SUPERVISOR CANDIDATES AGREE WITH LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

All four candidates running for Mendocino County's 5th District
supervisor seat favor a November ballot initiative that would expand
marijuana legalization beyond medicinal use to include personal use
for all adults in California.

"I probably will vote for it," Mendocino business consultant Wendy
Roberts said during a Thursday night candidates debate in Ukiah.

The 5th District stretches from the Mendocino Coast to the Ukiah
Valley, where it abuts the city of Ukiah and includes Hopland. It's
known for its diverse and largely progressive views, even compared
with the rest of the liberal-leaning county.

Roberts, whose credentials qualify as liberal in most parts of the
state, is considered conservative by comparison to the other
candidates, who include Dan Hamburg, a former congressman and county
supervisor who made a run for governor on the Green Party ticket in
1998; Norman de Vall, who previously served on the board for 16
years; and Jim Mastin, a former Ukiah mayor and current director of
Mendocino College's auxiliary services.

On Thursday, they agreed on most issues. While the candidates
support the ballot measure to legalize and tax marijuana, they said
it is not without hesitation.

Hamburg said he's concerned there will be a mishmash of laws because
the proposed initiative would leave much of the regulating to local
jurisdictions.

Hamburg belongs to the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory board, a
group comprised largely of medical marijuana growers and patients.
He has opposed some of the county's efforts aimed at limiting and
regulating medical marijuana.

Most of the candidates said they support legalization because they
believe it eventually will take the profit out of marijuana.

"We need to drop the price. Get rid of the crime," Mastin said.

Prices already have declined with the proliferation of pot growing
under medicinal marijuana guidelines. Both marijuana growers and law
enforcement officials have said there is a glut of marijuana,
causing many growers to transport their product to states where it
is not yet legal.

Law enforcement officials have said the crimes that accompany
marijuana growing in California won't subside unless it becomes
legal in other states.

The November ballot initiative would allow adults to grow marijuana
in a 5-foot area and to possess up to an ounce at a time. It would
be illegal to those under the age of 21.

The ballot initiative has county officials discussing scenarios
under which marijuana could be become a tourist draw, complete with
marijuana tasting rooms.

But on Thursday, the discussions did not include such speculation.

Instead, the candidates agreed that the county should promote jobs
in other green and renewable industries, like organic agriculture
and alternative energy.

They also agreed that the county and cities must come to a
tax-sharing agreement that would take the competition out of
building projects, such as the Costco store being wooed by both
county and Ukiah officials.