WSLCB - Executive Management Team
(May 10, 2023) - Summary

[ Event Details ]

Reporting touched on why Licensing staff were “hands off” in the new phase of social equity applications, relocating producers over environmental pesticide concerns, and other updates.

Here are some observations from the Wednesday May 10th Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting.

My top 3 takeaways:

  • Director of Licensing Becky Smith talked about the next phase for social equity applicants following the end of the initial application window and addressed questions.
    • Smith told the group how staff had a "comprehensive list of applicants" who completed the first stage of the social equity program by the extended deadline on April 27th. She confirmed the list had been delivered to Ponder Diversity Group (PDG) on May 8th, but “it's going to be a little while until people start receiving an email from those folks” (audio - 3m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
      • “We also sent a letter to all of those applicants that had applied just letting them know about next steps,” including how her division “will no longer be answering or responding to questions about the application process while Ponder is in the middle of scoring and responding” to applicants. This was because “it's important that we have a very hands off approach” and let the vendor “determine, and answer questions, regarding what type of documents are needed or being requested,” Smith remarked. She added that other agency divisions were getting questions about the equity program and licensing process, but counsel from the Washington State Office of the Attorney General (WA OAG) affirmed “we just need to allow [PDG] to do their job and…what we've hired them to do.”
      • Board Member Ollie Garrett asked if everyone who applied had been sent the letter. Smith explained that due to incorrect email addresses, 12 applicant letters “bounced back.” Staff had reached out by phone for a working email because they couldn’t send those applications to PDG otherwise. As well, “if they didn't pay their application fee with business licensing services [using] a check or…they had insufficient funds in their account, they would not have been processed” (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
      • Garrett then wanted to know if Washington State Department of Commerce (WA Commerce) officials “have a copy of that letter so that they can let the mentors know if people start calling the mentor saying ‘I haven't heard anything.’” Smith promised to follow up with staff, but “I believe Commerce did receive a copy” (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
      • Justin Nordhorn, Policy and External Affairs Director, mentioned that their division was getting “quite a few” emails about application status but hadn’t seen a “standard reply.” Smith said an email should have been sent to division leaders and customer service representatives “with what language we want folks to utilize” and Nordhorn promised to be sure and highlight it for his team (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
      • Executive Assistant Dustin Dickson spoke up to request “the guidance that we're going to have for these questions…can we make sure that gets to the lead support of each division as well?” Smith indicated that she’d do that along with affirming Communications staff were putting the guidance out (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
        • Later in the meeting, Director of Communications Brian Smith described being in contact with Becky Smith and board members about the equity program, “but we’ve been in a holding pattern…as we wait on the stuff from Ponder, but we will continue to be vigilant on that.” He pointed out that the WSLCB equity site had remained in the “top 10 [most visited pages] for the last three months.”
  • A plan for easier relocation of producers and processors situated in areas impacted by legacy environmental pesticides, and increasing complaints related to the topic, were brought up by staff.
  • Other updates recognized the impending departure of Director Rick Garza, continued staff work on behalf of the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA), and agency leader involvement in medical cannabis rulemaking underway at the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
    • Brian Smith shared that the first week of May was Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW) and that at an event at the Capitol, WSLCB had a tent with staff “focused on agency culture and public health.” Furthermore, he said Garza “had some special recognition” at the event (audio - 4m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
      • Smith also noted his “role with CANNRA” placed him among a small “group of people that'll act as” public information officers (PIO) for the association. He would be meeting with Executive Director Gillian Schauer and other PIOs “shortly…to go through how we're going to be able to parcel out some of that work.”
    • Garza commented this would be “my last EMT at LCB" as Director—having announced his retirement in January—and acknowledged he’d been named “Washingtonian of the Day” by Governor Jay Inslee, and First Lady Trudy Inslee. “It was impromptu,” he said, and thanked the Governor and agency staff who were present to support him, plus past WSLCB staff “that are now in different places” in government (audio - 3m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
      • On June 6th, WSLCB staff planned to host an “annual agency recognition event, which we haven't been able to have for four years” due to the coronavirus pandemic, stated Garza. He said there would be “some really interesting speakers there.”
      • Garza lauded passage of SB 5080 and SB 5367, two agency request bills that “we worked so hard on, and struggled with through the process,” which were signed on May 1st and 9th, respectively. He credited the lobbying of staff and particularly Director of Legislative Relations Marc Webster for "a really successful session for us including the fact that our budget looks good, but for a couple of things that I know we're working on."
      • Garrett congratulated Garza on his final EMT, and he promised a “great time together at the Great Wolf Lodge” for the recognition event, which he was considering “almost like my final day with the agency” (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).
      • A social media post from Inslee showed him putting a pin on Garza at the Capitol event. 
    • Nordhorn called attention to DOH rulemaking related to medical cannabis to “examine the definition of compliant product, review compliant product labeling, and align quality assurance standards with” WSLCB. He said he’d attended “recent meetings” with DOH and Cannabis Alliance representatives “to talk about some of the impacts on the medical patients and we had a really good discussion with that group” (audio - 1m, video - WSLCB, video - TVW).

Information Set