Pubdate: Fri, 06 Mar 2015
Source: Tribune, The (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/391

PISMO'S REVERSAL OF MOBILE POT DISPENSARIES BAN IS WORTHY OF PRAISE

Reversing an Earlier Vote, the City Council Will Permit Mobile 
Marijuana Dispensaries

The Pismo Beach City Council did a 180 on mobile pot dispensaries 
this week after hearing from constituents who rely on medical 
marijuana for themselves and their loved ones.

At an earlier meeting, the council had taken a preliminary vote to 
ban mobile dispensaries, without offering much explanation for that 
decision and without considering how it might affect residents.

The council spent more time vetting the ban on Tuesday. Councilwoman 
Sheila Blake noted that she had spoken to the police chief, who said 
he was unaware of problems involving pot dispensaries operating in Pismo Beach.

"If it has been getting delivered without any particular problem, I 
wonder why we should feel we need to legislate this now?" she asked.

Exactly.

Ultimately, the council decided against intervening at this time, and 
the ban was tabled.

For its willingness to change course - something too many politicians 
are loath to do - we toss the council a bouquet of sage.

Keeping an eye on the Food Bank

We're not serving up any brickbats, but for the record, we're keeping 
tabs on the Food Bank's proposal to close its warehouses in Oceano 
and Paso Robles to and open a centralized warehouse in San Luis Obispo.

That might make sense from an overall cost standpoint, but it could 
be tough on volunteers in the Five Cities and North County who work 
at the warehouses in their communities, as well as on the 
organizations that pick up food in Oceano and Paso Robles to 
distribute to their clients in North County and South County.

As the president of the Five Cities Christian Women Food Pantry put 
it, "For most of our agencies, we can't afford to drive to San Luis 
Obispo each day on the meager donations that we get. ... This would 
be abig hardship to us."

Such concerns could be alleviated if the Food Bank were to coordinate 
regular shipments of food to North County and South County.

In other words, consolidation may not necessarily be a bad thing - as 
long as care is taken to ensure that clients remain well served.

Area firefighters an inspiration to all

The 10 local firefighters who will compete in a timed stair-climbing 
competition in Seattle deserve a well-tread bouquet of 1,311 blossoms 
- - one for each stair they'll climb.

The competition, to be held Sunday at the Columbia Center in downtown 
Seattle, raises money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Each 
participant is required to raise at least $300 in pledges. As of 
midweek, the local team from Cal Fire/San Luis Obispo County Station 
12 had raised more than $7,500 ... on top of the grueling training 
they've been doing.

To prepare, the team has been climbing stairs at a Cal Poly parking 
garage. They repeat the climb 15 times, for a total of 1,350 stairs. 
And here's the real kicker: They're making the climbs while wearing 
about 60 pounds of gear - including breathing masks and oxygen bottles.

On Sunday, the firefighters also will carry lists of names of local 
residents affected by leukemia and lymphoma. That's a great way to 
honor the families dealing with these diseases - and an inspiration 
to all of us following the team's progress
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom