County Notes (Jan. 24, 2018)

IT TURNS OUT, Mendo is wasting a lot more than $50k on their pot regulation planning/zoning consultant. And it’s more of a waste than we thought. The County is paying $142,000 to Michael Baker International to help with the process. You can double your rate if you put “international” after your name, and if you bill yourself as the Michael Baker International Group, you can triple your Mendo take.

THE IDEA of paying this guy lots and lots is to create pot friendly zones in areas and neighborhoods (basically the dope-saturated communities of Laytonville and Westport) that would otherwise be zoned for no pot growing. In theory, it’s supposed to work the other way, too, with some neighborhoods prohibiting pot growing where it would otherwise be allowed. But that’s a much tougher nut to crack because unpermitted pot growers don’t care about “overlay zones,” and existing permitted grows in areas where zoning allows for it will be hard to remove under the permit system, and restrictions on the size of grows in non-pot-friendly neighborhoods will be nearly impossible to monitor, much less enforce.

IN OTHER WORDS, the entire “overlay zone” idea is an unfunny joke that will do nothing but further complicate an already overly complicated regulatory scheme that has so many loopholes it’s more like the bogus “fish friendly farming” guidelines the wine people pretend to follow.

PREDICTABLY, Baker International is way behind in coming up with a plan. There’s a decent chance the whole thing will collapse of its own unwieldy weight before Baker does anything but submit a preliminary bill for services rendered.

RETIRED UKIAH COP Trent Taylor’s consulting contract as Chief Code Enforcement Officer for pot permits is increasing from $150k to $500k. The reason for the proposed increase is not clear. It could be for keeping him on longer, but there’s no info in his contract amendment (on the consent calendar for approval this week) about duration of service. Mr. Taylor’s primary method of “code enforcement” is what he has frequently called “self-abatement,” where the pot grower harvests his crop and sells it, thus “abating” it, as opposed to doing the same thing but without “code enforcement” or “abatement” added to the description.

WHICH BRINGS US again to the question of how all of this is supposed to benefit anybody, particularly the County itself. They seem to be spending money like stoners in Bali on pot legalization and regulation without any idea how much it’s taking in, while at the same time producing regulations that make it harder and harder for pot growers to enter the permit process. When is somebody going to ask for some revenue and expense charts for the pot permit program? Reportedly they just hired a new pot czar under the Ag Commissioner, but we haven’t heard a word about it or from the person since. (A discussion of the subject is on Tuesday’s Supes agenda; maybe we’ll Meet The Pot Czar.) The new Pot Czar’s first job should be looking at how much this is all going to end up costing the County. At this point, especially after all the additional money they’re spending on Baker International and Trent Taylor, it looks like like the County is running a significant deficit.

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MENDO’S TOURISM COMMISSION hustled out a pious presser in response to the news that their director, Alan Humason, has been charged with embezzling upwards of fifty grand in his previous job as Yolo County’s tourism promoter. “Humason was hired following a long and thorough search via a professional placement agency. During that process, the firm conducted due diligence including completing a thorough reference and background check on the candidate. At this point, there is no indication of impropriety with Humason’s work or professionalism at MCTC and he has performed well as executive director” and blah, blah, blah. In fact, the guy’s perfect for Mendo where every day history starts all over again and you are whatever you say you are.