11/20/2022 0 Comments Emc research![]() ![]() ALL of the candidates spoke out against the PAC’s tactics and two candidates returned contributions they’d received from parties to the fund. Incensed letters went to the newspapers and lengthy hot conversations blossomed on social media. And as required by law, the City of Benicia posted all of this on its website, and the news went wild.Complying fully with Benicia’s law, the PAC submitted a photocopy of a mean digital ad showing my candidate in an unflattering pose.Complying fully with Benicia’s law, the PAC submitted a telephone caller script that showed a blatant false attack on my candidate.Complying fully with Benicia’s law, the PAC submitted names of its contributors (Valero Services at $14,200 and various contracting trade unions at $30,000 each, now totaling $155,000).So in September we were shocked to discover not only how much money the PAC had gathered up, but also detailed descriptions of their new telephone poll and negative digital ads. law, corporations are considered “people” and have been given rights like you and me, to participate with voice – but not with a vote – in our tiny local elections.įortunately, Benicia enacted a fair campaign ordinance in 2008, which requires everyone, real people like you and me, and these monstrous shadow “people” like Valero Services Inc., to detail their campaign contributions and expenditures. #Emc research freeUnfortunately, this PAC is free to use its massive resources to damage a candidate and to promote other candidates. This is far from true, but the tactic resulted in the amassing of a small fortune by Benicia standards, $155,000 in an “Independent Expenditure” fund known as a political action committee (PAC). Valero went about scaring its workers – those employed by Valero and others who contract for work at the refinery – into believing that my candidate wants to close down the refinery and take away the workers’ livelihood, their jobs. When our City Attorney challenged the polling firms, Valero Refinery executive Don Wilson admitted that Valero paid for the poll, but neither he nor the polling firms would comply with our demands for more information. Their first strategy was to spend an unknown amount of money to employ two national firms, EMC Research and Research America, to conduct a nasty telephone “push poll,” blatantly mischaracterizing and demeaning one candidate for Council and painting rosy pictures of two others. Valero Services Inc., based in Texas but with 115 subsidiaries in Delaware, Michigan, Canada and several wealthy Caribbean nations, decided it wanted to buy a seat on the Benicia City Council. News broke in late September that a major worldwide corporate power had bullied its way into our local democratic process. Two of our neighbors would be elected to our Benicia City Council in November. Some of my friends came to join me and others got behind other good neighbors, and the race was on. Along with others, I spent limited funds and as much time as I could to talk to folks, organize and campaign. ![]() Almost five months ago, I received an invitation to take part in the great democratic tradition of promoting a neighbor for local city governance. ![]()
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