COUNCIL TALKS POT, E-VERIFY

Measure would limit med pot growing; City Council OKs measure
requiring use of E-Verify

Denver City Council yesterday took on two controversial subjects N
illegal immigration and medical marijuana.

During its weekly meeting, city lawmakers introduced a bill that would
limit the growing of medical marijuana in residences. City council
later gave final approval to a bill requiring contractors hired by the
city to verify the employment eligibility of all new employees.

Council Bill 607 would not permit any residential dwelling to grow
more than 12 marijuana plants. The maximum 12 plants also must be for
medical marijuana cardholders living at that address. It?s currently
common practice for medical marijuana cardholders to grow multiple
plants for patients living outside their house.

Bill sponsor Jeanne Robb believes the city must address the growing of
medical marijuana in neighborhoods. She has received complaints from
constituents about nearby houses growing multiple marijuana plants,
and believes the city should limit the growing of marijuana in
neighborhoods as much as constitutionally possible.

But medical marijuana activists claim the bill violates Amendment 20 N
the voter-approved initiative permitting medical marijuana for
seriously ill patients N and would put many patients at risk of losing
their medicine.

?Tell the City Council to vote ?NO? CB-607, Medical Marijuana Zoning
Changes and continue to allow safe access for patients and caregivers
in Denver,? said a press release from the Cannabis Therapy Institute.

City council members postponed the public hearing and final
consideration for the medical marijuana zoning bill until Sept. 20.
Councilman Doug Linkhart said he hopes the bill wil be altered before
Sept. 20 to avoid any possible constitutional issues or unintentional
effects that could increase the underground distribution of marijuana.

?I think the bill needs some more work,? he said.

E-Verify

Denver City Council later yesterday gave final approval to a bill
requiring contractors and subcontractors hired by the city to use the
federal E-Verify program to ensure their new employees are not illegal
immigrants. The measure passed on a 9-4 vote.

Lawmakers also unanimously approved an amendment to the bill requiring
an annual report on the new program for the first two years and
highlighting the due process people can go through if they feel they
were incorrectly flagged as an illegal worker by E-Verify.

?This is simply saying that we?re going to do the best we can as a
city to make sure that our tax money is supporting those contractors
doing city work that are using workers who are fully qualified to work
under the laws in this land,? said bill co-sponsor Jeanne Faatz.

The city currently requires service contractors N security, janitorial
companies, etc. N hired by the city to check new employees?
citizenship status through the E-Verify program. The state mandates
construction and service contractors working for the state to use
E-Verify for new hires. However, there has been no system in place
that looks into whether employees working for contractors hired by the
city are in the country legally.

The E-Verify system was originally started as an optional program run
by the U.S. government. About 200,000 employers in the U.S. use the
E-Verify system, according to Assistant City Attorney David Broadwell.

But E-Verify is not 100-percent accurate. City Councilman Doug
Linkhart last month pointed to a study conducted by an outside
research firm that found 54 percent of the unauthorized workers run
through E-Verify resulted in an authorization to work. The high number
was attributed to unauthorized workers who used and submitted
documents of a person who was authorized to work, according to the
Capitol Immigration Law Group.

Some have been surprised that Nevitt is carrying the bill along with
Faatz. Nevitt is a progressive policymaker who has supported and
helped to spearhead a City Council proclamation back in May calling
for the federal government to take swift federal action on
comprehensive national immigration reform, including providing
undocumented immigrants with a path to citizenship.

Nevitt told the Denver Daily News back in May that immigration
enforcement is a federal issue, which is why critics of his E-Verify
proposal have been surprised that he is willing to sign on to a
localized enforcement strategy.

Under the bill, the Denver auditor would be given the power to conduct
random investigations to see if contractors are checking new hires
through E-Verify. If the contractor is not using E-Verify, the city
could terminate the contract and the contractor would be liable for
damages to the city. Violations could lead to disqualification from
future contracting.

The ordinance would go into effect Sept. 1 if Mayor John Hickenlooper
signs it into law.