Paul Pitino, Experience Counts!

In response to my reader writer, I recently viewed Paul Pitino http://www.paulpitino.com/ debating on League of Women Voters-sponsored televised debates on KEET, with 3rd District candidates Mark Lovelace and Bryan Plumley. Paul Pitino, a current member of the Arcata City Council and self-employed landscaper, called for building up existing small businesses.

Lovelace made vague "pie in the sky" wishes for breeding money grubbers who would sell out to a corporation to ensure revenue from outside sources. For Mark Lovelace, a manufacturing consultant, the key is assisting and attracting and assisting small businesses that produce products sold around the country and the world. ( In other words, sweat factories!)

Plumley is out to save the Planet and not his community. He wants to shut down local "Ma and Pa" Grow houses thus ensuring that dispensaries do not become a dominant part of the local economy. ”There's a huge opportunity to brand Humboldt County with environmental values,” he said. The resulting reputation could demand premium returns in out-of-the-area sales." That is great, but when do we start dealing with real issues like Police Watch Groups, Homeless Dwellings, and Transportation Related Issues?

The city of Arcata's recently completed land use guide, Pitino said, addresses many of the challenges posed with the presence of medical marijuana dispensaries within the municipality. He called for the clinics to be secure and confined. So, regardless of what you think about the Arcata City Council, Pitino recognizes the importance of legitimacy with such things as Medical Marijuana.

Pitino also encouraged expanding public bus service to seven days a week and evenings.

”Having a bus system that works is a real shot in the arm for economic development,” he said.