The people have spoken. On December 24th, after out-raising and out-spending all of his opponents, the electoral body of Sebastopol, California, chose Robert Jacob, 36, as their new mayor. Robert Jacob was recently nominated to a local magazine’s “Forty Under 40 of 2012.” And he is touted as a “community organizer and visionary entrepreneur… his […]
The people have spoken. On December 24th, after out-raising and out-spending all of his opponents, the electoral body of Sebastopol, California, chose Robert Jacob, 36, as their new mayor.
Robert Jacob was recently nominated to a local magazine’s “Forty Under 40 of 2012.” And he is touted as a “community organizer and visionary entrepreneur… his professional background in corporate operations and project management includes managing construction of three international hospitals and… a chain of salons and spas and an award winning charter school.[1]
He is also the founder of Peace in Medicine, sebastopol‘s only medical marijuana dispensary, which operates more like a spa than the traditional Bob Marley-clad operations found elsewhere in California.
We don’t push the envelope. We really operate within a medicinal perspective, from our name to our advertising to the way we display our medicine to the way we treat each individual patient’s needs when they walk through the door. We’re an organization that respects the intent of cannabis as medicine.
– Robert Jacob, Sebastopol Mayor
As the country’s view on marijuana changes, from New York City to Washington State, it is interesting to note that Mayor Jacob is the first legally-elected official from the medical marijuana industry.
His election is a victory for cannabis activists, and his business was the 14th biggest in Sebastopol, a city with 7,400 residents that has held onto its hippie roots despite recent gentrification. Sebastopol leans far left politically, despite the recent influx of money. Green Party candidates sit on the City Council. Solar power is required for new homes and commercial buildings. Sarah Glade Gurney, a council member and former mayor, says the only divisions in politics are inside the left.
And Peace in Medicine generated $46,400 in taxes for the Sonoma County city in 2012, which may have influenced certain voters as to Jacob’s business prowess.
But as United States attorneys and Drug Enforcement Agency members crack down on California dispensaries, will Mayor Jacob be a hero or a target? The city attorney doesn’t think it will be a problem:
I can see the trend where things are going in the United States over all regardless of who’s in power in Washington, being that marijuana use is being legalized in more and more states.
– Lawrence McLaughlin, Sebastopol City Attorney and Manager
Mayor Jacob (robert-jacob) has been a resident of Sebastopol for only a decade. After growing up in Rodeo in the East Bay, he eventually moved to the Central Valley with his family. But feelings of discontent due to the conservative culture of the area and his homosexuality spurred him to leave for San Francisco at age 15. He then resided in San Francisco in a homeless shelter and participated in counseling and support groups for domestic violence victims and HIV-positive youth.
It was here that he found cannabis growers cultivating their crops in basements, attics and closets. That then sparked the idea that would eventually grow into Peace in Medicine when he moved in 2004. And although he was unanimously approved to be mayor by the City council, he has higher aspirations: that being the first “marijuana mayor.”
“There’s been a lot about me being the marijuana mayor. I’m doing everything I can in many ways to change that perspective. And if that means I’ve got to put on dress shoes that hurt my feet and a tie every day, and wear a nice suit and make sure it’s pressed and pay for a dry cleaner, I’m going to do that.”
– Robert Jacob, Sebastopol Mayor
Despite his humility, one thing remains certain: Mayor Jacob’s election is further proof that this country is headed towards legalization.
Sources: New York Times, City of Sebastopol Website