Despite all their bloviations, and professing "respecting the will of Colorado voters", five sellout political whores on the Colorado Springs City Council punked out yesterday and canceled out of any plans to set up marijuana retail shops. Note these were basically the same lot that some months earlier approved fracking operations - thereby setting the stage for likely contamination of the COS water supply, while wasting tens of millions of gallons in a severe drought region. WTF is wrong with these assholes? Especially as Pueblo, to the south, approved the MJ retail shops and will now reap the mammoth tax largesse to help its community that the conserve morons to the north have foregone.
Residents of the Springs (and note the Amendment 64 vote passed in El Paso County that harbors the Springs back in November) will now travel to Pueblo to get their MJ, and btw, that will include the military that the local anti-MJ yokels are trying to protect. (The meme pumped by the cave-ins was that the local Military had insisted the retail shops be voted down. Look for their denizens to get stoked on more alcohol now, with more fistfights, brawls and fired rounds outside the night clubs near Tejon St. downtown!)
Protestors scream in protest in front of City Hall yesterday - the Council ignored them.
"Stunned" is the only word to describe local citizens - who saw again how the local Military complex spat on their votes - after the 5-4 vote to ban retail marijuana sales in Colorado Springs was read into the record. Meanwhile, "strong" Tool, errrr.......Mayor Steven Bach, bellowed that this just had to be done or the city would "lose jobs". In fact, the city hasn't gained any jobs to speak of in years since its tech enclave collapsed ca. 2003 and hundreds had to find alternative work at Safeway or Walmart. With less money earned, the tax base shriveled up.
The only jobs the city has actually added have been military, which we need like a hole in the head. These guys spend all right- mainly at the Px. At least 15,000 new military have been added since 2009 (mainly transfers from Ft. Hood, TX) and all they've done is drain city resources resulting in budget deficits, closed - shuttered schools, doused street lamps, weed-overgrown medians, and clogged roads - also worn down more often by the heavier traffic. The MJ retail shops offered a way to add badly needed revenues outside the military orbit, but the five assholes on City Council who voted against it decided to spit on the voters of the state.
Subsequently, fifty proponents of MJ retail sales stormed out, with some angrily yelling, "I hope you're happy." The implication clearly being that we will see even more local deficits now, more streets unpaved, more street lights turned off and more schools closed. How stupid can local repukes be? Pretty fucking stupid! Especially as a number of them trotted out the canard that if approved, "a seedy element" would be attracted to the Springs. I have news for these dopes, without the affirming vote a black market and TRUE seedy element will take over, likely with MJ bought in Pueblo being resold here at higher prices on the sly. Oh, and more Mexican cartel presence competing!
The decision came down to council member Val Snider, who was the swing vote to ban retail marijuana sales in the city - a surprise to proponents of Amendment 64. Snider had kept his views on the issue close to the vest over the past months and during recent public hearings. Snider, an at-large city council member, said he could not reconcile the conflict of allowing retail pot sales with federal law, which lists marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. This is a true copout since Obama has already gone on record saying that Justice Dept. would not interfere in state's amendments, laws passed by voters. It would be stupid to do so anyway, creating a major liability for the political party associated with it.
Snider also claimed that allowing pot to be sold over the counter would send the wrong message to youth. This also is bollocks, since youth are already using tons of stuff - including alcohol, parents' meds and hair spray -all of which they prefer over MJ, because of lower cost. The only message Snider is sending to kids is that he believes they are as stupid as he is.
"Bottom line, I'm not convinced we need to make it more accessible," he said.
Bottom line, I think your time as a Council member is soon gonna end!
Colorado voters in November approved Amendment 64, which allows adults over 21 to possess one ounce of marijuana for recreational use. The law also allows stores to sell marijuana and other products made with marijuana, with a city's approval. Already more than 20 Colorado cities and towns - including Woodland Park, Green Mountain Falls and Castle Rock - have opted not to allow such sales. All these have chosen to spit on the will of voters, and make no mistake, there will be a reckoning at the next election!
Council members Jan Martin and Jill Gaebler disagreed with Bach's take that approval would be a "job killer" , saying retail marijuana stores would create jobs.
"We want to bring economic development to this city - we can do that by having a vibrant downtown," Gaebler said.
"The younger generation has a vision of what the city should look like. We can do something different and special."
She meant different from the expansive military presence that dominates the city, from Fort Carson in the east to Peterson AFB and the Air Force Academy. The city, indeed, embodies the meaning of the "military industrial complex" since it has tossed its hat in the ring with ever expanded military funds for useless wars. Now with the sequester, that spigot is drying up, and at least MJ offered an alternative. Martin said she could not imagine making a decision that went against the voters of Colorado and Colorado Springs. She said Colorado Springs had an opportunity to be a leader.
"We did it with medical marijuana - cities all over the state look to us and our regulations," she said.
Outside the council chambers, proponents of Amendment 64 stood disappointed. They had rallied outside City Hall with signs and chants and they gave passionate testimony, often quoting historic figures on the Constitution and citizen rights. But it wasn't enough to sway five council members.
"To see two at-large council members throw the vote of the community under the bus, I'm disappointed and angry," said Mark Slaugh, owner of iComply, a business that helps medical marijuana dispensaries follow state regulations.
Slaugh said the ban meant lost jobs and lost taxes for the city.
"It means we maintain the status quo, which hasn't been the greatest image from the outside looking in," he said.
Shaking off the sting of the vote, some proponents of Amendment 64 said they won't let the issue die. They could force it to a ballot in November 2014, which is allowed under the state law, said Jason Warf, legislative director for Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council.
"The city has woken a sleeping giant," he said. "I think we will see a lot of citizens up in arms. Going against the will of the voters, no matter what the subject, is never a big hit."
As I said, these dopes who voted in the negative will pay at the polls. Also, all the tools around the state that helped circumscribe the will of voters will see their terms soon ending.
You can make book on it!
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