CLOSED SESSION AFTER RECOMMENDATION

A recommendation by San Jacinto City Attorney Jeff Ballinger to bring
the city's business license law into line with its ban on illegal
businesses was sidetracked by Councilman Steve Di Memmo on Tuesday
when Di Memmo insisted the issue be discussed in closed session.

Though he was not specific about the reason for his position, Di
Memmo said it involved litigation.

The city has been sued by operators of a medical marijuana collective
for declaring the business illegal and demanding that it shut down.

Although the litigation can be discussed in closed session, a city
attorney recommendation cannot since it does not qualify under one of
the Brown Act requirements for closed-session discussion.

Ballinger said the litigation could be taken into closed session and
discussion of the proposed ordinance delayed.

Ballinger's recommendation would prohibit the issuance of any "city
license, permit or other entitlement" to an illegal business.

The city has banned marijuana dispensaries.

The legal underpinning for the ban comes from the conflict between
state and federal law.

State law allows nonprofit dispensaries to provide marijuana to
patients who get prescriptions from their doctors.

Several such dispensaries have opened in San Jacinto and Hemet in
recent months.

Both cities have notified the dispensaries they are in violation of
city law and demanded that they close.

State law regulating marijuana dispensaries is based on a 1996 voter
initiative that authorized use of the drug for certain medical
conditions and the state law passed by the Legislature to codify it,
according to Ballinger's staff report.

Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that, where state and
federal law conflict, federal law prevails and that it is illegal to
manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess any controlled
substance, marijuana included, under federal law, according to the report.

San Jacinto subsequently banned marijuana dispensaries.

Ballinger's recommendation on business licenses is intended to align
those regulations with the ban on marijuana dispensaries, he said.

"You'd think they were in sync, but they aren't," Ballinger told the council.

"I think there's more to discuss about this," Di Memmo said in
recommending that it be referred to closed session.

He did not elaborate.