Smoking Ban Repeal Vote in Wyoming; Unpaid Water Bills Protest in Detroit Enclave
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Leaders in this Oregon county really don’t want marijuana.
Here’s some of what we’ve been reading today …
CASPER, Wyoming: While cities across the nation have been instituting bans on smoking in restaurants and bars over the past decade, there’s been a move in Wyoming’s second-largest city in the opposite direction. Members of the City Council have decided to allow voters to decide whether the city’s ban on smoking should be repealed in an upcoming special election, according to the Casper Star Tribune:
Council members alluded to the possibility that if they decided the issue on their own, a citizens committee could again attempt to force an election, which would continue to leave bars owners in limbo.
An election will be held in the next 20 to 60 days. [Casper Star Tribune]
HIGHLAND PARK, Michigan: The interjurisdictional politics of unpaid water bills in Southeast Michigan is complicated and contentious. A Wayne County Circuit Judge had ruled that this fiscally impoverished city surrounded by Detroit owes the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, the area’s leading water authority, $21 million in unpaid water and sewer bills. And residents aren’t happy, as The Detroit News reports. “And now they’re talking about putting this on our property tax bills in December,” one resident who protested outside City Hall on Thursday said, according to The News. “I’m not paying them. I’m not paying them because I don’t know where the money is going. They haven’t been using the money to pay the water bill like they’re supposed to.” [The Detroit News]
KLAMATH COUNTY, Oregon: Leaders in this county in southern Oregon really don’t want the marijuana industry in their backyard, despite Oregon voters approving legalization through Measure 91. The county’s three-member commission voted unanimously this week to ban medical and recreational marijuana dispensaries plus processing sites and retailers, despite, the Herald and News reports, one commissioner saying that “I think we’ve lost the war on marijuana.” The commission chairman, Tom Mallams said: “Yes, the state of Oregon voted for this, Klamath County, whether you want to say we’re dragging our feet or are not up to the times, I can live with that.” Mallams is also facing a recall petition effort over his opposition to marijuana. [Herald and News]
SCHENECTADY, New York: This city near Albany is searching for a new police chief. And Mayor Gary McCarthy has laid out two requirements for the new hire, according to the Times Union: The new chief must live in the city and embrace data-driven policing. [Times Union]
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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