Now tonight (Jan. 7) Councilmembers could vote to spend a six figure sum to add two non-required ballot measures to the April 2014 city ballot, neither of which would produce one dime of taxpayer revenue unless Councilmembers subsequently do what some monied interests want. Get it?

One item, which LBREPORT.com reported first (again) in late December, would ask voters if Long Beach should allow the sale, possession and use of so-called "safe and sane" fireworks. The actual vote would be legally meaningless; the Council could ignore it. However, it would make Long Beach (L.A. County's second largest city) ground zero for those with financial incentives to "educate" the public on the benefits of changing our city's laws to suit them, giving politicians the political cover to help them later. Councilman Austin says he wants to start a citywide conversation on the issue, but this isn't the way to do that. Austin could have, but didn't, bring his proposal to the City Council for public discussion, or Council committee discussion, or discussion at community meetings. His proposal conspicuously omits mention of the views of LB's Police Chief or LB's Fire Chief, who don't have the libertarian luxury of ignoring the measure's public consequences. We honestly don't know what LB's Fire Chief and Police Chief think of the measure and are interested in hearing this tonight.

Councilman Austin told us that he advanced his advisory measure since the Council has already voted to put a medpot measure on the April ballot, but that's not a done deal; it comes to a decisional Council vote tonight...and we believe it shouldn't advance either.

Tonight's proposed medpot outlet tax would likewise have no effect unless a Council majority subsequently does (again) what some other monied interests want: allow the medpot outlets to resume city enabled operation. That's precisely what Police Chief McDonnell has urged the Council NOT to do, saying the previous measure stretched already thin police resources.

Proposing an election cycle medpot related measure in a city that currently bans medpot outlets is, in our view, basically an attempt to generate a turnout of single interest voters and possibly produce campaign contributions for helpful politicians.

The two major helpers in this have been Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal (now running for Assembly) and Vice Mayor Robert Garcia (now running for Mayor.) Their priorities speak for themselves. While catering to the wishes of the monied medpot operators, Lowenthal and Garcia have voted for budgets that have erased more sworn police officers in less time than any Councilmembers in the 100+ year history of the City of Long Beach.

At the December 17 Council meeting, Garcia noted (accurately) that a medpot outlet enabling ordinance -- which will be decided by a Council majority, not the public -- may end up different from the text now being discussed (which includes certain "buffers," numerical restrictions, limits on locations]. Of course voters deserve to know what rules will apply to the medpot operations they're being asked to invite with a tax, but with their elections looming, Lowenthal and Garcia are desperate to have the ballot measure come first.

Long Beach already has a Council-adopted federal legislative policy that encourages Congress to support making medical marijuana available by prescription at ordinary pharmacies. If that were done, it would likely put the current medpot "collectives" out of business. Small wonder it's received so little attention compared to the $170,000 raised mainly by collective operators and their supporters who tried but failed to force a medpot enabling measure on the ballot.

The two proposed ballot measures tonight aren't legally required by petition signatures. They are at best premature and at worst will serve political election interests, not public interests.

In our opinion, the Council should decline to put either of the two measures on the April ballot tonight.

LBREPORT.com will (as always) carry LIVE video of the Council session on our front page: www.LBREPORT.com starting at 5:00 p.m. Jan. 7.

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