Happy Healthy Holidays HOLIDAY SECTION | P.21 DECEMBER 17, 2010 VOLUME 18, NO. 50
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INSIDE: IN BUSINESS | PAGE 25
MountainViewOnline.com
End of an era: Duggan stepping down CITY MANAGER LEAVING POST, BUT NOT THE CITY HE LOVES By Daniel DeBolt
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ew things put as big a smile on City Manager Kevin Duggan’s face as his story of meeting the founders of Google. When Larry Page and Sergei Brin came looking for a home in Mountain View, their
servers were small enough to fit in a closet. Perhaps it was thanks to Duggan’s charm that the city is now home to “the hottest company in the world” as he likes to call it. Such is the legacy of Duggan, who will be retiring April 2 after 20 years as Mountain View’s
well-respected city manager. Next June will mark 40 years since Duggan began his career with an internship in Mountain View’s then-City Manager Jim O’Halloran’s office. His career introduction involved being chased by junkyard dogs, he recalled with a laugh, as he
Mentors show kids a way out of troubled lives By Daniel DeBolt
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wight Matthew’s current mentee shows unusual promise. “I have no doubt he’s going to college,” said Dwight Matthews, a State Farm Insurance agent. Mitch, a student at Alta Vista High School, has taken his SAT’s, lifted his grades and toured universities. Mitch said
he loves playing the piano and he appears to have a natural talent for playing and composing music, Matthews said. “He told me he can start playing and he could forget he’s playing,” Matthews said. “There is something special about this man he has to share with this world. It would be a crime for him to not go all the way.” It’s not always been easy for Mitch and “he’s come a long away,” Matthews said. Mitch was improving his grades in fits and starts before. Since having Matthews as his mentor the past See HOLIDAY FUND, page 11
INSIDE
worked on projects related to the redevelopment of the Shoreline area. Long before Google arrived, it was home to a pig farm and wrecking yards. Duggan, 60, has become one of the most highly regarded city See DUGGAN, page 8
Plenty of ideas for marijuana dispensaries By Daniel DeBolt
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Mitchell Jefferson, a student at Alta Vista High School, shows his mentor Dwight Matthews the new songs he’s been practicing. Donations to the Voice’s Holiday Fund support Partners for a New Generation’s mentoring programs, as well as six other local non-profit organizations.
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Kevin Duggan
group of 30 people discussed the city’s draft medical marijuana regulations at a City Hall meeting Thursday night, criticizing numerous potential requirements such as those that marijuana be tested for contaminants and that it be grown where it is sold. With the City Council expected to vote on marijuana regulation in February, four city officials sat at a table in front of the audience hoping to receive some valuable insights: City Attorney Jannie Quinn, Assistant City Attorney Krishan Chopra, police officer Derek Sousa and City Planner Melinda Denis. “We recognize there’s no onesize-fits-all approach to this” Chopra said, with Sousa adding, “We’re here to listen.” Resident Brian David hopes to open the Shoreline Wellness Collective in Mountain View, but said he is also considering Sunnyvale, which may allow medical marijuana dispensaries soon. Currently no cities in the South Bay legally allow marijuana dispensaries, although authorities have often turned a blind eye to them in San Jose. Mountain View’s neighboring cities of Palo Alto and Los Altos have a permanent
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ban on marijuana dispensaries. Growing questions The city is considering a requirement that all marijuana sold in a dispensary be grown on-site, but several dispensary operators and advocates from Mountain View, San Jose and Oakland said that would be impractical at best or a “nightmare” at worst. Requiring on site growing is “an attractive option at first, but it’s been found to not be viable,” said former Oakland City Attorney James Anthony, who is now a consultant on medical marijuana policies. Basically, it would result in no interest in operating a dispensary in Mountain View, Anthony said. “The amount of plants would be astronomical” said prospective dispensary operator and Mountain View resident Jon Lustig, considering the fact that many dispensaries have 1,500 patients. And there would be technical issues with growing 50 different strains that dispensaries usually sell in one space, he said. Nevertheless, the city has an interest in where medical marijuana is coming from and how it is grown to ensure its safety, Quinn said. The city could still regulate See DISPENSARY, page 7