COUNCIL'S DEADLOCK DOOMS POT CLUB ORDINANCE

Sonoma Mayor Ken Brown momentarily stepped aside and Sonoma City
Council member Joanne Sanders changed her vote Wednesday night,
deadlocking the city council and effectively killing the ordinance
that would have allowed a medical marijuana dispensary in Sonoma.

As with previous hearings on the issue, council members Laurie
Gallian and Steve Barbose were in support and August Sebastiani
opposed it. Sanders, whose vote became critical after Brown announced
he would not take part on the advice of counsel, had previously
supported the ordinance.

"I'm not going to vote for this," she said, creating the 2-2 tie that
killed the measure. (Marijuana) is against the law. We should not
encourage lawlessness."

Even with Sanders' switch, Brown's vote in support would have put the
measure over the top. But when the item came up on the agenda, he
unexpectedly announced that he would not participate, and left the
nearly filled chambers.

Fifteen members of the public addressed the council. Of the five
clearly in favor of the ordinance, four said they operated medical
marijuana dispensaries in other communities.

Opening the councilmember comments, Sebastiani said, "I have not
moved on this issue. I'm steadfastly opposed." Gallian followed. "The
compassionate side of this is to say yes," she said. "It's not a
popular decision, but it's the right one."

Sanders then surprised the crowd by announcing that after much
deliberation she had come to oppose the dispensary. "The votes were
up here," she said of the bill's history, "but now that Mayor Brown
has recused himself, the dynamic has changed."

Barbose, acting as chair, did not bother bringing the measure to a
vote. He reiterated his support, but acknowledged that because "Mayor
Brown is absent and will be absent," the council is unlikely to
revisit the issue any time soon.

Brown was not legally precluded from participating, Sonoma City
Attorney Jim James told the Sun, but was advised by James and by City
Manager Linda Kelly not to take part, presumably because his wife
Jewel Mathieson is a member of one of the groups intending to apply
for a dispensary permit, had the ordinance been approved. Following
that item, Brown returned to chair the rest of the meeting.

In other business, the Council amended the noticing requirements for
applications involving telecommunications facilities. The 5-0
decision was intended to avoid the public outcry that arose when a
microwave tower was installed on the campus of Sonoma Valley High
School. In that case, parents and neighbors complained that they had
not received adequate notice of the proposed tower.

Finally, the council also voted to support Petaluma in its opposition
to a proposed asphalt and recycling plant for that city. Despite
Petaluma's own opposition, and that of various environmental groups,
the county has approved the project. Petaluma City Council member
David Glass and several leaders from that community came to the
meeting and asked the Sonoma City Council to send a letter of
protest, as other communities reportedly have, to the county.

Though it passed unanimously, the vote was only 3-0, as both Sanders
and Sebastiani declined to participate. Chided by Barbose for bad
manners in not hearing out the speakers, Sanders later explained that
she has consistently opposed getting Sonoma involved in the affairs
of other cities. She was also concerned that any rebuke of the Sonoma
County Board of Supervisors by the Sonoma City Council might damage
relationships between the two bodies.