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Territorial Dispatch

Panel Discusses Proposition 36 Benefits

Sep 19, 2024 09:51AM ● By Jordonna Lobese, photos by Jordonna Lobese

Panel members stand at the recent Prop 36 town hall meeting. From left are Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, former Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness, State Assemblyman James Gallagher, Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, Oroville Police Chief Bill LaGrone, Oroville Councilman Shawn Webber and U.S. Representative Doug LaMalfa.


BUTTE COUNTY, CA (MPG) - In a Prop 36 town hall meeting on Sept. 16 with a panel of area officials, benefits of Proposition 36 were discussed.

Prop 36 permits felony charges and increases sentences for specific drug and theft crimes. It would undo Prop 47, which made some drug and theft crimes into misdemeanors. Opponents claim that Prop 36 risks progress on criminal justice reform and argue that jails will fill up and rehabilitation funding will be slashed.

During the event, speakers touched on a recent incident that occurred in Marysville when officials were visiting the Hotel Marysville fire site. Marysville Mayor Chris Branscum was punched without warning by a passerby.

“The guy was a repeat offender and stayed in his addiction without any consequences to his actions. There is just blatant crime happening in our state. He pleaded guilty and will be receiving sentencing later in the month,” said Marysville Councilmember Dominique Belza. “We have gone past the point of sympathizing. Tough love has to be implemented and there has to be some consequences. Once someone gets their head clear, then they can make the right decision to become a productive person in society. That is my hope to get out of 36.”

Said Oroville Councilman Shawn Webber, “The soul of this great state is worth fighting for. Enough is enough. So many have left California. Ten years of erosion in the quality of life due to fentanyl, which is man-made. Prop 47 passed to make neighborhoods safer but it has issues. We want our quality of life back. This county, city, and state are worth fighting for.”

Webber collected about 800 signatures in Oroville for Prop 36 to be on the ballot.

Oroville Mayor David Pittman spoke next.

“Currently, with Prop 47, our public safety officers’ hands are tied. The people will give the tools that are needed to get the job done,” Pittman said.  

Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly added, “The shoplifting is atrocious and we all pay for it. These laws need to be tightened up.”

State Assemblyman James Gallagher quoted U.S. Representative Kevin Kiley: “With Prop 36, let’s make crime illegal again in California.”

“Prop 36 does this: first, if you are a repeat offender, you will get a felony. Second, it brings accountability to fentanyl dealers. And third, it brings back the drug court and sentence to put them into treatment,” Gallagher added.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey explained how ineffective realignment AB109 was. The basic idea behind AB109 and Prop 47 is to discipline low-degree offenders with local jail or out-of-custody ‘mandatory supervision’ instead of prison.

“Our local prisons changed. People were staying in local prisons for years. Opponents of Prop 36 call this a war on drugs. It is not. It is a war on addiction. We need to make a change and protect our community to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey further explained that opponents of Prop 36 don’t want it because of perceived costs and rising prison numbers and how that data cannot be produced to support those claims. The costs, Ramsey said, will be a minimal portion of the state budget.

“This is mass treatment versus mass incarceration,” Ramsey said.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, with 30 years’ experience, spoke.

“I’ve seen the continuous erosion for the rule of law and this progressive march for making our communities less safe brought about by bad policy made in Sacramento,” Honea said.

“Voters have been duped. Prop 47 was ushered in. Organized retail theft has wreaked havoc. We have seen this explosion and intersection of addiction and mental health issues. California is shutting prisons down, because they have a large number of vacancies,” Honea said. “Drug court worked, because it provided a number of options short of going to prison to address addiction issues. It held them to be accountable. I’m passionate; because I am damn tired of seeing what we are seeing on the streets.”

Oroville Police Chief Bill LaGrone noted that the impact Prop 47 has had on his officers has been detrimental.

“Our officers are being taunted. Prop 47 was far-reaching. My officers give Narcan on a daily basis and have saved close to one thousand lives. Addiction is something that has to be treated on many different levels. You have to meet people where they are at. Incarceration does not deal with the other things that exist,” LaGrone said.

Former Sacramento County Sheriff and radio personality John McGinness explained that under Prop 47, there are no consequences for offenders and that most don’t show when given a Notice to Appear.

“The system has deteriorated so badly that people have been called to action,” McGinness said.

The governor’s bills do not address drug addiction, which is driving retail theft, according to McGinness.

All on the panel agreed that addiction is the root cause of theft and crime and that Prop 36 will directly address this issue and make our communities safe.

 “Prop 36 is neither a red or blue proposition,” Ramsey added.