SAFFORD — The group behind the initiative seeking to tax cannabis grows out of existence in Graham County is now trying to overturn the Board of Supervisors approval of a re-zoning in Bonita.
Protect Graham County No to Drugs filed for a referendum Tuesday, July 6, with Graham County Elections Department, asking voters to overturn the June 21 decision by the Board of Supervisors to re-zone Sites 5 and 6 of the NatureSweet greenhouse complex, from A (general land use) to M-X (unlimited manufacturing land use) so NatureSweet may sell those sites to Bayacan for a medical-grade cannabis grow.
Protect Graham County No to Drugs has until Aug. 5 to submit petitions with at least 1,064 qualified signatures to get the issue before the voters.
Protect Graham County No to Drugs is not located in Graham County — the group’s address is listed as 24654 N. Lake Pleasant Parkway, No. 103-733, in Peoria — and the chairman is listed as Kenneth Daniel Krieger.
Gila Valley Central contacted the group’s treasurer, Timothy Sifert — who also serves as president of the American Campaign Finance Foundation and as chief communications officer for the Maricopa County School District — who said he was unable to speak on the group’s behalf and would, instead, relay messages to Krieger.
As of publication, Krieger, whose Linked In profile lists his profession as chiropractor for 34 years before retiring in 2006, has not issued a statement and e-mails were not immediately returned.
This is not the first time Krieger has fronted a group seeking to stop the growing of cannabis well away from where he lives. The White Mountain Independent reported in 2016 that Krieger, who was then chairman of a group called Citizens for a Safer Snowflake, filed suit against the town over Copperstate Farms. That lawsuit was dismissed and, three years later, ruled frivolous.
In 2014, Krieger also formed a group called Citizens for a Better Peoria and attempted to recall a Peoria City Councilman over that city’s housing density.
Krieger and his Maricopa County-based Protect Graham County No to Drugs is also gathering signatures for an initiative that, if qualified for the ballot and voters approved, would levy a tax of $1,000 to grow cannabis in Graham County and another $1,000 per pound of cannabis harvested.
Heather Dukes, attorney for Bayacan, said that amounts to a tax of 100 percent to 300 percent, under which neither the Colvin family’s grow in Eden or Bayacan’s proposed grow in Bonita could operate.
Protect Graham County No to Drugs has to secure 1,596 qualified signatures and submit petitions by July 8, 2022, in hopes of qualifying the initiative for the Nov. 8, 2022, general election.
