Vietnam vets reconvene 50 years later to honor KIAs
who went through similar experiences. Our memories are starting to fail us as we get older, so this helps us fill in the blanks each of us have.”
Twelve members of C Troop congregated in Loma Rica this week. On Tuesday evening, those veterans in attendance and their family members honored the 34 men in their troop who died in 1966-67. Stevens placed a photo of each of the men killed in action on an empty chair next to a passage regarding the details of each person’s death and military status.
“It’s hard to know for sure, but we cannot think of any other unit that had a higher casualty rate than ours,” Stevens said. “With barely over 100 people in our unit, we lost about one-third of them in action.”
Stevens said he remembers one day in
such permits, since the federal government has not legalized use of pot as has the state of California.
The meeting was punctuated with threats made by members of the public, who said they would call the federal government if the city strikes references to federal law.
Buck Weckman of Yuba County Families Against Cannabis Trafficking said he has been building a case and submitting updates to the Yuba County grand jury. He said the decision of the planning commission could add the members to his case.
“Something you should consider are your staff reports. They feed you what they want you to hear,” Weckman told the commission.
“Take no action on this,” Weckman said. “Don’t bail out some other management’s problems that they created for this city.”
Commission member Michael Paine said he considered Weckman’s statements a threat and cast the lone dissenting vote.
Despite the commission’s recommendation, Mayor Ricky Samayoa said the ordinance changes will go before the council soon and may be on the June 20 agenda.
“Bottom line is our role as the council is to look at the economic interest of the city,” Samayoa said. “We have our own jurisdiction, our own charter, and we have responsibilities to maintain our land use policies.”
He said the goal of the council is to enforce the city ordinances.
“I think it’s important for folks to remember that, and that there are different levels of government,” he said.
Weckman said the city ordinances are a key part of his appeal against the issuance of a use permit. Weckman, who lives in Browns Valley, said he is pleased with the recommendation made by the commission to maintain the current codes.
Denis Cook, the interim City Services director, said city staff realized the zoning ordinance requirements after Weckman submitted his appeal.
“It’s not a black and white type of thing – some laws we always enforce, other laws others enforce,” Cook said.
Planning Commission chairman Bruce Buttacavoli said he supports medical marijuana because it helped save his brother’s life. But he said he is not pleased with how city government and staff have handled the issue.
“I think it could have gone through very easily if it would have been handled properly from day one.” Buttacavoli said. “It does seem like we’re getting this thrown at us to help get this through."