Four of the five candidates attended the Oct. 9 Hamilton Rotary Club meeting to answer questions from the civic organization’s members. Candidate Andrew Conn was unable to attend due to an illness. The five candidates are seeking election to one of three open seats in the Nov. 4 general election.
For the past two years, City Council has stood pat on not allowing a dispensary or grow facility within Hamilton’s borders until the state of Ohio has more defined and established rules. However, some communities have embraced medicinal and recreational marijuana, like Middletown, Monroe and Seven Mile.
A contingent of city residents, organized as We Can Cannabis, wants Hamilton council to reconsider its pot prohibition.
During an April City Council meeting, resident David Stark said, “You don’t need to see online polls to know that it’s true, you can literally smell it in the air, weed is here, regardless of how we may feel.”
Candidate Lauren Copas Smallwood said while the state is hammering out the rules and regulations , Hamilton should have a defined plan.
“If we think down the road that a dispensary is going to be coming to our community, let’s form sort of group right now where we’re getting input from people, discussing things about the zoning, so if that ever does come down the pike, we are ready for it,” she said. “I think this is a good opportunity for us as a city council to work ahead.”
Councilman Joel Lauer said the city needs to “find a way to maximize our gains from this.”
“We need to maximize our gains and minimize our losses by investing in this smartly, intelligently, and minimizing the effect on our youth,” said Lauer, who said he’d like to see Hamilton on the cultivation side of the marijuana industry.
As a teacher at Garfield Middle School, he said he is concerned about dispensaries opening, “but people did vote for it, and some way we must find ways to work with that.”
Candidate Pat Bach agreed with Lauer, saying the voters in Ohio, as well as in Hamilton, soundly supported legalizing recreational marijuana and City Council needs to follow the will of the voters. However, state lawmakers have been slow finalize rules.
“The voters have spoken, and this is what we have,” he said. “I think if Columbus wants to try to regulate it any further, I think it should go back on the ballot and let the people decide.”
He said votes should count and matter.
“You have some people who are winners and some people who don’t get what they want, but at the end of the day, we need to let the system work for us,” he said.
Councilman Tim Naab said he visited the grow facility and dispensary in Forest Park, which is just south of Fairfield. He said the city administration is talking about the issue.
“The administration has potentially identified two recreational sites in Hamilton,” he said, though he didn’t say where in Hamilton. “We’re doing our homework, the state is still working in the legislature to be able to do what they want to do.”
IMPORTANT ELECTION DATES
Oct. 28: Absentee ballot applications (vote by mail) must be received by 8:30 p.m. the Butler County Board of Elections, 1802 Princeton Road, Hamilton
Nov. 2: The last day to cast an early ballot at the Butler County Board of Elections is from 1 to 5 p.m.
Nov. 3: Mailed absentee ballots must be postmarked by this date.
Nov 4: Polls are open on Election Day from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Votes must be cast at polling locations, but absentee ballots may be hand delivered to the county elections office by 7:30 p.m.
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