Marijuana initiative backer drops lawsuit against Costa Mesa
An Orange County Superior Court judge has dismissed a medical marijuana lawsuit filed against the city of Costa Mesa at the request of the plaintiff.
Fullerton attorney Randall Longwith asked for the case to be dropped Friday, three weeks after a county judge ruled against a similar marijuana lawsuit filed against Costa Mesa.
Longwith’s case had contested the City Council’s decision in December to place his marijuana initiative on the city’s 2016 ballot, instead of hold a special election this year.
The council’s reasoning was that because the initiative — which would allow up to eight dispensaries in a city that otherwise bans them — also proposed a new tax, it would be unconstitutional to present it during a special election. They cited Proposition 216, which requires new general taxes to appear on ballots when a local governing body is chosen.
In Costa Mesa’s case, that wasn’t until the next City Council election, on Nov. 8, 2016.
Longwith had argued that the council misinterpreted Proposition 216, which prohibits “local governments” from instituting new taxes without voter approval.
He pointed to his petition’s roughly 11,000 voter signatures. Those people cannot be considered a “local government” and the proposition isn’t valid, Longwith contended.
“If anything, the people exercising their power of initiative are the antithesis, the polar opposite, of a local government,” he told the Daily Pilot in March, when he filed the lawsuit.
Longwith was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
“We believe the general election is where this initiative should be decided, and we are pleased that the judge agreed with our interpretation,” city spokesman Tony Dodero said Wednesday.
The marijuana-related lawsuit that was denied by a county judge on Sept. 15 was filed by Los Angeles attorney David R. Welch who was unable to convince a county judge that his petition qualified for a special election.
Welch’s law, which also contained a new tax, would allow up to four marijuana dispensaries.
The council voted last year to place it on the November 2016 ballot.
