Murphys, CA…The Committee to Ban Commercial Cultivation announced today that the signature gathering campaign to put its measure up for a vote of the citizens has successfully concluded. The Committee was formed in July, shortly after a previous and similar initiative failed due to improper document formatting. Having failed to get that initiative on the November ballot required any new initiative to meet the standards for a special election, requiring twice the number of valid signatures, nearly 3,200.

The new campaign got underway in August with the goal of achieving 5,000 signatures by the end of October and has exceeded that goal. “We not only wanted a comfortable margin to account for any invalid signatures, but also to show the County Board of Supervisors the strength of resolve of the citizens to rid the county of this nuisance,” said Committee Chairman Bill McManus, “and we are delighted with the results.”
Unlike the initiative that placed Measure D on the November ballot using professional signature gatherers, the Committee relied entirely on volunteer help. “Many dozens of people are responsible for our success,” McManus added. “This is a true citizens’ initiative. We thank them and the thousands of people who signed the petition.”
In the near future, the signatures will be submitted to the County Elections Department for validation. Assuming a successful outcome, the Board of Supervisors in place at the time will have the option of adopting it as an ordinance, or sending it back to the Elections Department for placement on a special ballot, which may or may not contain additional election issues for County voters.
Proponents of the initiative and authors of the proposed ordinance were Bill McManus of the Calaveras Project and David Tunno, former County Planning Commissioner. The ordinance bans all commercial marijuana cultivation, manufacturing, processing and delivery within unincorporated Calaveras County, as well as dispensaries, while providing an exception for qualified medical patients under specified conditions. The complete ordinance and additional information is available on their website, www.bancommercialcultivation.com.

P.O. Box 1138, Murphys, CA 95247(209) 728-3325 www.bancommercialcultivation.com
info@bancommercialcultivation.com