CITY POT REGS VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW, COUNCIL SAYS

Five people attended and no one raised objections at a Jackson City
Council meeting on Monday that doomed lingering ordinances in the city
code that allowed for marijuana dispensaries and promised higher water
rates for about 2,000 customers.

Jackson City Manager Mike Daly recommended that the council repeal
Ordinance 640 in the Jackson Municipal Code, that allowed for a
medical cannabis clinic in Jackson, on the grounds that it is contrary
to the federal Controlled Substances Act. Council members unanimously
agreed. The new ordinance will be introduced in September, Daly said.

Though state law legalized the use of pot under medical supervision in
1996, Jackson and Amador County only made tentative steps in
recognizing the law, passed as Proposition 215 in 1996 and implemented
with Senate Bill 420 four years later. Amador County issued medical
identification cards but balked at issuing permits to businesses that
dealt the drug.

In 2004, the Jackson council adopted an ordinance that allowed for one
business in the city, but parameters were so strict that only one
party ever pursued the permit, and they were unable to find a landlord
to house their dispensary.

Additionally, the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration recently
notified approximately 150 landlords involved in the practice in Los
Angeles that they were "aiding and abetting in the commission of a
federal crime," according to a memo provided to the city by attorneys
in Fullerton. The practice is nothing new, but federal efforts have
intensified in a state that has flouted federal law for years,
according to Daly.

"This doesn't say anything about whether or not individuals with
proper identification can use it, or whether or not they can grow it
for themselves, or even whether or not it's a good thing," Daly said.
"It's just an ordinance that relates to the business aspect (of
marijuana use)."

Council members also approved a schedule to implement price hikes in
water.

"It is anticipated that an increase of between 5 percent and 10
percent will be recommended for consideration," Daly stated in a
letter to the council.

The city purchases its water from the Amador Water Agency, which
surprised the water department this year with a 22 percent price
increase, with additional 12 percent increases the next two years,
Daly said.

Vice Mayor Andy Rodriguez asked if a sliding scale increase could be
affected for customers based on income, but Daly said that Proposition
218, which has changed the process for enacting assessments,
effectively made that illegal.

"If you try to help one, you have to help them all," said Councilman
Al Nunes.

Property related fees, which include water, no longer require public
votes of approval, but customers have to be notified 45 days in
advance. With this in mind, the council resolved to send out a public
notice by Sept. 25. A public hearing and council vote on the matter
will be held Nov. 13.

The last time the city increased rates for its residential and
commercial customers was in September 2004, when a 4 percent rate
increase was approved.

The final issue under discussion was Senate Bill 375, currently being
proposed in the state legislature, that would make numerous changes
with respect to regional transportation and land use planning with the
goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a memo
presented by Daly. After a brief discussion, the council voted
unanimously to oppose the bill.

"We're opposed to it the way it is," Nunes said.

Daly said after the meeting that the city opposed the bill on issues
of local control.

In a letter to Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), the council
stated that the bill would "hold critical transportation funds
hostage," "erode local control," and that it was too complicated and
tried to accomplish "too much in too little time."

The letter said that the city of Jackson is "very concerned with
reducing greenhouse gas emissions" but that they are still in the
process of developing and understanding last year's Global Warming
Solutions Act, Assembly Bill 32.