Did Valero Pay for It? How Can I Tell?

How to tell who paid for the political mailer, call or ad that you received.

The “Progress for Benicia” PAC is primarily funded by Valero Energy. 

If you see or hear “Progress for Benicia” or “Working Families” in a mailer, robocall or online ad,  Valero was its top funder.

Benicians deserve to know who sent them political material, and perhaps even more importantly, who paid for it. Whether it’s a glossy, full-page mailer in your mailbox, a call on your phone or a Facebook ad, these materials were designed and paid for by people with an agenda. 

That agenda is to get you to vote for who they want you to vote for.

Fortunately, California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) as well as city, county and state legislation require that every piece of political material you receive include the name of both the group that designed and sent it (usually a PAC) and the top funder behind that group (unless the amount spent was under $2,000).

Unfortunately, these groups can make these disclosures in very, very fine print or very quickly at the beginning and end of robocalls. 

Mailers

With mailers, look for a phrase that describes the group that paid for the mailer, and near that should be a list of the top funders of that group. 

Mailers

In the last several elections, the “Working Families” PAC paid political firms big bucks to design and mail out glossy double-sided mailers. 

The problem? Candidates can’t spend more than around $30,000 on their campaigns. And mailers are expensive, usually costing tens of thousands of dollars.

This means that candidates can’t possibly send out as many mailers to rebut or address the many claims the “Progress for Benicia”or “Working Families” PACs make across the many mailers they can afford to send. This creates a massively unfair situation in which the PAC can flood Benicia’s mailboxes with as much material as they like, knowing candidates and their local supporters can’t possibly rebut or address them.

ADS FROM 2022

In late October 2022, Valero’s PAC mailed Benicians an ad supporting candidates Lionel Largaespada and Christina Strawbridge with big pictures of Mayor Steve Young and Vice-Mayor Tom Campbell on their mailer. 

The PAC’s intention in doing could have been to make a case for Benicia City Council to stay as it is, but the outcome is pretty misleading because it makes it look like Mayor Young and Vice-Mayor Campbell endorsed Largaespada and Strawbridge, when they did not. (They endorsed candidates Kari Birdseye and Terry Scott.)

This ad was so misleading that one benefiting candidate issued a statement to help Benicians get the facts straight! 

For more info, see Roger Straw’s independent reporting on this matter on the Benicia Independent.

Even some benefiting candidates don’t want Valero’s “support!”

From candidate Christina Strawbridge’s own campaign blog: 


“Although both mailings are positive, they are still being mostly paid for by Valero as an Independent Expenditure. As the disclaimer states the use of photos etc. was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate. This is confusing to the voter as it was in 2018 and 2020 when Valero used attack ads against my opponents.

“No matter what the message is, positive or negative, Valero needed to stay out of the election. We all felt a sigh of relief when Valero changed their status of Independent Expenditure to a General Purpose Committee which changed required filing of pre-election campaign statements unless they make any contributions or expenditures during any given reporting period. This is the reason they did not file a pre-election statement on the City website covering 7/1/2022 to 9/24/2022.

“Today, the refinery filed a Form 496 changing the name of the PAC Working Families for a Strong Benicia to Progress for Benicia, a Coalition Supporting Local Jobs and the Economy….

“As promised, if any Union PAC has contributed to my campaign and is part of the Progress for Benicia PAC their contribution will be returned as promised.” [bold emph. added by BCE; blog accessed 10/28/22]

So how can we tell who sent these mailers, and who paid for them?

This is an example of a real mailer the “Progress for Benicia” PAC sent Benicians in 2022. The PAC is not hiding that it is behind this mailer, but it is not very easy to see that Valero is their top funder.

It is important to note that the images above were enlarged substantially to aid you in reading the fine print. In reality, the fine print is much, much smaller than many Benician residents can easily read. 

On a full-page mailer, which is about 8 1/2 x 11 inches, the beige disclosure bar is just 1 inch in height. 

The word “Valero” is less than 1/4 inch tall, smaller than an average pinky nail. It's there, but it’s tiny.

The full-page mailer shown here is a scan of a real attack ad from 2020 that targeted a Benicia mayoral candidate who Valero considered hostile to its business interests. It is one side of a two-sided mailer. The side that is not shown does not include similar disclosures.

The PAC Valero funds is entitled to design and send political mailers, but it seems by the font sizes used here that they didn’t want it to be obvious it was paid for by a major company based in Texas.

Learn more from the California Clean Money Action Fund about how PACs and their major funders get around or manipulate disclosure requirements as well as important legislative efforts to close loopholes here. 

Robocalls

With robocalls, it is a little harder to find out who is calling or who funded the calls. Sometimes, these robocalls blur the lines between conducting a genuine poll vs. phone banking on behalf of a candidate. 

Here are some ways you identify who is calling and determine if they are connected to Valero.

Robocalls

The “Working Families” PAC uses scripted robocalls. It pays expensive, out-of-state consultants and firms to develop a leading line of questioning with the ultimate goal of getting you to vote for Valero’s preferred candidates. 

The PAC then farms the actual process of calling through other out-of-state  firms and companies. Election laws require the PAC to file copies of these scripts locally, so we have verbatim questions and examples of how callers try to persuade you to vote for Valero’s preferred candidates.

Click the ˯ to read a call script the “Working Families” PAC used in the 2020 election.

Hi may I speak to [name 1][name2]?


I'm ____. We’re calling on behalf of Working Families for a Strong Benicia. We need you to get out and vote for [Candidate A] for Benicia Mayor. It has been a tough year, and we've got lots of tough days ahead We need leaders that can bring us together like [Candidate A]. Can we count on you to fill out your ballot for [Candidate A]?

Paid for by Working Families for a Strong Benicia, a Coalition of Labor and Industrial Services Companies, Supporting [Candidate A] for Benicia Mayor 2020, Committee Major Funding by Top Contributors Valero and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 549 PAC. This advertisement was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate for this office.


Paid for by Working Families for a Strong Benicia, a Coalition of Labor and Industrial Services Companies, Supporting [Candidate A] for Benicia Mayor 2020, Committee Major Funding by Top Contributors Valero and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 549 PAC. This advertisement was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate for this office.


Paid for Working Families for a Strong Benicia, a Coalition of Labor and Industrial Services Companies, Supporting [Candidate A] for Benicia Mayor 2020, Committee Major Funding by Top Contributors Valero and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 549 PAC. This advertisement was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate for this office.'


Paid for by Working Families for a Strong Benicia, a Coalition of Labor and Industrial Services Companies, Supporting [Candidate A] for Benicia Mayor 2020, Committee Major Funding by Top Contributors Valero and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 549 PAC. This advertisement was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate for this office.


ANSWERING MACHINE: Hi, I’m ____. We’re calling on behalf of Working Families for a Strong Benicia. We need you to get out and vote for [Candidate A] for Benicia (ben-ee-sh-a) Mayor. It has been a tough year, and we've got lots of tough days ahead. We need leaders that can bring us together like Christina Strawbridge. Thank you for voting for [Candidate A] for Mayor. Goodbye.


Paid for by Working Families for a Strong Benicia, a Coalition of Labor and Industrial Services Companies, Supporting [Candidate A] for Benicia Mayor 2020, Committee Major Funding by Top Contributors Valero and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 549 PAC. This advertisement was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate for this office. 


Note from BCE: This call script was filed by the “Working Families” PAC as part of their required reporting to the City of Benicia. You can find the pdf of that form (as well as many others like it) on the City's website. The PAC must disclose both the call script it used as well as the name of the call centers that performed the actual calls. These forms provide a small window into the  

 It is important to note that the centers “Working Families” pays to conduct these calls are not local. The callers are paid. They do not live in Benicia and it is unclear that they know anything about Benicia, at all. 

The scripts even have to tell robocallers how to pronounce Benicia. 

As with mailers, the robocalls must disclose the group that paid for the calls, and who their top funder is.

If you hear “Progress for Benicia” or “Working Families” during the call, Valero is the primary funder of that call.