Sausalito receives another cannabis ballot proposal

Sausalito voters could be facing competing cannabis initiatives on the November ballot.

Paul Austin, a Marin City nonprofit leader, and Erich Pearson, the head of a cannabis company in Sonoma County, have filed a ballot proposal with the city. If it qualifies for the ballot, it will join a proposal submitted by Sausalito resident Karen Cleary, a principal in Otter Brands LLC.

Both initiatives call for the city to license one retail cannabis storefront and one delivery-only business. The plan by Austin and Pearson would allow another storefront and delivery service after two years. Both plans would require a business to donate at least $300,000 to community programs over five years, among other conditions.

The main differences involve ownership and social equity.

Under the Otter plan, a license would require an “owner who resides in Sausalito and either owns 20% or more of the business or owns more than 1% and is directly involved in the business,” according to a city summary.

Under the plan by Austin and Pearson, a business would need to have “an owner with equity of 10% or more who was convicted or arrested for a cannabis crime prior to the legalization of marijuana in California, or who has a household income of less than 60% of the area median, or who lived for at least five years between 1980 and 2016 in an area disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization,” the city said.

Austin and Pearson have 180 days to collect the signatures of 583 registered voters in Sausalito, or 10% of the electorate, according to the city. They said they anticipate garnering more than the minimum in about two weeks.

The signatures need to be verified by the Marin County Registrar of Voters within 88 days of the election on Nov. 8 for the initiative to appear on the ballot.

If both initiatives pass, the one with the most votes would take precedence, according to the city.

As it stands, the municipal code prohibits cannabis businesses in the city, although residents can have it delivered from services based elsewhere.

Austin is the founder and chief executive officer of Play Marin, a nonprofit organization in Marin City. Erich Pearson, the chief executive officer of SPARC, which is based in Sonoma. The name refers to the company's original store, the San Francisco Patient and Resource Center.

Austin and Pearson described their goal as social equity work designed to provide employment opportunities and upward mobility. They said the overwhelmingly Black population of Marin City was disproportionately harmed by cannabis criminalization in the decades before state legalization in 2016.

“I wanted to lend my eyes and my background to underrepresented communities to make sure that they get what they deserve,” Austin said. “Looking at the Marin City community from an historic lens, it's our relationship with Sausalito that can be better. This can be one stepping stone to fixing that.”

Conor Johnston of Mill Val

ley, the chief executive of Otter Brands, said its proposal would provide more of a community benefit to

the city over the long term.

“This is corporate cannabis trying to come in and profit off of Sausalito,” he said of the new initiative.

Information on the proposals is available at bit. ly/3K4QVRd.