Pubdate: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 Source: East Bay Express (CA) Copyright: 2005 New Times Contact: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1131 Author: Will Harper Related: http://www.drugsense.org/initiatives/index.htm#oak_z Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) Z IS FOR LAZY Oakland Pols Still Haven't Implemented Last Year's Measure Z -- Are They Stoned One year ago, Oakland voters overwhelmingly passed Measure Z, a ballot initiative that all but decriminalized marijuana use, making the arrest of pot smokers local law enforcement's lowest priority. A year later, it seems that Oakland city officials have made implementing Measure Z their lowest priority. There has yet to be a meeting of the eleven-member oversight committee called for by the measure to oversee its implementation. That's because neither Mayor Jerry Brown nor most city council members -- each of whom gets to name one person to the committee -- has bothered to appoint anyone. These pols, in other words, have displayed all the motivation of an unemployed stoner living in his mom's basement. To date, only Councilwomen Desley Brooks, Jane Brunner, and Nancy Nadel and auditor Roland Smith have made their appointments, leaving the committee two short of the six-member quorum required to convene a session. Leaders of the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance, which sponsored Measure Z, are now consulting attorneys to see if they can sue the city to force officials to comply with the voters' mandate. Susan Stephenson, a lobbyist for the group, says the main role of the oversight committee would be to verify that Oakland police have cut back on marijuana-related arrests. Stephenson says she's met or had contact with all the council offices since the measure passed, trying to nudge them into action. She has been either stonewalled or unable to get a response, she says, from City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and at-large representative Henry Chang. "I don't know if it's just disregard for the will of the voters or whether there's some kind of intentional effort to undercut it," she says. Here are some of the "explanations" Feeder got from the slow-moving elected officials: Willie Yee, an aide to Chang, says his boss is waiting for everyone else to make their appointments to make sure the committee is, er, balanced. An aide to Councilwoman Jean Quan says Quan actually interviewed a doctor for the position, but somehow "lost contact" with the cannabis-committee candidate. Mayor Brown, who is meditating upon becoming attorney general, said via spokesman Gil Duran: "We are considering an appropriate response to this unusual measure." (Memo to Jerry: Dude, don't know what you're smokin', but judging from that quote it's something stronger than a low-priority substance.) Councilwoman Brooks, meanwhile, criticized her colleagues' foot-dragging, saying, "It's an intentional thwarting of the will of the electorate." Brooks points out that most of her colleagues opposed Measure Z. Still, she says finding someone to serve shouldn't be too hard -- they could even appoint a Measure Z opponent. The only prerequisites are that committee members have a pulse, live in Oakland, and, of course, don't bogart that joint. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake