Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Calaveras County voters should expect to hear a lot about the cannabis industry in the next six months.
That's because proponents of rival measures — one to ban and the other to allow commercial marijuana production — on Tuesday both submitted what they say are more than enough signatures to put the measures on the November ballot.
Calaveras County Elections Coordinator Robin Glanville said that ban proponents turned in their petitions about 1 p.m. An hour later, Calaveras Cannabis Control supporters Barden Stevenot, Bob Bowerman and Prapanna Smith were at the same counter turning in their boxes, containing what they said are petitions with 3,285 signatures.
To qualify for the November ballot, such initiatives must have valid signatures of 1,571 Calaveras County voters. Elections staff members individually check the signatures and home addresses for all names on the petitions, comparing them with voter registration records.
Proponents of both measures say they believe they have more than enough extra signatures to compensate for any that are disqualified.
Bill McManus, one of the advocates for banning commercial marijuana production, said that some voters in the Butte Fire area were not sure what addresses to list when they signed the ban petition because their homes had been destroyed and they are no
longer living at the addresses on file with their voter registrations.
"We got a lot of signatures from Butte Fire victims," McManus said.
The area burned in September's Butte Fire is also home to many marijuana growers and their gardens became much more visible after the fire burned through the area.
McManus said his group of entirely volunteer signature gatherers required about eight days to get the more than 3,500 signatures he estimates were collected.
The Calaveras Cannabis Control group used paid signature gatherers and completed the job more quickly.
"We did it in record time: three and a half days," said Bowerman.
Both groups have already begun criticizing their rivals. McManus said that many voters told his group that they mistakenly signed the cannabis regulation measure in the belief that it would ban marijuana.
While he was at the counter in the elections office, Smith claimed that while his group was meticulous about circulating petitions that include the full language of the initiative, "The ban people didn't do that."
Calaveras County Clerk-Recorder Rebecca Turner, who oversees the Elections Department and who formerly was elections coordinator, said it could take until the end of June to check all the signatures and determine if either of the measures qualifies for the ballot.
"We have 11 state petitions to process as well," Turner said. Those state petitions just arrived in the last week and also have tight deadlines for review.
Turner said she is asking many members of her staff to come in early and work overtime to perform the task of comparing the signatures to voter registration records.
Meanwhile, the two groups are gearing up for a full-scale political battle over whether to try to eradicate an industry that already represents several thousand jobs and a crop with an annual value that dwarfs all other county agriculture.
Calaveras for Cannabis Control has already registered as a committee with the California Fair Political Practices Commission. That step will allow the group to raise and spend money, although a check of state records Wednesday found no donations yet reported.
McManus said he and other ban advocates plan soon to form a committee so they, too, can raise and spend money on the campaign.
"This is a chance for the people to decide the future of this issue in Calaveras County. Not five supervisors."
McManus is referring to a temporary medical marijuana industry ordinance adopted May 10 by Calaveras County supervisors. The temporary ordinance is intended to head off a land rush by would-be marijuana farmers and set standards for the industry until a permanent ordinance is adopted in six months to a year.
Among other things, the urgency ordinance bans commercial cultivation in single family residential neighborhoods and sets zoning standards such as distances the crop must be from property lines. Under the temporary ordinance, cannabis growers have until the end of June to register if they want to operate legally and be eligible in the future for licenses the state government will begin issuing in 2018.
Critics of the industry, however, say the impacts of growing marijuana here far outweigh the employment and economic activity the crop generates.
Now, it seems possible that a ballot initiative that either bans the industry in Calaveras County or sets regulations similar to those enacted so far by supervisors could be in place before supervisors get around to adopting permanent rules.
Several supervisors have said during public meetings that they prefer that voters take the decision out of their hands.
That, in part, is why Stevenot decided to become an advocate for regulating the industry through a ballot measure.
Stevenot said he favors regulating the industry because he believes a ban will simply drive it into hiding and worsen problems caused by illegal grow sites.
"Most voters don't see any way to reduce or control cannabis by simply banning it," he said. "They recognize that banning hasn't worked in the past, isn't working now in adjoining communities, and would only be partly effective even if the significant funds needed to enforce it were available, which they aren't."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Proponents Of Rival Cannabis Measures Submit Signatures
Author: Dana M. Nichols
Contact: dana@calaverasenterprise.com
Photo Credit: Dana M. Nichols
Website: Calveras Enterprise
That's because proponents of rival measures — one to ban and the other to allow commercial marijuana production — on Tuesday both submitted what they say are more than enough signatures to put the measures on the November ballot.
Calaveras County Elections Coordinator Robin Glanville said that ban proponents turned in their petitions about 1 p.m. An hour later, Calaveras Cannabis Control supporters Barden Stevenot, Bob Bowerman and Prapanna Smith were at the same counter turning in their boxes, containing what they said are petitions with 3,285 signatures.
To qualify for the November ballot, such initiatives must have valid signatures of 1,571 Calaveras County voters. Elections staff members individually check the signatures and home addresses for all names on the petitions, comparing them with voter registration records.
Proponents of both measures say they believe they have more than enough extra signatures to compensate for any that are disqualified.
Bill McManus, one of the advocates for banning commercial marijuana production, said that some voters in the Butte Fire area were not sure what addresses to list when they signed the ban petition because their homes had been destroyed and they are no
longer living at the addresses on file with their voter registrations.
"We got a lot of signatures from Butte Fire victims," McManus said.
The area burned in September's Butte Fire is also home to many marijuana growers and their gardens became much more visible after the fire burned through the area.
McManus said his group of entirely volunteer signature gatherers required about eight days to get the more than 3,500 signatures he estimates were collected.
The Calaveras Cannabis Control group used paid signature gatherers and completed the job more quickly.
"We did it in record time: three and a half days," said Bowerman.
Both groups have already begun criticizing their rivals. McManus said that many voters told his group that they mistakenly signed the cannabis regulation measure in the belief that it would ban marijuana.
While he was at the counter in the elections office, Smith claimed that while his group was meticulous about circulating petitions that include the full language of the initiative, "The ban people didn't do that."
Calaveras County Clerk-Recorder Rebecca Turner, who oversees the Elections Department and who formerly was elections coordinator, said it could take until the end of June to check all the signatures and determine if either of the measures qualifies for the ballot.
"We have 11 state petitions to process as well," Turner said. Those state petitions just arrived in the last week and also have tight deadlines for review.
Turner said she is asking many members of her staff to come in early and work overtime to perform the task of comparing the signatures to voter registration records.
Meanwhile, the two groups are gearing up for a full-scale political battle over whether to try to eradicate an industry that already represents several thousand jobs and a crop with an annual value that dwarfs all other county agriculture.
Calaveras for Cannabis Control has already registered as a committee with the California Fair Political Practices Commission. That step will allow the group to raise and spend money, although a check of state records Wednesday found no donations yet reported.
McManus said he and other ban advocates plan soon to form a committee so they, too, can raise and spend money on the campaign.
"This is a chance for the people to decide the future of this issue in Calaveras County. Not five supervisors."
McManus is referring to a temporary medical marijuana industry ordinance adopted May 10 by Calaveras County supervisors. The temporary ordinance is intended to head off a land rush by would-be marijuana farmers and set standards for the industry until a permanent ordinance is adopted in six months to a year.
Among other things, the urgency ordinance bans commercial cultivation in single family residential neighborhoods and sets zoning standards such as distances the crop must be from property lines. Under the temporary ordinance, cannabis growers have until the end of June to register if they want to operate legally and be eligible in the future for licenses the state government will begin issuing in 2018.
Critics of the industry, however, say the impacts of growing marijuana here far outweigh the employment and economic activity the crop generates.
Now, it seems possible that a ballot initiative that either bans the industry in Calaveras County or sets regulations similar to those enacted so far by supervisors could be in place before supervisors get around to adopting permanent rules.
Several supervisors have said during public meetings that they prefer that voters take the decision out of their hands.
That, in part, is why Stevenot decided to become an advocate for regulating the industry through a ballot measure.
Stevenot said he favors regulating the industry because he believes a ban will simply drive it into hiding and worsen problems caused by illegal grow sites.
"Most voters don't see any way to reduce or control cannabis by simply banning it," he said. "They recognize that banning hasn't worked in the past, isn't working now in adjoining communities, and would only be partly effective even if the significant funds needed to enforce it were available, which they aren't."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Proponents Of Rival Cannabis Measures Submit Signatures
Author: Dana M. Nichols
Contact: dana@calaverasenterprise.com
Photo Credit: Dana M. Nichols
Website: Calveras Enterprise
