California, San Pablo

[palmspringsbum]

<span class=postbold>See Also</span>: San Pablo Municiple Ordinance 2006-005, extended San Pablo Municiple Ordinance 2005-008 for one year until 15 May 2007.

Posted on Tue, May. 02, 2006

San Pablo extends moratorium on cannabis clubs

By Tom Lochner
CONTRA COSTA TIMES


The San Pablo City Council on Monday extended for a second year a moratorium on the opening of medical marijuana dispensaries, or cannabis clubs. But the council signaled it does not want the issue to drag on for much longer, ordering the city staff to schedule a study session on the matter within a "reasonable" period.

City Attorney Brian Libow warned the council that a cannabis club, or two, could open once the current moratorium expires on May 15, absent any reference to such a business in the city's zoning code.

"They do tend to be magnets for crime ... and other adverse effects," Libow said, urging the council to extend the moratorium.

Buzz Fowler, owner of MEDelivery's Dispensary in unincorporated El Sobrante, said cannabis clubs, if run responsibly, do not generate crime. Fowler, who also runs a medical marijuana delivery service, invited the City Council and staff to see for themselves by visiting his dispensary, which he opened before the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors enacted a moratorium for unincorporated areas last month.

Fowler and another speaker said San Pablo's council had ample time to craft a regulating ordinance since it first enacted a moratorium on May 16, 2005.

Libow said he could draft an ordinance to regulate cannabis clubs, as more than 20 California cities have done, or ban them, as about 15 cities have. But instead, he recommended the one-year moratorium extension to allow more time for the ongoing conflict between the federal government and the state over medical marijuana to play out. About 50 California cities have moratoriums on the opening of cannabis clubs.

In 1996, California voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, which allows the medical use of marijuana on the recommendation of a doctor. But the federal government classifies marijuana as an illegal drug with no medical use.

A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirmed the federal government's right to prosecute people who use medical marijuana even in states where it is legal.

Libow said the federal-state conflict raises the question whether a City Council that "permits" cannabis clubs could be considered to "aid and abet the commission of a federal crime."

A public speaker challenged that notion, saying no local official had ever been prosecuted on such grounds.

Councilman Paul Morris said a cannabis club is "not needed" in San Pablo if only because the one in El Sobrante is close by.

Morris moved to adopt the moratorium, with Councilman Joe Gomes seconding.

Councilman Leonard McNeil and Councilwoman Sharon Brown questioned the need for extending the moratorium for a whole year, and recommended a prompt study session.

Mayor Genoveva Garcia Calloway suggested Morris amend his motion to include the promise of a study session; Gomes concurred. While the motion did not specify what a "reasonable" time is, council members had talked about three months in the discussion before the vote.

The one-year moratorium extension passed 5-0. Afterward, Libow said he expects the council to hold a study session within three or four months.

[Midnight toker]

Posted on Mon, Aug. 07, 2006

San Pablo closer to snuffing out cannabis clubs

By Tom Lochner
CONTRA COSTA TIMES


SAN PABLO - Not in our town.

That was the message that came out of a San Pablo City Council study session Monday night on two draft ordinances related to medical marijuana dispensaries, otherwise known as cannabis clubs.

The first ordinance would prohibit cannabis clubs in deference to federal law, which, unlike California, outlaws marijuana even for medical purposes.

The second, patterned on a fairly restrictive Roseville regulating ordinance, would allow cannabis clubs to operate only in certain zoning districts, at certain times and under a variety of other restrictions.

The council, by a 5-0 vote, opted for prohibition. The draft ordinance outlawing cannabis clubs in the city will next go to the San Pablo Planning Commission for a public hearing and come back to the City Council for a public hearing and possible adoption.

Council members said some patients suffering from a variety of illnesses can benefit from medical marijuana but should procure it somewhere else.

"There's a desperate need," said Councilwoman Sharon Brown, echoing several of her colleagues, "But there are problems," she said, citing "unsavory people hanging around" dispensaries.

"I understand it benefits some people," said Councilman Paul Morris. "But ... we don't need it in our town."

San Pablo is in the second year of a moratorium on the establishment of cannabis clubs that the council enacted to give it time to craft a regulating ordinance in a legal climate made murky by differences between federal and state law.

In 1996, the state's voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, which allows people to cultivate, buy and possess marijuana for medical use. Senate Bill 420 in 2003 established guidelines for distribution of the drug.

The federal government, however, considers marijuana an illegal drug with no medical application.

A 2005 United States Supreme Court decision affirmed the federal government's right to enforce the federal prohibition on marijuana even in states that allow the drug for medical use, as California does. But the court, in Gonzales v. Raich, did not address preemption of state law under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, City Attorney Brian Libow reported to the council.

"As a result," Libow wrote, "local governments are left with the question of what the legal authority is to implement, regulate or prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries."

Brown, commenting on the dilemma, said the city was caught between the proverbial "rock and a hard place."

Several council members said San Pablo's medical marijuana patients are well-served by a cannabis club in neighboring unincorporated El Sobrante, even as they accused that cannabis club of attracting a bad crowd.

Attached to Libow's report is one from the El Cerrito Police Department that cites a litany of crimes and lesser quality-of-life issues surrounding medical marijuana in more than two dozen jurisdictions in California, including Oakland and Berkeley. The El Cerrito report does not mention El Sobrante or any other community in unincorporated Contra Costa County.

[budman]

Posted on Thu, Aug. 10, 2006
Council's ordinance would ban pot clubs

SAN PABLO: City leaders cite quality of life concerns in 5-0 vote to prohibit dispensaries

By Tom Lochner
CONTRA COSTA TIMES


Not in our town.

That was the message from the San Pablo City Council on two draft ordinances related to medical marijuana dispensaries, also known as cannabis clubs.

The first ordinance would ban cannabis clubs in deference to federal law, which, unlike California, outlaws marijuana even for medicinal purposes.

The second ordinance, patterned after a fairly restrictive Roseville ordinance, would allow cannabis clubs to operate only in certain zoning districts at certain times and under a variety of other restrictions.

The council, by a 5-0 vote at a Monday study session, opted for prohibition. The draft ordinance outlawing cannabis clubs in the city will next go to the San Pablo Planning Commission for a public hearing and come back to the City Council for a public hearing and possible adoption.

Council members said some patients suffering from a variety of illnesses can benefit from medical marijuana, but they should procure it somewhere else.

"There's a desperate need," said Councilwoman Sharon Brown, echoing several of her colleagues.

"But there are problems," she said, citing "unsavory people hanging around" dispensaries.

"I understand it benefits some people," Councilman Paul Morris said. "But ... we don't need it in our town."

San Pablo is in the second year of a cannabis club moratorium enacted to give the council time to craft a law while wading through the differences between federal and state statutes.

In 1996, the state's voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, which allows people to cultivate, buy and possess marijuana for medicinal use. State Senate Bill 420 in 2003 established guidelines for distribution of the drug.

The federal government, however, considers marijuana an illegal drug with no medical application.

A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirmed the federal government's right to enforce the federal prohibition on marijuana even in states that allow the drug for medicinal use. But the court, in Gonzales v. Raich, did not address preemption of state law under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, City Attorney Brian Libow reported to the San Pablo council.

"As a result," Libow wrote, "local governments are left with the question of what the legal authority is to implement, regulate or prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries."

Elsewhere in the East Bay, several cities recently have enacted bans or put off a decision by enacting a moratorium.

El Cerrito and Dublin have banned cannabis clubs. In July, Livermore and Pleasanton extended their moratoriums for another year. In Albany, where a moratorium is in effect, an advisory measure in November will ask voters whether they support a single medical marijuana dispensary in their city.

And in Hercules, the council effectively banned cannabis clubs by voting in May to deny a permit to any business that violates state or federal law.

Across the state "it's a pretty mixed bag," said Kris Hermes, legal campaign director for Americans for Safe Access, a patient advocacy group.

"There are localities ... embracing their obligation to come to the aid of patients," Hermes said, "and you have cities ... opting (the other) way."

At ASA's latest count, 68 cities and six counties had moratoriums, 27 cities and two counties had bans and 24 cities and seven counties had regulating ordinances

Hermes takes a dim view of local officials who side with federal law against the state.

"They have no right to invoke federal law and criminalize conduct that is legal under state law," he said. "We would argue that it's unlawful to completely ban dispensing."

ASA has sued Fresno over its ban and has several lawsuits pending against other agencies. Earlier this year the group dropped a lawsuit against Concord over that city's ban after a co-plaintiff opened a dispensary in another city.

Several council members said San Pablo's medical marijuana patients are well-served by a cannabis club in neighboring unincorporated El Sobrante, even as they accused that club of attracting a bad crowd.

MEDelivery's Dispensary in El Sobrante opened in April, shortly before the county Board of Supervisors passed a moratorium on new cannabis clubs.

Lt. Donny Gordon, commander of the Sheriff's Bay substation, which covers West County, said that as of a week ago, "we don't have any criminal reports related to it."

Buzz Fowler, MEDelivery's owner, said Tuesday that San Pablo council members have painted a false picture of his business.

"If they were to take my invitation to come to my facility and see what's there, they would find that there is zero riffraff," Fowler said "I don't have people hanging around outside. No vagrants, no homeless, no panhandlers, no crowds of people. There is always security on the premises."

Attached to Libow's report was another from the El Cerrito Police Department that cites a litany of crimes and lesser quality-of-life issues surrounding medical marijuana in more than two dozen jurisdictions in California, including Oakland and Berkeley. The El Cerrito report does not mention El Sobrante.


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<center>Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.</center>

[palmspringsbum]

Posted on Fri, Oct. 13, 2006

Council forum a friendly affair

SAN PABLO: Candidates Calloway and Cruz find much common ground in taped event

By Tom Lochner
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Three of the four candidates for San Pablo City Council held a friendly round-table discussion recently at the Contra Costa Television studios in Martinez.

Mayor Genoveva Garcia Calloway and first-time candidate Arturo Cruz broadly agreed on the issues raised by moderator Lisa Vorderbrueggen, and Espo -- who uses only one name -- touted his "Geronimo politics," an approach to government and campaigning named after the Apache leader he admires.

The other incumbent in the Nov. 7 race, Vice Mayor Paul Morris, was absent. A CCTV official who called Morris minutes before the Sept. 29 taping said Morris told her he had a business engagement.

Calloway and Cruz said Casino San Pablo has benefited the city with revenue and jobs, and they endorsed the idea of a casino expansion. Espo did not answer a question about the casino directly but praised Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the current council for doing a good job. Later, he said the casino should be more visible from Interstate 80.

Times political editor Vorderbrueggen, referring to statements Morris made last year naming illegal immigration as one of the most serious problems facing the nation, asked whether this applies to San Pablo and, if so, what, if anything, local authorities should do about it.

Calloway and Cruz said that immigration is not the city's business. Espo sidestepped the question, suggesting people smile more often and displaying a campaign sign in which the "o" in his name is a smiley face.

Espo likened his hoped-for ascent to the City Council to a wedding in which "I am the spouse getting married to the city." He and his bride, San Pablo, will be "forever bound in matrimony," he vowed.

"I'm winning," he said. "Begin the honeymoon."

"After I finish my four-year term, I will run for governor," Espo added. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor. Shine on."

Calloway and Cruz endorsed the San Pablo Redevelopment Agency's efforts to bring upscale housing and businesses to the city, saying the city's parallel effort to develop affordable housing and its assistance program for first-time home buyers provide a good balance.

Calloway noted that the city has allocated money to a project to assist and shelter homeless people who camp out in Kennedy Plaza Park. Cruz endorsed the city's efforts to help its homeless.

Espo said he lives in a recreational vehicle, which he dubbed his "mansion," but nevertheless agrees with the City Council's decision last year to invoke eminent domain to acquire a mobile home park where the Redevelopment Agency seeks to develop market-rate modular-type housing.

Calloway and Cruz said San Pablo needs to negotiate with Richmond about mitigating the effects of truck traffic that would be generated by a light-industrial project Richmond plans across San Pablo's western border.

Calloway and Cruz said San Pablo and other West County cities should work to stave off a threatened closure of cash-strapped Doctors Medical Center, but stopped short of recommending the allocation of city money.

Espo suggested opening a medical marijuana dispensary in the hospital as part of a solution.

The City Council this summer extended a moratorium on the establishment of cannabis clubs and has instructed the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would ban them.

No air date has been set for the forum. CCTV and Comcast, the cable TV provider in San Pablo, have yet to resolve issues related to access to the government access channel, CCTV production manager Chris Verdugo said Wednesday.


<hr class=postrule>
<center>Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.</center>

[palmspringsbum]

Posted on Thu, Oct. 19, 2006

Cannabis clubs may be banned

SAN PABLO: City will hold public hearing on proposed ordinance

By Tom Lochner
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The San Pablo Planning Commission has endorsed a draft ordinance that would ban medical marijuana dispensaries from opening anywhere in the city.

Associate Planner Al Straessle told the commission Tuesday that the San Pablo City Council should ban the dispensaries, popularly known as cannabis clubs, until inconsistencies between federal and state laws are resolved.

In 1996, California voters approved the Compassionate Use Act, which legalizes marijuana as medicine on the recommendation of a doctor. State Senate Bill 420 in 2003 set guidelines on distribution of the medicine.

The federal government, however, considers marijuana an illegal drug with no medical value. A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirmed the federal government's power to enforce federal marijuana laws even in states that allow the drug.

The proposed ordinance, which would amend the municipal and zoning codes, will be the subject of a public hearing before the San Pablo City Council on Nov. 6. Current city codes make no specific reference to cannabis clubs.

Banning cannabis clubs pending resolution of inconsistencies between state and federal laws is a tack many California communities have taken of late, Straessle told the commission. But other factors also are behind San Pablo's proposed ban.

City Attorney Brian Libow compiled anecdotal evidence from more than a dozen California cities and counties suggesting cannabis clubs generate crime and other social ills such as illegal resale of drugs by marijuana patients, armed robberies, drug use by minors, traffic congestion around dispensaries and parking problems.

An association of California police chiefs warned that cannabis clubs create a subculture of crime.

San Pablo is in the second year of a cannabis club moratorium that expires in May. In July, the council instructed Libow and the city staff to draft an ordinance that would ban cannabis clubs in deference to federal law.

There was no testimony from pro-medical marijuana groups in the packet of documents that accompanied Straessle's report. Medical marijuana advocates have sued several California cities over cannabis club bans or what they perceive as overly restrictive regulating ordinances, but they have been largely silent over the past year while several Contra Costa cities established or extended moratoriums or enacted outright bans.

No member of the public spoke at Tuesday's public hearing, which ended in a 4-0 vote by the commission to recommend passage of the proposed ordinance by the City Council on Nov. 6.

Commissioners William Erwin, Cheremay Sutton, Nell Trundle and Mark Maltagliati voted in favor of the recommendation. Commissioner Katherine Brown was absent.


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Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.

[palmspringsbum]

Posted on Thu, Nov. 02, 2006

Council candidates fill coffers

By Tom Lochner
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Incumbent Paul Morris has raised the most money of any of the four candidates in Tuesday's San Pablo City Council election with almost $13,000. The other incumbent, Mayor Genoveva Garcia Calloway, also broke the five-digit barrier, with more than $10,500 raised through Oct. 21.

Two seats are at stake.

Challenger Arturo Cruz, a Contra Costa County mental health administrative assistant, raised almost $4,900, the bulk of it from three unions. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2700, to which he belongs, gave him $1,500. Local 302 of the electrical workers union gave Cruz $500; the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1179 donated $500.

Operating Engineers Local 3 contributed $600 worth of printing services to Cruz's campaign.

The other challenger, the single-named Espo, a poet and self-described marijuana connoisseur, did not collect any money, San Pablo Deputy City Clerk Lehny Corbin said.

Calloway and Morris have served on the council since they were elected in 2002. Espo lost a run for the council in 2004. Cruz is a first-time candidate.

Calloway, a program manager for the Contra Costa County Mental Health Division, also drew significant contributions from labor groups.

The San Pablo Police Employees Association gave her $500. The Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, $250; Operating Engineers Local 3, $500; the International Association of Firefighters, $500; electrical workers Local 302, $500; United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1179, $500; Teamsters Local 315, $100.

Calloway also collected $250 from Richmond Sanitary Service, San Pablo's garbage collector; $500 from Del Valle Capital Corp. of Modesto; and $500 from Baker Vilar Architects of San Francisco.

A county social worker, Mathew, whose last name was not clearly legible, gave Calloway $500. West Contra Costa Unified School District board member Karen Fenton gave $200; school district administrator Marco Gonzalez gave her $125. School board member Glen Price, Sikh civic leader Harpreet Sandhu, Laotian-American civic leader Chaosarn Chao and Doctors Medical Center spokeswoman Gisela Hernandez each gave Calloway $100, as did Richmond Councilwoman Maria Viramontes, who also is running for re-election.

Friends of Maria Alegria, a Pinole City Council member, contributed $800 to Calloway's campaign. Her organization also gave $100 to Cruz's campaign.

Calloway also received contributions from several small-business owners and private individuals.

Morris, a self-employed property-management consultant, received his campaign money mostly from property owners, managers, brokers, other business sources and one union, the San Pablo Police Employees Association, which gave $500.

Baker Vilar Architects gave Morris $1,000. Richmond Sanitary Service gave Morris $500, as did the manager of the San Pablo Supermarket, the architects firm of Arthur Tam &amp; Associates and La Strada restaurant. Morris also logged more than $2,700 in miscellaneous contributions.

Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.

[palmspringsbum]

Posted on Wed, Nov. 08, 2006

Council votes to ban pot clubs

<span class=postbold>SAN PABLO: Plan must get second approval before it is enacted</span>

By Tom Lochner
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The San Pablo City Council has approved, with little comment or debate, an ordinance that would ban cannabis clubs citywide.

The vote Monday night was 5-0. Only Councilman Paul Morris commented on the issue, saying the ordinance is long overdue. It will go before the council for a second reading, likely in two weeks, and if approved a second time, would go into effect 30 days later.

No one from the public spoke at Monday's City Council meeting, not even Espo, a self-described pot connoisseur who was in attendance. Espo, who uses a single name, was a candidate for a seat on the San Pablo City Council in Tuesday's election.

"Oh, no, it's OK," Espo said, reacting to Monday's council vote. Espo said he might discuss the matter sometime in the future but he had nothing to say about it Monday.

The absence of any show of public interest on the issue Monday contrasted sharply with council meetings in many East Bay cities just a year or two ago. Medical marijuana advocates argued passionately then in favor of regulating the dispensing of medical marijuana rather than banning it and urged local officials not to cave in to the federal government, which considers marijuana an illegal drug with no medical use.

Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based patient-advocacy group, estimates that its more than 200,000 patients in California depend on dispensaries for their medical marijuana.

"The campaign to protect safe access to medical marijuana has not lost steam," said Kris Hermes, the organization's legal campaign director. But, he added, the group counts some 70-plus cities in California that have moratoriums on cannabis clubs and keeping up is difficult for the grass-roots organization.

The organization has filed suits in state courts against several cities that have enacted bans or adopted regulating ordinances so restrictive that the group deems them tantamount to bans.

In 1996, California voters approved the Compassionate Use Act, which legalizes marijuana for medicinal use on the recommendation of a doctor. State Senate Bill 420 in 2003 established guidelines for distributing the drug.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the federal government's power to enforce federal marijuana even in states such as California that recognize the drug as a medicine for a variety of ailments, including chronic pain, AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, nausea, appetite loss and anxiety.

San Pablo is in the second year of a moratorium on the establishment of cannabis clubs, or medical marijuana dispensaries. In August, the City Council voted unanimously to instruct the city staff to draft an ordinance to ban the dispensaries, citing discrepancies between federal and state law as well as voluminous evidence compiled by the city staff that portrayed cannabis clubs as magnets for crime and other social ills.

A public hearing by the San Pablo Planning Commission in October that ended in an endorsement of a ban on cannabis clubs elicited no public comment either.

Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.

[palmspringsbum]

Posted on Wed, Nov. 22, 2006

EAST BAY ROUNDUP

Ordinance Bans Cannabis Clubs

The Contra Costa Times


The San Pablo City Council, without debate, approved an ordinance that prohibits medical marijuana dispensaries, popularly known as cannabis clubs.

The council voted 5-0 on Monday, waiving a second reading of the ordinance, which the council approved the first time Nov. 6.

The lone speaker from the public noted that state law recognizes a medical use for marijuana and urged the council not to prevent patients from getting their medicine.

The federal government considers marijuana an illegal drug with no medical use.