Supervisor Jerry Muenzer broke his silence after acting as the swing vote Tuesday when the county board approved a ban against outdoor medical marijuana grows.
Muenzer was the lone supervisor to stay silent during Tuesday’s long afternoon discussion and then sided with ban supporters, Supervisors Margie Barrios and Anthony Botelho, on the final vote.
Muenzer returned phone calls Wednesday morning and offered the same reason for the ban as Botelho and Barrios—the belief that outlawing all outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana would curtail illegal activities.
“The sheriff’s department wanted more tools to use to deal with the illegal cultivation of marijuana, which apparently has kind of migrated from the southern part of the county,” Muenzer told the Free Lance.
Asked about the correlation between outlawing legal grows and trying to cut back on the illegal operations, and Muenzer said he wasn’t involved in the subcommittee talks that led to the ordinance’s drafting.
“I was not part of the ad hoc committee,” he said. “I was not privy to the discussions.”
He said he was lending his assistance and support to the sheriff and contended illness patients can still grow, just indoors.
“We still have kept the door open for the cancer patients that need to grow marijuana for their needs,” he said.
San Benito County is set to have one of the strictest anti-marijuana laws in the state after the board’s 3-2 approval Tuesday supporting a ban against all outdoor medical pot grows in unincorporated areas.
Supervisors initially failed to gain enough votes for an urgency ordinance needing a four-fifths approval. By making subtle changes to language, they indicated support in a 3-2 vote for a regular ordinance that must come back Oct. 6 for an official adoption. It would go into effect 30 days after adoption, or in early November.
Supervisors Margie Barrios and Anthony Botelho brought the proposal to the board. They gained support from Supervisor Jerry Muenzer to obtain the necessary majority. Because it’s a regular ordinance, the board must go through more procedural steps and take more time before the new law would become effective.
If made official, the outdoor growing ban would move the county further from the state’s direction on marijuana legalization, as California voters in 2016 could consider a measure to legalize the plant for recreational use on top of currently allowed medical purposes permitted for nearly two decades.
Such marijuana restrictions—the ordinance also would limit indoor grows to 12 plants—would represent a rare break from the county’s tradition as a political bellwether on most major topics of interest. Locals at the polls often agree with statewide voters when it comes to ballot measures, governors and most contentious political issues.
But not weed, at least among supervisors.
San Benito County already has an anti-cannabis reputation with separate zoning bans against all medical marijuana dispensaries in Hollister and unincorporated county areas.
The county’s proposed ordinance, at least partly in response to a now-defunct dispensary along Highway 25 that continued to grow pot even recently while spreading a pungent smell across the neighboring commuter road, would ban outdoor cultivation altogether in all unincorporated areas. The law would include a two-year amortization period for existing cultivation sites that can prove they have been growing.
The county would join another one in recently taking a bold step against growers. San Joaquin County in May became the first in California to outlaw all marijuana cultivation—outdoor or indoor—in unincorporated areas, according to the Stockton Record.
In pushing for one of the strictest anti-marijuana laws in the state, Barrios, Botelho and sheriff’s office Capt. Eric Taylor focused their arguments on currently illegal operations.
“We think this ordinance will make our job a lot easier and safer,” said Taylor, who showed supervisors a PowerPoint presentation that included pictures from illegal operations busted by local authorities including two cases involving pot found in corn crops in northern San Benito County.
Botelho recalled how one of those recent cases resulted in field workers running across his own nearby property in the San Juan Valley. He called the issue “personal.”
“This is a real problem in our county,” Botelho said. “I for one want to give every bit of tools to law enforcement.”
On the other side, Supervisor Robert Rivas opposed the measure while criticizing the lacking correlation between illegal operations and legal cultivation being targeted in the ordinance, and also the lack of time for public input on the matter.
He said he did have concerns about “deplorable” conditions at illegal grow sites as shown by Taylor.
“What I’m having a difficult time grasping is how is this ordinance or any ordinance is going to prevent this from happening,” Rivas said.
He referenced machine guns shown in Taylor’s presentation and said he was trying to “put two and two together.”
Of the machine gun possessors, Rivas said, “I don’t think they’re going to be coming to our office for permits.”
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz personalized his own argument against the ban and said although he hasn’t smoked marijuana, he would consider it if his health conditions necessitated it. De La Cruz has a kidney issue and previously had to use dialysis. He said if his health worsened down the road and marijuana could help his appetite, he would consider it.
“If marijuana allows me to eat, I’m going to try it,” he said.
