City pushes for nonprofit medical marijuana cooperatives

After three and a half hours of impassioned discussion, the city council voted unanimously to have a committee tackle the difficult task of crafting laws that jibe with recently released guidelines from the attorney general’s office outlining exactly what should be considered a legal medical marijuana operation.

City officials had a bit more difficulty when discussing a proposed moratorium on new and pending applications for dispensaries, but ultimately agreed on a 4-1 vote to consider the concept at a future hearing.

“We’ve sort of let the cart go before the horse,” City Councilmember Iya Falcone said in expressing her strong support for such a moratorium. “We’ve been playing catch-up ever since. It’s time to stop. It’s just time to stop right now and take a breath.”

A shift toward the nonprofit collective model appears to be largely in step with state guidelines, a fact that nobody on the council disputed. How to reach that model is a more difficult task, particularly given the constantly changing legal landscape surrounding medical marijuana and the difficulty of spelling out the precise definition of a collective.

... Santa Barbara School Districts Superintendent Brian Sarvis, said storefront dispensaries are too much of a risk, particularly when they are located near schools or areas where children congregate.
“It sends the wrong message to our kids,” he said. “Too many of our kids show up high or with marijuana to sell. And yes, they tell us they get it at the dispensary.”

Local leaders have been struggling with how to ensure legitimate patients receive medical marijuana while still protecting neighborhoods from negative impacts for several years. A set of regulations went into effect last year, but city officials continued to receive complaints about the proliferation of new dispensaries.


... city leaders... agreed that... stricter regulations should move forward as quickly as possible...

“We might as well finish the improvements we’ve made to regulate the existing approved [dispensaries],” Councilmember Dale Francisco said. “I don’t see a problem with that.”

... Councilmember Das Williams said... stricter regulations should address a significant number of community concerns about medical marijuana operations — through enhanced security requirements, a limit of one shop in each of seven designated geographical areas, and a shortened timeframe for nonconforming dispensaries to come into compliance or shut down."

...

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For full text and numerous comments, please go to: http://www.thedailysound.com/111809medicalmarijuana

Labels: city of santa barbara, marijuana

Das' Assembly Campaign email newsletter went out today, with endorsements in the forthcoming elections. If you don't currently receive the newswletter and would like to, please send email to: das.williams2010@gmail.com

Das wrote:



ENDORSEMENTS

Santa Barbara Mayor and City Council

In Santa Barbara, I'm supporting Helene Schneider for Mayor and Grant House, Dianne Channing and Bendy White for City Council. These individuals are also the choice of the Democratic Party and the City Firefighters.


Santa Barbara - No on Measure B

The Democratic Party and I are also recommending a "No" vote on Measure B, the Building Heights Initiative. I respect those who brought it forward, but Measure B is too extreme and could hurt our ability to provide middle-income housing downtown. If Measure B passes, a restrictive code will be written into our city charter which will hamper the development of affordable housing and undermine efforts at planning for long term sustainability.


Santa Barbara Elections Cannot Be Bought

Santa Barbara is conducting it's first all vote by mail election and ballots are being mailed on Monday. The Santa Barbara campaign season has been distorted by the participation of Texas Republican billionaire developer Randall van Wolfswinkel. Wolfswinkel has personally spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of reactionary right-wing candidates and Measure B. It is going to take a huge effort to prevent our city from being bought, and losing a Democratic majority on the city council-which has a long history on the progressive cutting edge of environmental and social policy. Santa Barbara, it's time to fight back!

Democrats are conducting massive outreach activities and phonebanks all week and next weekend. Contact the Democratic Party office to knock on doors, phone bank, phone from home or find out what else you can do to help: 805-965-8030, sbdems@gmail.com


Ventura - Yes on Measures A & C

In Ventura, it's just as important to participate. I want to particularly highlight Measures C and A.

Measure C will prevent gigantic big box stores-- like Wal-Mart-- from expanding, and will effectively prevent a giant Wal-Mart from turning into a behemoth Wal-Mart on Victoria Avenue. The measure protects good paying local jobs, Ventura's small businesses, and the character of the area. Wal-Mart's lousy corporate ethics and exploitive labor policies, not to mention increased traffic on Victoria, lead us to strongly advocate for C. Call me at 637-7711 to get involved.

Measure A protects city services like the Wright Library, roads and parks and emergency services from cutbacks threatened by state raids on the Ventura city budget. The Measure establishes a half percent increase in the local sales tax, and at an average of $1.44 a week for Ventura residents is a small price to pay for core institutions like Wright, and a safe, clean city. Call the Measure A campaign at 805-832-6824 to get involved.


Ventura City Council

You can also vote for up to three candidates for City Council in Ventura. I strongly urge you to vote for Brian Brennan and Ed Summers. I have the highest degree of confidence in Brian and Ed. They both are working hard to revitalize our economy while protecting the environment.

Labels: city of santa barbara, elections

Please visit DAS WILLIAMS Soup, bookmark it, and pass along to a friend. All DAS WILLIAMS Blog postings are linked, as well as lots more information and news about Santa Barbara and the Tri-Counties.

The DAS WILLIAMS Website

Labels: city of santa barbara, councilman, Das Williams, soup

[ Excerpt from; "Opinions fly at building height discussion," By Eric Lindberg, DAILY SOUND, March 4, 2009 ]


... Since a group of local residents known collectively as Save El Pueblo Viejo (SEPV) gathered thousands of signatures and qualified their initiative for the November ballot, the city has been looking into a series of options to address the matter on its own.



If approved, the citizen initiative would lower building height limits to 40 feet in the city’s historic district and 45 feet in other commercial areas where the limit is currently 60 feet.

The latest strategy presented to the City Council’s ordinance committee was a supplemental ballot measure to accompany the SEPV initiative that would allow building projects to exceed the new limits if they are deemed a community priority.

However, two members of the committee recommended that the city move forward with its own charter amendment lowering building height limits and addressing other issues such as open space and affordable housing.

“I’m very concerned with the oversimplification of this issue,” Councilmember Grant House said. “…I don’t believe that the supplemental ballot approach can reap the benefits that a separate ballot alternative could.”

Councilmember Dale Francisco abstained from much of the discussion, explaining that he didn’t feel the city should be involved in essentially undermining a citizen-led effort to address concerns about bulky and tall buildings.

“The Save El Pueblo Viejo initiative is quite clear,” he said. “A simple up or down vote on that is all that’s necessary.”

... Bill Mahan, one of the creators of the SEPV initiative, evoked memories of a March 25, 1969 vote by the City Council to approve two nine-story condominium towers at the site of what is now Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens.

The citizens fought back with a charter amendment to restrict building heights to their current limits, he said.

“What is your legacy going to be?” Mahan said. “That city council, nobody can remember their names anymore, but we all remember what they did. Please, please don’t do this. Don’t do this. It will be a terrible legacy for you.”

Cathy McCammon also reflected on the circumstances leading to the city’s current building height limits.

“The original height limit amendment was put into the charter because people at that time did not want the city council to have the power to change the ordinance,” she said. “The same is true today.”

Lisa Plowman, planning manager for Peikert Group Architects and a former county planner, countered those statements by calling on the city to move forward with a charter amendment of its own to offer a choice to voters.

“It’s a sad thing to me that this initiative has hijacked the General Plan process,” she said, referring to an extensive overhaul of the city’s guiding principles currently underway. “I don’t think ballot-box planning is a good idea, but here we are.”

... Councilmember Das Williams addressed some of the criticism directed at city leaders.

“I really, really feel like the tone of this debate has gotten to a point of ridiculous proportions,” he said. “When we are being threatened with ignominy and obscurity for supporting what is the current status quo … I just think it’s a little insulting.”

He said the citizen-led initiative is aimed at addressing a serious community concern, but goes about it in an “overly simple” way.

“At least a supplemental [ballot measure] would not, to me, be fairly criticized as potentially killing the original ballot measure, although that seems to be what it’s being tarred with anyway,” Williams said.

Despite leaning toward the supplemental ballot measure approach, the councilmember eventually agreed with House to recommend that the council pursue its own charter amendment.

The topic should come up for discussion before the full council on March 24.

Labels: building heights, city of santa barbara

[ Excerpt from: "City Aims to Curb Begging," By Lexi Pandell, DAILY NEXUS, March 3, 2009 ]


Santa Barbara is looking to tackle its transient problem and significantly reduce the number of panhandlers on State Street.



( Photo courtesy of the DAILY NEXUS )


Last week, the city council voted unanimously to adopt a new 12-point plan for curbing aggressive panhandling and extending resources to the city’s homeless population. The plan specifically targets the transient population on and around State Street and seeks to help business owners and other residents affected by rampant panhandling.

Councilmembers Iya Falcone, Dale Francisco and Helene Schneider presented the plan to the council at last Tuesday’s meeting. According to Schneider, the plan will push education as a solution to the homeless situation, while stricter regulations, harsher penalties and increased funding will also be key.

In all, the plan - which is the product of community feedback collected through a series of nine meetings dating back to last June - is comprised of a dozen recommendations aimed at improving enforcement, prevention and intervention.

To curb begging, the council has suggested the implementation of an “alternative giving” program. Loosely based off a Denver program that asks residents to give money to a general fund targeted at preventing homelessness instead of individual panhandlers, Councilmember Das Williams proposed the idea of using what he called “compassion coupons.”

“The goal is a compassion, not cash, program,” Williams said. Under his plan, coupons purchased from local businesses would serve as a form of currency, which the homeless could exchange for hygiene kits and cups of coffee. “Compassion is imperative, but directly giving them money is just handing them a gun to shoot themselves with,” Williams added.

Panhandling is not the real issue, Williams noted, but instead a symptom of the more serious underlying problem.

“I think that currently [business owners] are angry and think that [panhandling] impacts their livelihood,” Williams said. “They don’t want to admit that there’s a homeless problem.”

... “A big piece of [the plan] is creating greater connections between police and non-profit teams,” Schneider said. “So, when police officers encounter someone who is homeless, they have a stronger connection with the homeless outreach program that can provide help for that individual.”

Other recommendations proposed by the committee involved a “Recovery Zone or Alcohol Impact Zone” on Milpas Street to enforce liquor license laws and target negative behavior through increased penalties and treatment requirements...

Labels: city of santa barbara, homelessness

“We as a community do have the responsibility for compassion,” said Councilman Das Williams, who added that panhandlers often will use money for drugs and alcohol, resulting in a kind of “slow suicide.” Williams said “compassion does not go along with handing them the gun to shoot themselves with.”

Full text at: NOOZHAWK: Council Tackles Homelessness

Labels: city of santa barbara, homelessness

The recent Service Workers Agreement has been much talked about. Media sources include:

KEYT-TV: Service Workers Agreement

NOOZHAWK: City Employees Agreement

The most detailed media coverage was by the DAILY SOUND:

[ Excerpt from: "City, service workers OK two-year deal," By Eric Lindberg, DAILY SOUND, Feb. 4, 2009 ]


After nearly half a year of negotiations, the city of Santa Barbara finalized a deal with service workers yesterday that will provide salary and benefits increases between 5 and 8 percent during the next two years.

Union and city officials both acknowledged that the economic climate mandated concessions on both sides of the bargaining table.

“It’s probably not as rich an agreement that we thought we’d be reaching when we sat down in June, but clearly things had changed with the city’s budget by December,” said George Green, a senior field representative and spokesman for the union.

Kristine Schmidt, the city’s employee relations manager, called the two-year deal the “best agreement that we could have come up with between us.”

Under the terms of the contract, members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 620 will receive pay and benefits increases of 3 percent during the first year and 2 percent during the second year.

Additional salary increases up to 3 percent during the second year are possible through a formula based on the Consumer Price Index. Service workers will also receive a paid holiday in recognition of Cesar Chavez.

“That’s huge for us,” Green said. “It’s the only real labor leader holiday around. That is something that we can point to in these difficult economic times, that at least we were able to prevail on that.”

Those covered by the contract include librarians, streets maintenance workers, groundskeepers and planning department employees — essentially all city workers excluding Airport Patrol, Harbor Patrol, water, wastewater, safety and management employees...

“We were able to get people cost-of-living increases and some increases to retiree medical,” Green said. “Hopefully the economy will be better the next time we’re at the table.”

The increase in salaries and benefits will cost the city at least $1.8 million, which would not be fully realized until 2011. Up to an additional $1.2 million could be added through the Consumer Price Index formula during the second year of the contract.

The City Council accepted the deal by a 6-1 margin, with Councilmember Dale Francisco casting the lone vote against the proposition...

“This is not the time to be establishing new holidays for city employees,” Francisco said.

Councilmember Das Williams, however, countered that the agreement represents the results of a long, contracted negotiation involving significant concessions by the union.

“That’s shown in the fact that they were obviously asking for a lot more and they accepted a lot less,” he said, calling Francisco’s statements a “late hit.”

“I feel like it’s a little bit grandstanding and opportunistic,” Williams said.

Francisco responded by announcing he had brought up issues with the deal during closed sessions as negotiations were ongoing.

“At many occasions, I have raised objections to some of the things we have agreed with,” he said. “…I think we will regret them. I said exactly those words.”

City negotiators said despite just finalizing a contract after months of negotiations, they are already returning to the table for further discussions due to the budget crisis.

“We’ve approached SEIU and our other bargaining units about a furlough up to 5 percent next year along with other labor concessions to avoid service cuts and to minimize the need for layoffs,” Schmidt said.

Although those negotiations are ongoing and by no means finalized, a 5 percent furlough would represent 104 unpaid hours, she said, adding that following the example set by the County of Santa Barbara of holding the furlough during the winter holidays is a possibility.

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For full text, please go to:

Daily Sound: Service Workers

Labels: agreements, city of santa barbara, workers