Pubdate: Sat, 6 Nov 2010
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.dailybulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/871
Author: Sandra Emerson

MIXED VIEWS ON CO-OP'S IMPACT ON UPLAND ELECTION

UPLAND - City officials have mixed views on the impact an Upland 
medical marijuana cooperative may have had in the Upland City Council election.

G3 Holistic, which is embroiled in litigation with the city, sent 
three mailers to Upland voters opposing two incumbents, one of whom 
lost the election after 20 years on the council.

Tom Thomas lost to newcomer Gino Filippi, who was endorsed by the 
co-op. Ray Musser was also targeted in the mailers, but received the 
most votes, which makes the candidates wonder how much of a role the 
co-op actually played.

"I think it's funny," Thomas said. "I think somehow it hurt me and it 
somehow might have helped Ray."

Two of the mailers questioned Thomas' and Musser's ties to Upland 
Mayor John "JP" Pomierski, who is the target of a federal 
investigation. The mailers endorsed newcomers Filippi and Mark 
Creighton as well as incumbent Brendan Brandt, who was also re-elected.

Creighton was fifth.

A third mailer only endorsed Creighton and Filippi, saying it was 
"time to break up the good old boys," referring to Pomierski and the 
four councilmen.

The candidates said they were often asked about the investigation of Pomierski.

The mayor's home, where his construction company is based, City Hall, 
J.H. Builders in Upland and Venture West Capital in Rancho Cucamonga 
were raided by FBI and IRS agents on June 10. Federal officials have 
not disclosed the purpose of the raids.

Aaron Sandusky, president of G3, said he had no ill will toward the 
candidates when he decided to get involved in the election.

"My mail campaign was one that was to encourage change," he said. 
"Considering the investigation that's going on, these are things you 
would have to expect or know. If not, you were sleeping on the job. 
If you did know, obviously, shame on you."

Pomierski says that the other councilmen and city employees are not 
involved in the investigation.

"I feel just sad that Tom didn't get re-elected," Pomierski said. "I 
don't think it had anything to do with what's going on in any other 
city, and I don't think it had anything to do with any investigations 
that are going on."

While the council members maintain they had no knowledge of the 
investigation and were not involved, Musser seemed even more unlikely 
than the rest to have any connection.

Musser, who has run for mayor against Pomierski twice, has a history 
of clashing with the mayor.

"It was so obvious Ray is not connected to the mayor," Thomas said. 
"I think people didn't take it very seriously."

The cooperative and three others were ordered to shut down by a judge 
at the West Valley Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga after the city 
filed for a preliminary injunction.

The city claims the cooperative opened in violation of a zoning 
ordinance that prohibits cooperatives and collectives from opening 
within city limits.

The cooperative's attorney claims the city does not have a right to 
ban co-ops through a zoning ordinance.

Sandusky said he is trying to reach out to the council in an attempt 
to come up with a reasonable way to settle the case.

He hopes Filippi's presence on the council will encourage discussion.

"I hope that he would be reasonable enough to give us the 
consideration and make the smart decision. That's all I'm asking 
for," Sandusky said.

Filippi said he plans to learn about G3's history in the city quickly.

He does not know if the mailers helped get him elected.

"I'm certainly a supporter of the Constitution and I support First 
Amendment rights for personal as well as commercial voices," Filippi 
said. "They have a right to advertise and promote candidates and 
express their view."

Prior to sending the mailers, the cooperative began a petition 
process to get an initiative on the ballot that would allow three or 
four cooperatives to open within the city under certain regulations.

But the petitions were put on hold until after the election.

Sandusky said he wants to wait until he speaks with all of the 
council members before pursuing the ballot initiative.

"If the city has to waste money fighting me...in the court of appeals 
and then put up money to possibly hold a special election to ask 
people of the city to vote for something that's already legal - I 
think it's a very irresponsible move," Sandusky said.

Creighton, who was also endorsed by the co-op, did not have as 
favorable an outcome as Filippi.

"Well, I think they had a negative impact on my campaign," Creighton 
said. "They didn't do me any good."

Creighton received a $3,000 contribution from John Nuckolls, who 
listed G3's address.

But Creighton said he was not aware of the mailers until he received 
them in his mailbox.

"He had donated money to my campaign just as a personal donation," he 
said. "It wasn't actually tied to G3. He was just someone in Upland 
that wanted to donate."

Creighton was surprised to see how well Musser fared even after the mailers.

"It didn't seem to hurt. If anything it had the exact opposite 
effect," he said. "If you look at what happened, Ray came out No. 1, 
Gino two, and Brendan three."

Musser, too, believes the mailers gave him an extra boost in votes.

"I think people felt strongly that (G3) should not be part of Upland 
and I think the end result certainly didn't hurt us," he said. "It 
helped from my standpoint."

One of the mailers had a picture of Musser speaking with FBI agents 
during the raid of City Hall, which angered Musser when he first saw it.

"I had a negative reaction because first of all they were wrong," he 
said. "They were incorrect and when people read something they know 
is incorrect they say, 'I don't want to take their advice."'

When the first mailer came out a couple of weeks ago, Brandt was not 
pleased to see an endorsement from the cooperative he had agreed to 
file an injunction against.

Brandt said he does not know what impact the co-op had, but believes 
the voters did not buy into the mailers' message.

"Several people told me they actually did research into the 
candidates," he said. "Actually, one told me they checked the Daily 
Bulletin site to decide how to vote. This hit piece, that didn't make 
a whole lot of sense when you read it. It didn't influence the vote 
in this case." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake