8b) Discussion and Possible Action Including Adoption of a Resolution Authorizing the County Cannabis Program Director to Submit a Grant Application and Agreement to the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development for the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions Fiscal Year 2021-2022 for an Amount up to $5 Million Dollars for Purposes of Funding the Mendocino County Local Equity Program for an Additional Year, And Approving the Reallocation of Five Thousand ($5,000) from the Cannabis Program Budget; And Allocation of One-Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) of Cannabis Business Tax in the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 as a Grant Match Upon Grant Award
(Sponsor: Cannabis)
Please, Supervisors, this is important. The Equity program needs fixing right now AND we should also be applying for the maximum amount of new funding.
We hope the Adhoc committee is already following the flow of Equity more closely. It's a shame that zero money has been awarded to the applicants to date from the previous two Equity grants the County received from the State. In the recent Equity public meeting, it was made clear by the MCP Director & Elevate-Impact that the latest delay is due to issues with our own County Counsel. There is a real danger of Mendocino County having to return money to the State if these fund are not divied up by February! But many of the especially early to apply low income applicants need it much sooner, by the end of 2021. This is something that was promised to small farmers as a direct access grant. Now for many people, plans have had to be put on hold & there are significant concerns farms won't be able to make it work long enough for them to cover some of the approved items in their budgets before the funds are released to them.
As for the education assistance, technical & otherwise, Marty is a founding member of the Round Valley Cannabis Co-op. But Equity is awarded to people, not entities such as corporations or cooperatives. When we looked at the the cooperative education modules, they seem off base. Especially when it looks to be very basic information. Can't the $250 thousand dollars be reallocated to direct grants. MCA again give great ideas of what's needed. It seems we need to broaden the scope & maybe earmark these monies for continuing education of the applicant's choice instead.
The part of the Prop 64 legalization bill that the California voters passed in 2016, & most say was the reason they voted for it, was to clear people's records from non-violent cannabis related crimes... Mendocino County need local expungements, etc. NOW!!!.
Mendocino County may want to look at the Humboldt Equity program. We have only heard good things about Trellis, can't say we know enough about it, but it sounds like it might be a better fit than Elevate Impact. We believe the folks administering the Mendocino Equity program have good intentions & doing the best they can, but its not clear if they get urban vs rural issues, as the other places they work with are Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, to name a few. Mendocino is more like Humboldt than any of those larger jurisdictions.
Inviting MCA into local policy development conversations is the most efficient way for our community to effectively work with the County on the issues that face us all. Thank you again for your time & consideration.
Please, Supervisors, this is important. The Equity program needs fixing right now AND we should also be applying for the maximum amount of new funding.
We hope the Adhoc committee is already following the flow of Equity more closely. It's a shame that zero money has been awarded to the applicants to date from the previous two Equity grants the County received from the State. In the recent Equity public meeting, it was made clear by the MCP Director & Elevate-Impact that the latest delay is due to issues with our own County Counsel. There is a real danger of Mendocino County having to return money to the State if these fund are not divied up by February! But many of the especially early to apply low income applicants need it much sooner, by the end of 2021. This is something that was promised to small farmers as a direct access grant. Now for many people, plans have had to be put on hold & there are significant concerns farms won't be able to make it work long enough for them to cover some of the approved items in their budgets before the funds are released to them.
As for the education assistance, technical & otherwise, Marty is a founding member of the Round Valley Cannabis Co-op. But Equity is awarded to people, not entities such as corporations or cooperatives. When we looked at the the cooperative education modules, they seem off base. Especially when it looks to be very basic information. Can't the $250 thousand dollars be reallocated to direct grants. MCA again give great ideas of what's needed. It seems we need to broaden the scope & maybe earmark these monies for continuing education of the applicant's choice instead.
The part of the Prop 64 legalization bill that the California voters passed in 2016, & most say was the reason they voted for it, was to clear people's records from non-violent cannabis related crimes... Mendocino County need local expungements, etc. NOW!!!.
Mendocino County may want to look at the Humboldt Equity program. We have only heard good things about Trellis, can't say we know enough about it, but it sounds like it might be a better fit than Elevate Impact. We believe the folks administering the Mendocino Equity program have good intentions & doing the best they can, but its not clear if they get urban vs rural issues, as the other places they work with are Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, to name a few. Mendocino is more like Humboldt than any of those larger jurisdictions.
Inviting MCA into local policy development conversations is the most efficient way for our community to effectively work with the County on the issues that face us all. Thank you again for your time & consideration.
Thank you, Laura & Marty Clein, Martyjuana™