Mr. Peabody, Author at Friends For Fullerton's Future

Recently Fullerton’s Redevelopment Director, Robert Zur Schmiede (who also serves on the planning commission for Laguna Beach) decided to channel his inner MD for an impromptu prescription to the Laguna Beach City Council to ban all medical marijuana dispensaries from the city. An OC Register article detailing the issue is available here, but here are a couple of noteworthy quotes:

“While acknowledging the needs of ill patients to access marijuana, I will not support — and will, in fact, vehemently oppose — the allowance of collectives in the city,” Commissioner Robert Zur Schmiede said.

“Why anyone with a grain of sense thinks this is something we should do is beyond me,” he added, to some murmurs in the audience.

Father Schmiede Knows Best — Father Zur Schmiede Knows Best

Let’s get this straight:

the majority of voters in California elected to legalize marijuana for medical use 13 years ago
Zur Schmiede is fully aware that there are ailing citizens who have a legitimate medical need for the drug
Zur Schmiede does not have a medical degree

Despite all that, he actively seeks to deny patients access to a drug that a licensed medical doctor has recommended for treatment.

Hmm... No medical marijuana for you! Trust me. I'm not a doctor.

Does Zur Schmiede really have the public interest in mind here? Can we expect this sort of reefer madness to echo in Fullerton? Or can we reasonably expect our city staff to uphold State law?

08/04/09 UPDATE BY THE FULLERTON HARPOON:

We have delved deep into our photo archives and have uncovered this image. And so continuing in the Robert Young leitmotif we share it with our Friends.

But I'm sick and need help! Nein! Ve vill never approve this pprescription! — But I'm sick and need help! Nein! Ve vill never approve zis prescription!

The other day I took my elementary-age children to Cafe West for a cool drink, and found this postcard on the counter:

harbor-alley harbor-alley2

The triptych above seems to reflect a strategy all too common in the city:

Phase #1: tear out trees (and put in a subsidized fire line for the “night clubs”)
Phase #2: fill holes with temporary asphalt
Phase #3: ask questions later

To most of us, this would seem a bit like putting the cart before the horse, but one has to wonder if the RDA sees it that way.

donkeywork — Redevelopment Project Overload; Council Loses Traction

What’s the mystery here? For goodness sake, this is just an alleyway, all they’ve done is yank out a few trees! What kind of “design” is required here? Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill!

My own kids provided some helpful suggestions as to what to do with the freshly vacated space in the alley. One of them thought a modern sculpture would be appropriate, while the other mused that perhaps another luxury apartment complex could be squeezed into that tiny space. Hey, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

The view's not all that great, but the rent is reasonable! — Or how about affordable housing? Alley-style!

However, given Fullerton’s recent trend of rolling out the red carpet to the bar scene, perhaps a European-styled “pissoir” could not only provide a visually attractive option, but one that’s functional as well.

True, a few fumes may greet the occasional pedestrian walking through the alley, but this would be one project the RDA could actually claim where form follows function.

This triptych seemed to reflect a strategy all too common in the city:

Author: Mr. Peabody

No Stems or Seeds That You Don’t Need

The West Harbor Alley Improvement Project