Kubby: Attacks from deputy, candidate’s manager unwarranted
By Steve Kubby
As a Libertarian, I respect the First Amendment and people’s right to express their opinion, no matter how harsh, especially if I choose to write something and others choose to criticize what I have written. However, I have a serious problem when someone ignores the facts and attacks me personally and that someone carries a badge and a gun.
I find it even more disturbing to find out that a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy and former campaign manager for a newly elected member of the South Lake Tahoe City Council has organized a smear campaign to defeat me in the recent election. Judging from the small number of votes that I lost by, it may be possible that this smear campaign prevented me from winning.
This attack and others by Deputy JT Davis and his alias “Cowboy25” appears to be a part of a smear campaign he organized as campaign manager for his father, Councilman Tom Davis. This smear campaign is every bit as offensive as racial slurs or ethnic attack on me, characterizing me as a lazy stoner in some sort of perpetual haze and a threat to the community.
The knowledge that a Douglas County deputy sheriff believes I am a threat to the community and that I don’t belong in SLT is something that should make anyone uncomfortable and concerned about their safety, especially if that deputy pulls a bona fide California patient over and decides to make legal problems for them. In fact, this action by Deputy Davis underscores the dangers that medical marijuana patients must face each day from the very people who are paid to protect them.
Nevada law enforcement does not respect the legal rights of California medical marijuana patients and it is very easy for a deputy to wreck a medical marijuana patient’s life, just by pulling them over and demanding a blood test. If such a test were to show that I have metabolites from marijuana in my blood, even if those metabolites are a month old, I could be arrested and prosecuted in Nevada. Under such circumstances, the fact that I have a perfect driving record, without any tickets or accidents whatsoever, would mean nothing and I could be convicted under Nevada state law for DUI, despite being cold sober.
Below, is a recent public comment by Douglas County Deputy JT Davis, about an opinion article that I wrote for Lake Tahoe News regarding the dangers to patients of a proposed cultivation ordinance. It does not mention one word about what I have written and is solely a personal attack. Furthermore, it is an attack by a member of law enforcement, using his real name and presumably someone people look up to as an authority figure:
“Kubby must have smoked his usual 12 joints a day before he wrote this article. Everyone is sick and tired of listening to you rant and rave about this issue and it has proven time and time again to be a losing issue for you and your pals. Prop 19 lost and last I checked, you got creamed in the City Council race. You yourself got so caught up in your stump speech, that you admitted you support legalizing marijuana and that Pop 215, was just the starting point to a bigger agenda, trying to make marijuana legal. [sic] Kubby, take your show to some other city, becasue the citizens of Tahoe are soooooooooo tired of you and your pot.”
Several other attacks, under the name of Cowboy25 were also published during my campaign for City Council, nearly all of them starting with the same incriminating sentence, “Kubby must have smoked his usual 12 joints a day before he….” You’d think a member of law enforcement would be more careful than to change his posting to his real name and then continue using the same inflammatory introductory sentence, but Deputy Davis is probably so convinced he is right that he has thrown caution to the wind. As a result, he appears to be engaging in conduct unbecoming an officer of the law.
Judging from my personal contacts with JT Davis during the campaign, I believe that he is probably a dedicated and hardworking deputy.Under other circumstances, JT Davis and I might be good friends. But not today. For now and the immediate future, our lives seem ruled by a misguided and misinformed wall of intolerance that, for lack of a better term, I call the Politics of Pot.
Steve Kubby is a resident of South Lake Tahoe, having run of City Council in November 2010.
The idea of a deputy working on a campaign is ooky enough. Not that the deputy should not be allowed to. Lets face it, everyone has the right to engage in political action, especially when it is their dad running. There is an expectation of diligence from a police officer in keeping the two activities separate. Even the appearance of misusing a law enforcement position for political gain must be avoided.
Like it or not, marijuana is a medicine in California and even if you do not approve of the treatment, a sheriff’s deputy is never, ever a doctor. To make comment of someone’s medical needs is inappropriate enough. To make comment with the onus of misusing the law to harass a medical patient for political gain is unthinkably unethical.
Prudence from a public servant is expected. It is part of the job, you must set an example, and you are never not a cop. Leveling even passive threats against his fathers political opponents is a severe breach of the public trust for this deputy. The sheriff’s department might do well to investigate and provide the deputy some training to prevent problems from occurring again.
Well written article, Steve. It is a sad state of affairs when the people that are supposed to enforce our laws(prop 215, SB420), and protect the citizens of our great state, are busy slandering and libeling people like you who wish to enforce the laws of our state and help the sick and disabled.
Perhaps your attackers should look at who signs their exorbitant pay, benefit and pension checks. It is the people of the State of California. They are supposed to support and defend our constitution and the laws of the land. They work for us and should act appropriately. Instead, they mock our laws, our constitution, and all of the people who voted for prop 215 and stand by it to this day!
It has been 15 years since the people have voted for prop 215. 70% of Californians are in favor of Medical Cannabis as per our laws. Perhaps the Cops, Prosecutors and Politicians should stand with the people and not the drug Cartels!
You are a good man, Steve. Unlike your attackers, you are trying to help others, not hurt them.
Keep up the good work!
I find it interesting that people are told not to attack others in forums yet they are allowed to on opinion pages which would have more readership and attention. I hope this year brings us people standing up for their beliefs and their platforms, and not attacking people.
An FYI for those that don’t live here (like at least one of the above posters), JT is a deputy in a state and county other than where the election was held.
This issue will always be passionate to people, no matter what side you are on. Lets just hope arguments and statements are about the issues and not personal vendettas.
Especially so Steve as you had good things to say to me about the qualifications of his father.
One would think that law enforcement generally, would prefer that their job description did not include or require the apprehension of marijuana smokers. I think this is more of an exception to the rule. I hope so…
Kubby-
Pot aside, your reasonable thinking precludes you from being a SLT council member. You must become a crony to become an elected official in this town. But, please pursue the council seat, change is needed.
Kubby, I think you got to let this go now, you’ve made your point, this person was not being nice, but there’s a whole lot of that around here, and one has to get some thicker skin if they want to put themselves out there.
Give credit to the other readers, posters, and voters, we see things for what they are, and when someone loses their cool, and attacks someone on here, we see it for what it is, so no worries.
Really Steve, let it go. You lost not because anyone smeared you you lost because your ideas were not mainstream enough for this town and all the pot heads didn’t vote or register as you had hoped. It was Apathy on the people whom you counted on to win that lost this for you. So you got a litle tainted in these anonymous blogs so what, when I ran for the STPUD Board I got crucified by these blogs from the employees and union members for just like you, speaking the truth that they didn’t want known. I lost, you lost, the community lost but so what, that’s how the vote worked and the public got what they voted for. So try again and better prepare yourself for the next election, try actually liviving here for a couple of years and getting involved. Work the system rather than letting it work you. BTW, you better be absolutly sure in your accusations of anonymous posters as it’s everyones right to remain anonymous if they so choose.
I have serious objections to a JT, not due to the fact that he attacked Kubby, rather this person is a police oficer with what appears to be a mission to slander and force non-complinace with our California laws. The the fact that his father was recently elected with JT’s help really concerns me as a citizen. This leads me to believe that Tom Davis will do everything he can do to support his son’s agenda. I attended one of the debates during the election and took one look at Tom Davis and his son and thought to myself “not sure who those guys are but they look crooked.” Low and behold during the opening introdutions; it turns out it was Tom Davis and his son. Perhaps a book can be judged by it’s cover?
Kubby you exposed Cowboy25 !!!! Now the name of devoted follower,30yearlocal please.
“LIKE FATHER,LIKE SON!”
IF SMELLS AND BROWN, FLUSH IT.
Mr. Kubby, the simple fact is, you’re just another pothead who hates cops…that’s it. You lost the election, so get over it already. Believe me when I tell you, no one has a “smear campaign” against you…you’re not that important. Get over yourself, please.
It’s got all the elements of a Jerry Springer show except for the lesbian stripper midgets. Small town politics and a he said, he said. Jerry, Jerry!
AFH says, “a sheriff’s deputy is never, ever a doctor.” That’s not true. There are over 50,000 Law Enforcement Officers in California alone. Several are MD’s.
Sandsconnect says, “not sure who those guys are but they look crooked.” How does one “look crooked”?
Perhaps the next time Dr. Lepoff or a member of his family is a victim of a crime, he should call Mr. Kubby to assist. I’m sure the cops will all be too busy writing libelous letters.
Really, Steve!
We all were smeared one way or another during the campaign. If they liked you they were sweet and nice, if they didn’t like you they made comments that were mean and unkind and many untrue. We got in the race to make South Lake Tahoe a better place and we all knew there would be some heat.
Louise I’ll answer you question with an old joke: Everyone group of pals an ugly friend if you don’t know who that ugly friend is, you are ugly the friend.
If you can’t spot crooked, well…
None of the cops I know think marijuana of any kind is a law enforcement problem.
We don’t have people robbing banks for their pot addiction.
We don’t see stoners getting into fistfights over the stash or the pipe.
Or at all.
And more to the point, Mister Kubby is no pothead. He’s a highly accomplished individual who HAS NO CHOICE but to smoke the evil weed.
Yeah, that’s right, he would DIE in 48-72 hours with out Cannabis. Whatever.
The cancer patient I know got two extra years because of medical marijuana, so geez, what is that guys problem?
Mister Kubby is not doing anything that’s a threat to anyone, he even is quite an interesting and engaging person if you actually sit down with him and discuss how the world works.
He’s called for a dialogue with the man who called him names, and appears to have done so semi-anonymously throughout the campaign for SLT City Council.
Now let’s see if mister tough guy cop will accept Steve’s offer.