Recreational Marijuana: Opt Out, Wait, or Opt In?

[XLFD]

It's been over a month since proposal one allowing recreational marijuana passed with about 5/9 of the state's electors voting "yes" on their ballots.  It's been over a week since the law has actually went into effect.  Just after that, last Friday we learnt that our Ludington city leaders were planning to opt out of having marijuana businesses in the city limits, without much details as related in the local paper.  This sparked some debate among eight people coming to the December 10 council meeting.  As can be seen in the meeting minutes, none of the councilors bothered to say anything about the issue.

The people of Ludington weren't part of this proposed action to opt out of the part of the legislation allowing city governments to limit or ban such establishments, though it was passed with roughly the same proportionality as the state, winning in 5 of 6 wards. 

The topic came up at a November 19 Public Safety Committee Meeting held at 1:30PM and mostly unknown to the people of Ludington.  The notes of that meeting does not have the commissioners recommending that the police chief and city attorney draft an opt out ordinance, but they did anyway.  Nor does it have them recommending the opt-out issue to the council, rather they wanted more information.  None of the information they desired has been produced to them or the public since.  

Mayor Elect Steve Miller has since provided an explanation of Ludington’s marijuana opt out ordinance in an article in the Mason County Press.  I see it as little more than a thinly-disguised propaganda piece throwing facts around loosely to get more folks to agree with the City's position.  It will come before the city council this Monday for a second reading and a vote, with only Miller and Councilor-elect Angela Serna (both unseated) having a stance going into it.  It's rather distressing when your elected officials don't have enough backbone to make a statement until they actually do the voting on it.

According to the Michigan Municipal League:  If a municipality intends to allow recreational marihuana businesses, then it does not need to take any action. Under this new Act, every municipality is considered to be “in” unless it takes specific action to opt out. We have a few sample opt out ordinances (below) but opt in ordinances are not necessary or required. 

The material available to the public is just like it has been since last week; the same memo displayed in the previous packet, and even after some strong public comment, the same ordinance that could pose severe penalties if taken to the extreme for what is a 'nuisance'.  Here is that material (with relevant parts of the ordinance, which can be found in full here.  

I am personally very much conflicted with the recreational marijuana topic, as I wouldn't ever use it recreationally, but I am loathe to dictate that others must follow my example.  I know of the dangers of legalizing the substance, but I also see the dangers of not doing so.  I see the possible benefits of having marijuana businesses in the city, but I also see the detriments of being too permissive, and seeing the downtown area turn into a district mostly consisting of bars, dispensaries, and other affiliated businesses.  

So give me some feedback on this issue.  Make me better see why you feel one way or the other.  Change my mind or the minds of other readers of the Ludington Torch.  We won't limit you to two minutes like the council did and will do, to keep you from expressing your full viewpoint.  Use the technology to link to relevant material and show graphs if you must.  And, if you do good work with whatever opinion you defend, bring that to the Ludington City Council on Monday evening at 6:30 PM.

[snide]

I find it ridiculous to opt out......What do these old dinosaurs think will happen when communities in Oceana, Lake or Manistee counties allow businesses/ dispensaries....? Over time , if Ludington (which could easily support 3 of these) will be asked to kick in more in  property taxes to compensate for the money they are not paying into the system in weed sales.

 Plus , do they think that we WON'T have anyone using it here...? It just helps the black market dealers..the ones that are selling now & the new ones the new law will generate..... & for Councilman Johnson, who used to own a party store to vote against it is hypocritical to say the least. In closing I find it amusing that in this stodgy GOP stronghold this bunch of "good ol' boys" that run things are going against what they always stood for and with this proposal plus the bid for the new school are trying to RAISE TAXES.... & this crop of voters with the mindset of "that's (voting GOP) the way we have always done it here", are voting against their own best interests.....

[XLFD]

Snide, excellent point on Councilor Johnson, who made his living out of the sales of alcohol and tobacco in the party store business until recent.  His ward voted for recreational marijuana at 56.4%, but the guy who sold the alcohol that led to a host of accidents and domestic violence incidents now, the guy whose extensive line of tobacco products conveniently available to the townsfolk helped cause numerous health issues, votes to opt out of marijuana retail stores.  Hypocritical to say the least.  And let's not forget Carol Pomorski and her Fourth Ward drinking establishment doing the same type of business for all those years who bucked the will of nearly 2/3 of the voters in her district and voted to opt out of any kind of marijuana business.  

The same shame could be heaped on Brandy (Henderson) Miller for all of the drinking events she has ushered in during her tenures with the DDA, CVB and Chamber of Commerce.  But frankly, Snide, if you are implying that the votes these councilors did were based on their political ideology, then just look at their previous voting records and try to call them conservative republicans.  

[XLFD]

Kind of a moot point after tonight.  The Ludington City Council opted out of recreational marijuana businesses tonight with a unanimous vote of all councilors.  Scottville followed suit-- actually they voted before Ludington.

The bigger news out of tonight's meeting is that the council added a resolution to the agenda which they passed unanimously adding $5 million to the amount of money they are authorized to borrow for necessary upgrades to the WWTP.  Money which they will almost assuredly be using all up to pay for the added costs necessitated by bids coming in higher than they thought.

Ludington water & sewer bills will be going up even more than scheduled to pay for the added costs.  Scottville's will follow suit, as their supplier is Ludington.  Meanwhile, all those rural places in Mason County with septic tanks and wells laugh-- and consider opening recreational marijuana retail outlets without the heavy hand of city leaders crushing their small business. 

[AQUAMAN]

Thanks X, another moot observation on the city council's actions that is totally expected and not surprising for a very long time now. A very long history here has shown us that the city council has voted out big business move- ins for hundreds of jobs from GM/Ford, voted out business incentives for local tax cuts, voted out many State of Michigan laws like the turn right on red laws for several years after passing statewide, and the list is endless. We are a Negative based city, all around, with city councils that don't give a s__t about anything but raising the cost of living and taxing the S__T out of us all for their own egos and power. The S__T can hit the fan over and over, and nothing really changes, due to voters that gave up, and I can't blame them. Life goes on, and they have to live with the CRAP, but the rest of the scenery and sporting ideology lives for now, but that too will soon disappear. Ludington is becoming the Harbor Springs/Beverly Hills of Michigan, and that too will put us in shallow water and the population will fade way down. Who can afford this now?

[Freedom Seeker]

I agree, Aquaman.  It's the few at city Hall that can afford the Mercedes who are smitten with the Mercedes mentality and the click clack that are driving the downtown business agenda that have forgotten the people who have struggled through the economic ups and downs.  Also what happens when we let the young, inexperienced run the city.  Wait until the s..t really hits the fan.  Someone will have to be blamed.  P.S.  I don't have much against Mercedes except buy American and they're a nice car if you gain them without alleged no-bid contracts over and over.

[XLFD]

Those few at the city hall with the Mercedes mentality got a little shock this year when their double digit raises put into the budget were cut down to only 3%, just like those blue collar workers at the city DPW, utility services, and motor pool.  Hope they can still make the payments, lest they seek more grant money to make up the diff.

[Freedom Seeker]

Yes, I guess it's more like the Mercedes mentality funded by free money through grants and pennies from heaven.  No more need to save money and set it aside for projects.  As with Mercedes I don't have a problem with grants if available and we can afford them, it's just that we rely on them more and more and spend crazy expecting the grants to bail us out.  That's the new generation of city management unlike the past who built the city slowly but steadily in line with the greater economic orb.  What will this new sewer debt make our total debt now?  Up to $50 million?  Who knows?  We don't talk about that.  Maybe the city should promote more pot dispensaries so we can all get high and forget our debt and the damn roads.