When Hollister City Councilman Karson Klauer walked into Mars Hill Coffee House the evening of July 18, he was expecting that only a few residents might show up at the informal meeting he had announced on Facebook a few days before. He probably should have anticipated he was in for a rough night when so many came that he had to move the meeting to council chambers at Hollister City Hall.
As he and fellow councilman Raymond Friend, and those who came to have their say, ambled along Fifth street, through an alley, and up the steps to City Hall, the crowd had seemingly magically transformed from 15 or so to more than 40. Inside the chambers, it quickly ballooned to more than 80 people, many of whom claimed this was the first time they had heard anything about a medical marijuana ordinance.
A number of them also said that they didn’t appreciate the fact that it was being ram-rodded through the council without adequate public discussion—which was news to Klauer and Friend, because they had been working diligently for six months as the ad hoc committee to gather information from wherever they could find it in order to draft the ordinance.
Klauer said that over the past couple of months, he had personally spoken to everyone who had contacted him about the draft ordinance. That didn’t sit well with many in the crowd, with more than a few accusing the council of not doing enough to let residents know what was going on.
Hollister City Manager Bill Avera ran down a list of standard ways the council endeavors to inform the public about its official proceedings, including postings on the city’s website, announcements in the newspaper and, in Klauer’s case, postings on Facebook. Avera said the meetings concerning medical marijuana have all been reported in the local media. He ended his comments by saying the city had done what it was required to do and it was the citizens’ responsibility to keep themselves informed.
Those seated before him and the councilmen were not impressed and demanded that more needed to be done. One woman complained that the stories that had been printed in the newspaper were full of “legalize language” that she could not understand, and the writing should be done so “regular people could understand it.”
Klauer told everyone that it might be desirable to have another meeting with the entire council present because he was seeing a lot of new faces in the crowd that he had not seen at previous meetings. Then he briefed the audience on the evolution of the ordinance. He said the state legislature had set a March 1 deadline for local agencies to set up their ordinances in order to maintain local control in terms of medical marijuana.
“At the beginning of the year we realized we had a short timeframe to get on this,” Klauer said, “and Mayor (Ignacio) Velazquez put together the ad hoc committee of myself and Councilman Friend. Luckily, the state legislature repealed that deadline, so we had more time to work on it and we are now in month six of this. Obviously, from the new faces in the crowd we have not heard from everybody.”
Klauer said the draft ordinance has been revised as many as 10 times based on feedback from various stakeholders. He said he was sure there would be a lot of questions and criticism, and said the ordinance is not a “done deal,” and the ad hoc committee was still trying to iron it out.
Jack Kirk, Sr., said it was his understanding that on Aug. 1 the council would be voting on the ordinance. Klauer said the first reading was June 20, and that there were only 10 to 15 people present at that meeting, the majority of which were cannabis industry people, so there was little feedback from residents. He said there was going to be a “conversation” on Aug. 1, even if the ad hoc committee was not ready to submit the draft ordinance for a vote.
Before what began as an organized Q&A session that quickly turned into a heated debate began, Friend thanked everyone for coming and said: “This is how things get done right. Most of the time the council sits up there and makes decisions and there are two or three people in the audience and they’re all for it. This is what Karson and I wanted in order to get the feedback that’s going to affect everybody in the city.”
Friend said it was still possible that the adoption of the ordinance could be pushed back because more research needed to be done. He said the council was waiting for a fee study to come back, so a fee structure could be drawn up that was fair could be devised. He said the goal is to come up with an ordinance that the state cannot change.
Kirk said it appeared to him that Klauer was focused more on the economic potential to the city rather than the medical benefits.
“I’m not going to mince words,” Klauer retorted. “I know to certain people it’s about the compassionate use, but I look at it from a broader perspective of economics. We don’t have a whole lot of industries knocking on the door to get into Hollister. I think we have an opportunity that other people are saying they don’t want to have. This puts us into a position to take advantage of that to create revenue, and I’m open to that. I’ve said that from the beginning.”
Julie Vieira, president and CEO of the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, asked if there was a set number of dispensaries or growing operations noted in the ordinance. Klauer said there was no cap, but later in the meeting Friend said he couldn’t imagine community support for more than one or two dispensaries downtown.
A question was asked about with whom the committee had been working to gather information. Klauer said the main source of information has been Brad Sullivan, city attorney, and his partner, Aaron Johnson, at firm, L&G Attorneys at Law, where Johnson has focused on the cannabis industry. Klauer said prior to Monday’s gathering, there had not been much input from anyone other than those in the industry. Friend told the group that the Medical Marijuana Coalition had a lobbyist who put the word out that Hollister was looking at an ordinance. He also arranged for the ad hoc committee to tour a cannabis cooperative in San Jose, and brought people from the industry to speak at the council meetings. He added that they have received information from state experts, as well.
It was asked if any of the information Klauer or Friend had received was public. Friend said it was and Klauer stated that every email he has sent or received is public. Friend said he learned a lot about how the industry works from his tours and that, previously, all he knew was from his late wife’s use of medical marijuana. He said the industry has changed dramatically in the past five years since he used to drive to Santa Cruz where the dispensaries handed out marijuana cookies with no explanation what it was for or how much to consume. He said now people have to go to a doctor for a prescription.
One audience member asked if the city was looking at the co-op option that would involve growing, processing, sales and distribution in one location, as opposed to a mom-and-pop shop approach, and wondered if local officials were basing their decisions on what other counties were doing. Friend said that was the case and named numerous counties’ ordinances they had been studying. The man said the county was an agricultural area that can grow anything, so why not grow pot? Friend said that was the reason the city was excited the cannabis industry was coming and the man responded that he was excited, too.
“As far as the industry is concerned, it’s (city) a little nugget they haven’t touched yet,” Friend said, “and they’re really excited about it.”
Another person questioned whether the medical marijuana ordinance was just a precursor to allowing recreational marijuana use. Friend answered that the ad hoc committee was trying to write the ordinance in anticipation that even though in November everything could change after a statewide ballot initiative, it was strictly focusing on medical use. He said provisions in the ordinance would allow the council to go back and reexamine the rules. The man said that in his travels to other communities, he has found that most money made from legal marijuana sales ultimately are spent predominantly on battling increases in crime and homelessness.
Friend related how on a recent trip to Oregon, where he thought there was a liberal acceptance of marijuana use, he was surprised to see in the local media a strong opposition. He compared that to what has been happening in Hollister, where there has been nearly no opposition at council meetings, and he was pleased to hear those opinions finally being stated.
Steve Becerra said the group at the meeting also represented “stakeholders,” and that he didn’t know why people were saying they couldn’t get information about the issue, but he thought the process should slow down. Klauer reemphasized that he had met with every person who had asked to meet with him, which were very few. Kirk asked for a show of hands of those who had heard about the ordinance before last week. Fewer than half present raised their hands. Another asked if there was any option for residents to say they don’t want marijuana in the county and if it could be put on a ballot rather than the council voting it in as an ordinance. Klauer said the council has not considered putting it on the ballot and that the council was following the normal process in developing city ordinances, to which the man challenged, “So, we the people can’t vote on it and it’s up for you to decide?”
Jim Adams said he understood the medical aspect, but that marijuana is a negative influence. He commented that he didn’t know if marijuana is a gateway drug, but said, “If that’s the road you want to go down, the police have their hands full. You’re opening the door to anyone.”
Friend said a doctor’s prescription would be required under the ordinance, and that he didn’t know what would happen in the future. Adams said anyone can easily get a subscription. David Huboi said a lot of the negativity comes from kids getting marijuana, but asked if a lot of the revenue will go to the general fund, with a portion going to education and enforcement. Klauer said the fee structure being studied should cover the cost of city enforcement. Another man said he had read the ordinance and there was nothing in it that covered code enforcement or the police or sheriff’s departments, or how much those numbers are.
“That’s because we don’t have those numbers back from the finance department yet,” Klauer said, and the man responded that it was too premature to vote on an ordinance.
One resident read from several articles on the ease of obtaining a medical marijuana card online in just 10 minutes. He read from the Denver Post that the No. 1 problem in Colorado schools is marijuana use, with “dazed and confused students,” and that a statewide summit has been called for over the use of marijuana. He said he realized that medical marijuana was meant for adult use, but the issues trickle down to children. These comments brought an instant response from another man in the audience who shouted, “All you’re doing is focusing on the negativity! What about the positive things that it does for people?” The rest of his comments were drowned out by laughter and shouting. He shouted back over the others, “Where are those parents of those kids who were allegedly abusing marijuana?”
Julie Vieira attempted to bring back some decorum to the meeting.
“These two gentleman took the time out of their evenings to be here for us and everybody yelling at each other isn’t going to help,” she said.
With that, the man who was upset at the anti-marijuana message, got up and left, as Vieira tried to coax him into staying. He didn’t stay and the meeting went on another hour and a half with often heated conversation of pros and cons expressed.
The meeting concluded as Klauer said there needs to be more discussion. Friend asked the audience if it was worth it to have a similar meeting, and the consensus was yes, with someone shouting out, “There will be a lot more people next time!”
“My suggestion is we have another meeting like this,” Klauer said, “and it’s my recommendation that we don’t hold a vote.”
Friend said, “Yesterday was the first time I received an email from someone against it. Him (Klauer) and I have been having these conversations for months, and all of a sudden we’re hearing from people. ”
This drew the response from someone, “That’s evidence you weren’t communicating. I don’t blame you, but for some reason it hasn’t been communicated.”
Here is a sampling of BenitoLink stories about the Hollister City Council’s discussion about medical marijuana rules:
https://benitolinkcom.wpengine.com/city-council-moves-marijuana-ordinance-closer-approval (June 23)
https://benitolinkcom.wpengine.com/council-discusses-potential-medical-marijuana-rules (June 1)
https://benitolinkcom.wpengine.com/city-council-forms-ad-hoc-committee-move-forward-medical-marijuana-ordinance (January 28)
https://benitolinkcom.wpengine.com/commentary-hollister-city-council-review-medical-marijuana-dispensary-ordinances (Dec. 19, 2015)
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