Residents urge review of Mesa budget process and challenge recreational marijuana delivery ban

Three Mesa residents used the Feb. 24 public-comment period to press the City Council on separate but substantive issues: a call to reconsider the city's budget-development process and continuing special district taxes in Eastmark; a request that the council amend a city ordinance that prohibits adult-use marijuana delivery; and an appeal for civility, bipartisanship and attention to diversity, equity and inclusion.

David Winstanley, a District 6 resident, asked the council to change how public input is scheduled during the budget process so that public comment does not appear to coincide with final votes. He said the city's published 12-step budget process includes steps for public input and final adoption but that combining input and the final vote in a single meeting ‘‘gives the perception that there is no chance to change.’’ Winstanley also raised a local tax concern, saying he and other Eastmark residents pay an additional $1,250 a year in Eastmark CFD and other special Eastmark taxes and that the council, acting as the CFD board, had authorized bonds making that tax permanent.

Michael Perron, also a District 6 resident, urged the council to revisit Mesa Ordinance 5601, which he said creates a prohibition on recreational marijuana delivery. Perron cited Arizona Proposition 207 (the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, passed November 2020) and referred to relevant state law, saying a locality ‘‘may not enact an ordinance, regulation or rule that is more restrictive than a comparable ordinance, regulation or rule that applied to medical marijuana’’ with respect to delivery. Perron said the city previously allowed medical marijuana delivery after a 2018 text amendment and argued the adult-use prohibition in Ordinance 5601 is more restrictive than the medical-marijuana standard. He encouraged the council and city attorney to begin the review and noted that other Arizona cities already allow adult-use delivery. Perron said allowing delivery could reduce road traffic and improve safety because regulated businesses would make deliveries rather than individual consumers driving to pick up purchases.

A third speaker, who identified himself as Scott Lehi of District 4, spoke in support of bipartisanship and said he wanted council members to work together and avoid the national partisan rancor. He also referenced the council's presentation recognizing indigenous culture and said maintaining diversity is important for the city.

Council members did not respond during the public-comment time, consistent with the meeting's non-agenda comment rules; staff and council may follow up after the meeting, the mayor noted. No formal council action on the budget process, Eastmark CFD bonds or Ordinance 5601 was taken during the meeting.