July 25, 2022
Good Morning Benicia Residents,
The construction to rehabilitate the Fitzgerald baseball field stands, approved recently by Council, and funded by Measure C with additional donations from the baseball community and a very sizeable donation from Valero, will begin on August 1st and is scheduled to be completed in 120 days. Also in August, we will begin work on the pathway at Semple Crossing. Additionally, in November you will be seeing work on at least five sporting courts around the City as they are resurfaced.
The partial paving of the East E Street lot, which will create additional parking opportunities downtown, is underway and scheduled to be completed in August. It was not the City's intention to close the parking lot, however, as most of you may remember, litigation forced us to shut down the lot except for a certain number of special events and the farmer's market. In response to the residential and business community, the City Council allocated $200,000 for a temporary partial parking lot to assist in neighborhood parking needs. The amount allocated was based on what the City's budget could accommodate with the cost of paving the lot with the necessary engineering standards. Although this one time funding was able to only pave a portion of the lot with 21 parking spaces, it allowed the City to come to an agreement with the litigants to allow parking in the paved location 24/7.
I have been receiving a large number of compliments about our staff and their customer service. This has been a key initiative of our vision of 'Community Focused, Exceptional Service'. Here is one great example, symbolic of the culture we are trying to create citywide, received by Deputy City Manager, Mario Giuliani:
Mario,
I wanted to take a moment to share with you the excellent service and caring exhibited by Shantae Amos in the Finance Department.
I had forgotten to terminate water service after selling my home. I called and confessed my oversight to Shantae. She laughed with me and quickly directed me to the proper paperwork. Her helpful and friendly demeanor was refreshing. She sounded as if she truly enjoys her job and where she works.
Not only did she help with the service termination, she took the time to ask questions about the new owners so that she could help them establish service. She went above and beyond by not just addressing my issue, but recognizing the entire scope of what would need to happen and coordinating the moving parts.
She did not treat this as a burden or inconvenience in her day. She gave us her full attention, performed as if this was her only concern, and handled everything swiftly and skillfully.
I hope everyone continues to enjoy the summer and remind you that Benicia Main Street's Waterfront Festival returns to the First Street Green this upcoming weekend! Have a great week Benicia!
Erik Upson
City Manager
