Redondo Beach Cannabis initiative backer didn’t know vote could be delayed until 2023
by Garth Meyer A proponent of the initiative to legalize cannabis sales in Redondo Beach said he did not know when he began gathering signatures for the initiative, that it might not go on the ballot until March 2023. That is when Redondo Beach holds its next municipal election. State law requires initiatives be placed before voters on the next municipal ballot. “I was not aware of the election law,” said Barry Walker, CEO of L.A.-based Tradecraft Farms. “I don’t pretend to be an expert at politicking. That’s not what this is about. I’ve heard people say we are trying to rig the system. If we were rigging the system we most definitely would have known about the March 2023 election.” The initiative effort by Walker, and Catalyst Cannabis Co. co-founders Eliott Lewis and Damian Martin included a $174,000 signature-gathering contract, and an offer to pay the city the $244,000 cost of putting the initiative on the November 2022 ballot. The city council declined the offer. Lewis said this week that because the election won’t be held for another year, he will not renew his lease for a retail store at 3407 Inglewood Avenue. The lease expires at the end of February. He had hoped to use…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com