City of Benicia This Week
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In this edition: Message from the City Manager, Election Information, Thank You Elevate Studio, Adopt a Family, Halloween Movie Night and much more!
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Message from the City Manager |
October 24, 2022
Dear Community Members,
It’s only apropos, as this last week was ‘Serve a Servant’ week of the Be Kind month, to begin by recognizing Rotary’s Officer of the Year Detective Rory Logan. Friday evening in Fairfield, Rotary recognized an officer from each of the law enforcement organizations in Solano County. Our very own Benicia Rotary was there along with a number of staff and their significant others. I’d like to thank Rotary for 29 years of thoughtful recognition of our first responders. Please see below for more information about our amazing Detective Rory Logan! As I’ve previously mentioned we have many amazing service organizations in Benicia, and Rotary is certainly one of them. If you’re interested in Rotary, you can visit www.beniciarotary.org or reach out to Mario Giuliani at 707.746.4289 for more information.
This week is our last week of the Be Kind community month. This week’s initiative is Kindness Card. Put a note out for someone you’ve seen going above and beyond. Write someone a letter you haven’t spoken to for ages but whom you want to thank for their impact on your life. Put a message in your child’s lunch. Taking a brief moment to show someone you care can have a powerful impact. And there is something about a handwritten message that carries a certain power. I’d like to call out and thank Arts Benicia….I heard they spent today writing letters of kindness! Another great service organization in our community. If you want to be a part of Arts Benicia, you can find out more at artsbenicia.org or by emailing Celeste Smeland at celeste@artsbenicia.org.
Tuesday night at Council was a big win for our community. The Community Development Department (CDD), was able to capture some state housing grant funds (over $600,000) which will be evenly split between the Casa De Vilarrasa senior housing for important upgrades and repairs and the partnership of SafeQuest Solano, Soroptimist Benicia, and HomeAid Northern California to create the Hope House transitional housing for victims of domestic violence. These two projects are very timely and will help lift up some people in real need. I want to thank Council and the Mayor for their thoughtfulness in making these important decisions about how to use these fund as well as my amazing CDD staff led by Suzanne Thorsen.
Lastly, a reminder to sign up for our See Click Fix app here. This will be our go-to location for all nearly all concerns or fixes you spot out there in our community. We hope you will appreciate the customer service enhancements this new service provides. Also, remember that we’re likely to have a lot of activity initially, as the program rolls out, so be patient with us.
Erik Upson
City Manager
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Join the Be Kind Community!
October 24-31. Kindness Card.
Follow the City of Benicia at @cityofbenicia_government on Instagram or Facebook for weekly updates on the Be Kind Initiative from the City Manager! |
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November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election |
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Ballot Drop Off Locations available October 11-November 8, 2022.
Ballot Drop Off Locations:
- City Hall, 250 East L Street, Mon-Fri 9am-4pm (closed every other Friday)
- Pedrotti Ace Hardware, 830 Southampton Rd Mon-Sat 8am-7pm, Sunday 9am to 6pm
Resources:
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On Saturday, October 8th, members of The Elevate Company, the new yoga and fitness studio on First Street volunteered by giving back to their neighborhood and community. As part of their 200-hour yoga teacher training program they offered do some community service. In the yoga world, they call this Karma Yoga. They expressed that they wanted to pick up trash around town because they love our town and they spend time in these parks with friends, family, and babies. So, this trash pick-up day had meaning to them. They cleaned the St. Paul’s Square, City Park and the area around the Benicia Library and Benicia Senior Center. Many thanks to these generous ladies for taking the time out of their busy schedules to give back to their community and lend a helping hand cleaning up our parks. Benicia is lucky to have such generous community members and businesses. |
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Adopt a Family for Christmas Sponsors |
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Every year, the Benicia Family Resource Center facilitates a holiday Adopt-A-Family program. This program provides grocery gift cards, fuel gift cards and gifts for families in need within our community. If you are a business, City department or individual that may be interested in participating in this program, please contact Kendall Lara at Klara@ci.benicia.ca.us for more information.
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Halloween Movie Night Hosted by Parks and Community Services |
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On October 14th the Benicia Parks and Community Services Department hosted its first Halloween Movie in the Park event at City Park. Lots of kids came dressed in their Halloween costumes and danced to songs like “Monster Mash”. Community Services staff had games and a photo area for the kids and handed out treats before the screening of the movie “Hocus Pocus”. Thank you to everyone that attended this movie event or any of the Movie in the Parks this season. Special thanks to Karen Kerr, Recreation Assistant, for planning a successful movie night season. If you have any photos from the movie events you would like to share, please submit them to pcs@ci.benicia.ca.us. |
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The Benicia Spooktacular Event at the Majestic Theater |
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Come to the 4th annual Spooktacular event sponsored by the Benicia Arts & Culture Commission. We are happy to bring this event back The 2022 Spooktacular features the Halloween movie classic, Beetlejuice, rated PG, showing at the historic Majestic Theater. All ages are welcome and attendees are encouraged to dress in costume. Dressing as a Beetlejuice character is a plus! The event is on Friday, October 28. The doors open at 6:15 and the film begins at 7:00. Advance ticket purchase is required. Tickets are $10, sold on Eventbrite. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Benicia Library until sold out. Funds raised from this event will support ACC public art initiatives. |
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Detective Logan joined us in December 2020 and has been a great addition since then. She came to us with more than 15 years of law enforcement experience from other municipal and federal agencies. She also has more than 12 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy Reserves, and has been deployed overseas numerous times. In addition to being an experienced officer, Detective Logan is a former EMT and currently a licensed vocational nurse.
In a year, Det. Logan has accomplished so much for this department. From obtaining information about illegal gun sales, to identifying suspects in a commercial burglary and catalytic converter thefts, to leading the investigation in an armed robbery case and homicide. She does not say “No.” In addition to that, she’s also known to always be courteous and polite with the public – citizens, arrestees, witnesses, and other employees.
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Det. Logan is always early for her shifts and continues to help patrol with staffing issues and is always reliable.
This year Congressman Mike Thompson also awarded her a Public Safety Hero of the Year award for Solano County in California's 5th District. Det. Logan was given this honor as a result of her "extraordinary selflessness, dedication, and service to others."
This weekend Det. Logan was honored at the The Night of Honor Dinner hosted by the Solano County Rotary Clubs as Benicia Police Department’s 2021 Officer of the Year.
"Detective Logan is truly an asset to this Department and community. She's an exemplary role model who leads by her actions, a team player, a tenacious crime fighter, and a compassionate person to everyone," Chief Mike Greene said.
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Connect with the City of Benicia through our SeeClickFix app to submit non-emergency requests. Getting involved is just a click away!
The Benicia SeeClickFix app is your resource to report issues in your neighborhood, such as potholes, damaged trees, graffiti, and other issues that need attention. The simple-to-use app uses GPS to recognize your location, gives you a menu of common conditions to select from, and allows you to upload pictures of the concern that will assist staff in your request. You may comment on your submission, and we'll notify you when the issue's status is updated.
To find the Benicia SeeClickFix portal and a demonstration of how to use the application on our website, click here.
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Save the Date
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Oct 24 - Human Services Board / Arts and Culture Commission, 6:00 p.m. at the Benicia City Hall Council Chamber. See the Full Agenda for more information.
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Oct 24 - Committee United for Racial Equity (CURE), 6:00 p.m. at Benicia City Hall Council Chamber. See the Full Agenda for more information.
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Oct 25 - Zoning Administrator Hearing, 1:00pm at the Benicia City Hall Council Chamber. See the Full Agenda for more information.
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Oct 25 - Economic Development Board, 5:30pm at the Benicia City Hall Council Chamber. See the Full Agenda for more information.
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City of Benicia This Week is published each Monday morning. Previous editions are available here. We also communicate on Nextdoor.com and AlertSolano.com. Sign up now!
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