Robert Celt
New Member
The Dublin City Council passed a new ordinance reaffirming its prohibition of medical marijuana dispensaries, and adding cultivation and delivery to patients.
On a vote of 4-0, with Mayor David Haubert absent in Washington at the Mayors Conference, the council said the action was desirable for retention of local control concerning marijuana regulation.
The city faced a deadline of March 1 to act. Otherwise, the state would become the sole regulatory authority on medical marijuana in the future.
With local control, the city will have the flexibility to decide for itself whether it wants to legalize any or all of the three categories: cultivation, delivery, or medical dispensary.
The council heard from only one speaker, Adam Pine of Sunol. He said that he works with medical cannabis.
Pine told the council he supports local control. With more information available on medical marijuana than years ago, "I know local government has a deeper understanding of local needs versus state licensing. I'm with you on that," he said.
Pine said that he disagreed with continuing the local ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. Some 23 states allow medical cannabi. "(Medical marijuana) is here to stay," said Pine. He suggested a time limit on the ban.
Councilmembers did not discuss a time cap for the ban, but indicated that local control would allow for flexibility. Councilmember Doreen Wehrenberg said that she agrees with more local control, but the council should consider future amendments on deliveries. "I don't want to limit patients who have a more dire need than others," she said. The delivery ban includes marijuana delivered from other communities.
In other business, the council unanimously approved a pilot project for a free wi-fi system for part of the downtown. Total cost for the city, including taxes and a contingency fee, will be $78,000.
Two areas will be covered. One includes a northern boundary along Amador Valley Boulevard and a southern boundary along Dublin Boulevard. Its western boundary would be Amador Plaza Boulevard, and on the east, Village Parkway.
The other area would be bounded by Dublin Boulevard on the north, Amador Plaza Road on the east, I-580 on the south, and the end of St. Patrick's Way on the west.
The pilot program covers 30% of the downtown. To finish the remainder, another $56,000 plus tax and 10% contingency would be needed, according to the firm doing the work.
The money for the pilot project comes from an earmark in the general fund. Staff said it might be possible to tie any future additional coverage to the developers' community benefits packages.
The pilot will provide information to the city on how much the wi-fi would be used. The information would be used to gauge whether there would be enough usage to justify expansion in the future.
The council also voted unanimously for some procedural changes in the conduct of its meetings.
One of them will allow speakers three minutes each if there were one to nine speakers on an agenda item, but cut time to two minutes if there were 10 to 14 speakers, and to one minute, if there were more than 15 speakers.
Councilmembers said they retain the right to make an exception at any meeting, and grant up to 3 minutes, despite a high number of speaker slip sign-ups.
Audience speakers Marlene Massetti and Billie Withrow urged the council to preserve three minutes for all speakers. Withrow said that any item that generates the intensity of 15 speaker slips tells the city council that citizens have a vested interest in that item.
In the future, speaker slips from the audience will not be accepted after the agenda item begins. Further, the mayor no longer will read comments from people who did not want to speak into the microphone.
People will no longer be able to drop off a card and leave the room. Vice-mayor Abe Gupta, chairing the meeting, said, "It's tiresome to read the comments into the record that are repeated in an e-mail."
The council gave staff direction concerning tightening procedures about removal of city commissioners. Under the current policy, only the mayor can suggest the removal of commissioners with the majority approval of the council. The mayor appoints the commissioners, on majority vote of the council.
Councilmembers said that since they have a part in voting on worthiness of commissioners, they also should be able to bring up names of people they think should be removed.
Councilmembers said that the mayor should first talk to commissioners identified for removal to determine the problem, and see if it can be remedied, for example a poor attendance record. Carrying on discussions at meetings outside the scope of a commission's field was also mentioned as possible grounds for dismissal.
Another change involves earlier posting of council agendas. Assistant City Manager Linda Smith said that the staff will try to post agendas one day earlier than they currently do, so that the council has them Thursday morning, and the public later the same day. Massetti, and David Bewley, who spoke at two meetings last year, asked for a seven-day period to give residents time to examine reports, and prepare remarks for a meeting.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: CA: Dublin OKs Local Control Ban On Medical Marijuana
Author: Ron McNicoll
Contact: The Independent
Photo Credit: Nanette Gonzalez
Website: The Independent
On a vote of 4-0, with Mayor David Haubert absent in Washington at the Mayors Conference, the council said the action was desirable for retention of local control concerning marijuana regulation.
The city faced a deadline of March 1 to act. Otherwise, the state would become the sole regulatory authority on medical marijuana in the future.
With local control, the city will have the flexibility to decide for itself whether it wants to legalize any or all of the three categories: cultivation, delivery, or medical dispensary.
The council heard from only one speaker, Adam Pine of Sunol. He said that he works with medical cannabis.
Pine told the council he supports local control. With more information available on medical marijuana than years ago, "I know local government has a deeper understanding of local needs versus state licensing. I'm with you on that," he said.
Pine said that he disagreed with continuing the local ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. Some 23 states allow medical cannabi. "(Medical marijuana) is here to stay," said Pine. He suggested a time limit on the ban.
Councilmembers did not discuss a time cap for the ban, but indicated that local control would allow for flexibility. Councilmember Doreen Wehrenberg said that she agrees with more local control, but the council should consider future amendments on deliveries. "I don't want to limit patients who have a more dire need than others," she said. The delivery ban includes marijuana delivered from other communities.
In other business, the council unanimously approved a pilot project for a free wi-fi system for part of the downtown. Total cost for the city, including taxes and a contingency fee, will be $78,000.
Two areas will be covered. One includes a northern boundary along Amador Valley Boulevard and a southern boundary along Dublin Boulevard. Its western boundary would be Amador Plaza Boulevard, and on the east, Village Parkway.
The other area would be bounded by Dublin Boulevard on the north, Amador Plaza Road on the east, I-580 on the south, and the end of St. Patrick's Way on the west.
The pilot program covers 30% of the downtown. To finish the remainder, another $56,000 plus tax and 10% contingency would be needed, according to the firm doing the work.
The money for the pilot project comes from an earmark in the general fund. Staff said it might be possible to tie any future additional coverage to the developers' community benefits packages.
The pilot will provide information to the city on how much the wi-fi would be used. The information would be used to gauge whether there would be enough usage to justify expansion in the future.
The council also voted unanimously for some procedural changes in the conduct of its meetings.
One of them will allow speakers three minutes each if there were one to nine speakers on an agenda item, but cut time to two minutes if there were 10 to 14 speakers, and to one minute, if there were more than 15 speakers.
Councilmembers said they retain the right to make an exception at any meeting, and grant up to 3 minutes, despite a high number of speaker slip sign-ups.
Audience speakers Marlene Massetti and Billie Withrow urged the council to preserve three minutes for all speakers. Withrow said that any item that generates the intensity of 15 speaker slips tells the city council that citizens have a vested interest in that item.
In the future, speaker slips from the audience will not be accepted after the agenda item begins. Further, the mayor no longer will read comments from people who did not want to speak into the microphone.
People will no longer be able to drop off a card and leave the room. Vice-mayor Abe Gupta, chairing the meeting, said, "It's tiresome to read the comments into the record that are repeated in an e-mail."
The council gave staff direction concerning tightening procedures about removal of city commissioners. Under the current policy, only the mayor can suggest the removal of commissioners with the majority approval of the council. The mayor appoints the commissioners, on majority vote of the council.
Councilmembers said that since they have a part in voting on worthiness of commissioners, they also should be able to bring up names of people they think should be removed.
Councilmembers said that the mayor should first talk to commissioners identified for removal to determine the problem, and see if it can be remedied, for example a poor attendance record. Carrying on discussions at meetings outside the scope of a commission's field was also mentioned as possible grounds for dismissal.
Another change involves earlier posting of council agendas. Assistant City Manager Linda Smith said that the staff will try to post agendas one day earlier than they currently do, so that the council has them Thursday morning, and the public later the same day. Massetti, and David Bewley, who spoke at two meetings last year, asked for a seven-day period to give residents time to examine reports, and prepare remarks for a meeting.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: CA: Dublin OKs Local Control Ban On Medical Marijuana
Author: Ron McNicoll
Contact: The Independent
Photo Credit: Nanette Gonzalez
Website: The Independent
