Grandparents making a difference at Burton
On Wednesday morning, a group of dedicated grandparents gathered at Burton School District to visit, learn, and contribute their effort to the cause of education.
That group is called Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, and they are the driving force behind BSD’S backpack giveaway event, which they have held the past two years before the beginning of the school year to provide backpacks and school supplies to families in need. They also hosted their first Christmas party last year, and are currently planning this year’s party.
But the group is about more than backpacks and Christmas parties. During their monthly meetings, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren functions as a true support group by sharing the unique challenges of being a parent or grandparent raising a schoolage child, and by arranging different themes and topics for discussion.
Denise Carson, who played a pivotal role in creating the group, brought the idea with her from Southern California when she moved to Porterville three years ago.
“I belonged to a similar group in Corona because I adopted my grandson,” said Carson. “I gave a report about Grandparents Raising Grandchildren as part of Burton’s LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan).”
It had been surprisingly difficult for the pot-friendly city to adopt local regulations required for growers and retailers to get a state permit. California voters approved legalizing recreational marijuana in 2016.
A well-organized group of Chinese immigrants strongly opposed to marijuana had lobbied supervisors for larger buffer zones and neighborhood prohibitions that pot advocates said would strangle the industry.
San Francisco will not be ready for sales New Year’s Day, but if Mayor Ed Lee approves the rules quickly, the city could be open for recreational pot at midnight
Jan. 5, said John Cote, spokesman for the city attorney’s office. There are about 40 approved medical marijuana outlets that can start selling to adults that day.
For that to happen, Lee would need to sign the legislation Dec. 5 after the board votes on it a second time. His office did not return requests for comment.
The board approved a 600-foot (180-meter) buffer zone between pot shops and schools, rejecting attempts by Supervisor Katy Tang, who represents a heavily Asian district, for a 1,000-foot (305-meter) barrier. She also wanted the barrier to apply to child care centers.
She said she was confused by dual messages about marijuana: Is it a harmless product or something that should not have a heavy presence in neighborhoods, like liquor stores?
“I just feel this huge push and pull between, well, it’s harmful if there’s so many in this one area but at the same time, they’re not going to harm kids or youth,” Tang said.
On the other end was Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who urged colleagues to embrace this “new exciting industry” and overturn the country’s outdated notions about marijuana.
“I’m just shocked by my colleagues, quite frankly, on this board, and I don’t understand why we’re pretending that this is so dangerous for children,” she said.
They set aside differences and approved the legislation 10-to-1.
Supervisor Ahsha Safai was the only person to vote no, saying that the board had not had enough time to hash out sensitive issues, such as neighborhood input and local zoning.
The board, however, had no problem agreeing to “equity” provisions that give permitting preference to marijuana businesses that commit to hiring locally and mentoring people from communities hit hard by the country’s war on drugs.
The idea is to diversify the industry so minorities, veterans and other traditionally disadvantaged groups can share in what is sure to be a lucrative business, the board said.
“It’s a temporary feeling of relief,” Supervisor Malia Cohen said Wednesday. “We just created the parameters and the guidelines. I think the real work is going to be on the implementation side.”