We REALLY need Naperville residents to Email and Speak at the Naperville CC meeting on Oct. 1st to avoid delaying the Cannabis Referendum and kicking the can to November 2020 or April 2021 as some Council Members have proposed.

Next Naperville City Council Meeting is on Oct. 1st at 7PM at 400 S. Eagle St this will be on the agenda. They will be voting on the Cannabis Referendum and setting the schedule and rules for the preparation of the Referendum on Naperville Ballots.

March 17th Primary 
November 3rd General
Spring 2021 Municipal

Please Email the City Council and ask that they not delay the Referendum and vote for March 17th Primary:

Email Naperville CC: council@naperville.il.us

Please attend the City Council Meeting on Oct 1st and speak to ensure that if this referendum is on our the Primary Ballots. Let the voters decide and not delay for a year or two to place this on voters ballots.

We are hoping to have your support for the Opt/IN or out referendum to be in the March 17, 2020 Primary Ballot. Please Email the Naperville CC and attend the Oct 1st meeting at 7PM. If you wish to speak please PM Holly Hootman on FB or Text her at 773 369 5153 to get you on the list of speakers early.

Preferably the Naperville City Council would not prolonging the referendum and delay the Vote for the residents of Naperville which has been divisive issue for our community.

#WeThePeople
#WhyWait
#2020PrimaryElection

by Holly Hootman

Councilman Benny White’s Statement is the most clear statement on #OptIn or Opt Out Vote on Tuesday Sept 3, 2019 since their meeting.  The PRESS has mixed up the Councilmembers positions as well as a referendum on March 17, 2020 Ballots in Naperville. Thank you Councilman White for the clarity on this important decision to sell Regulated Legal Cannabis to Adults in Naperville.

Councilman White’s Statement: facebook.com/1736669219992805/posts/2400020773657643

Some have mentioned they were having trouble sharing my post. Here it is again without the article.From Councilman White:

I want to express my thanks to the many residents who attended the Naperville City Council Meeting on Tuesday, September 3, 2019, and weighed in on the cannabis discussion. As I said then and I reiterate now, this was a great demonstration of what makes our country so great, the right to free speech.

As far as the discussion on Tuesday, I empathize with the community members who have concerns about what opting-in would do to our community. As a former school board member and the father of two, now young adults, I understand entirely the need to protect our kids. However, most of the concerns voiced by the opt-out side dealt with legalization. The reality is whether we like it or not; it is coming to Naperville, and many of the concerns (whether they are founded or not) will be realized regardless if Naperville opts-in or opts-out. Our state legislature has already made the decision to legalize the sale of recreational cannabis by voting into law the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA) that goes into effect on January 1, 2020. CRTA legalizes and regulates the production, consumption, and sale of recreational cannabis in Illinois.

So, what do we do about it? We could say we are not going to sell cannabis, but the truth is residents will acquire it legally (potentially low consumer protection standards) or illegally (with no standards). It is for this reason that I have been a proponent for opting-in.

During our deliberations on Tuesday, a proposal was made by Councilwoman Sullivan and supported by most of the council members that because of the divisiveness around this issue, we should let the community decide if they want to opt-in or opt-out by bringing the vote to a referendum. Although I am not a proponent of referendums because I believe elected officials are elected to make decisions, I felt it was the best option in this case.

To take the issue to a referendum, the city attorney instructed the Council we would have to opt-out for now and direct staff to come back with language for a proposed referendum, along with a date that would be appropriate and feasible. The vote went 6-3 in favor of opting-out for the reason of having a referendum. The three “no” votes were okay with a referendum but wanted the motion to include a proposed timeframe for the March 2020 primary elections. I understood that we could not legally vote on a date because this issue was not on the agenda. Therefore, I voted yes knowing that I would vote to support the March 2020 timeframe when we could appropriately do so.

Bottom line is this – the media appears to have missed the context of our discussion and wrote we opted-out 6-3 with little mention of a referendum. The more accurate story is that we voted 6-3 in favor of a referendum in which we had to “officially” opt-out to do so. The three “no” votes were also in favor of a referendum but wanted language to include the March 2020 date.”

The room was FULL and Opt Out had tons of people there and there was a lot of misinformation spoken and it’s understandable that the Press is confused.  So Marijuana will be on a Naperville Ballot sometime in the near future and I looks like they are pushing and have the votes for March Primary 2020 ballots.

• Kevin C: Opt Out
• John K: Opt Out
• Theresa S: Opt Out suggesting Referendum on March 17, 2020
• Patrick Kelly: Opt Opt Agreeing with Theresa Sullivan’s Suggestion To do a referendum.
• Judith Brodhead: Prefers Opt In but will go with a referandum
• Benny White: Leans towards Opt In but leaning to Referandum
• Patti Gustin: Opt Out
• Paul Hinterlong: Opt Out

Video of the Meeting that again went past Midnight.