In September of 2020, the Port Huron City Council passed a marihuana ordinance that allowed six licenses for marihuana establishments in the city. The ordinance allowed for 3 retail locations, 1 microbusiness, a safety compliance facility, and a secure transporter. The ordinance became effective in the first part of October, but was repealed after the November 2020 election by the passage of Proposal One.
Proposal One made changes to the way marihuana businesses would be approved to operate in the city, and it allowed closer to 20 businesses to receive a license to operate in the city.
Now, voters are again faced with whether or not to pass Proposal One in a special election on August 3, 2021, and many are confused.
Postcards went out this week to Port Huron residents, one supporting Proposal 1 paid for by Progress for Michigan 2020, and one opposing the proposal sent out by The Exhibit Cannabis Company.
The Exhibit Cannabis Company is a domestic limited liability company from Warren, Michigan owned by Mark Aubrey, and it is difficult to identify details about the group “Progress for Michigan 2020”, although there is a similarly named progressive political action group named Progress Michigan that does not seem to be involved with the marihuana ordinances in the city of Port Huron.
What is clear about the situation is that Progress for Michigan 2020 is the group that initiated Proposal 1 in the November 2020 election, which negated the city’s marihuana ordinance and delayed the opening of marihuana businesses in the city. They are also the group currently involved in several court cases against the City of Port Huron which are further delaying the opening of marihuana businesses, and they are the group that initiated this special election that is costing Port Huron tax payers $20,000.
The opponent of Proposal 1, The Exhibit Cannabis Company, claims that Port Huron residents are being catfished by Progress for Michigan 2020, and because of the ambiguity surrounding the language of the proposal and the identity of Progress for Michigan 2020, it seems like it’s up to individual voters to determine if that’s what they believe.
According to Mayor Pauline Repp she understands the confusion but she cannot offer guidance to the voters on which vote is best for the city. However, she did say that “We should’ve stuck with what the city council passed, and it would all be in order right now.”
Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand
