Grego playing political games with medicinal marijuana issue
By Kathryn Reed
“This is a greater danger to us than the Angora Fire.”
Those were South Lake Tahoe City Councilman Bruce Grego’s words as he passionately pleaded for his fellow councilmembers on Tuesday to close down the three medicinal marijuana facilities by the end of October.
Bruce Grego at the Sept. 14 South Tahoe council meeting received zero support. Photo/Kathryn Reed
“How far we going to let this go?” he asked.
His four colleagues looked dumbfounded and essentially sat on their hands. Without two others thinking it would be a good idea to schedule a special meeting to consider invoking emergency powers to shut the pot clubs down, Grego was left spewing hot air.
Grego never explained how the pot clubs are worse than the June 2007 fire that destroyed 254 homes, caused $150 million in damage and cost $23 million to fight. Then there are those 3,100 acres that burned and the ongoing restoration costs. Throw in the lost tourism dollars, the money other entities and businesses lost, and it’s hard to know how Grego could invoke pot clubs and Angora Fire in the same sentence.
Grego mentioned Steve Kubby by name. Kubby is one of 10 people running for three council seats and is a strong advocate for medicinal marijuana. It’s unusual for a sitting councilmember to inject himself so blatantly in a race and take sides.
South Lake Tahoe leaders have said they want a second economy beyond tourism. Clearly, with the number of clients the three collectives in town have, it’s not just locals getting medicine. Kubby wants South Tahoe to be known for world-class pot dispensaries.
Oakland has embraced this type of business and is taxing the heck out of them to generate revenue. Other cities are saying they want nothing to do with pot clubs.
South Lake Tahoe has a habit of issuing a business license and then deciding it doesn’t like that type of business – think Broc’s Puppies. The collectives have business licenses now, so clearly someone in the city said this is allowable.
Grego let out his rant during council member comments on Sept. 14. He said he was surprised to learn pot is being grown in the commercial areas of town and that some of the dispensaries are growing pot. But all of this has been said at council meetings he has been at, so he should not have been surprised to learn it at the committee meeting.
Grego and Councilman Bill Crawford are part of a committee working on medicinal marijuana issues. The first meeting was last week. The next is today at 3pm in council chambers and the following is Sept. 23.
The committee meetings are open to the public.
No one on that committee is a doctor, no one is an expert in pain management, no one is an expert in the whole issue of medical marijuana.
At the start of the council meeting during public comment, 12 people spoke, with one letter read into the record. Most said how they are against the clubs, but want people to have the medicinal pot if they really need it. They didn’t propose a way for that to happen, though.
The overwhelming concern is this is not the type of town they want – to be known for a medicinal drug that otherwise is still illegal. (That may change on Nov. 2 depending on how Californians vote.)
They seem to forget it’s hard to legislate morality.
Based upon the official findings of the Grand Jury, it appears that Mr. Grego violated state law by accepting $937.50. Furthermore, Mr. Grego refuses to return these public funds. This creates a situation where any Council decisions in which he casts a vote, are suspect and may even be invalid and/or illegal. Given that the Grand Jury has already warned the City Council that they may be guilty of malfeasance or nonfeasance, the Council would be well advised to insist upon Mr. Grego being either removed or allowed to resign, effective immediately.
How to Recall a City Council Member
By an eHow Contributor
I want to do this! What’s This? ..
The recall of any public official doesn’t happen every day but it is most common at the local level. When city council members don’t keep their constituents happy, often those constituents push for a recall. This is a complex process but can be achieved with enough support.
.Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Instructions.1
Submit the proper notifications. You’ll have to publish something saying you’re going to recall a city council member, have the notice served on the council member and give him a chance to respond.
2
Determine the length of time the city council member has been in office. Most states require at least 120 days of service if not 6 months or longer.
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Get the appropriate number of signatures. A recall will require a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters. Go door-to-door, start a website or phone campaign to get the number of signatures you need to recall a city council member.
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Use the allotted time wisely. You’ll only have a certain amount of time to collect signatures-usually 60 days or more-so use that time to your advantage to get the signatures you need.
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Read more: How to Recall a City Council Member | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2096901_recall-city-council-member.html#ixzz0zbcJkYqz
Grego wants to push this through before the election because he can feel the winds of change and the fact that they more than likely won’t have the votes after. Dirty, dirty politics.
Grego must go!
I’m guessing Grego’s seat is not up this November?
You’re guessing right. He will still be around for a couple more years unless the community could ban together and throw him out.
Mr. Grego received zero support from his fellow council members. They are on the way out and change is on the way in.
Do any victims of the Angora Fire believe the legal pot clubs are worse than the damage caused by the fire?
Seems like Mr. Grego is a graduate of the Blagojevich school of politics and might need some repair work done on his brain-to-mouth filter.
Like it or not fellow citizens, I would rather have someone in that position be able to speak up than “looked dumbfounded and essentially sat on their hands”. During election time everyone says that they have the experience to make decisions and give direction but then it flips to I am not an expert lets hire a consultant. Open discussion and gather ‘qualified’ information to make informed decisions. Be bold and take action Mr Grego, it is what I feel you are obligated and said you would do.
$10 says that Grego has a drinking problem
None of this should have happened. He only won by 100 seats or so. That other guy, if he had won, all these Grego votes would be going the other way. Be careful who you vote for.
I guess I’m confused with the site now. Is this a news article or an editorial….I have always been impressed with the news on a daily basis. Do you have the chops and the experience to write such a strong editorial piece? I found that it sparked comments from the uninformed and sparked a furor without a strong basis of information. What’s next….a feature on Jlo or Brittany? It was a personal opinion of one person…it turned this into a blog and not a credible news site.
Mr. Middlebrook,
Always nice to read your comments.
Did you watch the council meeting? I know you weren’t there. In fact, I’ve never seen you at a council meeting.
Do I have the chops to write a strong editorial? You know that answer. I did when I was managing editor of the Tahoe Daily Tribune while you were publisher — until you fired me because I would not blur the lines between editorial and advertising.
It seems to me you are the one without chops for not putting your name here.
I have never promised anyone anonymity with their comments. You are not the first to be called out.
Attack me and Lake Tahoe News all you want — but be man enough to do it using your name. I no longer owe you an explanation for my actions or words.
Kathryn Reed, LTN publisher
Isn’t that the point of the comment section? To be able to state your opinion whether we are “uninformed” or not. Isn’t one of the purposes of the comments section to evaluate public opinion regarding an issue? Keep up the good work Kae!
That is the point of the comment section but it’s also a right to not publish your name if you choose to post under an psuedo name. I know that when I tried to find out who a poster was due to harrasment I was told that the phony name is protected under the first ammendment and it will take a court order to find it out. My opinion only but I think Kae went way over the line professionally and personally when she posted the actual name of the poster. This is a good news site and should not be used for personell vendetta’s or issues the owner has with past employer’s. How would anyone like it if Kae posted the actual names of everyone here who posts anonymously like you froggy, I didn’t think so. Sorry Kae but you went way over the journalistic line with this one, once again my opinion only. This is a great site and we have needed this in our town for a long time but please do not use this for personal reasons as I know you are above that and I don’t think that anyone who post’s without using their real name want’s their name posted if you don’t agree with them, otherwise they would have the huevous to post it. Ken Curtzwiler