The following is a letter to the editor submitted by Mendocino County District 3 Supervisor John Haschak, published here as a column, in which he updates his constituents. We encourage the other supervisors to submit letters — we will happily publish them. You can see Haschak’s previous letters to his constituents here. The opinions expressed in this letter are the author’s, not those of The Mendocino Voice.
The new cannabis ordinance with expansion is going forward. The cultivation of 10% of rangeland and ag lands was approved 4-1 with direction given to staff to bring back language later in the summer to limit it to 2 acres for the near future.
There are some good things in this new ordinance such as no water hauling, some restrictions on hoop houses, prohibition of generators as primary power sources but the overall impact of large expansion was the prime reason I voted no.
The County needs to show that it can handle the current cohort of people in the permitting process, properly enforce the rules that we have already, and have a robust law enforcement response to the proliferation of illegal grows in our County. People are rightly concerned about water, environment, and community and their voices were loud and clear.
It has been a pleasure to give out my scholarships to graduating seniors from the 3rd District. Over the last three years, I have given out $27,000 in scholarships. That feels good! This year, there are three new, amazing recipients from Willits, Laytonville, and Round Valley.
Julissa Perez of Willits High School is going to Sacramento State with the goal of becoming a clinical psychologist. She envisions assisting her community with public service work.
Round Valley’s Jade Johns will be going to the College of the Redwoods and majoring in Psychology. She wants to be a substance abuse counselor with the goal of helping people with drug and alcohol abuse problems.
Mateia Taylor from Laytonville High School will pursue teaching special education students. She will attend Hawaii Pacific Univeristy and study Psychology. Mateia is the first in her family to go to college and has been very much involved in community activities.
Best wishes to all these graduates and I look forward to great contributions to our communities in the future.
Supervisor McGourty and I are the ad hoc committee for drought response. We are hosting a Countywide Drought Task Force zoom webinar on June 10 at 4:00. We will discuss the formation of a County water agency, voluntary water reductions, and other efforts to help us deal with this historic drought. The address is too long to put here but it will be on the County’s youtube channel and facebook page.
Best wishes and stay well,
John
Supervisor Haschak seems to be the only Supervisor looking out for the health and safety of Mendocino County. The drought, climate change, groundwater depletion, wildfires, etc. are all involved in the massive cannabis expansion. If the violence and crime experienced in Covelo hasn’t reached the rest of the county yet … it is just a matter of time. Citizens shouldn’t allow this expansion to go ahead. Sign the petition and put it to the vote!