Haschak Town Hall covers drought, fire, and cannabis

May 24, 2021 — Supervisor John Haschak met virtually with a friendly crowd at a town hall organized by Willits Mayor Madge Strong and the Willits Economic Localization group. 
Residents talked about water, fire, money, cannabis, and public safety. Haschak, who is on a drought ad hoc committee, said the county is considering asking residents for a 20% voluntary reduction in water usage. He didn’t have exact numbers for emergency drought funding from the state, but he said projects that are well planned and ready to go would be more likely to get the money when it comes. One woman from Laytonville said her well has already gone dry, which she attributes to large pot grows in her neighborhood.
Haschak also touched on the status of the public safety advisory committee, in response to a question about a presentation that South Coast Organizing for Radical Equity is scheduled to make to the board on Tuesday, encouraging an audit of the sheriff’s office.
But it was the proposed cannabis ordinance that drew the most comment. Haschak has been the lone dissenting vote on the proposal, which has been through the planning commission twice and is expected to come back to the board on June second. Organizers around the county are preparing to get a referendum on the ballot to repeal the ordinance, in anticipation of its approval. The first training in gathering signatures was yesterday, and more are scheduled throughout the week. Charles Sargenti had been organizing an effort for another referendum that would have only called for a partial repeal.
Late last month, on the day the board sent the proposed ordinance back to the planning commission, supporters of a referendum held a rally outside the empty board chambers. Haschak took a question from kzyx about when the meetings will be open to in-person participation again. Reportedly, the board chambers are currently being renovated, though county staff can be seen at the front of the room during meetings.
Cannabis activist Paul Hansbury is familiar with difficulties posed by permits. “It’s interesting that after a year and a half of lockdown and quarantine, that they’re getting around to renovations in the chambers,” he remarked, to laughter. “Unless they had to get a building permit.”