Mayor of Oregon Coast Town Quits Over Backlash to Pot Ban

The Oregon Coast town of Rockaway Beach tried to ban recreational weed shops.

It now has some very angry pot smokers. And it no longer has a mayor.

Mayor Joanne Aagaard resigned this morning from her job atop the beach town of 1,312 people, saying she had been “continually harassed” by residents after the city council voted to ban recreational weed.

In a resignation letter obtained by the Tillamook Headlight Herald, Aagaard says she opposed the ban—but citizens attacked her anyway.

“Evidently many in the community feel that because I am Mayor your decision is my decision,” she writes to the city council. “On the contrary I would be on their side, as I do not have any problem with marijuana.”

Cities and counties across Oregon are voting to ban recreational pot shops—a controversial power granted them by the Oregon Legislature this summer. State lawmakers setting the rules for legal weed allowed city councils to “go dry” without a public vote.

That’s what Rockaway Beach, a beach town two hours west of Portland, is trying to do. (The council also limited public discussion, which made citizens even angrier.) 

Comments sent to the Headlight Herald suggest the council’s proposed ban is unpopular. Many citizens argued the town, which is economically depressed, is throwing away tourism dollars.

“Rockaway Beach,” wrote local man John Botkin, “is like that town in Footloose that bans dancing.”

UPDATE, 2:45 pm: The Tillamook County Pioneer reports that the Rockaway Beach city council has dropped its proposal to ban weed sales—and says it won't try again.

But Aagaard says she doesn't plan to return to the mayor's office, because of the hurtful things said about her on Facebook.

"Once things are put out to the public," she tells the Pioneer, "even if not the truth, they cannot be taken back."

WWeek 2015