MARIJUANA TAX ON NOV. BALLOT IN STOCKTON

STOCKTON - The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to place a
measure on the November ballot that would put a 2.5 percent tax on
sales at medical marijuana dispensaries.

The measure also would levy a 10 percent tax for all other marijuana
businesses should California voters legalize pot for recreational use
this fall.

A separate measure also approved for the citywide ballot would
eliminate a requirement that the city's fire chief be hired from
within the ranks, change how firefighter labor disputes are resolved
and target other Fire Department provisions in the city charter.

That move sets up what will likely be another bitter fight between
City Hall and its firefighters union, which are already engaged in a
nasty labor dispute.

By putting a proposed marijuana tax before voters, Stockton joins a
growing list of cash-strapped cities - including Sacramento, San Jose
and Long Beach - that are considering similar measures. Oakland
already taxes pot dispensaries.

If approved by Stockton voters, the 10 percent, non-medical marijuana
tax would take effect only if voters statewide approve Proposition 19,
which would legalize marijuana for recreational use.

"It's important we're ready to tax those types of businesses," Mayor
Ann Johnston said at Tuesday's meeting.

The council has yet to adopt regulations for medical marijuana
dispensaries in the city limits but expects to do so late next month.

The Fire Department-related ballot measure would:

Remove a city charter requirement that labor disputes with the fire
union go to a third-party arbitrator, whose decisions are final and
can be enforced in court.

Eliminate a decades-old charter requirement that the fire chief be
hired from within the department. The mayor and council members have
said the proposal does not signal they are seeking a replacement for
Fire Chief Ron Hittle.

Repeal another charter section that allows firefighters to earn and
use no less than 15 working days of vacation a year. Critics have said
such a provision, typically found in labor contracts, should not be in
the city's bylaws.

City leaders say the department's charter mandates and union contracts
have stifled the city's ability to control staffing and employee
costs. The union, Stockton Professional Firefighters Local 456,
opposes the proposed changes.

The upcoming ballot fight parallels another conflict: The city is
defending in court an attempt to close a truck company to shave more
than $2 million from the department's share of a $23 million budget
deficit. City leaders, at the same time, have been negotiating with
the fire union to reach agreement on alternative cost-savings
concessions.

Hittle has called attempts to change the charter needless
distractions.

Also slated for the November ballot is a measure to allow Stockton to
develop publicly assisted low-income housing. The city can go to
voters every 10 years for the authority. Voters last approved such a
measure in 2000.