MEDICAL MARIJUANA ISSUE CAUSES STIR AT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

LAKEPORT - While discussing a moratorium on medical marijuana
dispensaries Tuesday the Lake County Board of Supervisors chairwoman
Denise Rushing smacked the gavel as a man shouted from the back of the
room and Supervisor Rob Brown defended himself.

The heckler didn't come to the microphone when supervisors told him he
couldn't speak from the back of the room. He referenced "the will of
the people" and apparently didn't approve of the moratorium or Brown
and his opinions.

The board voted unanimously to approve a 45-day interim ordinance that
will limit medical marijuana dispensaries from opening, make sure
existing dispensaries follow state law, and protect legal dispensaries
from enforcement action.

Supervisors Jim Comstock and Brown presented the moratorium to the
board.

"We thought it would be a good idea to stop 'til we can come up with
an ordinance," Brown said.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington told a concerned member of the public
that medical marijuana patients would be able to get their
prescription in the county under the moratorium.

"You're not gonna lose access," Farrington said. "We're going to hold
those people accountable with the state law."

Two out of 16 people who addressed the board about the moratorium
spoke against it.

Diane Barkey, an owner of a dispensary in Clearlake Oaks, said she
gives marijuana to patients in need even if they can't pay for it.

"It isn't for a profit," Barkey said. "It's for the patient."

Supervisors said they were worried so many dispensaries opened since
they had mentioned passing an ordinance or moratorium.

Rick Coel, community development department director, said those
people should have asked his department and the Planning Commission
whether they could open a dispensary.

"We would have told them no," Coel said. "The point is they just went
and opened."

The board addressed a number of other issues.

Board members and the public applauded Kim Clymire, public services
director, and other community members' efforts to acquire about 1,345
acres of land on Mount Konocti after the board approved the purchase
5-0.

"That mountain is going to be as beautiful as it is today 500 years
from now," Clymire said.

Nine people spoke in favor of the purchase, including Chuck Lambs, who
said Mount Konocti's preservation is important like the formation of
the National Parks Service and the Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.

"I don't know of anyone who can look back and say those acquisitions
were bad," Lambs said.

Batsulwin Brown of the Elem Pomo tribe said he wished the county had
consulted his tribe.

The board unanimously approved the amended Shoreline Communities Area
Plan that rezoned land.

Board members also approved the expansion of the membership of the
Seismic Monitoring Advisory Committee.

The board awarded the bid for the Kelseyville Wastewater Treatment
Facilities Improvement Project.

The board also responded to the fiscal 2008-09 Grand Jury Final Report
by stating it wouldn't apply term limits to the Planning Commission
when the Board of Supervisors has no term limits.

Nonviolent communication will be included in ethics training as the
board approved.