By Garth Meyer
The Redondo Beach retail cannabis initiative, which qualified for the ballot last week, will go before voters in March 2023, the city council decided by a 4-0 vote Tuesday night. Councilman Zein Obagi abstained.
The initiative would allow a maximum of three cannabis retail outlets. Redondo presently bans cannabis retail sales.
The council declined an offer by the measure’s backers to pay $244,000 for the cost of a special election this June. By state law, an initiative must go before voters at the jurisdiction’s next regular election. Redondo Beach holds its local elections every two years in March.
Included on the ballot will be an impartial analysis by City Attorney Mike Webb.
Tuesday’s vote followed public comments generally opposed to the initiative.
“Your combative, Patton-like stance you have taken will not go over well. I kid you not,” resident Eugene Solomon said.
On Monday evening, the day before the city council would decide when the measure would go in front of voters, backers Elliott Lewis and attorney Damien Martin, co-founders of Catalyst Cannabis Co. of Long Beach, and the Economic Development Reform Coalition of Southern California, submitted their offer to pay for a special election.
“To kick this thing (ahead) 14 months seems undemocratic,” Lewis told the council Tuesday. “If you’re confident that it’s not gonna pass, bring it to the June ballot.”
“That offer was made very begrudgingly,” Martin said. “$244,000 is expensive, I don’t care who you are.”
Barry Walker, executive director of Dub Brothers Management, parent company of Tradecraft Farms (a marijuana dispensary based in Los Angeles) and a supporter of the initiative, told the Council, “I believe we wrote good policy.” He offered help from he and his partners to craft a policy with the council.
Councilman Obagi, the target of scrutiny by Lewis and Martin regarding alleged state bar violations, and more, declined to vote on the ballot date for related reasons.
“I wanted these cannabis capitalists who troll me day-in, day-out to realize that their patently self-serving initiative, poor initial presentation at council, dishonest signature-gathering efforts, off-the-mark out-of-left field attack on me resulted in their initiative getting kicked to March 2023,” Obagi said. “No vote on my part necessary.”
The city council is now expected to finish their own retail cannabis ordinance.ER
