Pubdate: Wed, 04 Mar 2015
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830

QUESTIONABLE PRIORITIES IN SAN BERNARDINO

The city of San Bernardino needs to reevaluate its priorities.

On the agenda for Monday's council meeting were two items that tell 
the story: discussion over whether to take action against fireworks 
and allocating $50,000 to a private law firm to tackle marijuana dispensaries.

Action on fireworks has been on the council's agenda twice this year 
and is likely to return in the future.

The city currently permits the sale and use of fireworks south of the 
210 Freeway. Proponents of a ban, including the Fire Department and 
Council members Jim Mulvihill, Virginia Marquez and Rikke Van 
Johnson, argued that fireworks are a dangerous nuisance.

But it became clear fairly quickly over the course of the meeting 
that there is no evidence that legal fireworks are responsible for a 
significant amount of harm, pose a threat to people or property, or 
that a prohibition would even be feasible.

More practically, there was the argument that the fees to enforce 
fireworks ordinances don't cover the full cost. Even this claim 
wasn't borne out by the facts. The city collects thousands more in 
sales taxes, fees and administrative penalties than it projected 
spending to enforce existing ordinances. It also became apparent that 
the city likely overstated enforcement cost estimates. In other 
words, there was no reason for this to issue to come up.

The council, fortunately, rejected a proposal to move forward on a 
ban on fireworks, with three in support and four opposed.

Meanwhile, the city demonstrated its intent on continuing enforcement 
of medical marijuana dispensary restrictions. The council approved a 
request from the City Attorney's office to "retain the services of 
the law firm Cota Cole LLP to perform legal work regarding Medical 
Marijuana Dispensaries."

The city spends about $15,000 per dispensary it takes action against 
and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars chasing dispensaries.

"We'd rather spend our money filling potholes and other things that 
benefit the community but we have to do this," city attorney Gary 
Saenz told our editorial board. In approving the request, the city 
will waste up to $50,000 in pursuit of enforcing a dubious prohibition.

Rather than wasting time on things like fireworks or chasing 
dispensaries, the city should be focusing on its long-term fiscal 
health. In rejecting one dubious prohibition and sustaining another, 
the city has a long way to go.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom