To the editor:

I attended the City Council Technical Review meeting on July 15. An interesting fact
came out of that meeting. There are only 30 – 50 people in Mesquite with cards for
medical marijuana. This represents less than a quarter of 1%. That means that the City
Council is contemplating ordinances which effect 100% of our population, but which
would only possibly help less than 1%.

As stated in the local papers after the Technical Review meeting on June 24, the proposed
ordinances for dealing with medical marijuana would be on the July 22 City Council
meeting agenda. I was surprised when I read in the paper that at the City Council
meeting on July 8, the council voted to delay any decisions about medical marijuana for
six months. Then lo and behold the next day there is another article which said that
during the night two of our city council members changed their minds. Then on July 15,
the City Council voted to put the medical marijuana ordinances on the agenda again for
the City Council meeting on July 22.

It appears to me that the City Council is doing its best to NOT get input from the citizens
and taxpayers of Mesquite. A delay of 6 months would allow our vacationing citizenry a
chance to get informed about the new ordinances and what they will mean to them. I
believe the City Council should vote for a 6 month delay to hold more public forums and
get public input.

It is very troubling that once our City Council either accepts or declines an issue it really
isn’t decided at all. This isn’t the first time either. Remember recently how the City
Council voted down a proposal for a splash-pad. The next day out-going mayor Mark
Weir vetoed it causing it to be changed to its passage. Even though the city attorney says
all of these machinations are legal, they certainly are not ethical.

Jacqueline Humfeld Dietrich
Mesquite