Town Lacks Progressive Leadership

1
2097

Editor,

Historically speaking, I don’t know if native Americans who lived in or near Laguna Beach smoked “weed.” Certainly some of the early 1900 bohemians did and as we should all know for a fact, hundreds did and still do starting with the hippie-love culture of the 1960s to this day.

One Orange County dispensary recently reported they have over 700 Laguna Beach clients. I urge every Lagunatic to vote in November and vote yes on proposition 164, the state-wide recreational marijuana proposition.

We will wait for the local voters in relation to local dispensaries but we should be able to call and order “pot” delivered to our front door. A dozen people have asked me why we didn’t choose a new police chief from our department. Chief Farinella is a technocrat from the Long Beach police department who goes by the book, apparently doesn’t care or know about our marijuana history and scares people with statements regarding pot delivery like, “I am fearful of dispensaries at someone’s door step.”

Liquor is one of the most addictive, dangerous drugs in the world and yet we have more than 50 restaurants and stores where it is sold. People who have a medical marijuana card have had to pay and show medical records to get a card and they must renew it every year.

Council person Robert Zur Schmiede and other city council members, and the police chief make these people sound like criminals. Marijuana is not a class A drug, no matter what the federal government says. A recent federal court ordered the DEA to stop harassing people who live in “pot states.” Pot is not a gateway drug. Marijuana is not comparable to the dangerous drug liquor that is.

It’s time for new progressive people to come forward and run for city council. People who believe in pensions and medical plans for city employees, including part-time, year-round bus drivers, but take a hard look at huge city hall salaries and pensions, like the $241,000 a year our former city manager is paid.

Our city government has become a elite, autocratic, dark ages mess, telling our citizens what to do and not do.

Laguna Beach needs new progressive leadership now.

Roger Carter, Laguna Beach

 

Share this:

1 COMMENT

  1. It is another argument on the legalization of marijuana using the “verses” alcohol logic , which in this case is short sighted to the fact of the history in the lobbying of alcohol to the leaders in the federal government . This is the type of planing that is shown by the proponents of the “Pot” law, it is this type of backward and short term memory thinking that is in it’s self fulfilling rhetoric… Which by those in close proximity begs the question “Huh?”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here