[Mpls] Medical marijuana & City Charter

[Jim Bernstein]

My sincere apologies to Mr. Halfhill for the late response.  His March
13 e-mail wound up in the SPAM file maintained by my ISP and I just
cleaned it out this morning. 

A couple of quick points:

The two references to "... self appointed committee ..." are not
correct.  The Minneapolis Charter Commission members are all appointed
by the Chief Judge of Hennepin County District Court.

The statement "initiative, referendum and charter amendments were
intended to let the voters act when their elected representative won't
..." is also incorrect.  Minneapolis does not have a mechanism for
ballot initiative or referendum to make ordinances or overturn
ordinances.  

The city charter amendment process IS NOT a substitute for initiative
and referendum and was never imagined as such!  The charter amendment
process was created - like that in any other foundational document - to
allow for changes in city governance, city structure, or city operations
that the charter could not have contemplated and to acknowledge that
future citizens/city councils may wish to change or modify the
governance, structure, operations of the city specified in the charter.


Even if the sale and distribution of marijuana for medicinal purposes
was legal in Minnesota, specifying the process and regulating it in
Minneapolis should be provided for by ordinance not the city charter!
Since it is currently illegal however, one must remember that the City
Charter cannot permit what state law forbids. 

And, it was the City Council heeding the legal advice from the City
Attorney and the recommendation of the Charter Commission that
determined the fate of  medicinal marijuana proposal - not a "self
appointed committee"!

Jim Bernstein
Fulton
Chair, Minneapolis Charter Commission 



-----Original Message-----
From: mpls-bounces at mnforum.org [mailto:mpls-bounces at mnforum.org] On
Behalf Of rhalfhill at juno.com
Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2005 8:31 PM
To: bernie at mm.com
Cc: mpls at mnforum.org; samu0013 at umn.edu
Subject: RE: [Mpls] Minnesotans favor medical marijuana two-to-one


   Say what you will, you have constituted yourself as a self appointed
committee that can overrule the voters and refuse to even consider
proposals that the required 5% of the voters have petitioned to put on
the ballot.  Initiative, referendum and charter amendments were intended
to let the voters act when their elected representative won't and it
defeats their purpose to have self appointed committees thwarting the
will of the voters who have petitioned to put a proposal on the ballot.
   Hopefully, the voters will have something to say about you people
this fall.
    Robert Halfhill    Loring Park

http://halfhillviews.greatnow.com

http://www.thepen.us/e-fraud.html

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