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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDana Cisneros - Public Comment regarding Agenda Item 1 - support -_RedactedFrom:Dana Cisneros To:TheodorePSanchez@gmail.com; MayorsEvents; Jim Mulvihill; Henry Nickel; Mayor John Valdivia; Theodore Sanchez; Sandra Ibarra; Fred Shorett; Bessine L. Richard Cc: Public Comments (publiccomments@sbcity.org) Subject:Public Comment regarding Agenda Item 1 - support Date:Wednesday, June 17, 2020 3:46:10 PM Attachments:6.17.2020 Letter to Council re Expanding Cannabis Activities.pdf Importance:High Dear Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers, Attached please find public comments in support of Agenda Item No. 1. Sincerely, Dana Leigh Cisneros, Esq. Cannabis Corporate Law Firm 1240 N. Lakeview Ave., Suite 125 Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 WARNING/CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail and any attachments are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt, or protected from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, use, disclosure, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately and destroy all copies and attachments. The Cannabis Corporate Law Firm is a green company and uses every effort to engage and encourage paperless practices. Please use email whenever possible and consider the environment before printing this email. If you are not the intended recipient of this email please delete it. All confidentiality, rights and privileges are expressly preserved. 1240 N. Lakeview Ave., Suite 125 Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 June 17, 2020 Hon. Mayor and City Council City of San Bernardino 90 N. D Street San Bernardino, CA 92401 RE: Support for Commercial Cannabis Recommendations by Staff with Qualifications – Agenda Item 1 and Related Resolutions Dear Hon. Mayor and Council Members: This firm represents the interests of Blunt Brothers, the ope rational licensed distributor in the City of San Bernardino. We are very excited to see that the City of San Bernardino is taking affirmative steps to streamline and equalize the permitting process for commercial cannabis businesses citywide. We strongly support the staff recommendations that would permit additional operators in the City. We especially support the recognition by the City that Blunt Brothers is one of two operators who has completed the permitting and licensing process and thus, should be eligible to expand their business practices, specifically by creating the opportunity to apply for a microbusiness license. We also support reopening the permitting process for commercial cannabis activities and allowing for an easier relocation process. Expanding cannabis opportunities will only serve to enhance the cannabis market and further the City’s goal of increasing revenues. Indeed, Blunt Brothers carries dozens of cannabis goods for wholesale and has distributed products to nearly 150 retailers statewide with 100 more in the pipeline. We do have concerns regarding the revised application procedure as it is unclear whether it would apply to all applicants, including Blunt Brothers who has already obtained a permit under the current policies, or whether the procedures recommended by staff would only apply to applicants other than the sixteen (16) selected in February 2019. Given that the staff recommends eliminating several of the application categories, such as community benefits and local enterprise requirements, we are concerned that under a revised statutory scheme or renewal process, Blunt Brothers could be deemed out of compliance and thus the application rejected for containing, “extraneous material not called for in the CCB permit application.” We have similar concerns over the newly City Council of San Bernardino June 17, 2020 Page 2 of 2 added business purpose portion of the application criteria. Therefore, we encourage you to include qualifying language that these requirements will not apply to those who have already submitted applications or who have been awarded permits under the current licensing scheme. As you may know, Blunt Brothers is an intervenor in the Washington LLC v. City of San Bernardino matter. We are eager for a resolution of this and other related lawsuits against the City. The taxpayers of San Bernardino clearly voted in favor of commerci al cannabis activities, not so that the City could spend more than $200,000 in litigation fees, but so that it would realize the significant revenues realized from cannabis activities. It is our understanding that all but one of the lawsuits will be resolved if the City adopts the policies presented by staff and awards the prior applicants permits, albeit we expect most of them to object to the additional fees required. We are hopeful the actions you will consider tonight will pave the way toward a resolution of most, if not all, of the litigation the City is facing. Accordingly, we support the staff recommendations, with the qualifications noted above. We commend the City of San Bernardino for taking this extraordinary step in moving forward with commercial cannabis activities and securing additional revenues that benefit all residents in the City of San Bernardino. Sincerely, Dana Leigh Cisneros, Esq.