HUMBOLDT COUNTY SUPERVISORS DECIDE TO SUPPORT PROP. 19

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to support
Proposition 19, despite some members' hesitation over the measure to
legalize marijuana.

Although 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace had originally
recommended the board take a "no position," 4th District Supervisor
Bonnie Neely said she supported Proposition 19 and she thinks the
board should as well because of marijuana's ties to Humboldt's
economy and public safety.

Neely said while it's true that Proposition 19 does not have all its
regulations ironed out, not many propositions do. She said it would
be an opportunity for officials to bring people from various groups
together to figure out regulation.

"This is our economic future to some extent and we shouldn't ignore
that," Neely said. "We should embrace it and regulate it at the local level."

Lovelace had said even after his extensive research, he could not
come up with a suggested position because of the county's history
with the marijuana industry.

"Despite having spent more time on this initiative then others, I
ultimately felt like there's just not enough there," he said.

Lovelace also brought up legislation from Assemblyman Tom Ammiano,
D-San Francisco, that would create regulations and build on
Proposition 19, if it is passed.

The board ended up voting 4-1 to support it, with 1st District
Supervisor Jimmy Smith abstaining.

Smith said he still had Advertisement hesitations about placing the
burden of regulations on local jurisdictions.

"Maybe this will be a step, but my reluctance to do this is based on
infrastructure -- we don't have the resources to do that," he said.

Syreeta Lux, chair of the Humboldt Medical Marijuana Advisory Panel
(HuMMAP) urged the board to support the proposition during public comment.

"I really appreciate this discussion. I think it represents where
every voter stands on Prop. 19 right now -- not knowing what will
happen and what it will do for us," she said, adding that it would
help the local economy move forward.

"We're sorry that it will fall into your laps, but we want to help
you with that," Lux said.

The board also had a discussion about Lovelace's recommendations
regarding the other ballot measures, propositions 20, 22, 23, 24, 25
and 26, despite one member of the public's concern.

Fifth District Supervisor Jill Duffy said while she appreciated the
discussion on the ballot measures, she thinks it should have happened
earlier considering the high number of county residents that vote by mail.

The elections office estimates that about 46 percent of the county
electorate will vote by mail in November.

McKinleyville resident David Elsebush said he did not think it was
appropriate for Lovelace to be promoting his opinion of the ballots,
and asked for the item to be pulled from the agenda.

County Counsel Wendy Chaitin said California law allows the board to
support or oppose a ballot measure, as long as the board does not use
county funds to campaign for a measure.

[sidebar]

ON THE WEB:

www.ag.ca.gov/initiatives/

www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/ballot_source/Propositions.asp