Steamboat Pilot & Today

Oak Creek — Maybe Oak Creek residents aren't as supportive of medicinal marijuana as the Oak Creek Town Board is.

At Thursday night's meeting, the Town Board was scheduled to pass a resolution that would have urged U.S Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, to support an amendment preventing the federal government from interfering with state medicinal marijuana laws.

The Town Board unanimously passed a resolution in August supporting the legalization of medicinal marijuana, which met little resistance from the community or Town Board members who voted on the resolution.

However, Thursday night's meeting was more muddled.

Oak Creek resident Jim Eskridge said he thought it was inappropriate that the Town Board was voting a second time on the issue. Public officials should not vote about medicinal marijuana without town input, he said.

"I voted for you to take care of the town, like water and sewer issues, not medicinal marijuana," he said. "If you pass this, you're not speaking for the entire town."

Oak Creek Mayor Kathy "Cargo" Rodeman told Eskridge she had never talked to a resident who opposed the passing of August's resolution or Thursday's scheduled resolution.

"Obviously, you're not speaking to the same people I am," he said.

Public Works Director Jim Photos agreed.

"You were elected to the board to represent the town. As board members, this (resolution) shouldn't even be on the agenda. You speak for the town," he said.

However, Mike Kien, a proponent of medicinal marijuana rights, told Photos the board was representing the town.

"I voted for you guys to protect my constitutional rights," he said. "Right now, I think my constitutional rights are being violated by the federal government."

Board member Angie KenCairn said part of being a town representative is being asked to address and take a stance on local, state, national and global issues.

"People are always going to ask us as Oak Creek how we feel about the world. Are we attached to that? I think so. I hope this board reflects the views of the entire town," she said. "I think it's a very balanced board. We don't all think the same."

After discussion, the Town Board and audience members agreed to look at the election results from Oak Creek's November 2000 election in which the state had a ballot question regarding the legalization of marijuana.

Officials were not able to find the results during a momentary break and made a motion to pass the resolution if more than 50 percent of Oak Creek residents voted in favor of legalizing medicinal marijuana. If not, the resolution would fail.

Rodeman said she would look into the election results Friday and would mail the resolution to Salazar's office if she found that more than 50 percent of residents voted in favor or throw it in the garbage if they did not.

-- To reach Alexis DeLaCruz, call 871-4234 or e-mail adelacruz@steamboatpilot.com