REDONE POT INITIATIVE HEADED TO COURT

Mendocino County Counsel Says It's Unconstitutional; Delay May Keep
It Off Ballot

A ballot proposal aimed at reinstating Mendocino County's liberal
pot-growing guidelines, repealed by voters last month, is headed to
court.

County officials have asked the Superior Court to uphold their refusal
to process the petitions, an action that has blocked
signature-gathering efforts.

County Counsel Jeanine Nadel has declined to write the necessary
ballot title and summary for the measure, asserting that the proposal
would be unconstitutional.

"If I were to do the ballot title and summary, I feel it would be
misleading the voters," Nadel said. "I feel it's best to take this
action now rather than later," Nadel said.

A judge this week granted the county a temporary reprieve from writing
a title and summary for the proposed initiative pending the outcome of
a July 25 hearing on the issues of the case.

The delay could keep the proposed initiative off the November ballot
no matter how the judge rules, said Katrina Bartolomie, Mendocino
County assistant registrar of voters.

If a judge were to rule in favor of initiative proponents at the
hearing, they would have just two weeks to collect 3,083 signatures
from registered voters and get those signatures verified by the
elections office. The deadline is Aug. 8.

"I think they would have been extremely lucky to make the ballot even
without the court delay," Bartolomie said.

Proponents of the proposed ballot measure blasted the legal
challenge.

"I believe this is part of what is a well-funded federal war against
medical marijuana in California using Mendocino County as a
flashpoint," said J. David Nick, who represents the initiative's backers.

The proposal is a replica of Measure G, which voters repealed in June
by approving Measure B.

Like Measure G, the new version demands that county supervisors use
their budgetary authority to stop law enforcement officers from
enforcing marijuana laws.

"The Board of Supervisors can't dictate what the sheriff and district
attorney do," said Nadel, who was not the county counsel when Measure
G was placed on the ballot.

She declined to discuss her predecessor's decision not to challenge
Measure G.

The proposal also would direct authorities to ignore gardens in which
25 or fewer pot plants were being grown.

Because it does not specify that the pot be grown for medicinal use,
the proposed measure also is in conflict with state laws, Nadel said.

Measure B requires the county to adhere to state guidelines -- six
plants per person for medicinal purposes only.

The proposed measure's backers admit the Measure G clone has problems
and that it may be unconstitutional. But they say people should still
be allowed to vote on it.

Many voters may not have understood Measure B when they cast their
ballots, said E.D. Lerman, a Mendocino attorney and proponent of the
measure.

"I want to make sure voters of this county have the opportunity to
decide whether they want Measure B to be the law," she said.

If the proposed initiative is banned from the ballot, its backers may
simply rewrite it without language deemed unconstitutional and submit
it for a later election, Lerman said.

If that happens, Measure B proponent Ross Liberty said he's prepared
to renew his battle against what many believe was pot growing run amok.

Its passage by nearly 60 percent of the vote was fueled by a backlash
against for-profit marijuana production in the county, which law
enforcement say increased following Measure G's passage.

It's been blamed for a spike in violent crime, such as a string of
pot-related home invasion robberies reported on the coast last week.

"It had the effect of lawlessness," Liberty said.