https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Alleged-cannabis-bribery-attempt-in-Oakland-12547973.php
Alleged cannabis bribery attempt in Oakland prompts investigation
City Council President Larry Reid said Friday an acquaintance seeking a cannabis dispensary permit offered him $10,000 when they met about a month ago.
A man who Oakland City Council President Larry Reid says tried to bribe him to help obtain a cannabis dispensary permit also allegedly offered two businessmen assistance in getting a dispensary license in exchange for bags of cash, The Chronicle has learned.
The man, local developer Dorian Gray, tried last month to give Reid an envelope he said had $10,000 in it, Reid said. Gray then approached the city official who oversees Oakland’s cannabis permit office and offered him a free trip to Spain to tour cannabis lounges there.
City Administrator Sabrina Landreth has referred Reid’s allegation to the Alameda County district attorney's office, officials said Friday. The city’s Public Ethics Commission has opened its own investigation.
Gray, who said he was seeking a dispensary permit himself and also working on behalf of another applicant, acknowledged that he offered the Spain trip to licensing official Greg Minor, but said it was not a bribe. On Friday, he denied the allegations made by Reid and the two businessmen.
“It’s very unfair and not true,” Gray said. “I didn’t do anything.”
Reid’s allegation came to light this week after he reported it to Landreth. The alleged bribery incident, however, occurred several weeks ago, Reid said. He did not explain why he had waited to report it. No city ethics law requires someone report another person’s wrongdoing. Reid also did not mention the alleged bribe attempt in an interview with The Chronicle two weeks ago, when he first acknowledged having met with Gray.
He mentioned the meeting at that time in response to questions about the allegations raised by the two permit applicants who said they’d also been approached by Gray. The men said Gray told them he worked with Reid and Councilwoman Desley Brooks.
The two men spoke to The Chronicle on the condition their names not be used because they were concerned about their ability to get a license in the future. They said they decided to tell their story after two people identifying themselves as federal agents stopped one of them outside their place of business last month and began asking questions about their experiences with the city’s permit process.
The men said a mutual acquaintance set up a meeting between them and Gray in October. The men said they had never seen Gray before and didn’t know his surname. Shown a photo of Gray, both confirmed he was the man they had met.
At the meeting, they said, Gray gave them only his first name, Dorian, and told them that they needed to give him three brown paper bags filled with cash — one for him, one for Reid and one for Brooks — and that he would take care of the rest.
As proof of his connection, they said, Gray held up his iPhone to show Brooks’ and Reid’s names on his favorites screen and offered to call them on the spot.
Both Reid and Brooks said they knew Gray, but said they had no involvement with his actions.
