Pubdate: Wed, 18 May 2011 Source: Humboldt Beacon, The (CA) Copyright: 2011 Humboldt Beacon Contact: http://www.humboldtbeacon.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4823 Author: Franklin Stover EMERALD CITY PROPOSAL INTERESTING BUT NEEDS SOME WORK A number of citizens of Southern Humboldt have expressed a desire for autonomy and self-governance for many years. Some SoHum folks have stumped for a county of their own, wanting to opt-out of their association with Humboldt County for feeling cut off or disenfranchised. Others have pushed to secede from the State (or the union), creating a hilly haven with it's own set of laws. By the way, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1869 that unilateral secession was unconstitutional. More recently, a serious-minded group of area citizens led by Jim Lamport have crafted a number of plans based on input from the community, encouraging some interesting dialogue and envisionings. Last Sunday, the Emerald City Organizing Group held an informational fundraiser in Briceland to educate the public on the process of creating or incorporating a new city. To be a fully legal entity, proponents of the new city will have to come up with some serious money for feasibility studies and will have to trudge through a mountain of paperwork with the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO). It's no simple task. According to LAFCO Executive Officer George Williamson, a vital first step for the burgeoning city will test their fiscal capability. The current blueprint for the new city would create a sphere of influence joining Garberville, Redway, Benbow and the Garberville airport. A recent Times-Standard article quoted Lamport saying that the proposed city c! ould benefit from sales tax from marijuana cultivation and added that because Humboldt County has not passed a marijuana ordinance, the new Emerald City would do that in short order. The group would also need to gather up petition signatures from 25 percent of area land owners or registered voters. And as you guessed, it's more involved than this. It's an interesting plan, but the impetus behind the incorporating idea with current organizers appears to be about getting a marijuana ordinance passed. So one might ask, is that in itself a good reason to incorporate, and does that goal serve the majority of citizens? If approved, the proposed city would have to establish a local police force, upgrade its hospital, establish a city hall with a staff, elect city council members, issue permits and business licenses, determine boundaries, hire a city manager, retain services of an attorney, and the list goes on. Furthermore, incorporation seems to be the antithesis of the independent spirit of Southern Humboldt. As the current group of Emerald City planners point to marijuana grow figures as a way to demonstrate fiscal capability, but only legal medical marijuana grows (sales to dispensaries) can be documented or accepted in any serious petition. Sales from illegal grow activities can only be guessed at. The high price of marijuana is for the moment, guaranteed by its semi-legal and controversial status, but should it become legalized, its cash crop value will plummet. The California Board of Equalization (CBE) recently reported that the state is collecting $50 to $100 million in sales taxes from medical marijuana, but a lot of that money is in back taxes still owed. For example, in February of this year, one medical marijuana dispensary in Berkeley was found owing around $6.4 million in back state taxes and interest from three years where it didn't pay. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.