Day Two For Calaveras Cannabis Regulatory Proposals
San Andreas, CA – The Calaveras supervisors are well into Day Two of deliberations involving plans to replace the county’s commercial cannabis ban with a strict regulatory ordinance.
At Tuesday’s meeting, after a full day peppered with plenty of public comment from a standing-room-only gallery split between industry supporters and residents in favor of maintaining the ban, the supervisors managed to check the box on one of three objectives.
The board, in a split 3-2 vote, moved forward with plans to establish a centralized Division of Cannabis Control within County Administrative Officer Al Alt’s office.
Alt successfully made his case with a board majority – board Chair and District 2 Supervisor Jack Garamendi, District 3 Supervisor Merita Callaway, and District 5 Supervisor Benjamin Stopper, that a central program office was key to successful regulation.
Unsurprisingly, the two nays came from District 1 Supervisor Gary Tofanelli and District 4 Supervisor Dennis Mills, who, while continuing to provide thoughtful input, have maintained their tendency to vote as a minority bloc against the commercial cannabis-related ordinance proposals under development.
The Tuesday agenda included addressing approval of an EIR addendum that would have allowed a vote on replacing the ban ordinance with the currently proposed regulatory replacement. However, due to the extended amount of public comment, board and staff discussion, it was decided to continue the meeting into a Wednesday session, which is still underway, albeit with a somewhat smaller gallery presence.
Also moved to Wednesday’s agenda, the introduction of a companion ordinance that would create processes for cannabis industry employee criminal background checks, which would include requirements for obtaining and maintaining background clearance badges.
