SAN FRANCISCO — Oakland has hired Meyers Nave Riback Silver & Wilson to press ahead with its plan to authorize large-scale medical marijuana farming operations. Last week, City Attorney John Russo sent a letter to the City Council saying he and his office would no longer represent the city on the matter. He did so after the council introduced revised legislation on the pharmaceutical pot-growing plan in spite of recent warnings of potential criminal liability from both the district attorney and the U.S. attorney.
Russo’s withdrawal has enflamed relations with the city’s new mayor and several councilmembers who accuse him of putting politics before his client’s interest.
