Valero and others in a new Political Action Committee have joined together to raise more than $100,000 to influence our election with additional hard-hitting negative campaign tactics. That’s $100,000 — more than three times the limit each individual candidate is allowed to spend on their campaign!
So … you can expect to see negative ads making outrageous claims against Kari Birdseye on TV and Facebook. Expect nasty signs around town, more negative telephone campaign calls, glossy mailers delivered to your door, and who knows what else? To understand the dark nature of their plans, you really do need to check out the phone script and photocopies of ads in the city reports at right. They want to buy a seat on Benicia City Council.
Besides Valero’s $14,200, the other interested parties are throwing in another $90,000 to fund the WFSB anti-Birdseye campaign.
My opinion? They better hope this works. Can you imagine campaigning this viciously against someone and then losing? Not the smartest way to try and “mend fences” after a near disastrous chemical release in 2017 and a pledge to be a “good neighbor.” Is this how good neighbors act?
We’re not all that far away from the election — you can expect the PAC to spend this huge amount in the next three weeks. Benicia will be inundated with their anti-Kari messaging.
Let’s hope that Benicia voters see past the slick mailers and negative hit pieces that will soon be flooding our mailboxes and Facebook feeds. Kari Birdseye for Benicia City Council!