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July 21, 2005

PD members weigh in on Lobbying, Drug Policy

PD members Gary Storck and Stephen Burns recently wrote editorials about drug policy and the lobbying ordinance. Highlights are below:

Gary Storck - Isthmus July 21, 2005

Zach Brandon may consider himself a Democrat, but he is clearly from the right wing of the party. And while Democrats are in general more reliable supporters of medical marijuana than Republicans, there are all kinds of exceptions, like Bill Clinton, one of Brandon's heroes.

In early 2004, I worked with my alder, Judy Olson, to draft a resolution declaring March 14-21 "Madison Medical Marijuana Awareness Week. The resolution was on the agenda at the Council's March 2 meeting, with seven additional sponsors: Mike Verveer, Jean MacCubbin, Brenda Konkel, Matt Sloan, Austin King, Steve Holtzman and Brian Benford.

I was the first to speak in support, and I recalled not only how it had helped treat my glaucoma, but also how it helped a close friend, noting, "In the face of uncontrollable suffering, marijuana has literally been a godsend."

During the debate, Brandon argued against adoption, saying, "Any week that promotes drug use, be it legal or illegal, is not an appropriate message for this body to be sending."

The resolution was clearly not an attempt to "promote drug use," but to raise awareness of cruel policies that target some of our most defenseless citizens. Fortunately, the majority of the council understands why the resolution was before them, and the resolution passed with 11 votes.

Stephen Burns

Imagine a developer meeting with a city official to discuss a multi-million dollar package of tax breaks for his project. Should the public have the right to know that this meeting took place?

Well, if you're Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison Inc., the answer to this question is clearly "no". According to Schmitz, requiring the developer to register and report meetings with city officials would "hinder public input."

Nonsense. As a taxpayer I want to know when lobbyists talk to my elected officials (who work for me). I want investigative reporters to be able to "follow the money" when they look into city contracting or corporate tax giveaways. Madison's lobbying ordinance gives us all the right to know who's meeting who and wh en, and that's a good thing.

Given the hue and cry raised by many in our city's business community about the lobbying ordinance, I just have to wonder: what are they doing that they don't want us to know about?

Posted by prodane at July 21, 2005 05:42 PM