Arcata Councilmember Ornelas on Marijuana and Arcata
Arcata Plaza
Community members who organized the recent marijuana forum in Bayside this past Saturday invited city officials from Arcata and Eureka to attend the event. Despite this, no municipal officials attended the meeting, though Arcata City Councilmember Susan Ornelas attended in an unofficial capacity and offered interesting insights into the issue of marijuana and Arcata.
In a recent interview by KMUD reporter Dave Brooksher, Ornelas further elaborated on her views.
The Arcata Council has long struggled to re-brand itself from marijuana, particularly in the face of recent national, and even international, media coverage further attaching the college city with marijuana. Ornelas said in the interview that the branding ignores other areas where the city has pride, such as Humboldt State University and the Arcata Marsh. And though the city hasn’t discussed marijuana since she was elected in 2008, she recognizes the important connection between marijuana and the economy in both the city and the county.
But it’s not marijuana, per say, that is the problem, it’s how it’s cultivated in Arcata.
The city has long struggled to regulate residential grow houses in the city and to deal with the occasional flare up if you will when a grow house goes up in flames. The city has thus far tackled the issue through land use code, particularly when it comes to the city’s medical marijuana dispensaries. But what kind of impact it is having on residential grows is really unknown at this time.
Arcata’s Energy Policy, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption, is difficult to achieve with indoor residential grows, Ornelas said. But when it comes to outdoor cultivation, it’s a different story.
“I’d like to see us really emphasize the outdoor grown (marijuana),” she said. “I think that’s the place where we can grab the market.”
Although the city hasn’t officially discussed Prop. 19 (the measure that would legalize marijuana for recreational use), Ornelas believes there is a rich and creative entrepreneur culture in Arcata and that people, if and when it becomes legal, will embrace it, particularly since the area’s reputation when it comes to marijuana is a marketing opportunity.
“I think if it gets legalized,” she said, “we should capitalize on it.”
Her name is spelled Ornelas JB(Quote) (Reply)
Oh shoot. Thanks. Sorry Susan. Reporta(Quote) (Reply)