A PUFF OF DIVERSITY
Officials want minority pot-shop presence
City officials supported a “onefor-one” ratio for applicants seeking to obtain pot licenses after City Councilors and residents expressed frustration over the lack of racial equity in the booming business.
The ratio would mean that for every marijuana license the city gives out, it would also give a license to an economic empowerment applicant, identified by the state as businesses who meet at least three points of a criteria that includes minority ownership and a community impacted by high arrest rates, among other things.
“This is not about slowing down the process,” John Barros, the city’s Chief of Economic Development told the Herald after the hearing to discuss best practices for equity in the city’s marijuana licensing process. “This is making sure that we’re deliberate and intentional. We think the one-forone is a good thing to look at. You’ve also heard me throw out there a one-for-two.”
Alexis Tkachuk, the city’s director of emerging industries, confirmed previous Herald reports that more than 50 marijuana businesses were seeking applications for licenses in the city. Close to half of those businesses, she said, have moved on to the second step of a five-step process necessary to earn a license. She added that of the 27 that have advanced to the second step, only one is classified as an economic empowerment applicant.
“So, only one out of 27?” Councilor Kim Janey, the council’s chair of small business and consumer affairs asked in response. “So, for me, that begs the question, what are we not getting right at the local level?”
Barros said that the difficult process to get an application off the ground before applying and the inability to use federal funding normally used for small businesses on marijuana, which is illegal at the federal level, are reasons why the numbers appear to be disproportionate to start.
“There’s interest and there’s local interest,” Barros said. “But, the ramp-up to get there is fraught with banks not trying to lend to these types of businesses.”
Councilors pushed back, however, noting that legalization happened in 2016, giving plenty of time for the city to work out kinks in the emerging business.
“As I’m sitting here, I’m telling myself to breathe deeply, because I was getting a little frustrated,” Council President Andrea Campbell said. “This was passed in 2016, the federal laws have been the same for a long time. … I feel like we’re just behind the ball.”