S. LAKE TAHOE COUNCIL CANDIDATE LIKES POT, HATES POTHOLES

A typical politician runs for local seats first, before higher
offices like governor or president.

A typical candidate finds a notorious drug conviction even one later
erased a hindrance to election.

And office seekers do not typically show how serious they are through
prodigious amounts of skiing, or enhance their campaigns by
advocating for marijuana use.

Steve Kubby is not typical by any of these measures.

Kubby is a one-time Libertarian nominee for governor, presidential
aspirant, and a noted medical marijuana activist with a lot of
experience on the wrong side of the courtroom.

To hear him tell it, that makes him a better candidate for the office
he's now seeking: a seat on the South Lake Tahoe City Council.

"I think South Lake Tahoe is the perfect place for me to run for
office," he said.

A recent El Dorado County grand jury heavily criticized the city's
government, saying it "operates at an inconsistent and barely
functional level."

"I think they did a good job assessing the situation," Kubby said.
"I'm running to protect my fellow citizens from bad government."

There are 11 candidates running for three seats. No incumbents are
seeking re-election.

South Lake Tahoe is a ski tourism mecca and Kubby was the successful
publisher of Ski West, a magazine that focused on the area.

Last year, his website boasts, he skied more than 1 million vertical
feet, mostly at Heavenly on the south shore.

It shows not only his roots in the area but his strong mental and
physical state, Kubby said.

Nevertheless, he has only one year of residence in South Lake Tahoe,
and his previous runs for public office were made without any hope of winning.

He got just 0.9 percent of the vote in the 1998 race for California governor.

He may have received more publicity for his arrest and subsequent
trial on dope charges after the election. The marijuana counts were
dropped after a mistrial.

He was convicted on charges related to small amounts of peyote and
psilocybin, but that conviction, too, was expunged in 2008.

In his new campaign, he complains that South Lake Tahoe leaders have
embarked on a variety of expensive projects, including an ill-fated
convention center, while ignoring basic needs.

Fixing potholes is one of the "meat-and-potatoes" issues he says he
wants to deal with.

"We have a world-class destination with Third World roads," he said.

Even so, Kubby's focus tends to revert to marijuana.

When he talks about why he's right for South Lake Tahoe, he refers to
the city's "world-class dispensaries" for medical marijuana.

Rules for regulating dispensaries are under review there.

"I think it's going to be a one-issue campaign," said current Mayor
Kathay Lovell, who is not running.

Some candidates besides Kubby are running because of the dispensary
question, she said.

She termed Kubby an interesting candidate.

Kubby lists himself on the ballot as a biotech entrepreneur.

That is, he is a partner in a company that is working to patent, test
and get Food and Drug Administration approval for a fast-acting
marijuana lozenge he developed and believes can get rid of some of
medical marijuana's stigma.

He thinks his marijuana notoriety will only help his election but
claims he isn't a one-issue candidate.

"My campaign is no more about marijuana than the Boston Tea Party was
about tea," he said.

Even so, his website features a takeoff on the Obama "HOPE" campaign poster.

It uses the same colors as Shepard Fairey's image, but with Kubby's
face and different words.

It says: "Yes We Cannabis."

WHO'S IN THE RACE

Steve Kubby is the highest profile candidate in the November race for
the South Lake Tahoe City Council, but with no incumbents seeking
re-election, 10 other candidates have also stepped up to seek one of
the three available seats.

These are the other 10 candidates and their stated occupations, as
provided by the El Dorado County Elections Department:

Doug Cichowicz (no profession given)

Joy Curry, planning commissioner/ businesswoman

Tom H. Davis, businessman

Claire Fortier, business owner

Adrian Gooch, retired

Elizabeth "Liz" Hallen, business owner

Alice H. Jones, certified public accountant

Georg M. May, student

Clinton J. Schue, business owner

Angela Swanson, facilities planning consultant