Group Plans to Fight Council's Repeal of Marijuana Ordinance
By: April Hansen
Updated: September 25, 2012
After months of collecting signatures and rewrites,
supporters of the marijuana ordinance say they're disappointed.
Those in opposition of the vote have an option to take legal action or pursue a
referendum, and that's what they plan to do.
Read More: Springfield City Council Repeals Marijuana Ordinance
The group Springfield Cannabis Regulation says Council violated the City Charter, in which it states voters, "shall have power to propose any ordinance, except an ordinance appropriating money and to adopt or reject the same at the polls, such power being known as the initiative."
Group president Maranda Reynolds issued a statement: "When the council is presented with an initiative petition, they have two options: Pass the proposal into law or send it to the voters...The initiative process exists to allow voters to enact their will into law over the objections of the council, but these tactics render that process meaningless.
"We are exploring our options for holding these elected officials accountable, including litigation, a referendum, and recalling certain council members. This action by the Council makes a mockery of the City Charter's initiative process. By using this political dirty trick, the Council can deprive citizens of the chance to vote on any initiative which the Council majority dislikes."
"I support the initiative even in a slightly amended form if that takes care of some of the questionable legalities. I'm not supporter of repealing the whole thing," said Doug Burlison, Springfield City Councilman.
Burlison along with City Councilman Scott Bailes say they felt it was wrong to adopt the measure with the intent of repealing it.
"If there's an initiative and enough signatures certified that we should either pass it with the intent of keeping it as an ordinance or passing it on to the voters," said Burlison.
But after hearing opinions from public safety officials, the repeal was passed.
"The testimony that we heard from the Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson and the Springfield Police Chief about it binding their hands on fulfilling their duty and that being a public safety issue weighed heavily on quite a few people," said Thomas Bieker, Springfield City Councilman.
Members passed the original ordinance in August after an initiative petition campaign collected enough signatures to bring the issue to council or a public vote. The ordinance says people caught with 35 grams of marijuana would face a 150 dollar fine instead of jail time.
City Attorney Dan Wichmer says there are clear legal issues with the ordinance and that the council was exercising what they were put into office to do.
"I think council was very clear about their thought process as I said we have not given an opinion that we thought the ordinance was valid. There were issues with it."
Reynolds says supporters of the ordinance are disenfranchised and ready to fight to get this to the polls.
If supporters of the ordinance decide on a referendum, they would have 30 days to collect 2,100 signatures and the ordinance would come back as an initiative petition.
"I would anticipate that we'll see some resurfacing maybe not of this specific legislation but take it back to the drawing board," said Bieker.
It would ultimately reverse the City Council's decision on Monday night's repeal. Council would have to vote again whether to send it to the voters or adopt it.
The groups Springfield Cannabis Regulation and Show-Me
Cannabis Regulation plan to hold a benefit concert at Lindbergs (
