Three councilmen boycotted a closed session about shutting down
a medical marijuana dispensary because the issues should be
discussed in public, they said. The four council members who did
attend the closed session
– which followed an emotional and crowded open session –
unanimously voted to pursue litigation against the collective,
which opened without a business license last week.
Three councilmen boycotted a closed session about shutting down a medical marijuana dispensary because the issues should be discussed in public, they said. The four council members who did attend the closed session – which followed an emotional and crowded open session – unanimously voted to pursue litigation against the collective, which opened without a business license last week.
“We were led to believe that the city has a rock-solid case … so I am a little surprised that we have anything to hide,” said Councilman Perry Woodward, a property lawyer.
In accordance with Gilroy’s year-old open government ordinance, council members must vote on whether they should transition from open to closed session. During the vote to do so regarding the dispensary, three council members – Woodward, Peter Arellano and Craig Gartman – voted against going into closed session. Woodward said it was the first time since the ordinance was approved that the council had not voted unanimously to do so.Â
The three councilmen who refused to attend the closed session were also the three dissenters who voted last month to create a specific ordinance that would have allowed the dispensary, called MediLeaf. That motion failed 4-3.
After the vote, but before the closed session started, Gartman told Woodward that the matters to be discussed in closed session should be discussed publicly, and Arellano happened to be standing behind them. Gartman and Woodward said that’s when they decided not to attend the private meeting.
“Just because some people want to do something that’s wrong doesn’t mean that I need to follow them,” Gartman said.
Rather than joining their colleagues for the 30-minute closed session, Woodward, Arellano and Gartman lounged in the council chambers and conversed with attendees.
Gartman said earlier in the meeting that he felt the council should discuss openly whether they believe MediLeaf was actually operating out of compliance with the city code related to business licenses and certain city zoning laws. Those issues had not been discussed publicly in the past, he said Tuesday.
Councilman Bob Dillon said it was unfortunate that the three missing councilmen did not attend the closed session because the meeting would have benefited from their input. While Dillon and Councilman Dion Bracco both favored the idea of discussing everything in the open at first, Dillon said he ultimately trusted the city’s legal counsel on the matter.
It would have been unwise to discuss the city’s legal strategy in front of MediLeaf representatives, Dillon said.
Mayor Al Pinheiro said he was shocked when City Clerk Shawna Freels said that Arellano, Gartman and Woodward were not coming to the closed session.
“Truly, I’m disappointed in this new approach, which is, ‘I didn’t get the vote my way, so I’m not showing up,'” he said.
What’s the point of voting on the matter, he asked.
“Why not say, ‘Whoever wants to show up, just show up?'”
Woodward said the circumstances in this case were unique – discussion of an issue on which the community was highly divided and discussion of information that the three council members believed should be public. The council was merely deciding whether or not to pursue litigation, he said.
“There’s some times (in legal matters) when you need to maintain an element of surprise, but there’s nothing here that’s a surprise,” he said Tuesday.
Pinheiro said the city will first seek a temporary injunction to enforce the city’s cease and desist order.Â
City Attorney Linda Callon would not comment on how the city would go about pursuing litigation. After the open meeting, it was important to go into closed session to allow council members to learn about various legal alternatives, she said.
The council’s decision came after a lengthy public comment period, in which more than a dozen attendees, mostly medical marijuana proponents, petitioned to keep the First Street dispensary open. Several people held up placards that listed the ailments that they treated with medicinal cannabis while one person holding up a sign proclaiming, “Are you going to drive three hours to get my medicine?”
“This is not candy for hippies,” said Richard Diehl, a volunteer at MediLeaf, who said after the meeting that he has used marijuana medicinally since the Vietnam War. “You’re hurting your own constituents. Do the right thing.”
Dozens of attendees clapped and cheered after MediLeaf advocates spoke, though Pinheiro had asked people to hold their applause until after everyone had spoken. A sign that proclaimed “I (Heart) MediLeaf” signed by dozens of people sat behind where members of the public stood to speak.
Pinheiro said from the outset that the closed session intended to deal with the fact that the dispensary opened without a business license and that comments should pertain to that matter. Still, most speakers discussed the merits of the dispensary itself.
For instance, Eric Madigan, ombudsman and spokseman for MediLeaf, recounted how an older man with glaucoma came to the dispensary last week but did not realize that his cannabis card had expired because of his vision problems.
“The indifference of bureaucracy is killing people,” he said. “This is a basic human right. Everyone has the right to alleviate their own pain and suffering.”
MediLeaf had tried to obtain a business license on two occasions since it opened last week, Madigan said, but it was denied both times because it did not conform to federal law.
Gilroy resident and Gilroy Unified School District trustee Denise Apuzzo said MediLeaf has not had an impact on safety or children after being open for a week.
“I don’t play God, you shouldn’t play God, and only one of you can should play doctor,” she said, making reference to council member and physician Peter Arellano. “(MediLeaf) has been open a week, and the sky hasn’t fallen.”
Javier Patterson, who is managing the dispensary, said MediLeaf created more stringent background checks for 18- to 21-year-olds to help better ensure that those who were using its services really needed medical cannabis and were old enough to do so. He said the policies were implemented after some people came by who appeared to be of “questionable” age.
Meanwhile, Gilroy resident Ron Kirkish, who organized people to oppose MediLeaf last month, said he felt bad for those with health problems but felt the council needed to consider the well being of local children.
“I know we’re going to possibly spend a lot of money,” Kirkish said about a possible lawsuit between the city and dispensary, “but every time we have something to deal with, we can’t look at how much it’s going to cost us.”
Las Animas Elementary School parent club president Lisa Correnti, the only other person who spoke against MediLeaf, said the city should not approve a dispensary until there was a way to regulate it.
“I know all of my sign holders are at home, tucking their kids into bed,” she said.
MediLeaf is prepared to fight a legal battle with the city but would prefer to work out their issues by talking with the city instead, MediLeaf director Neil Forrest said Tuesday.
“We are prepared to go that route if need be, but hopefully sound minds will prevail,” he said.
