Partners that are nonvoting partners on the advisory committee, such as public health, d. B. I. , all of these other city departments. What advice would you give them around this population, that has actually so uncomfortable with the idea of Retail Cannabis in their neighborhoods. I mean, everything is education. But the other most important thing is neighborhood outreach, right. My partner angel and are now on 11 different neighborhood associations in hayes valley, castro, and now in the dog patch, now on petro hill. You have to go and its one thing to say youre going to be part of the community. Its another thing to actually go, go to every meeting and hear everybody out. And, you know, i think that eases a lot of the stigma around it. I think also, you know, making places a little bit nicer, you know, not just the place where people come in and the stigma is, haney, im going to come in and get something here. But to make it beautiful and to make it medicinal and to have the education talks in there and to get the right people in. I also want to say like i think, you know, weve been talking about it this evening, this afternoon, but you know local San Francisco brands. Things that are made here. I mean, we i think San Francisco makes some of the best products in the world, you know. Supervisor fewer i was just saying this. I thank you. I would just say in our neighborhoods v1, v4, v10, theyre not in neighborhood associations. Those are englishcentric most of the time. We are talking about immigrant chinese, whose first language is chinese. These are this is in our neighborhoods where permits are pending, that as we have seen such great opposition, are you a chinese speaker . I am not. No. Supervisor fewer so this is the population when we talk about neighborhoods. And i think weve also heard from applicants about the neighborhoods. We get it. But actually i just want to say personally as a fourthgeneration chineseamerican, that the Chinese Community has not been outreached to, quite frankly. The opposition to cannabis has outreached to them. And that is the only information theyre getting. So i think that more chineseamericans need to actually represent sort of the cannabis industry, too. Because i think that theyre not seeing, even though we know that cultivators, people grow houses in for example, in d4, rev leapt, a lot of them Young Chinese really exstudents from like lincoln high school, for example. Wash. Supervisor fewer yeah. Were just not seeing i think the transition to a level of comfort around cannabis, that it is basically here to stay. When we go out to the neighborhoods, what we hear is we want it to be illegal, even though 74 of san franciscans voted for it to be legal. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Supervisor ronen thank you. Supervisor walton. Supervisor walton thank you, chair ronen. Just same question. How important do you think it is to have diversity on this committee . I think its the most important. I think that my entire business, my partners, like i said, my equity partner, who i have known since i was a little kid, is africanamerican, my Business Partner in the delivery manufacturing and distribution is shes half hispanic, half korean woman. Weve been meeting with, you know, local men and women that are, you know, lowincome, diverse. I think that one of the things im excited about is that i hear that the office of cannabis is going to start making retailers put equity products on their shelves. I think thats very important. Yeah. That would be my answer. Supervisor ronen wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you. Supervisor ronen next speaker, please. Hello. Good morning. My name is andrew silva. Im an attorney practicing cannabis law. I have been for the past five years, since law school. I worked in dispensaries during law school. Ive been around cannabis prior to prop 215. During 215 and now prop 64. Yeah. I basically have been dealing with cannabis every day. And im here just to lend my voice. I see what has gone on with article 16 and the great intent of it. But the actual practicality of it hasnt been all there. So i just want to lend my input on trying to make this program run a little bit better. Supervisor ronen supervisor fewer. Supervisor fewer youre applying for seat number 16, is that correct . Correct. Supervisor fewer my question to you is very much the same around how can question protect safe access for patients and also the issue of the state regulations and how can we provide still safe access. And also medicine that folks need, in light of state and federal regulations. Yeah. Definitely. When i was working in the dispensary, we used to have a Compassion Program every sunday. That program couldnt be instituted, implemented today because of the testing and packaging requirements. However, you can have a hybrid of giving out tested prerolls, doesnt have to be looseleaf medicine. Theres alternatives that can happen. The other issue is with taxes. Any kind of cannabis products that you give out, is still taxed. So who is going to pay for that tax. You might as well just sell it. Any businessman will think that way, right. Thats one issue. The other issue is patients getting their medical cards. A lot of them dont want to register with the county and the state. Prior to prop 64, you could just get verified online or through the doctor directly. And not have to kind of go through a registration system. I think that put a lot of people off. Supervisor fewer do you think that streamlining that medical approval permitting would ever licensing, streamlining that, would actually allow patients to be able to Access Medicine less expensively . Do you have any ideas. I know in some states if you have a medical card, that you dont have to pay the 20 tax. And they waive it. And i think thats a state regulation. What are some of your ideas around that . Yeah. It has to trickle down from the bottom. So give cultivations, manufacturers the incentive to, haney, you dont have to pay taxes on this part of the grow, if it goes to the Compassion Program. Something like that. Ii think that would be the way o go. Supervisor fewer okay. Thank you very much. Supervisor ronen supervisor walton. Supervisor walton same question. How important do you think it is to have diversity on the committee . Thats pretty much the way the reason im here today. Seeing this Program Going the past couple of years and just kind of be stagnant, a lot of people in the industry get left out, that want to stay in the industry. Its pretty much, you know, a voice that needs to be heard. Supervisor walton thank you. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Supervisor ronen thanks. Next applicant. Good morning. Good good morning, superviso. Thank you for the opportunity to come here today and tell you a little bit about myself. My name is they tess rhea. And im currently the city representative for laborers local 261. Im on leave with the city of San Francisco currently. I was hired by the city and county of San Francisco in 1996. Oh, to start, i applied for seat number 15, the Workforce Development seat. I was hired by the city and county of San Francisco in 1997, as a laborer. I got really involved with my union to promote women in the trades. That is the trades are primarily maledominated field. And we needed to have a voice at the table as well. In 2004, i became the cochair of our Public Employee committee. In 2009, then mayor gavin newsom assigned me to work at the local, to develop Public Private partnerships. In 2010 we launched our horty cultural program. Followed by 2014 we developed the mays preApprenticeship Program. From there we developed in 2015, i assisted in developing the arborist Apprenticeship Program, another one of the first statecertified in the country. Then in 2017, the city and county assigned me again to the california statewide cannabis apprenticeship committee. There i assisted in developing apprenticeship standards for the cannabis industry, under the direction of the governor, to have multiple Career Pathways under the cannabis apprenticeship. So in january, it was finally approved by the state, where we have cannabis Apprenticeship Programs, that has cultivation pathway, a pathway for delivery, manufacturing, and also for pharmacy tech. Despite some claims that San Francisco doesnt have much in the way of cultivation or manufacturing, we know that theres a considerable amount being done in district 10 primarily. If i was given the opportunity to serve on the cannabis Oversight Committee, i can bring my experience with Workforce Development and providing legitimate Career Opportunities and Transferable Skills in the cannabis industry. Supervisor ronen supervisor fewer. Supervisor fewer thank you very much. What are some of the your ideas on how we expand the cannabis workforce into a bona fide profession at every level, with levels of progression. Within all levels of the industry, retail, production, the firstline employees, trimmers. And how do we get a local hire component in with it, combined . So with the we can deliver it through like with the ordinance that was passed earlier this year i believe, where its a twopronged. If we have the preapprenticeship, its mainly about education. The ones that were negatively impacted by the war on drugs, shouldnt be left behind a second time. So we really need to take this time and this advantage to give those folks training. So that way theyre not left behind, where they can move on. Through the education of the different Career Pathways, you know, once they get a grasp on the industry and they have the skills, then they can progress. So, you know, they can move on to be owners or cultivators or, you know, whatever pathway they want. We also have to educate the industry. Because right now theres a fear. Theres a fear, well, if we train the folks. Were going to lose them or they might steal the secret sauce, like the recipe on how to do things. But we need to we need to really do the social justice the right thing. We have to right the wrongs that have happened in the past. So we would have to educate employers. Because they also are fearful if they begin training, that theyre going to become union. Thats not necessarily the case. You can still train folks and you dont have to be unionized. Supervisor fewer and what about a partnership with city college . That would be great. I mean, we need educational facilities to be involved. We do have an l. E. A. With the statewide. But we are currently seeking also other educational agencies to come on board. That way it can be more robust. Right now, i mean, theres things going on up north. Theres things going on down south in california. But we really need to have a local agency involved. Supervisor fewer because we, for example, into the trades and thats what youre familiar with, we have city mr. We like people to hire directly from city build. Just knowing a baseline of skills that they have been taught. So i was wondering what your ideas might be if city college were to provide something similar to city build, but also actually give the baseline, so it is so employers can feel as though they can pick employees from this group of people and we give actually some preference to equity applicants also to enter this program. What do you think . I think it would be a great idea. Like i have heard the term city grow spread around, which we really do need to launch. As a preapprenticeship to provide the baseline of, you know measurements and Different Things that you need to know the minute you walk into the door of an employer. But then from there, then they can move on into the apprenticeship. So more of the standardized, more largely training. But, yeah, you really need to have the first step of the preapprenticeship. Supervisor fewer thank you. Walton Railroad Just one question. How important do you think it is for diversity on this committee . Diversity we need diversity on the committee. Weve also heard we need it desperately in the industry. But you know, every sector of our population should have a voice, especially when it comes to this new industry. We definitely need diversity. Supervisor ronen thank you. Is that all . Supervisor mar. Supervisor mar thank you, chair ronen. I just would be interested in hearing your thoughts about, in terms of local hire. And also building career ladders for folks, especially those impacted by the war on drugs. Is there a role do you have some idea about potential policies that the board or the city could enact to really make hiring and promoting practices much stronger in the industry . Yeah. We have some ideas. Like maybe with the permit process. If, you know, employers are committed to hiring work with the apprenticeship but also hiring local. Where they move up in the permit process perhaps. Because right now its like a long youre just in line forever. I think that would be a start. We have to just get it out there where we need to have local residents, because weve seen in other states, like colorado, where people fly in, the mothership flies in and then the locals are all left behind. In San Francisco, and in california, we know we can do better and we have to do better. We cant leave the locals behind. You know, we cant have people coming in from other states and taking what rightfully should be nose negatively impacted. They should have a voice in their city and have a seat in their industry and a seat in their city. Supervisor ronen thank you so much. Thank you. Supervisor ronen next applicant. Good morning. Supervisor fewer, supervisor walton, supervisor ronen, supervisor mar, my name is burke hanson. Ill tell you a little bit about myself, just so you kind of know where im coming from. Im a bay area kid, graduated from berkeley high. Spent a few years living abroad and came back to San Francisco to go to hastings. I was in mexico and japan and i have to say thats that kind of diversity of experience, living in other countries, is one of the greatest experiences you can have. Its something that i have carried with my whole life. I spent seven years living in the tenderloin, in the mid otts, when frank and Skyline Realty were going around basically with, you know, guns, rolling people out of their apartments. I was one of those guys. And i had worked back in the late 90s at the hope center over on 6th and market. Really it was the only dispensary at the time. They had a Compassion Program. So every day we had a lot of transgendered people, people from that area, its a very difficult part of town, coming up and we would give them cannabis for free, to take care of their ailments. Now i am a verified equity applicant. Im also a cannabis attorney. Ive been practicing cannabis law for five years now. I had been doing criminal law when i first got out. Criminal defense. Then i did labor law for a few years after that, both discrimination and wage and hour type stuff. So ive got a diversity of experience in terms of the type of work ive done as an attorney. Ive also ill just say now, i kind of threw my hat in the ring for three different spots. One was the equity applicant, was one the expertise applicant. As an attorney, i understand how important it is for Something Like the office of cannabis to get good advice. I can really appreciate this. And i understand sort of the position theyre in. I have cosponsored legislation with chus office before, so i understand the difficulties of the sausagemaking process. One of my goals, should i have the honor of serving on the commission, would be to help the office of cannabis be a little more efficient in terms of getting equity applicants through. I believe were still only a twoequity retail permits that have been issued, after two years. So i think this is one of the major flaws of not how the system is set up, how its been interpreted by the office of cannabis. And thats one thing that i think. From my perspective as an attorney, who has help set up a lot of these businesses, id like to be able to work with the office of cannabis on that, that particular issue of getting the whole process moving faster. I have worked with people like aleh here in the past and really deeply invested in the local cannabis, cannabis community. Id love to weve also one other thing i did, i have set up a couple of different nonprofits. Ones is a c3, which recently got its tax i. D. , devoted to its really designed to help people with cannabis give back to their communities. The and the other one was an Organization Called the coalition for common sense regulation, which was designed to do things like get legislation passed that helps the industry as a whole. Ab1159, that i worked on with chus office, made sure that cannabis contracts were legal, in spite of the federal prohibition. It also maintained attorneyclient privilege. A lot of people in the industry were appreciative of us for really pushing that through. So, yeah, if you guys have any questions, please ask. Supervisor ronen thank you. Supervisor fewer. Supervisor fewer yes. Thank you very much. What do you see as some of our main challenges in rolling out our Equity Program . Whats the recommendations you might have . I think the Equity Program, as it was conceived, is great. Part of the problem has been the office of cannabis is sort of micromanaged everything, right. And because of that, i know them, theyre good people. But theyve been maybe overly cautious in terms of, you know, obsessing over every single piece of paperwork that somebody has. You have people reading over long, complicated agreements, rather than focusing on the stuff that should be more of their concern like security. Are they in the track and trace program, do we know that there are cameras where theyre suppose to be, that kind of stuff.