Speaking from the comfort of his occasionally favorite seat in Council Chambers, the young Downtown business executive  known as John Q. Public was exasperated after Monday evening’s City Council meeting.

When, Mr. Public asks, will the Council respond to community opposition to cannabis retail storefronts?

He had one Council member in in mind.

“One hundred percent of the people who speak in favor of retail cannabis have an interest in the business side of cannabis,” said Mr. Public.

“Those few people who are in opposition are residents.”

Mr. Public confessed he is not sure what to make of that split, but he did not stop there.

He speculated.

“It will be interesting to hear what the only Councilman in  question at the moment, the vice mayor (Thomas Small), makes of this,” said Mr. Public.

“He continues to recite the mantra that ‘I want to make sure that the public is heard.’

“The public is speaking out. With few exceptions, most of the public that has spoken out is opposed to retail cannabis in Culver City. They are okay with it being delivered. They just don’t want retail outlets.”

Their allies on the Council are Goran Eriksson and Jim Clarke. They are not bending. Neither, though, is the majority of Mayor Jeff Cooper, Meghan Sahli-Wells and Mr. Small.

“The public is speaking,” said Mr. Public. “The question is, is the public being heard?

“More directly, what does ‘the public is speaking out’ mean to the vice mayor?

“When the public says ‘we don’t want cannabis down the street from our house,’ will the vice mayor take that into account?

“What protections is the vice mayor going to insist accompany the permission to have retail?”

Mr. Small “has not said anything about that so far,” Mr. Public said. “He has talked about making sure neighborhoods are protected. “He has not said in what fashion the protections will come.”