Martinez is getting seduced into the marijuana business. It’s most apparent motive is that we need the “money”. As in taxes, fees and whatever.
It’s almost as if panic has set in at city hall and we the people must comply with this emergency. The emergency is not our fault. This is the city council’s fault. They dug us into a hole when due diligence wasn’t done and our bills were not paid which are now due and owing. The council then listened to experts and did the wrong thing. Now we have new experts giving more bad advice.
They say the city’s primary option for new tax money is the marijuana business, which is an all cash enterprise with no direct deposit, etc and therefore no easy banking. What a terrible situation for our citizens. We are being asked to correct a mistake with another mistake. Believe me: selling marajuana in downtown Martinez (which is in the midst of a small comeback for three years now) is a big mistake.
Perhaps the best response, for interested citizens is to prepare an Initiative petition to amend any forthcoming Ordinance to state that all forms of the commercial marijuana business in downtown Martinez is prohibited.
So the people of Martinez could overturn in part, the city’s Ordinance and leave the rest of it open for dispensaries, etc. Which the council in it’s wisdom could deem appropriate.
– Tom Greerty