LAWSUIT AIMS TO STOP MEASURE B

A pair of court challenges filed within the past few days to the
county-sponsored ballot initiative that, if given the OK by voters,
would repeal the county's cannabis personal use ordinance, have been
scheduled to be heard by the Mendocino County Superior Court within
the next two weeks.

Both Richard Johnson of the Mendocino County Green Party and Edie
Lerman, on behalf of Paula A. Laguna and George Hanamoto, filed
separate lawsuits Thursday and Wednesday, respectively, to try to
keep Measure B off the June 3 ballot.

Measure B, which was placed on the ballot by the Mendocino County
Board of Supervisors on Jan. 8 by a vote of 4-1, would repeal Measure
G, which was passed by 58 percent of county voters in 2000.

Measure G, the cannabis personal use ordinance, instructed law
enforcement officers to make prosecution of anyone growing fewer than
25 marijuana plants their lowest priority. On Dec. 11, 2007, the
Board of Supervisors agreed to set medical marijuana limits at 25
plants in accordance with Measure G.

If passed, Measure B would set possession limits for medical
marijuana at 12 immature or six mature plants and eight ounces of
dried marijuana, the same as the limits set by the state.

"We are not concerned," said Ross Liberty, the spokesman for the Yes
on B Coalition. "We're a little upset that they are trying to stop
this ballot initiative from going to voters and letting them decide."

Liberty said the claims made in the suits have no legal basis to
Advertisement block a vote on the measure.

"They say we, the Measure B folks, seek to usurp the sheriff's budget
authority by initiative, which we're not doing," he said. "Measure G
is thought to do that. Measure G is unconstitutional because it's
illegal, because you cannot by ballot initiative set budget
priorities. We're trying to undo what was illegally done by initiative."

Johnson declined to comment on Liberty's statements and said the
point of the suits was to prevent the ballots from being manufactured.

"It has nothing to do with Ross Liberty," he said. "The lawsuits
complement each other. My suit is aimed at keeping them from sending
(the ballots) to the printer."

Sue Ranochak, Mendocino County assessor/county clerk/recorder, said
Friday that the timeline for challenging the ballot initiative has
passed, but that both suits made it in just under the wire.

"There are several deadlines," she said. "I believe those deadlines
have all passed. These two lawsuits were filed timely."

Ranochak said the ballots had not been printed yet, but that time
considerations would have to be given to both the printer and workers
who would be preparing the ballots at the county office.

"We are in the process of completing our order," she said. "Have we
transmitted the data to the vendor? No."

Lerman's suit is scheduled to be heard April 11, while Johnson's is
scheduled to have its day in court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Courtroom
E of the Mendocino County Courthouse.

Meanwhile, the first day absentee ballots can be mailed by the county is May 5.