PEOPLE AT MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEETING WERE 'RUDE,' 'UNRULY'

I attended the April 8 Board of Supervisor's meeting. I must say I
have never attended a meeting like that before.

By that I mean it started out very peaceful until Scheduled Item No. 5
was up for consideration. It was the ordinance of the Del Norte County
Code related to the marijuana guidelines for the implementation of
Proposition 215.

Chairman David Finigan opened public comment on that item, allowing 15
minutes for those who were for the ordinance and 15 minutes for those
against the ordinance to address that matter. Had he allowed everyone
in the chamber to speak we might still be there. Mr. Finigan gave both
sides more time then he had stated. When he tried to close the public
comment period, things started to get out of control. The people who
were in the chamber started yelling at the supervisors for not
allowing those who were in attendance to speak.

I have never seen such an unruly and rude group of people in my life.
All they did by their actions was to turn some of the citizens of
Crescent City against them even more. If they wanted to be treated
like humans they should have acted like humans, not like a group of
unruly people.

I give Mr. Finigan credit for the way he handled the matter. He tried
at least four times to restore order without yelling at them. They
would not listen to him so he told them very sternly to control
themselves or he would have to clear the chamber. Again they started
yelling even more than before and would not listen to him. Thank God
the sheriff was there and called for backup. I believe three to five
deputies showed up to restore order and clear out the chamber. After a
five-minute recess to get things back in order, the meeting continued.

There was no action taken on the ordinance at that time and it was
tabled to a later date so that more studies could be done. Then it
will be brought back to the Board of Supervisors for a vote.

Thank you again, Mr. Finigan, for handling that problem in a very
professional manner.

Jim Gibson

Crescent City