Pubdate: Thu, 13 Mar 2014
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Chico Enterprise-Record
Contact:  http://www.chicoer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861
Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority
Author: Andrew Merkel
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n231/a05.html

'BEAT DOWN' COMMENT HAS SOME HISTORY TO IT

While I admit to asking Bonnie Masarik if she wanted a "beat down" 
during a Board of Supervisors meeting, your recent editorial took my 
comments out of context. Masarik, has, in the past, characterized the 
2013 ordinance developed by the ad hoc committee as a "beat down" by 
the growers. That is simply false. Here are the facts: The June 2012 
referendum election had proved that the ordinance the Board of 
Supervisors had adopted in 2011 was out of step with the majority of 
the voters. In late 2012 and early 2013, five months of negotiations 
between county officials and parties from both sides resulted in a 
fair compromise.

Growers, patients, realtors, landscapers, equipment operators, well 
drillers and many other Butte County residents were pleased with the outcome.

Masarik represents a vocal minority that simply doesn't approve of 
medical marijuana for religious and/or philosophical reasons.

Recently, Masarik and her small band of supporters persuaded the 
Board of Supervisors to rip the heart out of the compromise that had 
been achieved and again embark on a campaign of extremism, by 
reducing plant limits to almost nothing and removing the citizen 
complaint provision from the ordinance.

I was merely informing Masarik that she was probably in for a 
disappointment similar to what happened in 2012, if she continued to 
pursue the course of action that she had embarked on. I apologize for 
putting that comment in the same colloquial terms that Masarik 
herself had used.

- - Andrew Merkel, Chico
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom