North Bay Town Taps ‘Chairman of the Joint’ Chief

By James Lanaras

Bay City News Service

The Sebastopol City Council Tuesday night unanimously selected as mayor the founder and executive director of two Peace in Medicine licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in Sonoma County.

Robert Jacob, 36, will serve as mayor for one year.

He has been on the City Council for two years.

Jacob was vice mayor before his selection Tuesday night.

"My life has been about service," Jacob said in a news release from Americans for Safe Access.

"By addressing social problems such as homelessness, HIV/AIDS and access to medical cannabis we can shape a better world for ourselves."

Americans for Safe Access, the national organization that advocates safe and legal access to marijuana for therapeutic uses and research, said Jacob's "historic, unprecedented" selection as mayor "illustrates the political strength and legitimacy of the medical marijuana community."

"Although medical marijuana enjoys the support of 80 percent of Americans, Jacob's election as mayor of Sebastopol brings additional legitimacy to the patient community," said Don Duncan, California Director with Americans for Safe Access.

The organization claims 50,000 active members in 50 states.

Jacob opened Peace in Medicine in 2007 and served on the Sebastopol Planning Commission in 2011 and was elected to the Sebastopol City Council in 2012.

Peace in Medicine has medical marijuana dispensaries in Sebastopol and Santa Rosa. Former Sebastopol councilman Craig Litwin said Jacob is the first medical marijuana dispensary founder and executive director in the country to be elected mayor.

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