All four candidates running for Mendocino County's 5th District supervisor seat favor a November ballot initiative that would expand marijuana legalization beyond medicinal use to include personal use for all adults in California.
"I probably will vote for it," Mendocino business consultant Wendy Roberts said during a Thursday night candidates debate in Ukiah.
The 5th District stretches from the Mendocino Coast to the Ukiah Valley, where it abuts the city of Ukiah and includes Hopland. It's known for its diverse and largely progressive views, even compared with the rest of the liberal-leaning county.
Roberts, whose credentials qualify as liberal in most parts of the state, is considered conservative by comparison to the other candidates, who include Dan Hamburg, a former congressman and county supervisor who made a run for governor on the Green Party ticket in 1998; Norman de Vall, who previously served on the board for 16 years; and Jim Mastin, a former Ukiah mayor and current director of Mendocino College's auxiliary services.
On Thursday, they agreed on most issues. While the candidates support the ballot measure to legalize and tax marijuana, they said it is not without hesitation.
Hamburg said he's concerned there will be a mishmash of laws because the proposed initiative would leave much of the regulating to local jurisdictions.
Hamburg belongs to the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory board, a group comprised largely of medical marijuana growers and patients. He has opposed some of the county's efforts aimed at limiting and regulating medical marijuana.
Most of the candidates said they support legalization because they believe it eventually will take the profit out of marijuana.
"We need to drop the price. Get rid of the crime," Mastin said.
Prices already have declined with the proliferation of pot growing under medicinal marijuana guidelines. Both marijuana growers and law enforcement officials have said there is a glut of marijuana, causing many growers to transport their product to states where it is not yet legal.
Law enforcement officials have said the crimes that accompany marijuana growing in California won't subside unless it becomes legal in other states.
The November ballot initiative would allow adults to grow marijuana in a 5-foot area and to possess up to an ounce at a time. It would be illegal to those under the age of 21.
The ballot initiative has county officials discussing scenarios under which marijuana could be become a tourist draw, complete with marijuana tasting rooms.
But on Thursday, the discussions did not include such speculation.
Instead, the candidates agreed that the county should promote jobs in other green and renewable industries, like organic agriculture and alternative energy.
They also agreed that the county and cities must come to a tax-sharing agreement that would take the competition out of building projects, such as the Costco store being wooed by both county and Ukiah officials.
You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@
pressdemocrat.com.
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