After going back and forth for nearly four months on whether to ban the sale of products made with hemp or regulate it to generate revenue, the Waukegan City Council is poised to make it an illegal product.
The council’s Committee of the Whole voted 9-1 Monday at City Hall to send an amended ordinance to the City Council prohibiting the sale of products made with hemp at stores with a tobacco license.
Stewart Weiss, an attorney with corporation counsel Elrod Friedman, said in January that people are synthesizing industrial hemp — a legal unregulated product — into substances with the properties of cannabis.
When the proposal was first considered in January, Ald. Jose Guzman, 2nd Ward, suggested regulating the product and adding a hefty licensing fee to generate revenue for the city. In March, the idea was reconsidered and he chose to drop his proposal.
With the amended ordinance approved by the committee, the only remaining issue for the full council when it meets at 7 p.m. on March 20 at City Hall is setting an effective date for the new law. The delay is required since it creates a fine and penalty for illegal conduct.
“If you wanted to have the delayed effective date a little longer to allow retailers go get rid of this product, or if you think these are detrimental enough products that 10 days is sufficient that would be an appropriate thing for you to comment on,” Weiss said.
Though a hemp ban appears highly likely, Guzman wants to give the local businesses enough time to get rid of products they can no longer sell. He cast the lone vote against the amended ordinance.
“It wasn’t banned before, but we’re banning it now so you have to give time for the retailers time to sell out,” he said. “You’re basically telling them to lose their money or move it somewhere else. You can’t do that.”
Since the amended ordinance cannot become law until May 20, Weiss said merchants are effectively getting a notice through the end of May. Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, wants the ban in place as soon as possible.
Florian said if the retailers were concerned, the city would have heard of their objections. She noted none came to the meeting to speak out.
“We really don’t want this in our community,” Florian said. “How many more people could be harmed if you extend it 10 days further? Ten days is more than sufficient time. I don’t really want to give them 10 days.”
Clerk, treasurer pay
Approximately a year ago, the City Council approved its annual salary ordinance, which included the first increase in pay for the city clerk and treasurer since 2012. The increase was scheduled to take effect when the next term starts in May of 2025.
City law prohibits increases or decreases in the pay of elected officials during their current term. Pay for the clerk was to go from $80,720 to $94,000, while the treasurer’s salary climbed from $22,000 to $26,000.
While compensation for elected officials cannot be changed during a current term, Weiss said city law requires a salary ordinance for all positions be approved annually which is why it was on the agenda.
Shortly after four new council members took office — Guzman, Ald. Jose Martinez, 3rd Ward, Ald. Victor Felix, 4th Ward, and Ald. Michael Donnenwirth, 7th Ward — in May of last year, Guzman led a successful effort to reverse the increases for the clerk and treasurer when the next term starts in 2025.
Ald. Edith Newsome 5th Ward, said Monday when the current ordinance was being considered, she wanted to restore the higher pay. Even though it will not be effective until after the 2025 municipal election, she said more than a decade is too long to wait.
“That is a full-time position and the clerk’s office hasn’t had a raise since 2012,” she said. “That position deserves an increase. The cost of living has gone up. If you don’t put any value on yourself and what you can produce, who else is?”
Weiss said he would prepare an amended ordinance for the May 20 meeting which would include the precise amount of pay and the 2% cost of living adjustments which Newsome also suggested. Changes cannot be made within 180 days of the election for the office. Guzman warned of the consequences should the salaries be increased.
“This is the start of raising your property taxes,” he said. “This is an elected position. People will run for this position. If you put it at $50,000, people will run for this position because they want power.”