September 2016
Is Oakland idea on pot permits legal?
That’s not stopping council members Desley Brooks, Larry Reid and Noel Gallo from pushing their plan to force cannabis businesses to give the city one-quarter of their ownership and at least one seat on their boards of directors — in exchange for an operating permit. Such permits are required under the state Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act that established regulations for marijuana businesses as the state heads toward legalization of recreational pot.
“We’ll be able to use a resource that generates millions” of dollars, Gallo said, explaining his support for the proposal that would amend Oakland’s cannabis laws. The plan is to be discussed by the City Council’s Public Safety Committee next week. “I’ll be able to get specific services that I need in East Oakland. If I were to rely on the general budget, I would never get them.”
Gallo, Brooks and Reid say their proposal would generate revenue for the city to fund district activities, community beautification and loans for aspiring business owners who the council members say were hurt by the U.S. war on drugs. Additionally, the city would dole out some of the new revenue to three community job-training programs that are run by politically connected people. One of them, the Hispanic Engineers, Builders & Contractors of California, has no website or state records, and is run by a childhood friend of Gallo’s.
The friend, Rafael Zamora, said he is in the process of solidifying the group’s nonprofit status.
In a memo sent Friday to the Public Safety Committee, the council members say they came up with the proposal to “ensure equity and fairness” in a “burgeoning” cannabis industry. Brooks, who according to Gallo was the proposal’s main author, has previously claimed that systemic racism gives some cannabis operators a head start, while others are shut out.
In addition to requiring pot businesses to share revenue, the proposal would require business permits to be given to pot entrepreneurs who have lived in Oakland for at least five years.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Is-Oakland-idea-on-pot-permits-legal-9233106.php
December 2016
High on Green
In September, Oakland council members Desley Brooks, Noel Gallo, and Larry Reid hatched an idea: The city would require private marijuana businesses to fold them in — and kick them over a cut of the profits.
It's true: The trio floated policy that would make City Hall board members of new cannabis companies, giving them a seat on their board and mandating that it receive a 25 percent stake in ownership.
No surprise, outrage ensued, and the three electeds eventually ditched the plan. But the blowback is real: Canna-businesses hold little trust in Oakland leadership, and the slow-going permit program for medical-marijuana is actually hurting the above-the-board weed economy — and further fueling the underground trade.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/grinches-of-the-year-oakland-and-east-bay-residents-with-hearts-a-few-sizes-too-small/Content?oid=5064007
