal Glover and John Gioia. The webinar meeting is open to the public. Find information on how to join here.

• The refinery recently notified the public and Contra Costa Health Services that planned maintenance operations may result in intermittent flaring throughout the month. “CCH will closely monitor activity at the refinery and notify the public if the flaring results in any offsite health impact to the community,” the agency stated on its website.

• The refinery reported that an approximately 7-minute-long flaring incident on Dec. 22 resulted from a power interruption that resulted from the “intrusion of a raccoon.”

• Contra Costa Health said Friday that it had received complaints of odors in Martinez and determined that the cause was wastewater retention ponds at MRC. The agency said on Twitter that it was conducting air monitoring and that there was “not public health impact at this time.” In a Facebook post, MRC said that it had been processing larger-than-normal amounts of stormwater due the recent heavy rainfall. “The odor was caused by processing wastewater from a storage tank. After identifying the source, refinery personnel immediately isolated the storage tank from the treatment process, and the odors subsided. We promptly notified the appropriate agencies.”

Local Storm Emergency Declared

The city announced Monday that it has declared a local state of emergency stemming from the ongoing storms so that it can receive additional resources to deal with their impacts. According to the city:

These storms have caused significant impacts to the community, which has included mudslides at seven locations, downed trees at six locations, flooding at four locations, along with multiple road closures. These storms have also caused significant impacts to creeks in Martinez, with major erosion at multiple locations and significant debris accumulation in others.

It anticipates further impacts as the inclement weather is expected to continue over the coming days. The proclamation by City Manager Michael Chandler, signed Sunday, remains in effect for seven days, and thereafter by ratification of the City Council, which will take it up at Wednesday’s special meeting.

Keeping Young Athletes Safe

This is not specific to Martinez but worth noting: The cardiac arrest scare involving Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin during a Jan. 2 NFL game has raised concerns and questions about the possibility of a similar incident at other levels of athletic competition. This was addressed by Dr. Leana S. Wen in a Washington Post column last week, where she noted that the condition that is believed to have struck Hamlin is much more common among youth athletes. Here’s part of what she wrote:

… most cases occur in younger individuals. One NCCR analysis of 188 commotio cordis fatalities of athletes found that the average age was 14.7. One explanation is that the chest wall muscles are less developed in younger recreational players than in professional athletes. This might explain why commotio cordis has not been documented in Major League Baseball or, previously, in the National Football League.

Given these facts, it’s imperative that youth sports officials adopt preventive measures. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association encourages youth baseball and ice hockey organizations to use softer baseballs and pucks. Chest protectors can also help reduce the force of projectiles.

Moreover, AEDs must be placed at all athletic facilities including gyms. Crucially, they must be accessible within one minute of cardiac arrest. Every athletic venue, including school training facilities, must have an emergency action plan. NFL games have dozens of trained medical staff present. This isn’t feasible in youth sports, but schools and youth leagues can require all coaches and officials to be up to date on CPR certification.

I sent the article to Martinez Unified School District officials over the weekend and was happy to receive the following reply Monday from Superintendent Helen Rossi:

I appreciate you sending this information to us.  I have read it thoroughly and will share with AHS and MJHS admin.  I can assure you our coaches have up to date CPR each season as we require and document it. We also have AEDs placed at all of our athletic facilities in the district. 

I encourage all local youth sports organizations and city officials responsible for athletic facilities used by residents to also review these issues and recommendations and take the same steps as MUSD if they haven’t already.

And Finally…

Thanks to everyone who has continued to support this newsletter and expressed a willingness to contribute to it financially so that I may work to grow it and hopefully enlist additional resources. As of this post, I’m now opening the newsletter to paid subscriptions. Money raised through paid subscriptions will be set aside to be reinvested in the newsletter, ideally through paying freelance journalists to contribute coverage of important topics. My goal is to enlist skilled journalists who can take a deeper dive into important topics of interest to the residents (the situation with the refinery is one topic that comes to mind). Rest assured that I will continue to keep the newsletter freely accessible to readers as a public service, though I may offer special benefits and posts for paid subscribers at some point.

I also invite you to check out my other general interest substack newsletter, “Craig’s Eternal Sunshine of my Spotted Mind” for broader takes by me on issues and events. My focus currently is on highlighting “raves of the week” where I spotlight folks locally and nationally who inspire and move me. You can find my latest post here where I celebrate the Buffalo Bills medical staff that saved Hamlin’s life; the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives (and government clerks everywhere) who keep our government agencies running even when our elected leaders can’t seem to; and an Oakland Catholic priest who comforts victims of gun violence.

Thanks for reading. I’ll have an update from Wednesday’s meeting about the appointment of the District 3 council member.