200 SIGNATURES NEEDED FOR MMJ REVOTE IN FOUNTAIN

Issue still divides proponent, council

The possibility of a revote on the medical marijuana ban in Fountain
appears to have gone up in smoke.

Former Fountain City Councilman Al Lender said last week that a
family emergency in Connecticut will force him to set aside his
efforts to collect nearly 400 signatures from registered voters to
place a question on the November ballot to overturn a voter-approved ban.

"I'm pretty devastated over this; I've spent so much time and money.
But my sister-in-law has terminal cancer, and that's more important," he said.

Lender said he's gotten 180 signatures since he began the petition
drive July 19. According to the city's charter, he would need 370
valid signatures, or 5 percent of the city's registered voters at the
last preceding election.

City Clerk Silvia Mascarenas said the deadline to submit the
signatures to her office for verification is Aug. 12.

"I don't think I'll have time to finish," Lender said, adding that he
doesn't have anyone to take over for him while he's out of town.

Fountain voters narrowly approved the ban on medical marijuana
centers, grow operators and infused products manufacturers within
city limits in the November 2010 election, with 50.27 percent, or
2,226 voters, in favor of the ban and 49.73 percent, or 2,202 voters,
opposed. It took effect July 1.

City Councilwoman Lois Landgraf said there was at least one
dispensary that had to close because of the prohibition.

The issue has been a source of angry debate and violence between
Lender, who was voted out of office as a councilman in a recall
election in 2005, and several current council members, including Landgraf.

She sought a permanent restraining order against Lender in June 2010
because he called her "nothing but scum" at a council meeting. An El
Paso County magistrate dismissed her application a month later,
saying as a public official she must sometimes endure criticism.

That council meeting became heated when council members approved
zoning regulations on medical marijuana dispensaries that precluded
Lender from opening a planned center and grow operation on land he
owns on the outskirts of Fountain.

Lender said he was hit in the face by Councilman Harold Thompson at
that same meeting after he called Thompson a "son of a bitch."

"The council took over seven months to decide, and three weeks before
the July 1 deadline (to apply to the state for licensing) they voted
to shoot us down," he said. "I was rushing to build a nursery and was
ready to apply."

A year later, relationships are still strained.

"I think Mr. Lender is still angry about the outcome of the
election," Landgraf said. "He has a right to carry a petition, and if
he gets the necessary signatures, then it'll be back on the ballot.
It's his Constitutional right to do that."

Lender used profanity when asked how his relationship with some of
the council members is today.

"I don't get along with these people. I just feel they hate me and
will do anything to spite me," he said.

As far as his efforts to give voters another say on medical marijuana
businesses, Lender said: "I'm not giving up my fight."

Mascarenas said if Lender fails to collect enough signatures or
withdraws the petition, he could try again. Returning the issue to
ballot in 2012, however, would require a special election, she said,
because the city does not have a scheduled election next year.

MMJ Businesses in El Paso & Teller counties

The state extended the moratorium on new businesses opening until July 1, 2012.

Allowed

Unincorporated El Paso County

Colorado Springs

Manitou Springs

Palmer Lake

Unincorporated Teller County

Victor (none currently open)

Monument (none currently open)

Banned

Fountain

Ramah

Green Mountain Falls

Calhan

Woodland Park

Cripple Creek