IT'S A SHAKEDOWN

Re "A waste of resources" by Jeff vonKaenel (SN&R Greenlight, August 18):

Nobody missed the point but the [Sacramento County] Board of
Supervisors. Mr. vonKaenel hit it on the head.

The board and their "special teams" are walking into fully legit
collectives (which have been established in the county for a long
time) and telling them that they have to pay a fine to keep
operating, yet the county has no ordinance on paper or in effect.

What is that called? Oh yeah-a shakedown! Better yet, let's just call
it what it is: organized crime. If I was not too smart, I'd say the
county is acting like a bunch of Mafia strong-arms telling business
owners they must pay to stay, without anything to back their demands.

If you are so concerned about the collective owners acting
inappropriately and opening without an ordinance in effect, ask
yourself this: How can they open in Sacramento County without the
county's approval?

The answer is: They can't! The county must approve their business
application-license-permit to operate. On top of that, the
collectives must pay special assessment fees to the county just to
open. So the club owners get the green light to open (after paying
out the ass), only to turn around and see all that money is likely
going toward paying a bunch of attorneys to shut the clubs down! Call
me crazy, but this is ass-backwards.

I live in chronic pain after nine operations in three years-including
recalled implants that caused paralysis-and I'm only 30 years old.
Who is going to tell me I do not have the right to medicine access?
Not a damn person. The only people behind this massive move in the
wrong direction are politically motivated and want the bottom dollar
to be their bottom dollar.

Dave Mapes

Sacramento