WA SECTF - Public Meeting
(July 27, 2021) - Summary

Task force members heard progress reports from work group leaders and WSLCB licensing staff while the public voiced complaints about the pace of task force work and the absence of the former co-chair.

Here are some observations from the Tuesday July 27th Washington State Legislative Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis (WA SECTF) meeting.

My top 6 takeaways:

• Technical Assistance and Mentorship Work Group (WA SECTF - Work Group - TA and Mentorship) co-leads offered a status update and recommendations on how to spend some of the current fiscal year’s funding (handout).
  • Co-lead Raft Hollingsworth, a cannabis producer/processor licensee appointed to the task force, said his group was assisting the Washington State Department of Commerce (WA Commerce) on the social equity technical assistance competitive grant program and mentorship roster (audio - 5m, video).
    • Work group members were working with the Disproportionately Impacted Communities Work Group (WA SECTF - Work Group - Disproportionately Impacted Communities), he reported, as they looked at what to include in required social equity plans. Hollingsworth explained that the work group had “met three times” and was composed of “ten members, most with backgrounds in community, commerce, and the cannabis industry.” He stated his belief that the time it would take Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) staff to “conduct rulemaking and issue licenses through an equitable process makes it difficult for Commerce to be able to issue the technical assistance grants before the end of the 2022 Fiscal Year” (FY). Unless funds were given to WA SECTF, Hollingsworth told the group, “or reappropriated through legislative action,” the FY 2022 money would be “at risk of being lost.”
    • The three priorities for the work group were:
      • “Prevent the loss of funds”
      • “Develop proposals for how the technical assistance and mentorship program will operate in subsequent years” 
      • “Consider questions regarding community reinvestment, workforce training, and other tools offered in statute to further bring equity to Washington state.”
    • Hollingsworth said the group’s initial advice was for WA Commerce to “use all funds” for FY 2022 to “begin developing the mentorship roster outlined in statute.” He stated that officials had authority to establish the roster of “51% minority or women owned” businesses to assist applicants if given a recommendation to do so by the task force. Hollingsworth continued, saying the work group backed supporting “both current licensees that fit the social equity applicant criteria, and potential applicants to have access to this mentorship roster.” He noted that tools like “seminars and panels, both in person and virtual” focused on “cannabis specific information and classes,” would be of most use along with a few that “focus on general business knowledge,” and identified several potential topics.
    • “It is important to the work group and community members that this program is sustainable and can remain available for years to come,” Hollingsworth observed, and that WA Commerce officials should “contract with large and small businesses that meet the criteria for mentorship.”
  • Co-Lead Tamara Berkley, a cannabis retail licensee appointed to the task force, shared that work group members supported more money for TA and mentorship programs as the “current allotment was insufficient to support new business owners and sustain the roster.” She advocated for “cash grants or financial assistance” for the funds beyond FY 2022, which was “currently not part of this.” Berkley reported that the group backed grants “equal” in size, workforce training opportunities, “and we strongly believe that grants should only be issued to applicants that have received a license” (audio - 3m, video). 
    • She said work group members had looked at merging the “grant and license process through the social equity plans” and were contemplating questions about amending the timeline for spending grant money or reinvesting money into communities “disproportionately impacted.” Berkeley noted that the equity focus of cannabis legalization in New York would require an investment of “40% of the adult-use cannabis tax revenue toward rebuilding communities harmed by the War on Drugs.” She added that, in Washington, “33% of tax dollars” from cannabis went into the state general fund, and the work group encouraged a discussion “of whether some of this revenue should be reinvested in the community.”
      • Find out more about how cannabis revenue was appropriated in the 2021-23 biennium operating budget signed into law on May 18th.
    • Anzhane Slaughter, WA SECTF Manager through the Washington State Governor's Interagency Council on Health Disparities, clarified that there was a “preliminary proposal” from the work group that WA Commerce staff use FY 2022 funds before they were “lost” at the end of the fiscal year. The idea was an “early education/mentorship program” offered “to current licensees and potential applicants,” she said, and could be done by department officials with “the recommendation from the task force” (audio - 2m, video).
    • Senator Rebecca Saldaña, appointed to represent the Washington State Senate (WA Senate) Democratic majority caucus, replied that there had been recognition outside the work group that the $1.1 million annual appropriation for the social equity program was “not enough and that there’s some challenges” including “how we can do cash assistance or grants to businesses...in a way that is legally sound” (audio - 1m, video).
    • Senator Curtis King, a task force appointee for the WA Senate Republican minority caucus, wondered why there should be “funding for those that already have licenses and are already operating.” Berkley responded that the current plan was about “access to the mentorship,” with Hollingsworth saying there was an “assessment that we will not be able to spend this money through technical assistance grants” before the fiscal year ended. Additionally, he questioned if TA grants were “the most effective use of the funds,” as the applicants expected “a $50,000 check, a $100,000 check” but were likely to find the restrictions on its use prohibitive. “This money can’t even go to pay your contractor” or “improve your store,” Hollingsworth argued, as the TA “aspect of grant is not what I’ve heard a lot of people think it is, it’s very narrow.” He told King the work group wanted “a robust mentorship program” that was useful “for years to come” (audio - 3m, video). 
    • Pablo Gonzalez, an appointee representing cannabis retailers, offered his perspective as a retailer that eastern and western parts of the state were “in totally different worlds.” A licensee needed to raise the “cost of entry”---hundreds of thousands of dollars in start-up expenses---just to open up a cannabis shop to have an opportunity “to make money in this industry,” he said. Gonzalez was supportive of a “limited amount” of cash grants to social equity licensees who can “show how [they’re] spending it” (audio - 3m, video).
    • Representative Kelly Chambers, appointed to the task force for the Washington State House of Representatives (WA House) Republican minority caucus, asked Hollingsworth if WA Commerce officials already had “training for small businesses in general” covering human resources law. Hollingsworth was unsure. Chambers added that new businesses worried about compliance and the task force should “see if there’s already something existing so you’re not taking resources to put on something that already exists.” She also asked about mentorship for social equity applicants, specifically who would be the mentors. “My thought process was: current [Initiative-]502 licensees that meet the criteria,” Hollingsworth answered, “51% women and minority owned...it doesn’t just have to come from the industry” (audio - 3m, video). 
    • Board Member Ollie Garrett, appointed to represent the WSLCB, wondered about distributing a “survey to the existing licensees to hear from them where they feel like they could use funding and need help.” Hollingsworth said “existing licensees” he’d spoken with since 2020 communicated that “they need help.” He wasn’t content to “introduce 50 or however many new licenses of people who fit the social equity criteria” while those fitting that criteria and already in the industry “are going out of business.” Even worse, suggested Hollingsworth, was issuing social equity licenses, “and there’s not an environment, an ecosystem to support them.” Investing in training and mentorship “spends the money before the end of the fiscal year,” he reiterated, “and it doesn’t require legislative action, and I think it’s in the true intent of the law” (audio - 4m, video).
      • Garrett mentioned it could be possible for the WSLCB Education and Enforcement division to “help with things that they run into doing education with the licensees” or where existing licensees “need some help.”
    • Gonzalez remarked that he was “still learning something every day” and encouraged mentorship to “outline the basics of the cannabis industry with regards to...paying taxes,” being compliant with inventory, and “making sure that you are not selling to minors.” He’d found it was “not super hard to operate a cannabis business, but it is super difficult to” maintain compliance with rules and regulations (audio - 3m, video).

• Disproportionately Impacted Communities Work Group (WA SECTF - Work Group - Disproportionately Impacted Communities) co-leads gave a briefing on how members were preparing to recommend a mapping of “disproportionately impacted areas” (DIAs, handout).
  • Co-Lead Cherie MacLeod, appointed to the task force to represent the Association of Washington Cities (AWC), told the task force that the work group scope covered “eligibility and prioritization of the social equity program.” She reviewed factors for “potential social equity applicants” to qualify for a license, particularly their history living “in a disproportionately impacted area,” or if they or a family member had been “convicted of a drug offense” (audio - 9m, video).
    • MacLeod said the work group regularly divided into two smaller breakout groups to split effort: one focused on defining DIA criteria and the other on “social equity applicant” (SEA) criteria including “self/family convictions.” As lead for the DIA breakout group, MacLeod reported on work since their July 12th meeting, including recommending use of census tracts for the area of measurement as there was “the most information” including unemployment and median household income data.
    • “Instead of using the federal poverty level,” as indicators, MacLeod stated, the group wanted to use census tract data weighted against median income data for the county where the tract was located. The work group was avoiding using data on participation in “many state and federal welfare programs,” MacLeod told task force members, as those programs restricted eligibility from “individuals with drug convictions,” making the information “counterproductive to the aim of the social equity program.” She pointed to a project from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) to map DIAs based on census tracts. MacLeod explained the intention of the work group to release three rankings of DIAs based on Washington census information from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
      • Officials in Illinois have also created a DIA map as part of their cannabis equity program. Learn more about census tract map information from Brown University as well as from the U.S. Census Bureau.
    • MacLeod added that there was a call for expanding the drug-related convictions which would qualify someone as an applicant, saying cannabis offenses “often show up as a larger drug crime rather than specifically cannabis.” Only including convictions that specified cannabis could lead to the exclusion of those “who may have been arrested for cannabis.”
    • Another factor “we’re recommending to add,” MacLeod noted, was the percentage of “non-white residents to prioritize Black, Indigenous, [Asian American and Pacific Island], and Latinx communities.” She said the work group wanted “indicators” of the “racial makeup of each census tract” given the history of disproportionate cannabis enforcement, adding their belief the “indicator will pass strict scrutiny standards because individuals do not have to be a specific racial background to have lived in a DIA.” A problem they’d encountered, conceded MacLeod, was “waiting for conviction data” from state and local courts. Municipal data was expected in a “couple of weeks” but they had no timeline on state information. She promised the work group would identify and produce maps showing the “top 20% of DIAs.”
    • Later in the discussion, MacLeod assured the task force that once they’d received conviction data they’d look at produced DIA maps to “do any tweaking” or reprioritize used indicators (audio - 1m, video). 
  • Michele Cadigan, a graduate student looking at equity programs and a DIA work group member, presented a map of Washington DIAs generated “using the [American Civil Liberties Union] ACLU multiplier of 2.5 for Black individuals having been convicted for marijuana possession more than Whites as a substitute to the conviction data.” MacLeod said the data was from the 2000s but, “so far, we’re on the right track.” Cadigan called the map “very preliminary” as not all factors had been included, but green areas indicated census tracts “that would be considered DIAs based on the information they had.” She went over the preliminary maps and a list of initial DIA scores, expecting that as other factors began to be included, “we’ll start seeing more of the...really impacted communities really rise to the top” (audio - 5m, video).
  • Co-Lead Christopher Poulos said his breakout group focused on social equity applicant criteria. Some factors were spelled out in statute, but the conviction of an applicant or their “family member” was less defined. He described how breakout group members had also developed several questions they encouraged task force members to address on “social equity plans,” as well as “ranking, scoring, evaluating applications” (audio - 7m, video).  
    • Poulos relayed that there was agreement on using an “inclusive, holistic definition of family,” not just immediate biological relations. This helped to ensure that an applicant who was “raised by an aunt, a grandmother, even a family member who’s not necessarily blood” relatives, could qualify for a social equity license, he argued. Moreover, members of the group wanted to avoid a “cumbersome” system, Poulos said, which might involve sourcing original conviction documents. A “yes/no” question on the application along with “a short description of what that prior conviction is,” and the choice to expand on their convictions in a social equity plan, would be sufficient, he stated, and avoid people having to “relive that trauma through this process.”
    • Poulos found the “more challenging piece” was what should be included in a social equity plan, and encouraged feedback on how to score the equity plans. He noted they’d gotten a lot of community input encouraging prioritization of “people who had been pushed out of the industry, who were in medical or who tried to initially get in” but weren’t awarded licenses. WA SECTF Chair Melanie Morgan, representing the WA House Democratic majority caucus, asked for staff to work with the co-leads “in getting those questions put together and sent out to the task force members...then collate all of our answers.”
    • Chambers asked about the preference for census tracts compared to ZIP codes. MacLeod noted census tracts were based on population units and the City of Seattle had two tracts that “crosses the city limits” and didn’t conform to ZIP codes. Cadigan added that tracts had “been used to allocate resources” and had “between four to eight thousand residents,” and that while there was some shifting in their boundaries over time, “every list that we’ll create will have the same boundaries” (audio - 2m, video).
      • Chambers followed up to ask how census tracts were identified and distinguished, with Cadigan saying there were over 1,400 tracts in the state, and that “500 were in the top 20% of scores” (audio - 1m, video). She added that Geographic Identifiers (GEOIDs) were associated with “each census tract” which were based on state, county, and local divisions (audio - 1m, video).
    • Gonzalez pointed out the first allotment of cannabis retail stores had been “based on jurisdictions in cities and counties.” He noted that an opinion from the Washington State Office of the Attorney General (WA OAG) had allowed local governments to ban cannabis retail, which led him to feel that basing DIAs by cities and counties “is the most effective way, based on the fact that that’s the way it’s been done in the past.” Cadigan responded that the census tracts would be “bound by city boundaries” as well as county lines. Furthermore, defining DIAs “doesn’t mean that you have to have a store there,” she emphasized, only that having lived there “will qualify you to apply as an equity” applicant (audio - 3m, video). 

• Licensing Work Group (WA SECTF - Work Group - Licensing) co-leads shared where the group was at with recommending additional retail cannabis licenses for equity applicants and other topics (Handout).
  • Co-Lead Monica Martinez, on the task force representing producers and processors, outlined the work group’s mission as “looking at whether more cannabis retail licenses should be created and set aside for social equity, whether more producers/processors licenses should be issued, and whether other license types such as delivery or on-site consumption could be created and also set aside for equity” (audio - 4m, video). 
    • The work group had heard of “significant barriers for future retail license holders” and were discussing local “bans and moratoriums, statewide buffering requirements, and other barriers to siting,” Martinez said. Saying the work group had met twice with a third meeting set for August 25th, she talked about the focus being on whether to ask the task force to recommend more retail licenses. Martinez confirmed that there’d been “broad agreement that the current allotment of licenses set aside for retail cannabis social equity program is insufficient...to prompt equity.”
    • Martinez noted that the work group had not set a number for new retail licenses but “some members suggested the number shouldn’t be arbitrary...but instead informed by the need and interest of the community.”
  • Co-Lead Michelle Merriweather, representing the “the African American community” on WA SECTF, invited input from task force members on the questions raised by Martinez (audio - 1m, video).
    • Slaughter chimed in to say this work group had met less often then the others as WA SECTF staff had to “prioritize our efforts” to get the “program off the ground” by taking up recommendations from other work groups, while the licensing work group had been looking at “future legislation or license types that would require legislation.” She was confident that WA SECTF members would hear more from the licensing group “as our work progresses” (audio - 1m, video).
    • MacLeod asked about increases in population since the “2013 allotment of retail stores” and since “medical transitioned over to recreational” in 2015, wondering if this should factor into license allotment. Martinez responded that the state’s population has grown “11% from 2013 to 2020” with initial information showing “that violent crime has not changed in significant ways since cannabis legalization, nor have traffic fatalities significantly increased.” She indicated that the per capita rate of cannabis retail was 6.2 stores per 100,000 residents, which was “lower compared to other states with both adult recreation, and medical use regulated programs.” Lastly, “dramatic growth in cannabis retail sales and excise taxes from 2015 to 2020 is another indicator that the industry could handle more retail stores,” Martinez stated, in addition to “jobs and state tax revenue” from the industry. (audio - 3m, video). 
    • King also wondered about population growth, particularly with Colorado’s higher ratio of stores per 100,000 residents, saying the “survival rate" of the businesses should also be considered. He only favored expanding the number of allotted retail locations after ensuring “that they’re able to be profitable and...survive.” King urged the task force to bear this in mind (audio - 1m, video). 
    • Garrett said she’d just discussed population changes with WSLCB Director of Licensing Becky Smith, and asked her to provide a quick briefing on what they’d learned. Smith stated that an initial review “of the number of retail stores with population in mind” also considered stores “that are in moratoriums and bans as well.” She said the initial WSLCB recommendation was for “51 more retail stores,” which included all the mentioned factors as well as "medical needs" of cannabis patients. She promised to provide the information they’d used to the task force and DIA work group. Garrett added that “areas where the growth occurred” were identified, too (audio - 3m, video).
      • WSLCB board members denied a petition from a licensee to move their retail license between counties on May 11th. Policy and Rules Manager Kathy Hoffman shared the current agency policy on their authority for retail licensure which stated a position that “any increase in the number of retail outlets above the current statewide limit” subsequent to “January 1, 2020 must be approved by the legislature...consistent with social equity task force recommendations.” Any recommendation from the task force to increase license allotments must first be approved by the legislature, but it’s the understanding of Cannabis Observer that subsequent statute does not contravene the agency’s existing authority to determine license allotments in RCW 69.50.345(2) and instead reflected a policy choice made following the recommendation of agency staff.
    • Hollingsworth inquired about reassessing where “those stores are located overall,” saying that the cities of Mount Vernon and Port Angeles had “as many stores as bigger cities like Tacoma.” Morgan wondered if the Licensing or DIA work groups would be the appropriate entity to consider reallocating stores. Martinez observed that there were plans for her group to “discuss local jurisdiction issues like bans or moratoriums” and total allotments. However, any change in the siting or number of licenses would need legislative approval, she reminded the group (audio - 2m, video).
    • Andre Felton (audio - 2m, video)
      • Felton didn’t think state officials should have “a concern as to whether [social equity licensed] businesses will continue to function or not.” He also objected to “how we are locating and designating Black or minorities through the use of criminality and poverty.” Felton considered those who’d previously spoken included “qualified applicants who have already ran businesses without any need for technical assistance or capital” and should be the first granted retail licenses already available for social equity.
    • J’Andre Ivory (audio - 3m, video) 
      • Ivory was worried that “you guys are on a hamster wheel." He said representatives from GrowOps had told him they’d provide a million dollars in capital “if you just get the license...we trust you.” He suggested the open questions in task force work groups “could be hired out” to subject matter experts, “people like me.” Ivory talked about working two jobs and having a friend who was “very successful already, but just wants to see a Black brother like myself succeed and he’s willing to put up all the money.” But recently, the friend told Ivory he wouldn’t be able to help him since “licenses ain’t going to be given out until 2022.” The task force’s work looked to him as “the few, you know, 1% that had everything together are going to be able to benefit from this” and that members hadn’t listened to “the people that are actually investing in the people that are trying to get the license.”
    • Paul Brice, Happy Trees Owner (audio - 3m, video) 
      • Brice brought up several legal cannabis states establishing “on-site consumption” of cannabis and that the limited number of retail stores available to social equity applicants should get “an edge, really have them do something different.” He also asked about the retail allotments for Pierce County as that jurisdiction didn’t have “as many stores as King [County]...because their allotments” hadn’t been changed by WSLCB officials.
      • Slaughter chimed in to clarify that WSLCB leadership didn’t have “statutory authority to focus all 50 of those licenses specifically for social equity,” only the “revoked, cancelled licenses will go to social equity.” She challenged the opinion that “LCB is moving faster than the task force,” feeling it “simply isn’t true.” Slaughter acknowledged the task force existed within a “bureaucratic process and unfortunately it’s very gradual.”
      • Smith said that Pierce County had 17 at-large retail locations after the initial allocation and continued with that number as “they had a moratorium and ban.” When the medical and adult use markets were merged, she noted, “we didn’t give out more stores in Pierce County.” Brice said the county could “easily” accommodate the unissued at-large locations (audio - 1m, video).

• WSLCB staff gave a presentation on social equity licensing materials being added to the agency website.
  • WSLCB leaders discussed improvements to the agency website related to the social equity program on July 14th.
  • Garrett stated that WSLCB staff had “been hearing” prospective applicants asking how to “be ready and prepared when these licenses open up” (audio - 2m, video). Smith presented along with WSLCB Senior Education and Policy Manager Kaitlin Bamba, saying that agency staff had been tuned in to WA SECTF meetings and wanted “folks in the community to be able to provide information back to us” and ask questions. What Smith and others had heard was that the WSLCB website “isn’t as friendly as it could be, or as it should be.” They’d added maps of bans and moratoriums along with “other issues and concerns,” she remarked (audio - 2m, video).
  • Bamba went over the socal equity improvements to the agency’s online presence, including on the agency homepage. She showed current resources and then outlined what would be improved (audio - 8m, video):
    • “A general overview of the responsibilities of the task force”
    • “Social equity applicant criteria”
    • “Social equity plan”
    • “Information on here about what LCB is doing now” including “outreach to local jurisdictions with bans and moratoria”
      • Smith said WSLCB Licensing Division Cannabis Manager Kevin Milovac had contacted officials in every banned jurisdiction “personally” and that leaders in the City of Black Diamond were “considering lifting their ban even though they’re with King County at-large” locations. She mentioned that staff were seeking to learn more about equity programs in other states like California, Illinois, and New York to enhance the work of Washington officials.
    • “5 things you can do now”
      • “Learn about the Social Equity Program
      • Get involved in Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force activities
      • Use our online submission form to submit send your questions and ideas
      • Sign up to receive email updates from the LCB
      • Check out our online resources for Social Equity Applicants”
    • An “online submission form” where comments and questions could be asked and answers would be added into a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page.
    • Additionally, Bamba said there was “information on basic licensing requirements” before the program was accepting applications and other resources:
      • Agency Partners
      • Laws and Rules
      • Land Use and Zoning
        • Bomba highlighted the map of cannabis zoning provided by the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC).
      • Starting a Business
    • Bomba reiterated that resources would be expanded as the social equity program moved ahead.

• Public testimony during general public comments and work group updates revealed citizens were heavily critical of task force work to date, calling out individuals and WA SECTF as a whole.
  • Jim MacRae, Straight Line Analytics (audio - 6m, video) 
    • Regarding the “allocation of licenses by” WSLCB staff and “allusions towards race being a relevant factor,” MacRae stated that he’d been reviewing “data for the Liquor and Cannabis Board” since the inception of cannabis licensure. In 2017, he said he’d known a “local reporter” covering “criminal history reports of, I believe it was retail applicants in the Seattle area” and he had noted that the history report had self-reported “race information.” MacRae remarked that as complaints about an inequitable market began to reach him, he considered history reports to be “an innovative way of getting data” and, if there was evidence of disparate treatment, “the data were there.”
    • In January 2018, MacRae said he made a public records request of WSLCB (PRR 18-01-102) and received “over 50” installments of records for “39 months” until April of 2021 when public records staff informed him his request had been completed. According to his findings, “almost one in seven of the licenses that I should have received criminal history reports for, I did not get any.” When challenged, MacRae said staff from the agency acknowledged that there were “over 30 active licenses, today, that I had not received a single criminal history report for.” He was amazed regulators would “not have those on file.” MacRae remarked that agency staff said “they’re now work[ing] to” get the outstanding history reports and they “explained some subtleties as to why they were having difficulty” producing them.
    • However, he maintained that “one license in particular...I started thinking there’s something they’re trying to hide,” and alleged that representatives at WSLCB had delayed producing information for him before. He believed that agency officials had “granted in error” multiple licenses, “none of whom were Black,” despite criminal backgrounds he said “should have nixed them from getting licenses.” 110 licenses had no associated criminal history reports agency staff could produce, MacRae said, including a license he “had ancillary information” on suggesting of its five owners, “at least three of those five individuals probably should’ve been in prison.” He deduced that “people that are somewhat darker skinned...than your typical lilly-white thing you see down near Olympia” had little chance of avoiding criminal history checks. MacRae didn’t know if racial bias was the reason, but “I know that there are people out there that hold licenses today, or were given licenses and then were subsequently able to sell them...that should not have been given those licenses.” He suspected it occurred “with the full awareness of the people in the LCB that gave them those licenses.”
  • Philip (audio - 6m, video) 
    • Speaking as "a guy who’s in recovery," the task force process reminded Philip “of an amends process" where those who were “affected” by disproportionate cannabis enforcement can explain how the state can “make this right.” Philip’s input was that he didn’t “see a lot of Black faces" on the task force, “particularly men” and agreed with the assessment of disparate arrests documented by ACLU members. 
    • He called for increased funding so social equity license holders could be successful and more licenses in Black communities as he was concerned that it "sounds like there's only two” in Seattle. Philip drew attention to cannabis tax revenue “which after the end of this year will be over a billion dollars” as he felt some of that should be directed to financial assistance for equity licensees.
      • Find out How $1 billion in pot taxes gets spent in Washington state. 
    • Philip then suggested investing cannabis dollars towards addiction recovery efforts “in stores, so people know that, you know, if they want to get help, where they can get that help from.” His hope was that WA SECTF can “be the role model for the country” if there was collective will to “deal with some of these hard issues.” He pointed to MacRae’s comments to say the system has been “tainted from the beginning" and true equity involved “doing the right thing." Philip felt the social equity initiative in California had become an “example of talking loud and saying nothing," and wanted Washington to have “safeguards” so that social equity could be more successful.
    • Morgan pointed out that some cannabis revenue had been set aside for treatment and prevention efforts (audio - 1m, video).
    • Philip also offered additional remarks following the licensing work group update (audio - 2m, video). 
  • Jim Makoso, CEO of Flowe Technology and Director at Lucid Lab Group (audio - 4m, video). 
    • Recognizing Philip as an “active community participant” in the TA and Mentorship work group, Makoso assured him he was “a Black man” involved in the task force and was “hoping to increase the numbers,” along with Hollingsworth. He also echoed Phillip’s remark about the potential to “set the groundwork and the framework for creating a social equity platform” that could be emulated by other legal cannabis states.
    • Responding to earlier comments on synthesized cannabinoids, Masoko was complimentary of the two cannabis plant chemistry deliberative dialogue sessions facilitated by WSLCB staff with an expert science panel which he felt “really addressed synthetic versus artificial versus plant-derived cannabinoids.”
  • Peter Manning, Black Excellence in Cannabis (BEC) Member (audio - 6m, video) 
    • Manning said WA SECTF had transformed into a "study session” and he found the situation to be “typical of white supremacy where they victimize people of color” then require a study of the problem. He was especially concerned that former task force co-chair Paula Sardinas (“one of the leading proponents of this whole thing”) was “no longer there” as a leader of the task force and that the task force was “taken over by people that are not Black, that are not Mexican.” Manning didn’t know how “the people that caused the problems in the beginning how they’re going to resolve the issue.”
    • Manning argued that TA and Mentorship work group member Ian Eisenberg, Co-Owner of Uncle Ike’s, was "not a proponent for...Black people,” and claimed he knew of a recording of Eisenberg saying a protest of his business by African Americans was because “those people just want something for free.” He then claimed that WA SECTF member David Mendoza “completely overlooked Black people in 2014/15” while working for the City of Seattle during early cannabis licensing periods and that the task force needed, if not Manning himself, “real people up there really looking out for the best interests of us.” He maligned Morgan's leadership of the task force, saying that investigative reporting would likely show Morgan as “an example of why it didn’t work” even if there were others “potentially manipulating it in some way.” Manning asserted the group’s behavior was “the White playbook...and we’re Black!" He felt that communities of color were “getting shammed.” 
    • Morgan offered that Sardinas had “resigned from the task force in May” and that WA SECTF members “miss her work,” but made clear that it was Sardinas’ choice to resign. Manning retorted that Sardinas had “resigned because it wasn't going down properly."
  • Jim Buchanan (audio - 4m, video) 
    • Buchanan acknowledged that while there was a time for the public to give input, he thought "folks aren't listening to...what we are saying." He spoke up as a person that had “been impacted by the war on drugs” who was “not part of this process” and “we're not happy with how the process is going." Buchanan was finding that the social equity “program was setup for a certain amount of manipulation" meaning the result so far was “not equity.” Feeling he was connected to and speaking for “the community,” Buchanan said people were “talking now because we have time to correct it.” He agreed with the concerns raised by Phillip and Manning and wanted to “be part of the process.”
    • It was Buchanan’s understanding that Sardinas resigned from the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs (CAAA) but had intended to stay on as CAAA’s appointee to the task force. He said, “there’s some things going on, you know, with that but” he felt she’d been “the only person that literally heard us and was literally fighting for what was right for us.” He concluded that “while we’re trying to talk,” task force members should “make a serious attempt at doing the right thing because we will insist that that happens.”
  • Sami Saad, Former dispensary owner (audio - 4m, video) 
    • Saad shared the sentiments of Manning, Buchanan, and other speakers. He supported Sardinas' and MacLeod’s contribution to the task force, and felt they’d “been listening to us.” Noting, “we don't want to be studied," he argued that he was among those who “chose” Sardinas as a community representative for WA SECTF, but now “why she’s not there, are you kidding me?”
    • Asking if the task force was there for “Uncle Ike’s and the other people,” Saad said, “there is no Black people in this field” and claimed, when asked, WSLCB Director of Legislative Relations Chris Thompson had told him there wasn’t racial demographic information on licensees.
    • Saad talked about having “the first shop in Washington” and how a nearby restaurant he used to eat at “is a weed shop,” Greenworks Cannabis, which he argued was “made for White people.” His dispensary “became like a zoo to be studied” and he wanted regulators and the task force to “fix the damage happen to us.” Saad claimed that Garrett didn’t want to help him and had told him at a meeting to “not call my phone again, if I have update I will call you." He then stated he was “being called by the LCB in his middle name, the Muslim name, not first, not last...My name is Sami Saad.” Saad felt that “if you take somebody’s spot you have to give that person before anything.”
    • Saad concluded by asking for “Paula to come back, we need you guys to be fair, we need to be included.” Gonzalez attempted to ask Saad a question but Morgan asked for the next commenter.
    • Following the TA and Mentorship update Saad had more comments about his treatment by task force members (audio - 2m, video) 
  • Sheley Anderson, Craft Cannabis Coalition (CCC) Policy Advisor and WA SECTF - Work Group - TA and Mentorship member (audio - 2m, video) 
    • Anderson said she agreed that the state had not invested enough in social equity. “$2.2 million being set aside” left her skeptical that the sum could make “a real impact.” When divided equally among successful applicants, each “would only get $50,000.” She compared that figure to numbers from the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC), which “stated in 2019 it cost $55,000 a year to lock someone up...the state is willing to lock someone away for $55,000 a year for drug convictions, but not willing to invest more than $50,000 for the applicants who are trying to make it into this industry.” Anderson asked that the “full task force” consider allocation of the totality of the “cannabis excise tax” suggesting that communities impacted by the drug war weren't “receiving the funding to actually assist” them, and that task force equity goals should “broaden” to reach DIAs.
      • According to the FY2019 Cost per Incarcerated Individual per Day -- All Facility Costs from DOC the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) incurred annual inmate costs of at least $55,000.
  • Aaron Barfield, BEC Co-Founder (audio - 4m, video)
    • “What community members are saying is absolutely true,” Barfield attested, saying those that were the earliest to lobby “for equity and inclusion are not represented on this task force.” He said that Morgan and King were “well aware of the people who were down there fighting” for equity programs and that “you see none of them represented on this task force.” He said that BEC was not being represented and that Hollingsworth and Brice, who already had licenses, were “not down there fighting” for more inclusion, leaving his organization doubtful WA SECTF would help “legitimate activity.”
    • Barfield called Eisenberg "an enemy of inclusion” who had “been fighting against us legislatively and every which way possible, and he’s serving” in the TA and Mentorship work group. He was unhappy that his call for a “preliminary recommendation” from the task force to add 70 additional retail allotments “for the equity applicants” had received a call for “more information to study that” by Martinez even though “we’ve been telling you since the very beginning that we need more retail licenses, that’s what this fight is for.”
    • Barfield found the most significant action of WA SECTF to date had been recommending “grant money for people who already have licenses,” a move to “benefit yourselves, you guys didn’t have to study that.” He thought it was “hypocrisy and callousness” that resulted in licensee task force members bringing up “the hardship that you guys are going through on [use of synthesized cannabinoids from hemp] when we’ve been complaining to you guys that our livelihoods have been destroyed by this, and nobody is doing anything about it.” Hollingsworth asked to respond to Barfield’s accusations, “because we were specifically addressed,” but Morgan wanted to move on to others who signed up to speak.
    • Following the update on the Licensing work group Barfield provided more feedback, saying that “this task force is doing things wrong" by not prioritizing increasing the available licenses, a priority “for inclusion.” He found that “the LCB is actually moving faster than the task force,” pointing to Smith’s support for “51 additional licenses,” and that social equity task force members “couldn’t even beat ‘em to that.” Barfield said the message from WSLCB staff was “we’re embarrassed by this situation, we need more licenses...we need more inclusion in this industry.” He wanted task force members to interpret a recommendation for more retail allotments as a request of WA SECTF by agency staff to make that recommendation. He attributed the group’s hesitation to “the lack of representation from the community on this task force” and said Saad should be a “millionaire” cannabis retailer but had been “extremely mistreated by the system and, and people in the system.” Barfield stated that, after speaking with Sardinas, she hadn’t “resign[ed] from this task force at all” and should be reinstated as Co-Chair (audio - 4m, video).
      • Martinez spoke up to say that the licensing work group had agreed with “recommending additional retail licenses be allocated for equity” in addition to the 38 licenses already dedicated to social equity applicants once WSLCB officials and the DIA work group “has their final recommendations on how to take applications on those.”
  • Mike Asai, Former dispensary owner (audio - 3m, video) 
  • Dom Turner (audio - 1m, video) 
  • Brionne Corbray, Former dispensary owner (audio - 2m, video) 
    • Agreeing with the frustration of “all these brothers that have been here talking,” Corbray commented that he’d reached out to Morgan “and I never heard back.” He said he’d been contacted years earlier “about being compensated” for his former dispensary but that there’d been no action from the City of Seattle “because the mayor, Jenny Durkan, is the federal prosecutor who shut us down.” Corbray asked Morgan if she’d backed legislation “to not allow the social equity people be in Seattle and Tacoma.” Morgan answered that “I don’t recall any such bill” and said she would speak with Corbray outside of the meeting.
      • Corbray was most likely referencing an unsuccessful amendment to HB 1443 during the session seeking to maintain “the requirement that the legislature approve increases in the number of cannabis retail outlets.”
      • On August 3rd, the 2021 Seattle mayoral primary election to succeed Durkan as mayor resulted in former Seattle City Council President and one-time Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell and the sitting Seattle City Council President Lorena González advancing to the November 2nd general election.
  • Antoine Maxwell (audio - 2m, video) 
  • At the conclusion of the general public comment period, Morgan thanked speakers and assured them “we all hear you” before clarifying that WA SECTF members do “not appoint anyone to be on the task force.” Over attempted interruptions she said the meeting agenda would cover “the very things that all of you have been commenting on” (audio - 1m, video).

• Paula Sardinas, former co-chair of the task force, said her resignation from the CAAA shouldn’t have altered her role or CAAA’s representation on the group, which she now deemed “a national embarrassment."
  • Sardinas had been a leading advocate for Washington’s African American communities on cannabis equity since the legislation to establish WA SECTF, HB 2870, was introduced in 2020. She consulted with WSLCB officials on implementation and agency outreach to black, indigenous, and person of color (BIPOC) communities following the passage of HB 2870. Sardinas offered remarks at a series of WSLCB BIPOC Engagements, outlining her background and views on the-then social equity bill, stating she’d “worked in cannabis for 25 years.”
    • Her lobbying career listed on linkedin shows extensive work for public and private entities, along with her registered lobbying work in Washington since 2016.
    • Sardinas had also served on the state’s Financial Education Public-Private Partnership (FEPPP) from August 2017 until July 31st, 2021.
  • Following her appointment to WA SECTF on behalf of CAAA, Sardinas was elected co-chair by task force members along with Morgan. Staff at the meeting described the function of the Co-Chairs to “represent the task force in official capacities” and that their terms of office would be “as long as this task force is meeting.”
    • At a December 2020 task force meeting, Sardinas talked about the need for “clean up legislation” for HB 2870 and joined in motions to establish work groups to define “disproportionately impacted communities” and explore licensing questions.
    • At the January 25th WA SECTF meeting, she raised the idea of enabling current minority licensees to apply for the money appropriated for social equity applicants. 
  • On February 5th, Sardinas supported HB 1443, legislation amending the scope and membership of WA SECTF, calling it an “incredible” bill. However, by the time HB 1443 had been passed by the legislature, but before it was signed into law on May 3rd, Sardinas submitted her resignation to CAAA for undisclosed reasons, severing her association with the organization she had been appointed to represent on the task force. RCW 69.50.336(2)(c)(i)(A) specified the CAAA appointment would be made ‘from’ the Commission, so it was uncertain whether CAAA would recommend a new appointee or retain Sardinas as that organization’s voice on WA SECTF.
    • A client of Sardinas’s firm, the Washington Build Back Black Alliance (WBBBA) produced a short video urging passage of HB 1443.
  • On April 19th, Washington State Office of the Governor Senior Policy Advisor Sheri Sawyer sent an email to CAAA Executive Director Ed Prince, Washington State Senate Labor, Commerce, and Tribal Affairs Committee (WA Senate LCTA) Policy Advisor Sarah Clifthorne, and Washington State House Commerce and Gaming Committee (WA House COG) Senior Policy Analyst Mary Clogston stating that due to Sardinas’ resignation “the Senate and House will need to appoint another member of the Commission to serve on the SECTF.”
    • Sawyer subsequently forwarded the email to Inslee’s Senior Policy Advisor for Civil & Human Rights RaShelle Davis, who replied on April 22nd, asking “if the Commission is required to submit recommendations.”
  • On April 21st, WA SECTF lead staffer Christy Curwick Hoff forwarded an email she’d received from Sardinas to WA SECTF members, task force staff, and stakeholders, saying they “may have received this directly from Paula.” In that message, Sardinas indicated the success of FMS Global Strategies was impacting her ability “to ensure both the Commission and the SETF had someone who could focus all their energy on the work. I simply don’t have the bandwidth.” She committed to continuing to “critique and advise on the SETF work being done in Washington.”
  • On June 6th, CAAA Chair Will Housa responded to Sawyer’s email telling Davis “HB 2870 clearly gives the Commission on African American Affairs the legal authority to recommend a member of our community to the Social Equity Taskforce. With that said, the Commission is recommending Mrs. Sardinas to the taskforce.” Davis passed on the recommendation to staff for Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins and President of WA Senate Denny Heck, the Lieutenant Governor, the officials empowered to appoint WA SECTF members.
  • On July 12th, Sardinas emailed Morgan, Sawyer, and Hoff for a copy of an ‘email “announcing I was removed from the SETF?” Can you please send me a copy of the email...People under some impression that I just quit.’
    • At publication time, Cannabis Observer had not identified documentation showing that CAAA had representation on WA SECTF following Sardinas resignation from CAAA in April. Heck and Jinkins had also not announced the reinstatement of Sardinas nor appointment of a replacement.
  • During the task force meeting, Sardinas attested to having a Washington State Office of the Attorney General (WA OAG) opinion “that I have shared with members of this task force, confidentiality, on what the authority is” (audio - 2m, video).
    • She agreed with Smith that “the LCB is moving very quickly” at incorporating community feedback and deserved “respect.” Sardinas stated that “what is happening on this task force is a national embarrassment" and she was “fresh off my best friend dying and logged in because community called me and asked me to speak up for them.” 
    • Pointing to Colorado officials’ approval of equity legislation with a “pot of technical assistance that is $5 million” and a “more inclusive policy and process,” Sardinas argued that the state was “trending ahead of us on this social equity work.” She complimented WSLCB leadership “for the work that they have done, understanding that more needs to be done.” She said that prospective business owners like members of BEC “have all lost millions of dollars waiting.”
  • Sardinas sent another email during the task force meeting, saying that though she had left CAAA for “my own personal reasons, without consultation Ms. Sawyer sent the attached email removing me from the SETF.” Alleging prejudiced treatment as a Black woman, she asked “why is my contiguous appointment taking so long” and requested a “formal legal opinion from [WA OAG] if my [appointment] is not upheld. Why can the Hispanic Commission designate non-commissioner [Carmen Rivera], but African Americans with a more significant disproportional impact, are not subject to a different set of rules.” Sardinas concluded by saying “At this point, I will be speaking for the community whether I am on the SETF or not.”

Information Set