Responses to ‘outside media gets Mendo Weed Woes Wrong (as usual)’

You might say this column is written entirely by others in response to last week’s piece on how almost all of the different media outlets get it all wrong when it comes to reporting on the failed Pot Ordinance here in Mendocino County.

Take my word for it, some really spot-on insights follow.

What the regulated, and the regulators got wrong was what legalization would do to the pot market. They both thought prices would stay high, pot smokers would keep buying, the gravy train would continue and grow, any regulation or taxation would be affordable, and the tax money would just roll in. Nirvana. Of course none of that happened as the new partially legal market changed, and reality set in. From what I have read here in the AVA, Flow Kana’s work model was based on Mendocino County’s outdoor pot market having a market niche, with small growers producing a high quality, and high value product for them to market. It did not turn out that way. That is according to Flow Kana. There are those who will pay more for a Mendocino label, but most pot smokers just want to get high.—George Hollister

—Flow Kana was all smoke and mirrors. Then they ripped off the growers, and the Kana workers, ask around. Who were the people who actually wrote the cannabis ordinance for Mendocino County? One would have thought the Flow Kana, etc’s of the county would have or could have had a tremendous influence on how it went. They did their best to buy every big shot in the county…in the beginning. And then there’s, why not buy into Humboldt’s or any other County that is having some success? Either the Brass wanted it this way or they are too stupid or egotistical to admit it’s failed. Marijuana replaced logging when it was run out, but now, what will replace marijuana? Ask around—Lazarus

—Thanks to Jim Shields for sharing his thought-provoking piece. What has happened in Mendocino County regarding cannabis regulation is a disgrace. County officials and the local industry had a chance to show how it could be done. Instead, there is nothing. Pathetic. — Michael Geniella

—John McCowen, he hated those legacy growers. He wanted those grows out of the hills and in ag land only where they could be easily regulated. Allman also spoke out against the Phase One growers-he felt that with less grows there would be less home invasions. The BOS was never able to see the legacy growers as anything but criminals. They wanted to move on to Phase Two growers who would go through Flow Kana for processing and hire armed guards to protect the mega grows.

What backfired on them was that black market growers aren’t prosecuted anymore. The black market ended their dreams.—James Marmon

—Thank god and goodness that Jim Shields is here and always has been here to tackle what others far too often miss by a mile: He actually understands what appear to be complex issues and problems, and then explains in plain words and phrases what’s really occurring or has occurred, and then usually offers up a workable solution. He’s absolutely right when he says, “Problems just don’t happen, people make them happen.” Think about it. He’d make a great congressman.—Randall Fehr

—800×5000 are the farmers in queue and amount paid for the yearly county tax. The amount of info in each packet can be reviewed by one employ in roughly one day. These farms have gone through CEQA and all other requested agencies. There isn’t anything holding the county back from moving forward except for themselves. Be careful who and what you vote for, regardless of if you care about the cannabis program or not this is a window into how your tax dollars are spent. — Peter Boudoures

—To answer your first question Katherine Elliott, former Ukiah defense lawyer, wrote the pot ordnances for CEO Angelo back when Ms. Elliott was County Counsel. She tooted her own horn so loudly on her pride in the accomplishment that one of those impoverished counties in the foothills of the Sierras hired her, the poor fools. She once defended a pot pharmer on murder charges “2-Gun Terry” and may have won if her client hadn’t committed suicide during trial. When I asked for a quote she gave me this meaningless line,

“It is what it is.” And a vapid smile to go with it. —Bruce McEwen

—Mendo’s influence on the pot market was always a pipe dream. Even back in the 70s, most pot came from outside, or elsewhere in, the US. Now, the crap is grown everywhere in the country, and the emerald triangle idiots are exposed as the dreamers they always were. Good riddance! Y’all need to come up with a new name for the region. How about Clearcut Central? —Harvey Reading

—Flow Kana was always bad news. Flow Kana was always about scallywags and carpetbaggers. It was always about outsiders. It was always about making outsiders rich. It was always about extracting money out of the Mendocino County economy. It was always about making sharecroppers out of local cannabis farmers in a de facto tenant farm system … I saw this nightmare coming … How did Flow Kana get every damn thing it wanted from the county and how did they get it all fasttracked?— John Sakowicz

Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, observer@pacific. net, the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District, and is also chairman of the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at 12 noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org