Dec 1 Newsletter - County Counsel's bad advice
December 1, 2025
December 1, 2025
COUNTY'S HANDLING OF CANNABIS UPDATE RAISES CONCERNS AND ADDS CONFUSION
The Sonoma County process for the updated cannabis ordinance and FEIR has been riddled with problems including misleading information from staff to supervisors and multiple State law conflicts, generating many questions from constituents and the supervisors. Input from the County Counsel’s office about these issues seemingly has added to the confusion.
COUNTY COUNSEL PROVIDES QUESTIONABLE ADVICE
Since the first meeting on October 28th, email exchanges reveal that based upon County Counsel’s advice, at least one supervisor was led to believe that he/she could not review information submitted after that meeting and before the December 9th vote. There is no State or Federal law supporting that advice. Similarly, there is no law prohibiting a supervisor from meeting with a constituent in person or by phone. Nevertheless, our County Counsel told the Neighborhood Coalition that not allowing private communications with constituents after the October 28th meeting was a County “practice” to ensure a “fair” process. It appears the supervisor interpreted this to mean it also was improper to review any correspondence from any constituents after the October 28th meeting and before the December 9th vote. Other constituents received the same response, thus intimidating them from communicating with their supervisors.
The fact that there is this level of uncertainty in even one supervisor’s office is completely unacceptable.
Why are we concerned? The October 28th hearing revealed unanswered questions on the part of the supervisors and some uncertainty as to what exactly Permit Sonoma is recommending. The supervisors’ vote on these issues should be informed by the most and best information to avoid any confusion as to the issues before them. Furthermore, the supervisors should hear from their constituents about their own concerns and questions as to what exactly Permit Sonoma is trying to achieve with its convoluted proposals. Until all the supervisors’ and the public’s questions have been answered, and until the public has been assured of a fully transparent process, any vote on the pending ordinance must be postponed.
The next Board of Superivsor's hearing is scheduled for December 9th. Save the date.