Prosecuting Trimmers in Recent Case Already Cost Over $10K–Should Fuel Deliverers and Other Workers be Facing Charges, Too?

A shift in emphasis by Humboldt County’s District Attorney Paul Gallegos has consequences beyond the marijuana industry.  Gallegos has decided to not only prosecute trimmers who are found at the site of illegal grows but also to actively search out trim scenes to raid.  According to this informative article in the Times Standard, Gallegos stated, “These people need to understand that they are engaged in illegal activities and there will be consequences until the law is changed….I hope they understand that we are looking and we are watching and we are waiting until they’re there to do our busts.”

So apparently the intent is to wait until trimmers are at a scene when possible before raiding it.  According to another excellent piece in yesterday’s Times Standard the cost of this new policy may be a tremendous burden on us all.

Take the example of a recent preliminary hearing held for five co-defendants facing felony charges of cultivation and possession of marijuana for sales for allegedly working as trimmers at a Bridgeville growing operation. Taxpayers picked up the bill for four court-appointed defense attorneys and four interpreters brought up from the Los Angeles area to translate the proceedings into Russian and Bulgarian for the defendants.

According to numbers provided by the court, the price tag for the two-day hearing ran well in excess of $10,000, and that was just to determine if there is enough evidence to hold the defendants to answer to the charges they face. A jury trial — if the case goes that far — promises to be many times more expensive.

When I asked Gallegos if  the larger number of arrests now that trimmers were included would result in more funding to cover the rising costs, he answered,

Increasing numbers of arrests results in no financial benefit to this office. Nor will it enable our office to get bigger grants from the federal government. …[W]ith the exception of a grant for domestic violence, our office gets no money from federal grants.  Rather, our grants are state grants.  My office has an fiscal year budget.  That budget goes to pay salaries and benefits and the costs associated with running the office.  There are no additional costs for prosecuting more people.  That budget remains what it is whether we prosecute 10 or 10, 000 people.  Therefore, while there is no incentive to prosecute more people as it is more work, my responsibility is to enforce the laws of the State of California.  If I have sufficient evidence that someone is violating the law I will prosecute them.

A suggestion people have made is that the reason for this shift in policy is to cut down on transients as some folk feel that many transients are here in response to a need for trimmers.  Gallegos however, categorically, denied this.

I do not mean to be disrespectful but that is absurd.  First, the people that were arrested were not transients.  Second, I have no interest in prosecuting transients or anyone unless else they are breaking the law.  Transients, like everyone, are entitled to the protections of our laws.  Similarly, they should be held accountable to the community if they break those laws.

I am not about to participate in any plan that arrests and prosecutes people for the goal or reducing a transient population.  To do so would be unlawful, unethical,  reprehensible and short sighted.  Having someone on the streets, unless they are dangerous, is much less expensive than having someone in jail.  Jail is a very, very expensive process and it would be a terribly expensive way to deal with a transient problem.

I appreciate his directness but doesn’t it also follow that jail is a very, very expensive way to deal with trimmers?  Trimmers exist only because there are growers.  Difficult as it would be, growers could exist and do exist without additional trimmers. Gallegos says (in spite of his statement to the Times Standard that “ we are waiting until they’re there to do our busts”) that

We are not focusing on trimmers.  We are focusing on identifying criminal enterprises and prosecuting people engaged in them.  If there was a criminal gang we would want to arrest and prosecute all of those gang members.  Just prosecuting one or a few of them does nothing to stop the criminal enterprise.

Will prosecuting trimmers stop or appreciably slow down the black market trade in marijuana?  That seems unlikely to me. There are proportionately more trimmers than there are growers.  Prosecuting the growers caught has not ended or slowed down black market marijuana.  Prosecuting what will be a proportionately smaller number of trimmers will be even less likely to stop the activity.  However, what if the plan were not to just prosecute the trimmers and the growers?  What if the District Attorney’s office were to prosecute business people who deal intimately with growers?  Gallegos told me,

 I am well aware that marijuana is an industry in Humboldt County.  I personally wish marijuana was legal. ….

However, it is illegal.  My duty is to give everyone the protections of the law and to hold everyone accountable to the law.  I don’t write the law, I enforce it.  Further, I do not get to just enforce those laws that I agree with.  Therefore, everyone that we can establish is engaged in a criminal enterprises/activities or has broken the law of the state of California,  will be prosecuted.  I do not care if they are trimmers, water pipe installers, electricians, diesel fuel distributors or truckdrivers, saints or sinners.  My focus is on the/their conduct – not on the person/people.

If the idea were to go after all the folk even peripherally involved, that might have an effect on growers. Without their support system in the mainstream world, marijuana growers would have a harder time creating gardens and indoor grows. However, wouldn’t prosecution costs go through the roof?

Gallegos tells me that his office deals with over a 1000 marijuana cases a year but that prosecuting people involved beyond the growers would not add to his case load.

When an arrest is made and several people are arrested generally that does not result in several cases.  It results in one case with several defendants.  So, prosecuting trimmers should not unnecessarily increase our caseload.

However, just in the Bridgeville bust outlined above, the grower has already agreed to a plea deal.  The costs of the grower’s case will not go much higher if the judge approves the deal.  But, the trimmers are not included in that deal.  And the fees associated with them will continue to climb until resolution is reached.  Imagine the costs should the DA’s office  begin to prosecute all the carpenters, plumbers, electricians etc. who worked to build a grow and all the truckdrivers who deliver soil and fuel to a grow and all the trimmers who labor on a grow.  And how does one prove that these workers knew the grow was not medical? How can they be expected to know whether the pounds go for sale or are recompensed fairly under medical marijuana laws?  This kind of prosecution would require intensive investigation and the costs could be astronomical.

Are these costs society is willing to bear? The cost of the war against marijuana is already a tremendous burden on society. If the case outlined above is close to indicative, that will be well over a million dollars per year for our county to prosecute trimmers–mostly defenseless low income women.  One comment (see here) on an earlier post stated that a large percentage of manicurists are

…moms who have no other employment opportunities in the remote parts of the county. They live from trim job to trim job and that money pays for basic living things, not luxuries. They’re making around $20 an hour (unless they’re super fast) with no benefits or job security for part time and seasonal work. Making them felons and forcing them to defend themselves in court means either they have to pay an attorney or further burden the court system using publicly funded defense lawyers.

Prosecuting this segment of our society seems incredibly inefficient and even more stacked against poor folk than usual.*

__________________

For more reaction to this inequality see The Sentinel’s Weekly Roundup’s third paragraph.

Facebooktwitterpinterestmail

Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules

Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

67 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

i don’t get it…one minute you’re all for busting the bejeezus out of the immigrant big-ops, now you’re upset about it. You should know as well as i do to let sleeping dogs lie, the feds have everybody on watch whether they’d like to think so or not. with the snap of a finger, the whole “industry” could change in a day, across the whole country.

random guy
Guest
random guy
12 years ago

i don’t get it…one minute you’re all for busting the bejeezus out of the immigrant big-ops, now you’re upset about it. You should know as well as i do to let sleeping dogs lie, the feds have everybody on watch whether they’d like to think so or not. with the snap of a finger, the whole “industry” could change in a day, across the whole country.

Nicholas Bravo
Guest
12 years ago

Hey kim. Has anyone ever investigated how many shares of stock that Gallegos, and other city officials have in the industrial prison industry? Someone’s pocketing the money that taxpayers pump out each year to house non-violent offenders of victimless crimes.

Nicholas Bravo
Guest
12 years ago

Hey kim. Has anyone ever investigated how many shares of stock that Gallegos, and other city officials have in the industrial prison industry? Someone’s pocketing the money that taxpayers pump out each year to house non-violent offenders of victimless crimes.

tonebone
Guest
tonebone
12 years ago

What’s happening is, the Feds are clamping down even tighter because they are losing control over their livestock [us].

Please vote for Ron Paul in 2012. He’s the ONLY person willing to legalize cannabis, and has been an unwavering voice of reason for 35 years.

Fred Mangels
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  tonebone

No. Past 2 term governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, is also running for the Republican nomination and also would like to see marijuana decriminalized. You may have noticed he’s been ignored by the press and excluded from most of the Republican presidential debates. A good Gentleman’s Quarterly story on Johnson here:http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politics/201111/gary-johnson-republican-candidate-debate-interview?currentPage=1

And his campaign web site: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/

tonebone
Guest
tonebone
12 years ago

What’s happening is, the Feds are clamping down even tighter because they are losing control over their livestock [us].

Please vote for Ron Paul in 2012. He’s the ONLY person willing to legalize cannabis, and has been an unwavering voice of reason for 35 years.

Fred Mangels
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  tonebone

No. Past 2 term governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, is also running for the Republican nomination and also would like to see marijuana decriminalized. You may have noticed he’s been ignored by the press and excluded from most of the Republican presidential debates. A good Gentleman’s Quarterly story on Johnson here:http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politics/201111/gary-johnson-republican-candidate-debate-interview?currentPage=1

And his campaign web site: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/

Scob Do
Guest
12 years ago

I think this is all about the money. Bust the trimmers and you get more revenue, Bail bonds get more money, courts get more money, Fines, lawyers, which the D A is one of.
Overtime for the police. Our County is bankrupt, money wise and spiritual wise
This is all legal but it goes against his promise at the last election. Another lying politician, nothing new. Except if he is getting kick backs from the above mentioned.
Very Sad.

Scob Do
Guest
12 years ago

I think this is all about the money. Bust the trimmers and you get more revenue, Bail bonds get more money, courts get more money, Fines, lawyers, which the D A is one of.
Overtime for the police. Our County is bankrupt, money wise and spiritual wise
This is all legal but it goes against his promise at the last election. Another lying politician, nothing new. Except if he is getting kick backs from the above mentioned.
Very Sad.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

Is Gallegos intentionally committing electoral suicide?

It’s hard to imagie that he really believes that he can apply his limted resources to jailing and prosecuting trimmers, water pipe installers, electricians, diesel fuel distributors or truckdrivers, while at the same time offering sweet plea bargain deals to the big growers, and then still expect to win re-election.

Whether he knows it or not, I think he may have just announced his retirement.

Fred Mangels
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

It does seem to be a drastic change in policy from what most would think was the status quo.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

It’s not only Pot Growers and Trimmers that live in and call Humboldt home. And in reality the trimmers are getting screwed by the growers, no workers comp for carpal tunnel, no social security paid into for retirement, no workers comp no unemployment, child labor laws are not being enforced for kids learning the ‘TRADE”. Trimming, a trade with no future. Trimming is unskilled labor with no future. The illegal pot industry has harmed our local community in so many ways. If trimming is your income source, well the times they are a changing are they not? Paul will get re-elected. And the legalization proposition lost in Humboldt County because the growers/trimmers voted it down. Greed, pure and simple.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

Is Gallegos intentionally committing electoral suicide?

It’s hard to imagie that he really believes that he can apply his limted resources to jailing and prosecuting trimmers, water pipe installers, electricians, diesel fuel distributors or truckdrivers, while at the same time offering sweet plea bargain deals to the big growers, and then still expect to win re-election.

Whether he knows it or not, I think he may have just announced his retirement.

Fred Mangels
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

It does seem to be a drastic change in policy from what most would think was the status quo.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

It’s not only Pot Growers and Trimmers that live in and call Humboldt home. And in reality the trimmers are getting screwed by the growers, no workers comp for carpal tunnel, no social security paid into for retirement, no workers comp no unemployment, child labor laws are not being enforced for kids learning the ‘TRADE”. Trimming, a trade with no future. Trimming is unskilled labor with no future. The illegal pot industry has harmed our local community in so many ways. If trimming is your income source, well the times they are a changing are they not? Paul will get re-elected. And the legalization proposition lost in Humboldt County because the growers/trimmers voted it down. Greed, pure and simple.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

Gallegos contradicts himself all over the place in this lame attempt to justify his new War on Trimmers. And by only referring to the direct costs to his own office, he attempts to mislead the public into thinking that he’s not wasting their tax dollars. Who does he think pays for the the cops, judges, court clerks, stenographers, and public defenders for all those trials? Who does he think pays for the jail costs, and for the probation officers and support staff to supervise those who are sentenced to probation? The Tooth Fairy? The Easter Bunny?

Obviously it’s the taxpayers of Humboldt County who will foot the bill for all that stuff. Gallegos took a pretty serious wrong turn the minute he started talking about wasting our limited law enforcement resources on trimmers, and now with his promise to go after water pipe installers, electricians, diesel fuel distributors or truckdrivers and presumably other, similar tradesmen, he’s just gone right off the road.

Better hang on tight, Paul…I think you’re in for a bumpy ride.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

Gallegos contradicts himself all over the place in this lame attempt to justify his new War on Trimmers. And by only referring to the direct costs to his own office, he attempts to mislead the public into thinking that he’s not wasting their tax dollars. Who does he think pays for the the cops, judges, court clerks, stenographers, and public defenders for all those trials? Who does he think pays for the jail costs, and for the probation officers and support staff to supervise those who are sentenced to probation? The Tooth Fairy? The Easter Bunny?

Obviously it’s the taxpayers of Humboldt County who will foot the bill for all that stuff. Gallegos took a pretty serious wrong turn the minute he started talking about wasting our limited law enforcement resources on trimmers, and now with his promise to go after water pipe installers, electricians, diesel fuel distributors or truckdrivers and presumably other, similar tradesmen, he’s just gone right off the road.

Better hang on tight, Paul…I think you’re in for a bumpy ride.

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
12 years ago

Fiance here: The “mom’s” mentioned in the above post are mostly on welfare. Just like someone I know who personally told me she didn’t need the welfare she was getting. They do not live “trim job to trim job”. They get all their families healthcare for free, they get food stamps and welfare-to-work checks. Because they are on welfare DCSS goes after the fathers of their children with a vengeance so they get inflated amounts of child support because they do no report their earnings from trimming. They are as much a drain on the system as prosecuting them is. I have documented evidence…..but DCSS just says “thats the way we do things here”, as does Gallegos’ office. Now that the Feds are crawling up his rear he has had to change his tack on letting people get away with what he has been letting them get away with for years.

If you go back and read some of my posts from the last few years I have warned you all that this was coming. I pay attention to the “big picture” by reading about what the Feds are doing across the board, not just in the EmTri. When they started taking computers and other records during Southern Sweep and in later busts, like the two kids Jordon and Jesse and with the diesel guy it was an early warning to everyone. I was told by many of you that I didn’t know what I was talking about. Apparently I did.

We tried hard to get my stepdaughter out of there when we found out that her mother was making her trim for her at he age of 12. Those judges that told us that “she was used to living in an abusive environment and that it would be too traumatic to take her out of it” are going to be held accountable if she gets busted with her mother. I would suggest that anyone who knows who I am talking about make sure that her mother keeps her out of it.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago
Reply to  humboldtkids

Another sad story of kids lives ruined by greedy growers. Child labor laws don’t apply to protect children in the underground pot economy. Charles Dickens could write a book about it. A Christmas Story for Humboldt County. Scrooge is alive and well. Money is everything in his world. Child abuse is uncool as well as illegal.

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
12 years ago
Reply to  Harry

Fiance here: Harry, if I told you the whole story it would make you sick. In my opinion they are stealing children for that all-mighty dollar. Trimming for her mother and her mothers friends is the least abusive part of the story! Ken Swithenbank ordered his deputies to refuse to do welfare checks on her and also forbid them from taking reports of her violations of court orders because without a police report the DA won’t file charges. Every time we brought it up in court the judges made excuses for her if hers weren’t good enough. Dear ole’ Ken even threatened US with harassment charges if we continued to call his office to get her to comply with court orders.

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
12 years ago

Fiance here: The “mom’s” mentioned in the above post are mostly on welfare. Just like someone I know who personally told me she didn’t need the welfare she was getting. They do not live “trim job to trim job”. They get all their families healthcare for free, they get food stamps and welfare-to-work checks. Because they are on welfare DCSS goes after the fathers of their children with a vengeance so they get inflated amounts of child support because they do no report their earnings from trimming. They are as much a drain on the system as prosecuting them is. I have documented evidence…..but DCSS just says “thats the way we do things here”, as does Gallegos’ office. Now that the Feds are crawling up his rear he has had to change his tack on letting people get away with what he has been letting them get away with for years.

If you go back and read some of my posts from the last few years I have warned you all that this was coming. I pay attention to the “big picture” by reading about what the Feds are doing across the board, not just in the EmTri. When they started taking computers and other records during Southern Sweep and in later busts, like the two kids Jordon and Jesse and with the diesel guy it was an early warning to everyone. I was told by many of you that I didn’t know what I was talking about. Apparently I did.

We tried hard to get my stepdaughter out of there when we found out that her mother was making her trim for her at he age of 12. Those judges that told us that “she was used to living in an abusive environment and that it would be too traumatic to take her out of it” are going to be held accountable if she gets busted with her mother. I would suggest that anyone who knows who I am talking about make sure that her mother keeps her out of it.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago
Reply to  humboldtkids

Another sad story of kids lives ruined by greedy growers. Child labor laws don’t apply to protect children in the underground pot economy. Charles Dickens could write a book about it. A Christmas Story for Humboldt County. Scrooge is alive and well. Money is everything in his world. Child abuse is uncool as well as illegal.

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
12 years ago
Reply to  Harry

Fiance here: Harry, if I told you the whole story it would make you sick. In my opinion they are stealing children for that all-mighty dollar. Trimming for her mother and her mothers friends is the least abusive part of the story! Ken Swithenbank ordered his deputies to refuse to do welfare checks on her and also forbid them from taking reports of her violations of court orders because without a police report the DA won’t file charges. Every time we brought it up in court the judges made excuses for her if hers weren’t good enough. Dear ole’ Ken even threatened US with harassment charges if we continued to call his office to get her to comply with court orders.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

I doubt that very many local moms / trimmers really fit that stereotype. Lumping all moms who are trimmers together, and comdemning them all as a group, is obviously unfair. I don’t believe you are painting a very accurate portrait of what most local trimmers and most local moms are actually like.

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

I can only go by the ones I know……and they are all doing it. A DCSS attorney told me “we know what she is doing, that’s just the way we do things here, don’t mention it in court.”

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

I doubt that very many local moms / trimmers really fit that stereotype. Lumping all moms who are trimmers together, and comdemning them all as a group, is obviously unfair. I don’t believe you are painting a very accurate portrait of what most local trimmers and most local moms are actually like.

humboldtkids
Guest
humboldtkids
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

I can only go by the ones I know……and they are all doing it. A DCSS attorney told me “we know what she is doing, that’s just the way we do things here, don’t mention it in court.”

Joe Blow
Guest
12 years ago

Starting to get the picture, anyone? Humboldtkids proves my repeated points to you Kym, about the generational corruption inbred into the families by these criminals, both growers and local businesses and its relevant rotting consequences you so dearly defend.

Joe Blow
Guest
12 years ago

Starting to get the picture, anyone? Humboldtkids proves my repeated points to you Kym, about the generational corruption inbred into the families by these criminals, both growers and local businesses and its relevant rotting consequences you so dearly defend.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago

“Four interpreters brought up from the Los Angeles area to translate the proceedings into Russian and Bulgarian for the defendants” If it sounds like the Russian Mafia, might be the Russian Mafia moving into Humboldt County. The Mexican Mafia is tame by comparison. Just Legalize Pot.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago

“Four interpreters brought up from the Los Angeles area to translate the proceedings into Russian and Bulgarian for the defendants” If it sounds like the Russian Mafia, might be the Russian Mafia moving into Humboldt County. The Mexican Mafia is tame by comparison. Just Legalize Pot.

pot math
Guest
pot math
12 years ago

Merely arrest trimmers = bad for economy but arrest illegal immigrants and intl. money launderers is not.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago
Reply to  pot math

Deportation is what Paul is going for with the arrest of Cartel Trimmers.

pot math
Guest
pot math
12 years ago

Merely arrest trimmers = bad for economy but arrest illegal immigrants and intl. money launderers is not.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago
Reply to  pot math

Deportation is what Paul is going for with the arrest of Cartel Trimmers.

longwind
Guest
longwind
12 years ago

Paul’s spouting slogans and smears taken from the ranks of gibbering drug-war nut jobs before him. He’s lying about people who *do* pay taxes, who support families, who enrich the county while constituting its economic base. And who voted for him. It’s possible he really just wants to pin charges on these Bulgarians to make them easier to deport–but punishing them more severely than their employer disgraces Paul himself, and invalidates his loopy logic defending it. It was precisely this estrangement from elementary justice that disgraced Terry Farmer before him, remember? Remember how you used to stand up for justice, Paul?

As for Paul’s claim that he’ll go after “trimmers, water pipe installers, electricians, diesel fuel distributors or truckdrivers,” it’s also fatuous. How about light salesmen, Paul? How about those evil hydroponic stores? Who have I forgotten of your campaign funding base? Hypocritical horseshit is the norm in politics, I know, but I didn’t expect it of you. We elected you for leadership and inspiration, not for more brain-dead Monkey See, Monkey Do meaningless politics as performance art.

I’d at least like to hear him say “The feds made me say it.” He has the nerve to say pot should be legalized, but its trimmers should be felonized. Shame on him.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago
Reply to  longwind

Yup, it’s as if an abolitionist took the position that in theory slavery should be abolished, but in the meantime they’re going to concentrate on vigorously prosecuting anyone who assists the underground railroad.

longwind
Guest
longwind
12 years ago

Paul’s spouting slogans and smears taken from the ranks of gibbering drug-war nut jobs before him. He’s lying about people who *do* pay taxes, who support families, who enrich the county while constituting its economic base. And who voted for him. It’s possible he really just wants to pin charges on these Bulgarians to make them easier to deport–but punishing them more severely than their employer disgraces Paul himself, and invalidates his loopy logic defending it. It was precisely this estrangement from elementary justice that disgraced Terry Farmer before him, remember? Remember how you used to stand up for justice, Paul?

As for Paul’s claim that he’ll go after “trimmers, water pipe installers, electricians, diesel fuel distributors or truckdrivers,” it’s also fatuous. How about light salesmen, Paul? How about those evil hydroponic stores? Who have I forgotten of your campaign funding base? Hypocritical horseshit is the norm in politics, I know, but I didn’t expect it of you. We elected you for leadership and inspiration, not for more brain-dead Monkey See, Monkey Do meaningless politics as performance art.

I’d at least like to hear him say “The feds made me say it.” He has the nerve to say pot should be legalized, but its trimmers should be felonized. Shame on him.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago
Reply to  longwind

Yup, it’s as if an abolitionist took the position that in theory slavery should be abolished, but in the meantime they’re going to concentrate on vigorously prosecuting anyone who assists the underground railroad.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

A friend informs me the owner of that outfit that sells trimming machines has raised significant amount of campaign cash for Gallegos.

Anybody know if that’s true?

anomalous
Guest
anomalous
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

Joey Burger, who owns Trim Scene Solutions, is also the president of the Humboldt Growers Association. HGA helped host a $250 a plate fund-raiser for the DA this summer: http://www.times-standard.com/news/ci_18360377

Uti
Guest
Uti
12 years ago
Reply to  anomalous

So by Gallegos’ definition Mr. Burger is engaged in a criminal enterprise which has given money to his political campaigns. I’d love to hear his explanation of this.

tra
Guest
tra
12 years ago

A friend informs me the owner of that outfit that sells trimming machines has raised significant amount of campaign cash for Gallegos.

Anybody know if that’s true?

anomalous
Guest
anomalous
12 years ago
Reply to  tra

Joey Burger, who owns Trim Scene Solutions, is also the president of the Humboldt Growers Association. HGA helped host a $250 a plate fund-raiser for the DA this summer: http://www.times-standard.com/news/ci_18360377

Uti
Guest
Uti
12 years ago
Reply to  anomalous

So by Gallegos’ definition Mr. Burger is engaged in a criminal enterprise which has given money to his political campaigns. I’d love to hear his explanation of this.

scottflowers
Guest
12 years ago
Reply to  anomalous

So in the modern Humbolt-version retelling of the classic American folktale, John Fiskar Henry competes against the Twister machine in a trimming race, and wins – but instead of dying of a heart attack from over-exertion, he is subsequently arrested and jailed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_(folklore)

Uti
Guest
Uti
12 years ago

Gallegos head is apparently somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine and there’s little oxygen. Pull out, pull out Paul before you crash and burn. I do electrical, plumbing and water work in this community and he’s saying I am part of a criminal enterprise, so if I am on someone’s property doing a job I can be arrested and prosecuted along with the owner/grower because the water and electrical systems system are also used to grow. By his absurd reasoning he could be arresting the businesses who deliver truckload after truckload of soil and amendments, how much more direct can you get that the very dirt that grows the plants. What’s next—raiding Shop Smart because they sell tons of turkey bags and friskars?

And spending tens of thousands of dollars on prosecuting trimmers is just bizarre.

Uti
Guest
Uti
12 years ago

Gallegos head is apparently somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine and there’s little oxygen. Pull out, pull out Paul before you crash and burn. I do electrical, plumbing and water work in this community and he’s saying I am part of a criminal enterprise, so if I am on someone’s property doing a job I can be arrested and prosecuted along with the owner/grower because the water and electrical systems system are also used to grow. By his absurd reasoning he could be arresting the businesses who deliver truckload after truckload of soil and amendments, how much more direct can you get that the very dirt that grows the plants. What’s next—raiding Shop Smart because they sell tons of turkey bags and friskars?

And spending tens of thousands of dollars on prosecuting trimmers is just bizarre.

tom
Guest
tom
12 years ago

the attack on moms above is reprehensible. quit trying to turn in your friends and neighbors it is unseemly. Thanks for you efforts at price supports Paul. ;bring back the war or drugs, pot was 5000 an lb then.

tom
Guest
tom
12 years ago

the attack on moms above is reprehensible. quit trying to turn in your friends and neighbors it is unseemly. Thanks for you efforts at price supports Paul. ;bring back the war or drugs, pot was 5000 an lb then.

Kyle Keegan
Guest
Kyle Keegan
12 years ago

Going after trimmers seems like a waste of time and resources but going after the fuel companies that knowingly fill and supply unsafe diesel tanks that supply industrial indoor grows, seems like a noble effort to me. They should be considered co-conspirators to a serious environmental crime if they knowingly fill a tank that doesn’t have secondary containment and the proper fittings and a spill occurs. Those guys are taking cash tips to keep their mouths shut. The fuel deliverers are in a powerful position to help protect our communities. They should be educating and requesting that their customers have their scene tight before they fill up. I walked Hacker Creek this past winter where close to 1,000 gallons of diesel spilled in 2008. It is still virtually lifeless as compared to the other nearby tributaries. No signs of amphibians or salmonids.
I also feel that heavy equipment operators need to take more responsibility and should be held accountable if they severely alter the hydrology or stability of the landscape to develop the properties of industrial grow sites. Greenhouses the size of airplane hangers are going up all over these hills. These large flats are often placed on unstable land and fragile geologies for just a season or two worth of profits. These are legacy impacts that scar the land for generations. Trimmers are not the problem. Legalize it!

Kyle

Kyle Keegan
Guest
Kyle Keegan
12 years ago

Going after trimmers seems like a waste of time and resources but going after the fuel companies that knowingly fill and supply unsafe diesel tanks that supply industrial indoor grows, seems like a noble effort to me. They should be considered co-conspirators to a serious environmental crime if they knowingly fill a tank that doesn’t have secondary containment and the proper fittings and a spill occurs. Those guys are taking cash tips to keep their mouths shut. The fuel deliverers are in a powerful position to help protect our communities. They should be educating and requesting that their customers have their scene tight before they fill up. I walked Hacker Creek this past winter where close to 1,000 gallons of diesel spilled in 2008. It is still virtually lifeless as compared to the other nearby tributaries. No signs of amphibians or salmonids.
I also feel that heavy equipment operators need to take more responsibility and should be held accountable if they severely alter the hydrology or stability of the landscape to develop the properties of industrial grow sites. Greenhouses the size of airplane hangers are going up all over these hills. These large flats are often placed on unstable land and fragile geologies for just a season or two worth of profits. These are legacy impacts that scar the land for generations. Trimmers are not the problem. Legalize it!

Kyle

Logic
Guest
Logic
12 years ago

Going to trim tommorow! Could care less about gallegos. Babylon has no pwer. Snipsnipsnipsnip

suzy blah blah
Guest
suzy blah blah
12 years ago
Reply to  Logic

-bless up 🙂

Logic
Guest
Logic
12 years ago

Going to trim tommorow! Could care less about gallegos. Babylon has no pwer. Snipsnipsnipsnip

suzy blah blah
Guest
suzy blah blah
12 years ago
Reply to  Logic

-bless up 🙂

John VanderMyde
Guest
12 years ago

Sure seems ridiculous to me – any wonder why the prisons are full? Full time idiots like this prosecutor don’t use the sense God gave them to go after people who harm others instead of harmless trimmers.

John VanderMyde
Guest
12 years ago

Sure seems ridiculous to me – any wonder why the prisons are full? Full time idiots like this prosecutor don’t use the sense God gave them to go after people who harm others instead of harmless trimmers.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago

Good discussion. Bottom line just legalize pot.

Harry
Guest
Harry
12 years ago

Good discussion. Bottom line just legalize pot.

Uti
Guest
Uti
12 years ago

Great points made by Kyle Keegan. I never understood why there was not an ordinance passed in this county preventing the fuel delivery companies from filling a tank that has no properly sized secondary containment system. If there was an ordinance that required proper safety systems and regular safety checks then a lot of harm would be prevented. Of course that does not prevent people from transporting and transferring diesel themselves into unsafe systems, which is common, but I’d much rather see the DA prosecuting people for not having spill protection than having environmental damage. The cost of secondary containment and safe generator installation is cheap compared to the damage they cause and cost of cleanup efforts. The issue of damage from poor grow site construction is one I am slightly familiar with. I’ve seen some questionable jobs with no erosion controls in place to prevent runoff into creeks. Maybe it’s getting like the “bad old days” with crappy logging roads and log decks. It’s getting hard to miss seeing some of those huge greenhouses sticking up out of the landscape from a distance. Unfortunately when a guy buys a 100,000 dollar excavator and has payments to make he is under pressure to do jobs for people who may skip putting in proper erosion control and who decide excavate on unstable slopes.

Uti
Guest
Uti
12 years ago

Great points made by Kyle Keegan. I never understood why there was not an ordinance passed in this county preventing the fuel delivery companies from filling a tank that has no properly sized secondary containment system. If there was an ordinance that required proper safety systems and regular safety checks then a lot of harm would be prevented. Of course that does not prevent people from transporting and transferring diesel themselves into unsafe systems, which is common, but I’d much rather see the DA prosecuting people for not having spill protection than having environmental damage. The cost of secondary containment and safe generator installation is cheap compared to the damage they cause and cost of cleanup efforts. The issue of damage from poor grow site construction is one I am slightly familiar with. I’ve seen some questionable jobs with no erosion controls in place to prevent runoff into creeks. Maybe it’s getting like the “bad old days” with crappy logging roads and log decks. It’s getting hard to miss seeing some of those huge greenhouses sticking up out of the landscape from a distance. Unfortunately when a guy buys a 100,000 dollar excavator and has payments to make he is under pressure to do jobs for people who may skip putting in proper erosion control and who decide excavate on unstable slopes.

Heather Morrison
Guest
Heather Morrison
12 years ago

Just because it costs money doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. It is all ILLEGAL and many times ultra harmful to the environment and for those inside grows, produce a huge carbon footprint. Get a legitimate job I say to those ‘trimmers’ and help contribute to society by actually paying taxes. Not sure how you can complain about the ‘tax money being ill spent’ when you are all working under the table. Funny how that works.

Heather Morrison
Guest
Heather Morrison
12 years ago

Just because it costs money doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. It is all ILLEGAL and many times ultra harmful to the environment and for those inside grows, produce a huge carbon footprint. Get a legitimate job I say to those ‘trimmers’ and help contribute to society by actually paying taxes. Not sure how you can complain about the ‘tax money being ill spent’ when you are all working under the table. Funny how that works.

j.marko unknown (@obtusemental2)
Guest

suppose a reference to personnel wage tax-tax on munchies at the store etc…had not herd them folks get an exempt-poverty numbers,family of four about twenty two grand a year-mmm-Californa cops & prison guards on average take in?Then again,how much money the feds drop in to keep the local dance in play?mmm-thanks to all-as usual good reads-

j.marko unknown (@obtusemental2)
Guest

suppose a reference to personnel wage tax-tax on munchies at the store etc…had not herd them folks get an exempt-poverty numbers,family of four about twenty two grand a year-mmm-Californa cops & prison guards on average take in?Then again,how much money the feds drop in to keep the local dance in play?mmm-thanks to all-as usual good reads-