Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
WHILE THOSE attending the Bessemer City Council meeting Monday united to say the pledge, lines were quickly drawn in the turf on several issues, including medical marijuana. Those that are pro did not appear to change anyones minds and similarly those against did not win any converts either.
IAN MINIELLY
Bessemer - It did not take long Monday for the divergent groups on the Bessemer city council to draw up sides. The council and audience were united in pledging their allegiance to the flag, but it quickly began dissolving after that.
In a vote of 3-2, Kathy Whitburn, John Frello, and Al Gaiss voted against moving 17 pieces of public correspondence and the police contract reports for April and May, all filed under the "Consent Agenda," over to the "Documents and Correspondence" section of the agenda. The correspondence was still entered in the record, but it wasn't read or discussed at that time.
The same group voted 3-2 to accept the agenda, with the changes as amended, against Rob Coleman and Linda Nelson's effort to make the letters public. Those two initial votes set the tone for each controversial topic on the agenda. For the non-controversial agenda items, the group voted 5-0 in complete unison, but the two distinct blocks stayed true in controversy.
The 5-0 votes by the council approved the expenditure of funds to pay the city's bills at over $30,000. The group voted 5-0 to accept the financial statements and to allow the Special Olympics folks to use Bluff Valley Park for free. The Freedom of Information Act policy changes, were also accepted 5-0. Multiple voice votes also were unanimous.
However, when it came time to discuss public participation and whether the public should be limited to 3 minutes or given the latitude to speak for as long as 20 minutes, the council voted by block. Nelson and Coleman supported allowing the public to speak for as long as 20 while Whitburn, Gaiss, and Frello voted to limit public comment to 3 minutes, which is standard according to city manager Charly Loper.
The discussions on medical marijuana and the city's attorney was split along the same lines. Coleman and Nelson asked to bring in a new attorney due to potential conflicts of interest between Mike Korpela, the marijuana industry and the city, but were voted down 3-2 by the other three who do not see a conflict.
Afterwards, Loper read multiple ordinances proposed for the regulation of marijuana facilities the planning commission recommended be allowed within the western industrial park of Bessemer. Nelson countered Loper by saying none of the ordinances were agreed on, recommended, or discussed by the planning commission when they voted to recommend approval to the council.
Loper and Nelson went back and forth multiple times discussing what was and was not involved in the planning commissions recommendation, before the council agreed to move the ordinances back to the planning commission for detailed discussion and recommendation to council for a path forward.
The council is divided on the city's attorney and marijuana, that much is clear. However, a comment from the public regarding the recent survey residents filled out regarding marijuana was introduced during public comment, because the residents of the city actually favored allowing marijuana into Bessemer when put to an anonymous vote.
