And then there was one

I thought the best way to bring you up-to-date on the status of the two referendums seeking an election to overturn, in part or in whole, the so-called Phase 3 Cannabis Ordinance approved lst month by the Board of Supervisors, would be to share with you this email chronology.

Hi Friends and Referendum Volunteers,

Late this afternoon (July 22), after I spoke with Katrina Bartolomie, Mendocino County Assessor-county Clerk-recorder, Registrar of Voters, I sent her this email confirming our discussion:

Hi Katrina,

This is to confirm our conservation earlier today where I informed you the proponents of the “10% Expansion Rule” Referendum, aka “Small Is Beautiful Mendocino” Referendum, will not be submitting our petitions to the Elections Office because we did not meet the minimum signature threshold.

I want to thank you and Skylar for your assistance during this process, it’s truly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jim Shields

Co-chair SIBM Coalition Even though we didn’t qualify to file our referendum petitions so an election could be held on the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors’ inexplicable and ill-advised decision to expand cannabis cultivation that only further exacerbates the depletion of water resources during a drought, we nevertheless were a driving force in a process that may result in an election anyway.

It may not be our referendum petition, but it’s a petition that challenges the very same Cannabis Ordinance that ours did. The proponents of the referendum to repeal the entire Phse 3 Ordinance filed their petitions this week with the Elections Office.

By participating in a process that gives people a say in the laws and policies that affect our community and county, we have taken the steps to ensure everyone’s voice can be heard. That is a success.

Volunteering in politics isn’t about the time you put in and give up for a cause, it’s about commitment, hard work, heart, and seeing it through to the finish — win or lose. What makes your time important is that you’re giving of yourself to a cause to make things better or solve problems for other people who may feel overwhelmed and defeated because elected officials are ignoring and not listening to them. By your example of exercising your rights to challenge bad decisions made by politicians, you are showing people that by standing together, united in a cause, there’s real opportunity to correct wrongs, that in itself is a victory.

I thank each and every one of you who worked — yes it was damn hard work — with us collecting signatures for our petitions. I really had fun doing this whole process with you. I really enjoyed the time together we all spent on this special cause. It’s something I’ll never, ever, forget.

And remember it’s not over yet.

Once things get settled down a bit, we’ll get together and talk about what we should do if the other referendum makes the ballot.

We’ll probably have so much fun talking about that, we’ll realize there’s no such thing as having too much fun so let’s do it again!

Thanks For Everything, Jim