A8
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2019
Authorities raid 247 Colorado homes growing black market pot
By DAN ELLIOTT
Associated Press
DENVER — Authorities
said Friday they raided hun-
dreds of black market mar-
ijuana operations in Colo-
rado that fl outed the state’s
cannabis law by growing
tens of thousands of plants
in Denver-area homes and
selling the drugs out of
state.
Investigators
seized
more than 80,000 plants and
4,500 pounds of harvested
marijuana, state and federal
prosecutors said at a news
conference. Offi cers raided
247 homes and eight busi-
nesses and arrested 42 peo-
ple in Denver and seven
nearby counties.
State law allows up to
12 marijuana plants per res-
idence for personal use,
but some of the homes had
more than 1,000 and many
had hundreds, U.S. Attor-
ney Jason Dunn said.
Colorado and nine other
states have broadly legal-
ized marijuana use but it
remains illegal under fed-
eral law. That has created
tension between some state
and federal offi cials.
But George Brauchler,
district attorney for the
south and east Denver sub-
urbs, stressed the investiga-
tion was a joint state-fed-
eral operation, not the
U.S. Department of Jus-
tice imposing its will on
Colorado.
“Make no mistake, we
are equal partners in this,”
Brauchler said.
State and federal offi cials
said the nearly three-year
investigation showed that
illegal marijuana traffi ck-
ing mushroomed after vot-
ers approved recreational
use in 2012.
Dunn said Colorado has
become the epicenter for a
nationwide black market in
marijuana.
Brauchler warned that
Colorado is becoming “the
wild West of weed.” He
said the provision in the
Port: McGrath also took aim at the Port Commission
Continued from Page A1
McGrath’s
damaging
assessment of Knight’s per-
formance provides some vin-
dication to critics of the exec-
utive director’s leadership
ability. Port Commissioner
Bill Hunsinger, in particular,
has accused Knight of vio-
lating Port policy and over-
stepping his authority and has
repeatedly said he should be
fi red.
Hunsinger,
74,
was
defeated in Tuesday’s elec-
tion by challenger Scott
McClaine and his term ends
in July.
“It might have cost me the
election, but I was going to be
78 by the time I was done,”
he said .
Chinook Building
McGrath detailed several
examples of what he sees as
Knight’s mismanagement of
important matters, from the
Port’s pursuit of federal disas-
ter relief money to the res-
olution of a lawsuit over the
operation of the Astoria Riv-
erwalk Inn.
McGrath claims Knight
violated Port policy and over-
stepped his authority in back-
room negotiations with local
developer Chester Trabucco
and his company, Marina Vil-
lage LLC , on a lease for the
Chinook Building next to the
West Mooring Basin.
‘SADLY, MY OBSERVATION IS THAT THE COMMISSION
TACITLY ENDORSES THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S
DISHONESTY, INCOMPETENCE AND
INABILITY TO COMPLETE A TASK.’
Matt McGrath | recently resigned as director of operations at the Port of Astoria
The
Port
Commis-
sion approved a lease with
Marina Village in September
2017 for more than $6,300
a month. McGrath claims
Trabucco began underpay-
ing by about $2,000 a month
after striking a “gentleman’s
agreement” with Knight to
base rent on receipts rather
than the original terms . Nei-
ther staff nor the Port Com-
mission were notifi ed of the
change, McGrath wrote to the
Port Commission.
“I have also mentioned to
you previously that I don’t
want to touch the Marina Vil-
lage, LLC/Chinook Building
issue because it is a lawsuit
waiting to happen,” he wrote
to Knight in February.
Trabucco has said the rents
on the Chinook Building were
adjusted when he terminated
the lease following a three-
month due diligence period,
during which he found more
than $500,000 in upgrades
needed to the building. The
developer claims he acted as
a pass-through after the ter-
mination, collecting rents on
behalf of the Port and pay-
ing the $4,800 monthly rent
to the Port, while waiting for
Knight to act on a term sheet
he delivered.
Trabucco was relieved
of his role at the Chinook
Building in October. He has
expressed frustration at the
lack of responsiveness from
Knight, along with the Port’s
intent to sell the Chinook
Building in a package with
the adjacent Riverwalk Inn
and former Seafare Restau-
rant without considering his
term sheet.
Tacit endorsement
McGrath also took aim at
the Port Commission, which
oversees Knight.
“Sadly, my observation
is that the c ommission tac-
itly endorses the e xecutive
d irector’s dishonesty, incom-
petence and inability to com-
plete a task,” he wrote.
Days after a jury found
Knight had made fraudu-
lent statements to a suitor
for the Riverwalk Inn, the
Port Commission voted 3-2
to extend Knight’s contract
for three years, giving him
Get to The Point.
a pay package of more than
$200,000 annually, includ-
ing benefi ts. The contract
includes two one-year exten-
sion options that could take
Knight through 2022.
Spence, Commissioner
James Campbell and Com-
missioner Robert Stevens
voted for the extension.
Hunsinger and Commis-
sioner Dirk Rohne voted
against the move . Rohne
wanted a rolling contract sub-
ject to annual performance
reviews.
While he didn’t always
agree with Hunsinger’s tac-
tics, Rohne shared many of
his concerns about Knight’s
management. Rohne also
referred to the conclusions
of an ad-hoc fi nance com-
mittee, which found the Port
is in a dire fi nancial situation
and needs to build credibility
with other governments and
the public .
“I was hoping we could
have an investigation, and
a third party could talk with
other staff, see if the accusa-
tions made by McGrath are
systemic,” Rohne said.
man for the Marijuana Pol-
icy Project, which advo-
cates for decriminalizing
marijuana, questioned how
prosecutors know that Col-
orado’s law attracted illegal
growers.
“Did they conduct a sur-
vey of illegal marijuana cul-
tivators to determine why
they decided to operate
where they did?” he said.
“Are they able to know
whether those operations
existed prior to legalization
or not?”
law that allows small-scale
home marijuana cultivation
opened the door to big, ille-
gal operations.
Brauchler warned that
other states considering
allowing home marijuana
plants could expect the
same but added he was not
trying to discourage them
from doing so.
“I think states are entitled
to do whatever they want,”
he said. “But they need to
know the reality of this.”
Mason Tvert, a spokes-
Astoria: City Council
extended contracts with
former city planners
Continued from Page A1
increasing the possible sal-
ary range from $85,185
to $103,543 to $89,239 to
$108,470.
Estes hopes the increase
to the salary range will
attract new candidates,
including those who may
have been hesitant to apply
because of pay. In working
with Prothman, Estes was
told the range the city had
been offering was low and
the city might want to con-
sider a more competitive
salary.
“It has been diffi cult
to attract fully qualifi ed
candidates who meet the
unique requirements of the
city of Astoria within the
current salary range and to
allow for increases,” Susan
Brooks, the city’s fi nance
director, noted in a memo
to city councilors.
The City Council also
extended contracts with
former city planners Rose-
mary Johnson and Mike
Morgan and with Robin
Scholetzky, of UrbanLens
Planning. The consultants
have been assisting on
day-to-day planning activ-
ities, planning permits,
code updates and special
projects.
Johnson’s
contract
was at $100,000; the
increase approved on
Monday brings the total
to $175,000. Morgan’s
contract was just below
$50,000 and was increased
to $75,000. Scholetzky’s
contract was $30,000. The
increase brings it up to
$45,000 .
“I think this last process
was a good process,” Estes
said about the recruitment
of Sackett and Emmons.
“We were presented with a
great set of candidates. I’m
hopeful that we will con-
tinue to get another good
set of applicants.”
He offered the job to
a person he felt would
have been a good fi t for the
city.
“We look at that as a
success,” he said. “Unfor-
tunately, it did not work
out for personal reasons.”
Estes had held off on
immediately
replacing
a city planning position,
hoping to involve a new
director . Now, he plans
to go ahead and begin
reviewing the applications
he received and sched-
ule interviews earlier than
planned.
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