Lincoln aldermen split on legal sale of recreational marijuana
Mayor left to make the decision

 

[September 20, 2019] 

The eight aldermen of the Lincoln City Council were clearly divided Monday night when it came time to make a decision on allowing the retail sale of recreational marijuana within the city limits of Lincoln. At voting time four voted in favor of the proposal and four voted against it. The deciding vote to approve was then delivered by Mayor Seth Goodman.

Likewise, the alderman continued to be divided four-four when the second vote came to impose a local sales tax on products sold from the retail establishments, and again Goodman delivered the deciding affirmative vote.

The first motion to approve the establishment of retail sales within the city came early in the meeting. The motion to approve was made by Kevin Bateman and seconded by Ron Keller.

When the floor was open to discussion, Steve Parrott was the first to speak. He recalled discussions from the previous Tuesday night meeting and presentations made by Allison Rumler-Gomez and Kelly Crooks.

He said that when Gomez addressed the council, his personal take away from it was that Gomez wanted the council to consider how it is presenting the city. She had spoken about family and family values and sense of community. Parrott said he understood clearly that she was saying that having legal sales of drugs was not cohesive to the small town family values that she has always loved about Lincoln.

Parrott said he had to agree. He didn’t feel that allowing the legal sale of drugs in the city was going to put the city in a good light.

He went on to say that mental health expert Kelly Crooks had spoken primarily about the medical use of marijuana and not the recreational use. He wasn’t satisfied that the city had received a reasonable assessment of the impact of legal recreational drug use.

Parrott added that just because the state and the governor have said this is okay, that does not make it “morally right.” Parrott concluded saying that Lincoln is a conservative town and he did not feel that legalizing marijuana sales was a conservative action.

Kathy Horn said she agreed with all that Parrott had said. She qualified that she understood the medical use of marijuana and was not opposed to that, but she is very much against allowing the recreational use and the sale of recreational marijuana in Lincoln.

On the other side of the fence, Tracy Welch spoke about dealing with the inevitable. He noted that no matter what, the city is going to see recreational use among its citizens. He said that legalizing the sale of marijuana through retail establishments would give the city a voice in how it is sold.

Welch said that as an alderman, his job is to govern. Because the sales of recreational marijuana are legal state wide, the city now has the opportunity to decide where and how the drug will be brought to the community and to control its distribution as much as possible.

The vote was then taken with Bateman, Sam Downs, Keller and Welch voting in favor of allowing retail establishments within the city. Jeff Hoinacki, Horn, Parrott and Kathryn Schmidt voted against the motion. Goodman then delivered the deciding vote and it was determined that retail sales of recreational marijuana would be permitted within the city limits.

The second motion was pertaining to the taxation of retail sales. The state has determined that municipalities may assess up to a 3% local tax on the sale of the product. The motion to assess the full 3% local tax was made by Kevin Bateman and seconded by Tracy Welch.

Bateman was the first to speak after the motion. He said he wanted clarification on the vote. Was the city simply going to say yes to the tax or did it at this time need to decide how the money would be spent. He added that he wants to see the tax revenue go to specific line items, and not just put into the general fund for disbursement.

The distribution of the local tax has been discussed at previous meetings. City Attorney John Hoblit and Treasurer Chuck Conzo have been working on researching what the state is going to say on this topic.

Hoblit said that the state statutes are currently in the process of being amended. As of Monday night Hoblit could not say if the state would require the local cash to be disbursed in particular line items.

He added that the first vote for the tax could be an ‘intent’ vote, but that it needed to be made before October 1. Hoblit said that because of this, he would suggest that if the council decides not to go through with the vote that they schedule a special voting prior to the end of the month.

Conzo added to the comments saying he had done some research on what other municipalities are doing. He said he found that a number of them are designating the funds or at least a portion of them to go to the police and fire pension plans because there is a great need to get those pension funds built up according to state laws.

Conzo said that his understanding was that the city could indeed specify the 3% on Monday night and decide on the allocation at a later date.

Hoblit said that was correct, that all the city needs to do now is vote their ‘intent to tax’ and notify the state of the same.

Hoblit also told the council that the actions of the night were not the end of the project, but rather the beginning. He said that the council was passing a resolution and that an ordinance would still need to be passed. He said there would be a process involving taking the resolution and ordinance draft to the Lincoln Planning Commission. That commission would then draft the parameters of the ordinance following state rules and incorporating what is best for the city.

Note: Lincoln has a planning commission and there is also a Regional Planning Commission. Members of the city commission are Dave Klug, Dean Colby, James Wessbecher, Robert Coombs, Vic Martinek, Leo Logan, Bruce Huskins, Lori Charron Bleess, Cliff Marble and Angie Osborne.

Afterward, the city will be asked to approve the ordinance as the final step to legalizing the recreational sale of marijuana in retail establishments.

With those explanations concluded there was a call for the question, to assess the full 3% local tax. Aldermen cast their votes with the same division as in the first vote. Yes votes came from Bateman, Downs, Keller and Welch. No votes came from Hoinacki, Horn, Parrott and Schmidt.

The state of Illinois has passed laws that will permit the legal sale of recreational marijuana within the state effective January 1, 2020.

The city of Lincoln already has one firm interested in setting up a retail store.

It should be noted, that there are still laws concerning the amount of marijuana a person may have in his/her possession, even if purchased legally. There are also still laws against the illegal (black market) sale of marijuana. Other laws that the state is imposing prohibit use or consumption inside the retail establishment or in public. The intent of the law is to allow for the use inside one’s own home. Those using publicly, regardless of how they acquire the drug, will answer to law enforcement.

[Nila Smith]