Huntington Beach Voters Revisit Tax on Cannabis Businesses, Changes to City Charter

The pier in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Oct. 27, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Huntington Beach voters will decide Nov. 8 if the city should establish taxes for commercial cannabis businesses, as well as on three amendments to the city’s governing documents, including changing gender-related pronouns in the text of its city charter.

The two-pronged initiative, known as Measure L, if approved, would change the city charter to allow the city to build and upgrade restrooms and utilities at its parks and beaches without voter input, if the height and footprint don’t change by more than 10 percent.

Additionally, it would update language in the city’s charter, such as phrases, pronouns, titles, and procedures to clarify their meaning. This includes replacing gender-specific words with the title of the position or a gender-neutral term.

Another initiative, Measure M would amend the city charter to allow the seven-member city council to fill a vacancy on the council with four votes, rather than a simple majority of councilors present at the time of the vote, and only until the next municipal election.

The measure also removes the requirement that the city attorney have a degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association, and it would no longer require the city treasurer submit monthly financial reports, since the city’s Department of Finance took over that years ago.

Measure N, if approved, would clarify the relationship between the city and its city attorney as outlined in the city’s charter and would allow the city council to bypass the elected city attorney to hire outside counsel for legal matters.

The city council would only be allowed to hire such at the request of the city attorney, in the advent of a conflict of interest.

The city is also contemplating whether to reverse its current ban on cannabis businesses.

While another initiative on the ballot, Measure O wouldn’t decide whether to allow them or not, it gives voters the chance to tax commercial cannabis businesses if they are allowed in the future.

Retail cannabis businesses, if the measure is approved, would be taxed up to six percent of gross receipts, and non-retail up to one percent, generating between $300,000 and $600,000 annually to fund other city services, according to the city.

The measure failed by a narrow margin in the June 2022 election.

Councilmembers Kim Carr, Rhonda Bolton, and Dan Kalmick support the measure because, they say, they want the city to benefit financially if such businesses are allowed or “imposed upon them” by Sacramento, as what happened in Kern County, when a state bill was introduced in 2019 to reverse a county-wide ban pot shops.

Russell Neal, Vice President of the Huntington Beach Republican Assembly—an organization that supports Republican candidates—said the city council will use the measure, if passed, as an excuse to legalize retail cannabis.

“If this measure is approved, the Council will have your ‘green light’ to legalize retail recreational cannabis stores anywhere they want,” Neal wrote in an argument against the measure (pdf).