CITY PASSES MARIJUANA ORDINANCE

First-Time Offenders to Face $200 Fine, Drug Evaluation

The penalties are set to change and in some ways stiffen for people
caught smoking marijuana in Lawrence.

City commissioners on a 3-2 vote Tuesday night passed a new ordinance
that will impose a $200 minimum fine for first-time marijuana
possession and require offenders to complete a drug evaluation program.

Commissioners approved the new law after the Drug Policy Forum of
Kansas a Lawrence-based group that advocates for fewer penalties for
marijuana offenders asked the city to create an ordinance that would
allow first-time marijuana possession cases to be tried in Municipal
Court rather than the states District Court system.

But the advocacy group didnt exactly get what it wanted. The $200
fine, plus a $100 fee for an evaluation program, is more than many
first-time offenders pay in Douglas County District Court. Theres no
minimum fine in District Court, but fines generally range from $25 to
$100.

I think the fine is too high, said Laura Green, executive director of
the forum. Im opposed to the fees because I think this is more of a
public health issue.

City Commissioner Mike Rundle and Mayor Boog Highberger agreed. Rundle
called marijuana usage a victimless crime, and Highberger said most
people who use marijuana dont have any trouble with it.

I just dont see any justification for this fine at all, Highberger
said.

Both Rundle and Highberger said they were willing to support an
alternative ordinance that would have imposed a $100 minimum fine and
a mandatory evaluation program.

Other commissioners, though, balked at that proposal.

This is just a line I have to draw, City Commissioner Sue Hack said. I
dont think $100 is significant enough to discourage people.

The new city ordinance will make it less likely that a marijuana
conviction will cause students to lose their federal financial aid. A
conviction in Municipal Court does not trigger a federal provision
that causes students to have their aid revoked or suspended.

The financial aid provision was a major reasons the Drug Policy Forum
pushed for the change. For that reason, Green said she didnt regret
pursuing the change. But she said she would be keeping a close eye on
how the new city ordinance works.

If it becomes a revenue-generating source for the city, with traps
that are set up to catch people, we will be back to talk to the
commission about that, Green said.

The new ordinance wont take effect for at least another two weeks, as
city commissioners finalize its passage. Beautification plan for
downtown funded

City commissioners Tuesday unanimously agreed to allocate $90,000 to a
downtown beautification plan.

Commissioners told staff to move ahead with a new planting strategy
designed to ensure that downtown planters are full of colorful plants
during more months of the year. The plan includes the hiring of a new
full-time maintenance person to care for downtown plants, along with
several part-time employees who would be responsible for weeding and
watering.

After hearing from representatives of the publishing industry
including the Journal-World commissioners directed staff to not move
ahead with portions of the plan that would consolidate newspaper racks
and establish guidelines for their placement downtown. Instead,
commissioners said they wanted staff to discuss the issue in more
detail with newspaper representatives. Funding approved for housing
conference

A conference on affordable housing likely will occur sometime in May
in Lawrence.

City commissioners unanimously agreed to provide $3,000 in funding for
a conference that will help bring all stakeholders in the affordable
housing discussion together. The conference is being proposed by the
Joint Housing Committee, which is made up of members of the Lawrence
Association of Neighborhoods, League of Women Voters and Kaw Valley
Living Wage Alliance.

In a related item, Mayor Boog Highberger received permission from city
commissioners to create a task force to study the issue of affordable
housing. Highberger said he would appoint individuals to the task
force at next weeks meeting. Commission delays traffic-calming discussion

Commissioners delayed discussion on a recommendation to add
traffic-calming devices along 13th Street between Connecticut Street
and Haskell Avenue. Commissioners will discuss the item at next weeks
meeting, when they will have more time to discuss the issue. City
gives green light to KU bus application

Commissioners unanimously authorized an agreement that will allow
Kansas University to apply for Federal Transit Administration funds to
purchase five buses for the universitys new park and ride system.

The purchase would not require any city funding, but the city needed
to sign off on the idea because it is the designated representative to
receive FTA funds in this area. Property sale OKd near Sport 2 Sport

Commissioners gave tentative approval to sell 1.1 acres of property
adjacent to the former Sport 2 Sport complex, 5200 Clinton Parkway, to
Mike Elwell for $26,000. Elwell will use the property to expand his
new tennis center, which has taken over the indoor space of Sport 2
Sport. Report to examine employee vehicle use

Commissioners asked for a report in the next month giving more detail
on how city vehicles that are allowed to be taken home by city
employees are used.

Commissioners received a report on a recommended policy spelling out
when vehicles can be taken home, but commissioners wanted to see more
information to determine whether there could be cuts in the number of
vehicles that are allowed to be taken home.

A report by City Manager Mike Wildgen found that 65 of the citys 168
vehicles are being taken home by employees who are subject to being
called back into work after hours. He said a new policy may be able to
reduce that number.

Wildgen estimated that the vehicle program resulted in about $70,000
per year in fuel and mileage costs, but City Commissioner Mike Rundle
strongly objected to that analysis. He said he though the costs could
be about $40,000 higher when depreciation of the vehicles was factored
into the equation.