Santa Barbara Supervisors Reject Grand Jury’s Cannabis Report
Board Disputes 10 Critical Findings, and Dismisses 17 Recommendations
Rarely has the Santa Barbara Grand Jury issued so scathing a report as the one released this summer about the open embrace given to the cannabis industry by elected officials throughout Santa Barbara county government. In biting detail, the report castigated the board of supervisors — two in particular — for allowing cannabis industry lobbyists such “unfettered access” that the jury recommended creating an ethics commission with new ethics rules that would require — among other things — supervisors receiving campaign donations from industry representatives to recuse themselves from voting on donors’ projects.
Though less sharp in tone and shorter in length, the supervisors returned the favor this Tuesday, approving an official response to the Grand Jury that disagreed either “wholly” or “partially” with 10 of the Grand Jury’s 12 findings and dismissed 17 of the Grand Jury’s 18 remedial recommendations as either “not warranted,” “not reasonable,” or “not needed.” Translated into more affirmative lingo, the supervisors report agreed with just two of the grand jury’s findings and agreed to implement just one of its recommendations.
Perhaps, it’s just that cannabis — like water and whiskey — is destined to be forever fought over — at least in Santa Barbara County, which has emerged as one of the hottest epicenters of legal marijuana production in all California. Not helping matters is the legally stilted lingo which by law the supervisors must deploy when responding to any and all grand jury reports.
