WSLCB - Board Meeting
(December 7, 2022)

Here are some observations from the Wednesday December 7th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Board Meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

• Members and staff recognized two agency leaders, Chief Financial Officer Jim Morgan and Director of Legislative Relations Chris Thompson, during their last board meeting before retirement, praising their decades of contributions to state government.
  • Board Chair David Postman observed that among the agency employees in the room “two of them are wearing ties and and both of them are about to retire.” He wanted there to be a “few minutes here to…really honor two great LCB employees” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video). Director Rick Garza continued, saying it was “two of our divisions’ directors who are retiring, one in the next few days, and one by the end of the month” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • Chief Financial Officer Jim Morgan had been in that role since 2017, according to Garza, and “confidently led the finance division and the agency's finances with a steady hand throughout his tenure.” Morgan had “impacted the agency in two unrelated ways that's had a very positive impact on our agency, our employees, and the industries that we regulate,” Garza explained. This included the agency’s 2019 transition to a new headquarters in Olympia, he noted, something that “included soliciting bids, site selection, organizational change management,” and weeks of coordinating moving divisions across the agency. Morgan had also “served as the executive sponsor” of the Cannabis Central Reporting System (CCRS) in 2021, he added. Former traceability software was “burdensome to the industry as well as to agency staff itself. Today, the traceability system we have is functioning as it should with additional improvements planned to be implemented soon,” claimed Garza. He additionally lauded Morgan’s “work ethic,” responsiveness, “analytical style and common sense approach to problem solving,” as well as the fact that “his staff gives the agency high marks in all aspects” of an employee survey, a “credit to the person that led the division with a competent, steady, and balanced hand.” Garza thanked Morgan “for all the contributions you’ve made to the LCB over these years, as well as to the citizens of the state of Washington” (audio - 4m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Postman concurred that the high marks Morgan had received in staff surveys represented “an outlier in a lot of ways…I have jokingly [said], ‘you know, the happiest place on earth: apparently the finance department’” where “people really feel connected to the mission of the agency.” He credited Morgan with achieving this in a role that “requires attention to detail, and…more rules, and regulations, and laws than anything.” Postman knew “when there was something that needed to be done and it…all came close to your world, you stepped up and said ‘let me take care of that’ and that's…just a sign of a true public servant who understands why they're here.” Calling Morgan “a little bit of a renaissance man,” he congratulated him on retirement (audio - 3m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Board Member Ollie Garrett said that “we really appreciate you and I've actually learned more about you today upon your retirement” (audio - <1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Board Member Jim Vollendroff recognized that since joining the board in the spring, Morgan demonstrated “responsiveness to any question that I had” and the “turnaround for things that I've asked for has been remarkable” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Director of Enforcement and Education Chandra Wax reflected, “over my career I've worked with a number of great leaders and great advisors, and I just wanted to thank director Morgan for being a great partner and for allowing us to build a great working relationship.” She was “excited for the adventures you will have, and I look forward to having lunch with an old retired guy soon” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Director of Policy and External Affairs Justin Nordhorn called Morgan a “stellar director for the ages” whom he’d come to rely on over years of working together. He described Morgan “always taking the time” to help staff and stakeholders with questions (audio - 2m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Director of Information Technology George Williams talked about Morgan “bringing me on board, mentoring me, and helping me navigate how to be a director successfully.” He was grateful for Morgan’s “collaboration across the agency, his shepherding of CCRS has been spectacular, and as I'm taking that over from him…it's going to be easy because he did all the heavy lifting” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Director of Licensing and Regulation Becky Smith felt Morgan was “a strong leader for not just for the division, but for the agency. I've appreciated you listening to me, you having conversations and making things work more smoothly for both our divisions, and for the agency as a whole” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • “My time with the LCB and my time with the state has been very rewarding,” Morgan commented. Although he initially “never pictured myself with the state because, you know how those state workers are,” he found that attitude was a “grave misconception.” He said he’d “worked with some of the finest people I've ever worked with” and even if “the results that they produce, or the decisions that they have to make” didn’t “always make people happy…I found they have the best of intentions and their dedication…is second to none.” Morgan thanked his colleagues and the “great teams” at WSLCB, saying he was ready to spend time doing “whatever I want to do…that's the beauty of retirement,” forecasting more golf, wood working, and having “time for a new chapter” with his family (audio - 2m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • Director of Legislative Relations and Tribal Liaison Chris Thompson was retiring as well, Garza established. Thompson capped a career in state government which began in the same place as Garza: “working in the Washington State Senate in 1983.” Thompson’s most recent post at WSLCB began in August 2017, meaning he had “been involved in and around the Washington State Legislature for most of the past 39 years.” Garza believed that he and Thompson were “both creatures of the legislature,” though Thompson’s work included a stint at the “California legislature in the late 1980s and early 1990s.” Calling Thompson “instrumental in many of the LCB’s efforts during his time with the agency,” Garza added praise for his “critical role in working with our federally recognized tribes,” most prominently “establishing over 20 tribal cannabis compacts.” Thompson had also helped “guide through the legislature House Bill 2870, the legislation which established our social equity program,” explained Garza, which “stands to have a lasting impact on the industry as well as the lives of those who will be licensed.” Thompson was looking forward to his “first vacation during the 2023 legislative session on the white sands of the Hawaiian beaches,” the Director stated, “sending warm wishes and congratulations” along with his gratitude for all of Thompson’s service “to the LCB as well as the citizens of Washington” (audio - 3m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Postman had also known Thompson before either of them worked at WSLCB, and felt as though they “sort of moved in and out of each other's jobs for probably close to 30 years.” He also considered Thompson’s commitment to legislative work to be “like dog years…that is some hard work.” Postman expected Thompson would enjoy Hawaii, however he believed “when you're finally away from your first session, it's such a weird thing because your world is so attached to that cycle of craziness.” Postman thought Thompson held “incredibly difficult, sensitive…and just very important jobs” in government including assisting tribal governments in asserting their “sovereign right for economic independence…in the emerging markets that we have.” Postman was grateful he’d helped guide his successor, Marc Webster, and more broadly “given us the roadmap to engaging with the legislature…you always seem to, to anticipate what the next step should be to keep us in front of the legislature, and I will say this: you're not afraid of them.” Postman praised Thompson’s work on social equity, which “is gonna pay dividends for years to come” even though it remained “controversial still in some corners.” He concluded his thanks by mentioning “I've always enjoyed knowing you as we bumped into each other…and it'll seem strange now that I'll know you won't be there this session” (audio - 5m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Garrett “enjoyed the support, and the effort, and the work that went into …House Bill 2870, and I will miss you…going through this session” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Vollendroff thanked Thompson, “specifically I like what was said by David in terms of dog years working with the legislature. It's so true, and your knowledge and strategy is important, and I'm glad that you had this overlap time with…the person who's gonna try to fill your shoes” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Smith would miss Thompson, in part, since he also “know[s] everything there is” about licensing. She appreciated his “work on both the compacts and on social equity. We couldn't have done it without you.” Smith joked that he was welcome to come back and “volunteer” with the agency (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Giving “heartfelt thanks” to Thompson, Nordhorn remarked he “super appreciate[d] how much you were willing to sit down and listen and try to really understand the issues of the LCB” after joining the agency in 2017. Thompson then took “some of those operational and technical pieces and boil it down to a language others can understand,” Nordhorn stated. Overall, “I'm really impressed…with your work ethic” as well as “communication to stakeholders” even while Thompson was preparing for retirement (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Wax considered Thompson was always “willing to work through issues…he would stand up for his position, and he would never back down, and he was always willing to debate an issue until we could come up with the right answer, what's best for the agency and our licensees” (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • Thompson acknowledged the “very bizarre, unique rhythms of the legislative process are kind of in my biorhythms,” but welcomed “coming to terms with my new station in life” in part through “11 days on the beach.” He wanted to “say what a privilege it is to engage in public service. Six months shy of 40 years ago I started with the State Senate.” Thompson remembered “doing good natured battle with” Postman when the chair had been a reporter for the Seattle Times, and felt “incredibly fortunate to have been given the opportunity to engage in public service…for a long career. I appreciate my opportunities here at LCB.” He was especially proud to have worked with tribes “to try to build and strengthen those relationships” between governments which “resonates…with me personally.” Thompson said WSLCB was unique in the organization’s “amazing teamwork…I could always count on anyone and everyone I needed help from in the agency.” He summed up that he was “really looking forward to the next chapter,” thanking the board and “Washington state government for giving me…opportunities of a lifetime” (audio - 4m, WSLCB video, TVW video).

• Public comments struck upon lingering problems with the Cannabis Central Reporting System (CCRS), lagging progress towards opening a social equity window, “shameful” behavior by WSLCB representatives, and perspectives from the Cannabis Observer team.
  • David Busby, OpenTHC CEO (audio - 4m, WSLCB video, TVW video)
    • Busby last addressed the board on November 9th.
    • Busby had noticed that since notifying agency staff about “issues with the CCRS system…we've observed an increase in enforcement contacts from the LCB to our clients; I'm sure that's just a coincidence.”
    • “It's still not possible to verify data in that system without FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request that takes many days to complete,” Busby insisted. Predicting there could be weekly requests for data from all cannabis licensees, “I hope the agency is prepared to service those in a timely fashion.”
    • OpenTHC clients were blocked from “loading data on the B2B [business to business] transactions because other licenses on other platforms have not loaded theirs and this makes recording of those transactions impossible,” Busby asserted. Staff had reached out to his team, Busby added, but it remained “frustrating though, to only now get active dialogue about issues that were originally raised with the CCRS 12 months ago.” He also had not been included in their development testing despite repeated requests. One workaround they’d put forward had been called “clever” by staff, in spite of it being “not really sanctioned, and this method may not be compatible with the service agreement we are going to be obligated to sign” with WSLCB.
    • Despite Busby’s complaints, “there are two key advantages to this platform, right? The technology is owned by the agency, and the agency is engaged in improving this platform. So that's awesome.” Additionally, he thanked them “for keeping that B2B stuff.”
    • A 4.5 hour CCRS outage was confirmed by WSLCB staff later that day.
    • On December 9th, officials announced “an important CCRS release” was “set for deployment on Jan. 9, 2023. It includes an improved manifest feature, bug fixes and implementation of a few other features.” It’s Cannabis Observer’s understanding that many software integrators serving Washington cannabis licensees were not notified ahead of the public announcement.
    • On December 13th, a notice was posted about the “PREproduction” testing environment which was “not functioning as hoped. Please wait to use this environment until further notice - our team is working to identify and fix the underlying problem. Thank you and apologies for any inconvenience.”
  • Christopher King (audio - 5m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • King also provided public remarks on October 12th and November 9th.
  • Aaron Barfield, Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC) Founder (audio - 5m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Identifying as a former state employee and medical cannabis provider, Barfield had attempted to transition from a dispensary to a licensed retailer, and “that has been nothing but a mess ever since.” Having applied for multiple licenses in 2016, he had his application denied allegedly “based on unfair LCB practices and discrimination.” He had ended up being part of “a settlement for two licenses which I believe that settlement was…not negotiated in good faith” and resulted in licenses “under a company that unbeknownst to me was already saddled with $1.7 million in debt” which “completely negated the value of that.”
    • Barfield had sought “effective solutions through the social equity task force, [but] that has been another charade,” whose changing leadership had left him with “no hope for any solution.” He felt agency leaders “can either come to the table and negotiate with us for real licenses that we deserve or we're gonna start protesting again. We're going to be in the courts, we're gonna be in the media and all that. We're gonna make sure everybody knows about what has been going on here.” Barfield alleged that “we have been talking to you for years about this and there's been no progress.”
  • Brionne Corbray (audio - 4m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Also finding there was insufficient action on equity in cannabis licensure, Corbray talked about losing his dispensary ten years earlier and having been engaged with the issue of social equity for years. He considered it to be “actually quite shameful that we are still here at this point” and felt agency officials should be embarrassed given the legacy of “how black people have been dealt with in business and in all these endeavors.”
    • His experience losing a business had been traumatic, Corbray conveyed, stating “to have somebody come and take your hard-earned work away from you because of the color of your skin” had left him depressed for years. He claimed that when he’d complained at WSLCB’s office they’d called the police with false accusations. He was grateful for Garrett’s work on WA SECTF but encouraged other leaders and staff at the agency to “look inward.”
  • Sekani Perkins, Green Thumb Collective Co-Founder (audio - 2m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Perkins discussed losing his medical dispensary due to the nearby presence of a "daycare in the basement of a church" shortly after opening in 2011. He compared this with a WSLCB-led bust of an unlicensed cannabis farmer’s market in Roy on August 30th where “close to a half a ton of marijuana [was] seized,” alleging that business “opened up…about 30 days after this whole fiasco” involving Corbray.
  • Gregory Foster, Cannabis Observer Founder + Citizen Observer (audio - 5m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Foster was choosing to “initiate conversation with the board” after almost five years of “attend[ing] or remotely observ[ing] basically all of the Liquor and Cannabis Board public meetings.” He considered Cannabis Observer to serve as “a bridge between the regulators and the regulated community, as well as other interested parties.” Their “primary aim” was “to increase transparency around cannabis policymaking and create better informed and more engaged citizens because we think that…more voices at the table” would lead to “better policy making outcomes for everybody.”
    • Beyond informing readers about specific events, “we coach them on relevant laws, rules, and policies, and encourage them to engage constructively in the process,” said Foster, but “it's pretty obvious - we have a long way still to go.”
    • He recognized Morgan and Thompsons’ work at WSLCB, saying the former “always welcome[d] my input even though my input often on that subject” wasn’t the “best of news - especially around MJ Freeway.”
    • Welcoming new Policy and Rules Coordinators to a “a pretty innovative rulemaking team,” Foster regarded agency staff as having “courage” for committing to the lengthy task of implementing a legal cannabis system.
  • Bailey Hirschburg, Citizen Observer for Cannabis Observer and member of the  National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML, audio - 4m, WSLCB video, TVW video)
    • Hirschburg voiced pride that after more than four years, “whether one's interest is professional, or recreational, Cannabis Observer can be counted on for primary information and for recordings of all the LCB events.” He enjoyed being able “to pass on as much information as possible to cannabis consumers, to advocates, to patients, as well as policymakers.” Complimenting the board for “pesticide testing being expanded to all the product that's going to be on the [Initiative] 502 market,” and “getting near to opening a social equity window that's long overdue,” Hirschburg argued “when social equity is needed and successfully executed you find justice.”
    • He explained that “when NORML started in the 1970s, we picked that name because society wouldn't call us normal otherwise” but “the concept has taken root so thoroughly that cannabis normalization has been voiced as a problem.” Hirschburg advised that the agency promote “responsible cannabis consumption, which NORML has outlined” with goals like “keeping cannabis away from youth, [and] allowing settings for cannabis consumption by those who'd enjoy it socially.” Having presented on social use policies to a WA SECTF workgroup on March 17th, he was pleased “they included that with their recommendations” to legislators, asking the board “to consider joining with [the task force] and calling for a complete revamp of RCW 69.50.465, which prohibits cannabis clubs of any kind.” He thought since “ax throwing and additional membership drives for wine clubs are moving forward cannabis consumers can expect some expansion of activity beyond new warning labels, or further advertising limitations.”
    • Hirschburg hoped agency leaders could “reach out and listen to consumers…including them in the Cannabis Advisory Council to a greater degree, your ‘pro-equity, anti-racism’ team, or actual direct outreach events similar to” the BIPOC community events in 2020.
  • Sami Saad (audio - 5m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Saad spoke to the board on September 14th, October 12th, and November 9th.
  • Michael Perry (audio - 2m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Perry shared his experience starting a cannabis dispensary in 2010 called Sea+Weed Alternative Medicine, seeing it as “profitable and uplifting for my community.” But being “within a thousand feet of a park” he reported having his business closed by officials even as he knew “there's other dispensaries next to churches and whatnot.” Finding it was “really disheartening to not have a leg up in the industry,” Perry wanted to have a dialogue on “the goals” that WSLCB had for their equity program, including where retailers could be located. He wanted to see the tension around the topic lowered and “speak to each other with actual truth.”
  • Sekayi Perkins, Green Thumb Collective Co-Founder (audio - 3m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Both Sekani and Sekayi Perkins spoke at the Seattle City Council Finance and Housing Committee hearing on a city-level cannabis equity program on August 17th.
    • Speaking “here to address the injustices that I faced,” Perkins had strived to set “my marijuana business on the foundation of morals and truth with the expectations of building a better future.” He insisted that “our voices will not be silenced, just like the bus boycotts in the 1960s, our communities forced the system's hand for equity based on the collective agreement to deliberately exercise our economic stronghold through a strategic” effort. Perkins saw WSLCB as “deliberately excluding blacks out of the marijuana industry” which damaged communities of color. “Our presence here alone reminds everyone of the inequality we suffer as Blacks,” he remarked, including “economically through redlining, health care, as well as a plethora of other privileges denied based on limitations forced on Black people in America.”
  • Peter Manning, BEC Co-Founder (audio - 3m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
    • Manning responded to accusations about how BEC had been incorporated before explaining that he’d met with Director Rick Garza in 2014 and “asked him what was going to be the outlook for the Black people in the cannabis industry when we make this transition from…medical to recreational. They assured me then that…it would be okay.” He claimed to have recognized signs of problems and sent letters that led to a “misconduct report” by D Diamond Consulting, as well as a Hillard Heintze independent review of WSLCB enforcement from 2019.
    • Manning took credit for some of the progress on social equity “even though there's opposition on some levels.” He insisted that dispensary owners “had legitimate businesses just like every White person had a legitimate business, but these people here were targeted because of their skin color and…the dollars that…their companies were bringing in.” He blamed the Washington Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU WA) campaign for initiative 502 as “writing Black people basically out of the cannabis industry.” He concluded, “White profiteer off…of us putting us in jail and then you profiteered off us by selling the same weed you were putting this in jail for.”
  • Mike Asai, BEC Vice President (audio - 4m, WSLCB video, TVW video).

• Board Chair David Postman replied to several of the accusations he’d heard against agency officials and addressed the still unissued social equity licenses (audio - 24m, WSLCB video, TVW video).
  • “I don't think you could look at somebody's face, somebody you haven't known, to know what's in their heart, or in their head, and what they've done,” Postman said, explaining why he didn’t understand some “reaction to…people who are trying to do good work” at the agency. He believed the social equity program under development at WSLCB featured “some of the very things…many of you here today talked about.” Postman promised they would continue to see the program through.
  • Looking back, Postman considered “what we faced here is…a law passed by the voters in 2012” because “the legislature never would have done it on their own.” He looked at the intent of the initiative “to try to right some of the wrongs in the War on Drugs” which had been “racially skewed” and wished there’d been an approach that included legislators and regulators beforehand.
  • Merging the licensed adult use market with the unlicensed dispensary system in 2015 impacted “thousands of you, including…real pioneers” whom Postman understood were complying with “business licenses, paying taxes, out in the open about what they were doing, and this state allowed those dispensaries to operate.” He appreciated the combining of the systems meant “all of a sudden you're told well, ‘we're only going to let a very few through the gate.’” Though he’d “not been in the position of hav[ing] my business ripped from me like that,” he empathized with the experience, listened “week after week,” and learned “a lot about it, and one of the things that we've been faced with is, how do we try to address some of these, both the built-in inequities.”
  • Before Postman joined the board, WSLCB leaders had pursued a social equity program with agency request legislation, “and the legislature said ‘good idea’ and they built on it and they said let's create a task force” which then led to WSLCB waiting on recommendations “from said task force.” While waiting, “we did what we could internally,” like criminal history rulemaking, noted Postman. They aimed for a system which doesn’t only address “dispensaries, but predates that, and looks at the war on drugs.” 
  • However, “we didn't have one meeting over the year that we've had [social equity rulemaking] discussions that had this many people on it, and I wish we did,” said Postman. He’d been ready to bring a CR-102 package forward months earlier, but staff said “we need to do better than this, doesn't go far enough.” Postman and others “knew we’d get some crap for that, but we did it” to include things like additional application points for prior dispensary ownership, or the ability to relocate a license within a county; “we changed those rules” proactively. “And so when people talk about staff here not caring or that they should be driven by shame. They care; they're working… within the statutory authority that the legislature gives us.”
  • And although he considered the social equity request legislation for 2023 “a great bill” incorporating feedback agency officials had heard from WA SECTF and the public, Postman knew “I can't address everything that led up to this.” Focusing on the positive, he talked about progress on preparing for the social equity program, and the continuing need for “reliable data on where economically distressed areas are…but it's taking a little longer than we thought.” He knew people wanted licenses based on past treatment by WSLCB staff but “we can only issue licenses through this competitive process, and that's what we will do” though he realized that “the people who want licenses are[n’t] only those that come to meetings.”
    • On December 13th, a revision on the WSLCB website acknowledged a change in the vendor the agency was contracting with to review and prioritize equity applicants, which stated: “The selected vendor to complete third party reviews for applications is Ponder Diversity Group…[Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer P.A.] QPWB recently informed the LCB that it was no longer providing government contract legal services. It has reassigned its responsibilities as Washington’s third-party reviewer to the Ponder Diversity Group. The Ponder Diversity Group consists entirely of the original QPWB attorneys and staff who have been preparing to serve as Washington’s independent application review and scoring team. The Ponder Diversity Group is a women and minority owned business enterprise.”
    • At publication time and according to the QPWB website, the firm had a “governmental liability defense team represent[ing] municipalities, law enforcement agencies, law enforcement officers, school districts, administrators, teachers, and governmental agencies at the state, federal and local level.”
  • Postman asked those sharing their stories with the board to look at the request legislation to “help us get that passed.” He said the board was available to anyone that wanted to reach out to them “for any conversations about how we can do that.” Their program “will not fix it all, I can't fix it,” but Postman thought “government, which is, way too often has been used as a tool for inequity, can be used as a tool for equity” for cannabis, which “has a place in Washington state for adults.”
  • “I'm always told: Don't respond. Don't talk, but I can't just sit here and let this go…I think we've got a lot of good work that's been done and a lot more to do,” Postman summarized, “but I get to the point where I can't talk about what happened 10 years ago anymore.”
  • Postman invited attendees to stay and talk with him and staff members after adjournment of the public meeting, which many speakers did (audio - 1m, WSLCB video, TVW video).