Pintabone: Marijuana Decriminalization Will Be Considered Again on March 26

During a Facebook Live last night, Easton City Council member Frank Pintabone said that his proposal to decriminalize possession of a small amount of marijuana will be placed on City Council's agenda again on March 26. In a strange meeting on Wednesday night, Council member Taiba Sultana and Mayor Sal Panto refused to vote for the ordinance, despite previous promises to do so. Because Pintabone's proposal only had the support of Pintabone and Council members Crystal Rose and Jim Edinger, it failed to get the four votes needed. 

On Wednesday night, Sultana wanted to table the matter. With what she claimed was a "heavy heart," she made that motion because she said a matter had been brought to her attention concerning an unnamed official that needed to be addressed. 

She clarified what she meant on her official Facebook page on Thursday: "One of the council members is allegedly, directly or indirectly, involved in delivering marijuana. I asked to table the bill because I didn't have all the facts. I vote with my full conscious. I would address these allegations transparently and thoroughly before proceeding with any legislative action." She asserted that a sitting Council member was involved in the distribution of marijuana. Although she said the matter needed to be addressed "transparently," she still failed to name this Council member, but she was referring to Pintabone. 

I say this because, in her failed bid for State Representative, she told many constituents that Pintabone is a drug dealer. They in turn promptly told Pintabone what she had said.  

He has thick skin, and let it go. 

When she was circulating her nomination petition for re-election, she once again told constituents that Pintabone is a drug dealer. They in turn promptly notified Pintabone.

He let it go. 

On Monday, she reached out to Easton Police Chief Carl Scalzo, and said she had been informed that while Pintabone was in Washington with the Mayor to seek finding for city programs, two of his employees had been arrested over the weekend with marijuana in Pintabone's work truck. She was told that was untrue, and the only marijuana arrest over the weekend involved four kids in a Honda Civic with Jersey plates. Despite what she had been told, she later told another Council member that Pintabone was involved in marijuana distribution. 

He adamantly denied any involvement with marijuana, at least not since he was a kid. He added that he does not drink, is a nonsmoker and dislikes the smell of marijuana. "You can't hide who you are if you're running for politics in the city of Easton.” He explained that everybody knows everybody. 

He received a text message from Sultana yesterday after he went on her official Facebook page to set the record straight: "I am so sorry what you heard. It is frustrating to me as well which could not be true but I do not have all the facts. I will be happy to meet you to have a conversation and stand beside you as we have more in common than opposite." 

Wisely, Pintabone declined to respond. I'm no psychologist, but it's pretty clear to me that Sultana suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, from an exaggerated sense of self-importance to her envy of others. She resents Pintabone and what he has accomplished in one short year on City Council, so she decided to muddy him up with libel. 

Is she wishes to apologize, she should do so publicly. In the meantime, Pintabone has retained prominent Easton lawyer Gary Asteak. He, like Pintabone, grew up on south side. 

On the merits, I understand and respect those who think decriminalization should be done by the state. But don't try to claim that a city ordinance providing a less draconian alternative means you are violating your oath to uphold laws, as Rogger Ruggles disingenuously argued.