MANSFIELD — Cheryl Meier asked two months ago why a vote on a six-month moratorium on recreational cannabis dispensaries was scheduled so quickly before Mansfield City Council.
“My biggest concern is that we’re voting on this tonight. We’ve got one read and we’re voting on it,” the 2nd Ward council representative said April 16 when the legislation for the moratorium was introduced by Mayor Jodie Perry.
“It doesn’t give us an opportunity to hear from any citizens,” Meier said before learning a communications error between the mayor’s office and the law director led to the issue being scheduled for a vote that night.
Suffice to say — two months later — every member of council has had an opportunity to hear from citizens.
And, assuming all lawmakers attend Tuesday evening’s meeting, there will be a vote on the moratorium, which would effectively prohibit any recreational marijuana stores in the city for the foreseeable future.
A scheduled vote June 4 was delayed as lawmakers cited the absence of At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Zader and council President Phil Scott, both on vacation.
5th Ward Councilman Aurelio Diaz suggested delaying a the vote on the topic.
“I know everyone is waiting on us to vote on this,” said Diaz, who said he had recently visited an out-of-state recreational cannabis dispensary to see its operations. “I really feel that with two council people gone, I personally would like to see it delayed, unfortunately.
“I feel like they have a lot of perspectives and people they’ve been talking to (during the) past few months. I think that we should honor the fact that they’re not here and consider their votes in the future,” Diaz said.
Meier, chair of the safety committee, said she agreed and made the motion to delay the vote.
Council then voted 6-1 in favor of the delay. The only dissenting vote came from At-large Councilman David Falquette, who was filling in for Scott as president pro-temp during the meeting.
more coverage of city council discussions on recreational cannabis dispensaries
All of this activity comes after 57 percent of Ohio voters approved State Issue 2 in November.
The issue was a citizen petition that allows home-grown cannabis, but also gave local governments the right to decide for themselves whether to permit recreational marijuana dispensaries in their communities.
In the past two months:
— Council has heard from residents both for and against a local cannabis dispensary.
— A representative from The Cannabist Co. told council said such a facility could add $4.3 million in revenue to city coffers over the next 10 years, revenue Finance Director Kelly Blankenship said could be “important” to the community.
— Lawmakers heard from police Chief Jason Bammann, who told council members he was not in attendance to lobby for or against the moratorium. He did cite studies done in Colorado that showed an increase in property crimes after marijuana was legalized in that state in 2013.
“This is new territory for all of us. All of us in law enforcement, the community safety is what is of the utmost importance to us. As law enforcement officers, our jobs are to uphold the laws … that’s in our oath … here in the state of Ohio,” the chief said.
— Some lawmakers attended a webinar in council chambers, a 90-minute lunchtime event sponsored by the Ohio Municipal League, to discuss what’s been happening in the state since Issue 2 was approved by 57 percent of Ohio voters.
How will the vote go Tuesday night?
It seems clear having watched council discuss the proposed moratorium that a recreational dispensary has a greater chance of approval with these lawmakers than a medical cannabis dispensary that a previous Mansfield City Council rejected 6-1 in November 2017.
Scott is the only member still in office from that City Council group. And he only votes now in the event of a tie.
The vote on a cannabis dispensary moratorium is just one item on a busy City Council schedule that has 23 total pieces of legislation and four committee meetings planned before caucus begins at 7 p.m.
(Below is legislation scheduled for consideration on Tuesday evening by Mansfield City Council. The schedule calls for a claims committee meeting at 6:10 p.m., a parks committee meeting at 6:20 p.m., a public utilities meeting at 6:30 p.m. and an economic committee meeting at 6:45 p.m. Council’s caucus is scheduled at 7 p.m. with the legislative session following immediately thereafter. Public participation usually takes place at the beginning of the legislative session. Members of the public are limited to three minutes each with any remarks.)
