MV United - Respect Our VOTE

Wishing you and yours a happy and safe Fourth of July today!

URGENT: Tonight the City Council is going to vote on access to safe and legal cannabis in our City. We expect a small but vocal group of fanatic anti-cannabis opponents to try to drown out your voice and vote in support of legal cannabis. Please show up and be heard!

When: Thursday, May 23rd at 6:00 P.M.
Where: Council Chambers, 500 Castro Street in Mountain View

Thank you to everyone who showed your support for safe access to legal cannabis in Mountain View at the planning commission meeting on Wednesday. The headline is a little misleading but the threat that the extremists on the City Council, Mayor Lisa Matichak and Vice-Mayor Margaret Abe Koga, might still try to reverse already approved regulations allowing for just two cannabis retail storefronts in MV, is very real. The City Council will vote on the mater at their public meeting on May 23rd. We will keep you posted and hope to see you there!

Mountain View to make it increasingly difficult for pot shops to open in the city It’s one of the few cities on the peninsula that has not banned the businesses.

Today is the Day! Please join us at the Mountain View Planning Commission's public meeting TONIGHT at 7PM at City Hall (500 Castro Street). The Commission will be taking public comment and voting on a recommendation to the City Council, including a possible defacto ban on safe access to legal cannabis and millions in tax revenues for our community. Don't let a small but vocal group of anti-cannabis fanatics speak for you and your vote, come out and BE HEARD!

Please attend and BE HEARD! Public meeting on safe access to legal cannabis and tax revenues this Wednesday, 4/24 at 7PM at Mountain View City Hall.

As noted in today’s NY Times, legalizing cannabis is becoming a major issue now and in 2020. Criminalizing cannabis at the federal level is going to be a thing of the past; Mountain View has an opportunity to be progressive and reap the tax revenue rewards now to benefit our community. Contact the city council to let them know that you support their already approved plan allowing for safe access to regulated and taxed cannabis in our city!

Legalizing Ma*****na, With a Focus on Social Justice, Unites 2020 Democrats Legalization of ma*****na has become a pillar of progressive politics, and a litmus test for candidates’ commitment to equal treatment for all races in policing and criminal justice.

Thank you again to the huge number of supporters who showed up on Tuesday to be heard and to push a message of facts and compassion, over fear and misinformation. Don't be fooled by the headline, the two extreme, anti-cannabis members on the Council, Margaret Abe-Koga and Lisa Matichak, slipped in a poison pill motion to set excessive buffers which limits where the four cannabis stores (only two retail) can be located, essentially serving as a backdoor ban. We will fight on when this issue comes up again at the council, and at the ballot box if need be.

Council keeps retail cannabis laws largely intact Striking a careful balance, City Council members agreed Tuesday night to place more restrictions on where commercial pot can be sold within the city limits.

We were quite appalled and troubled by the often unprofessional and overtly biased manner in which “no cannabis” proponents Councilwoman Abe-Koga and Mayor Matichak acted at last night’s Council meeting. Both were often observed blatantly smirking at several of the over 50 speakers who came out and spoke in support of upholding the council’s vote in October approving a total of four legal cannabis businesses in our community.

Aside from their blatant displays of disagreement and self righteousness, both, on several occasions, only asked supporters of legal cannabis when they spoke if they were in fact Mountain View residents (the overwhelming majority were), but they elected not to ask the same of the questionably orchestrated opponents on the issue, 80% or more of which were first or second generation Asian Americans, versus the diverse group that represented supporters of cannabis. While we respect if an elected representative has an opinion and position, the failure to legitimately and adequately respect and consider the voice of a strong majority on this issue, certainly makes both ripe for a challenge come the next election.

Thank you to the numerous supporters who spoke out last night and demanded that the MV City Council respect our vote and allow safe access to legal cannabis and millions in potential tax revenue to benefit our community. The meeting ran until almost 1 AM with the council ultimately deciding to make a few amendments to the existing policies and regulations including a very troubling and sneaky motion by “no cannabis” proponents Councilwoman Abe-Koga and Mayor Matichak that passed 4-3 to impose overly burdensome buffer restrictions on where the two retail stores can locate, which would essentially serve as a ban.

In terms of next steps, the council will be bringing the various amendments and motions discussed back to the council for public discussion and a vote. We will keep you posted on the date as it is important that we once again have strong participation and turn out to drown out the vocal minority that showed their strong lack of compassion and understanding on this issue last night.

Please join us TODAY at the Mountain View City Council Meeting to defend our vote and to protect our community from bad precedent!

TONIGHT at 6:30 PM (City Hall- 500 Castro Street), the City Council will be discussing and voting on rolling back rules and policies the Council approved in October, allowing for two legal cannabis storefronts and two dispensaries to serve our community of 81,000 residents; in designated areas and under strict state and local regulations.

We expect that the small but vocal opposition behind this effort, the same group that was actively opposed to LGBTQ marriage and rights in our community, will be out in full force trying to push their conservative agenda onto the vast majority of residents that want safe access to legal cannabis and to realize millions in tax revenues for our community.

We need your help and voice at the Council meeting TONIGHT and look forward to seeing you there!

Thanks to your support, our effort has made the news! Check out this article on why the MV City Council needs to do the right thing TOMORROW and vote to leave in place the rules and policies they already approved in October, providing safe access to legal cannabis and the potential for millions in tax revenues to benefit our community.

Mountain View Faces Backlash for Planned Pot Policy Rollback Councilwoman Ellen Kamei ignited a firestorm of controversy by bringing the local cannabis ordinance back for revision.

Check out this great Op-Ed from our former Mayor and Councilman on the legal cannabis issue and what the new Council's vote to rollback already approved rules and laws on this issue would really mean for residents and businesses! Be heard, attend the Council meeting on March 5th at 6:15PM.

Law and order | March 1, 2019 | Mountain View Voice | Mountain View Online | I am not writing out of pride or to simply defend a vote I made on the City Council. I am speaking out because of the very real and dangerous precedent that a vote from the City Council to reconsider and rewrite the rules we approved for the legal cannabis industry would mean for our community, busi...