25th year as a laborer and a community organizer. and the teamster, as you know, are a transportation union. we know delivery so as such i'm applying for seat 11. i want to thank supervisor fewer for this legislation. we think this commission is really important. our union, including myself, was intimately involved in crafting the legislations regarding this emerging industry, both here in san francisco and in sacramento. and as you've heard along with the ufcw and the laborers, we're proud to be leading things on the labor side in san francisco. we're organizing here and around the state and the country, but unfortunately despite very strong regulations, most of the workers remain unorganized. i serve on numerous boards and

commissions at the local and state level. most recently i was appointed by governor newsom to his commission on the future of work, which i'm very honored to serve on. we're looking at a lot of issues that are very relevant to this discussion, including income inequality and how that cuts deeper into immigrant communities and communities of color. we're looking at retail and small business, versus ever consolidating capital. the internet, apps, what we call the amazon effect. and we're looking at the role of unions and public agencies and education institutions in addressing all of these issues. i believe san francisco can help define the future of work in the cannabis industry, as it comes out of the shadows. we have always led on the labor side here.

but there is so much more work to be done. so i hope to continue this important work on this commission, if you support my nomination. i have a lot of ideas about career pathways for people who are victims of the war on drugs. but i will leave my comments brief and just say thank you very much. >> supervisor ronen: thank you. supervisor fewer. >> supervisor fewer: yes, mr. bloch, good to see you. i wanted to ask, what is your idea on cannabis delivery in the brick and mortar retailers working together? and how do we protect against a big economy in this? and also is it possible for them to work together, the industry -- the brick and mortars with delivery? >> well, let me start with the gig economy. we addressed that at the state level. when we pushed for and won two

very important regulations in sacramento. first, we got rid of uber pot. we got a prohibition on the use of independent contractors to do delivery. secondly, we had a requirement instituted that anybody doing delivery has to be an employee of the dispensary. so this is really important, because employees, of course, have the right to organize, independent contractors don't. and having people be direct employees of a dispensary, means you can't have temp agencies hiring workers and dispatching them on a day-to-day basis to do delivery work. it ties people to the employers, which is where we want them to be and we want them to be organized. and other states are frankly looking at this model that we've

done in california. the brick and mortar versus delivery, i think -- i wish there was an easier legislative solution to that. as i mentioned, we're seeing this amazon effect impacting not just cannabis, but everything. absolutely everything. and speaking for the teamsters, we believe that retail is important. the small retail that we -- we never have any intention of organizing workers in the corner stores, for example. i'm not talking about cannabis, but the little family-owned corner markets. but we have teamsters that deliver into those stores. so it's very important to protect small and local business. we will come to this commission and urge delivery only and brick

and mortar to try to work together, because we think there's an important role. but this is where i go back to why i think this commission is so important, because we haven't had a place to hash out these policy things. it's happened in this committee here and this here or we've been fighting it out on the streets here or in these hallways. and if we're successful with this commission and get the right people here, we can actually look at these issues in-depth and hopefully come up with some solutions. >> supervisor fewer: okay. thanks. >> supervisor ronen: supervisor walton. >> supervisor walton: thank you so much. thank you so much, mr. bloch. just same question. how important do you think it is for diversity on this oversight committee? >> i think that diversity is absolutely important on this commission. i also think having people who have some experience in this industry is very important. and i will say for our union, our focus is on increasing

diversity in the workforce, because a lot of these policy debates have had people like me running around, advocating. the worker voice piece has really been missing in sacramento, in san francisco. and for our union, and i applaud the laborers for the work they've done, but we have people who come directly out of san quentin and get e.d.d. grants. and we run them through our training program and in five weeks, they have a commercial driver's license and they're doing union work. and they should be working for recology, they should be working for auto return, they should be working for every single company that has a permit or a contract with the city around county of san francisco. and so that's what i'm here to say, that we're going to bring that same commitment to the cannabis industry. and anybody that has a permit, should be hiring local. that's our opinion.

>> supervisor ronen: supervisor mar. >> supervisor mar: thank you, chair ronen. mr. bloch, i just had -- wanted to ask a similar question that i asked of ms. foglio from the laborers' union. i guess in addition to all of the really important work that you -- you guys are doing to ensure labor rights for workers in this emerging industry, what ideas do you have about how we could strengthen career pathways for victims of the war on drugs and other disadvantaged community members here in san francisco? >> well, again i think using your power, the power of the permit to tie requirements to that. i go back to the thousand-plus workers who drive for facebook, apple, all of these companies, who organized because this body

urged the sfmta to put a laborer piece requirement in for those companies to be able to use our bus stops. every single employer in this industry is coming here to ask for a permit. and again local hire could be attached to that. across the bay, in oakland, we got a 50% local hire requirement attached to the development of the oakland army base project. so you have all of the power and i believe you have the support of labor in attaching local hire requirements. and then tieing that to apprenticeship programs and city college, so that there's a clear place to go and ultimately i would -- last thing i'll say, because i'm speaking a lot, again oakland is a good example where we've partnered with the west oakland job resource

center. there's a one-stop first source, all of the employers have to go to the first source first. and then they can hire somewhere else if they can't fill those positions. but it's clear to people in west oakland or if they live in the flats and east oakland, they want to get a job on that project, they know where to go, which is the west oakland job resource center. so there are a lot of good models out there. this is why i said i wasn't going to talk in the beginning. i have a lot of ideas. >> supervisor ronen: i just wanted to personally thank you, doug, for all of your work on behalf of workers in this industry. as a former worker rights' attorney, i just had to say that it's extraordinary. and the fact that we have all drivers, as employees now, is extraordinary achievement. so thank you so much. >> thank you. thank you.

>> supervisor ronen: hello. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is brian kramer. i was born here in san francisco. i have lived here my entire life. i went to high school, college, and have worked here. but my primary source of income, since high school, has been through cannabis. i started growing in high school. i started selling in high school. and since then up until i was 30 years old, that was all i did was cannabis. until i was busted in 1996 and sent to a federal prison for five years for growing weed. when i got out, i was on parole, so i couldn't grow any more. so i started consulting. and that's what i've done since. i have owned several legitimate businesses i guess, you know, coffee shops and stuff like that. but my primary source of income, my entire life, has been through cannabis. i worked for dispensaries, manufacturers, growers, every part of the industry.

and now that i'm consulting, i go all throughout the state trying to help people, you know, maximize and be more efficient. and i've seen a lot of the problems. you know, and a lot of people taken advantage of, you know, in every aspect. i mean, trimmers are at the bottom of the barrel. the bottom of the barrel. last year, the year before up in humboldt, they were going up trimming, when they were done, they were paid with weed. they weren't even paid money. they were paid with weed that was going for pennies, you know, like $400, $500 a pound. so now i work -- i'm a consultant also for the laborers' union. and i set up a pre-apprenticeship program for here in san francisco. i set upage apprenticeship program for the state. and why i came to this thing -- well, and let me talk about the seat. so i didn't fill out a seat.

i just filled out the application and said i'll take whatever seat that i fit in. they called me the other day and said you need to fill out a number. i spoke to some guy victor, i told him a little bit about myself and kind of told me i'll fill you out at seat whatever. i don't even know what seat he filled me out for. so why i came to this is because there's -- there's a lot of people here who have certain knowledge about certain aspects of the industry. but i'd say there's very few who have the experience that i have, that this is all i've done. and i have worked in a very wide range -- or every aspect of the marijuana industry. and i'm from here. i have lived in every neighborhood. i have worked in every neighborhood here. and it's hard sometimes to see people who aren't from here and say -- make decisions about what's going on here when they really don't know the city. they don't know it.

unless you were born here and raised here, you know, i hear people say, oh, i've been here for a couple of years. that's great. i'm glad you're here. i'm glad you like it, because i love san francisco. but there's very few people who have the experience in marijuana i have. and that are from here and have the knowledge of the city. there we go. >> supervisor fewer: okay. >> you want my answer to diversity -- i can give a generic answer that everybody else gives here. but i think honestly there should be diversity. but i think most of all, for a committee like this, you need people who really know what the hell they're talking about. i don't care what color they are. oh, sorry. [laughter] >> supervisor fewer: it's okay mr. hanson -- >> mr. kramer. >> supervisor fewer: i'm looking at names here. i'm so sorry. you're under number 15, person with significant experience in economic development.

your area of expertise is actually much broader than that. >> yeah. both. >> supervisor fewer: sent it through different areas of the cannabis industry. >> i think i'm qualified for that one. but i think i probably qualify for more of them. i just didn't know. there was a guy victor, he calls me up, he said you didn't fill out a seat. i go, well, i don't know which one i'm qualified for. he talked to me for a minute, filled it out. i said, cool. >> supervisor fewer: so thank you, mr. kramer, for coming today. let me ask you then, so how do you think that we could expand the cannabis workforce into really professional, to be a profession, from every level? you mentioned people who do the trimming, people -- first line, like we talked about apprenticeships here, we also talked about local hire. and since you're a san franciscan, i'm a fourth-generation san franciscan myself, what are some of your ideas about instituting those types of things? and also a relationship with city college, since we now have free city college.

>> if they taught a course at city college, that would be great. because that's the problem in this industry right now is that everybody thinks it's a gold rush. like i'm going to make a million dollars in this industry. and some people are. the fact that a lot of people are getting into it and have no experience. and then they're hiring people with no experience. then you have a whole workforce that has no real experience. i think proper training would be great. and i think -- so no within really talks about the issue. this is a money issue. this business is about money. everybody talks, oh, i want to help this person, help that person. everybody wants to make a lot of money. you know, they're not going to sit up here and say that. they're all talking about money. and they want some say in where the money goes or how the money is spent or whatever. so there are people making a lot of money. and these are the people that can do the proper training, you know. and just treat people decently. you know, it's -- there's the haves and the have nots.

and and that's what's going on. the people coming in with no experience and no training are being treated bad and given crappy jobs and being paid crappy wages, you know. so i think proper training would be a huge thing. because if you've got people going into the industry, actually knowing what they're doing and not saying, you know, just give me a job, i'll do anything. i'll trim your weed, i'll sweep the floor. so people -- and that's the key thing. when i've gone around, there's very few women at high levels in the marijuana. they're trimmer. you know, and there's a lot of hispanics who are being treated. like i was down at a farm in salinases, they were treated like crap. they were spraying without masks on. spraying something called abid. you shouldn't even use avid.

it has a 50-day lifespan, if you're spraying on plants with buds, the workers are doing it and so there's no unified training can say, listen, that's a product we don't use. you know. i go places there's p.g.r.s on the shelves. i ask the guy, do you know what this stuff do does. no, i'm suppose to give it at week 2. you know, so they don't even though -- the people who are working don't even know what they're doing. they don't know the products, they don't know. >> you're a san franciscan and you know san francisco well. i'm just going to ask you. what do you think about neighborhood opposition when you go into some of these western -- west side neighborhoods, that are opposed to brick and mortar, retail in their neighborhood. >> i'll tell you straight up. i know there's a lot of

opposition. you know, i came to some guy asked me to come, i was working for him. he was trying to open up a dispensary in the sunset. and he says, will you come down there. i showed up there. there was a mob out in front. you couldn't even get into the room, you know. he wants me to be involved. i was like, i saw some people, i saw someone i knew and they asked me what i was here for. i'm in the wrong place i think. i do not need to be here. i think they need to be given some sort of respect. if a large part of the community needs that. there's no place you can't get weed in san francisco. there's nobody in san francisco saying, gee, i wish there was a spot down the block so i could get some weed. everybody can get weed in san francisco. so if there's some communities that say we really don't want this here right now, i think they should be respected. i don't agree with them. i think there should be a dispensary out there. you know, if enough of them live there and they don't want it, respect them. >> supervisor fewer: thank you. >> is that enough for me?

>> supervisor ronen: you already answered supervisor walton's question. thank you. >> supervisor fewer: thank you, mr. kramer. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is jeff. i am here as a 25-year, but not lifelong resident of the city. i have lived out in the western neighborhoods, out in the richmond district now for the last five years. i'm well aware of the issues that we're dealing with. my day job, and what i love to do, is i work at oak dam university. i manage our government and legal affairs. and i work for our business and alumni association. if you're not familiar with us, we've been a brick and mortar cannabis education school for ten years now. we graduated 30,000 folks from our school, from all over the world. and what we've found is that what we began advocating for, ten years ago, is starting to be lost in the rush to the gold rush, the green rush, which was patients and veterans being able

to use cannabis -- ryan is going to speak to that i'm sure. ryan is a great advocate for the veterans' community. what we would like to see in the equity realm, someone focused on creating a program that can actually push equity candidates forward. i have had the good fortune of doing trainings at the san francisco success center over on the western addition. and what we're finding is there's a real lack of both enforcement teeth against the operators that are going to be the lveimp that stops the little guys and giving the real support necessary to the equity candidates to move forward. we hope with the funds coming down from the state eventually, and being able to be distributed to equity candidates, that will be helpful. we know education is a key. we know all of the issues related to both giving people an opportunity in the industry, but also making sure that we have safety and medical standards intact, is that they are -- they're all being overrun by

this rush to just make money. and no matter how much we do, at the city level to try to enforce a way the bad operators and give people a leg up, we also need to see that there is some enforcement against these equity incubators, who are creating a not-very-level playing field for the equity operators that they're suppose to be supporting. so one of the big areas for us again is both making sure that we remember that this industry was founded on patients needing medicine and hopefully seeing the board, as well as the city, work with governor newsom and representative chu and everyone else from the city to get back to where we were before prop 64 was enacted, where we can actually gift medical cannabis, via a collective or even the san francisco department of public health, to those patients who need it. because right now the way the standards are, it's very, very hard for those people to get the

medicine that they need at the level that they need it, which is financially viable for them. the other thing, too, again about equity, we really, really need to focus on this. i've had the good fortune again for work at the university for almost two years. i was just up in vancouver meeting with operators and regulators up there. we've been doing work in missouri and florida. and we've been working with cat packer's group down in los angeles. we found that we really truly need to have the regulators and the community itself work together to create these opportunities. and we need to be a little bit more -- i guess we need to think of what ways that we can get equity candidates into the industry, something that we all know didn't happen with tech. maybe it's into the competing direct -- maybe it's not competing directly with the big retailers. we have the formula retail rules. i don't think we're going to see star stucks-like cannabis storefronts in the city. thank god. but what we need to do is make

sure with all due respect to all of the retail operators, these are generally minimum-wage jobs. often times there are no benefits. so we need to create avenues for equity candidates to get higher-level jobs, with these larger operators that are wanting to come here to california and open up businesses. we can't forget that relatively soon down the road, we're probably looking at least some level of federal decriminalization. what that's going to do is even bring more operators in, it's going to challenge our agricultural folks. one thing that mr. kramer mentioned, that i wanted to point out, we've been working with agricultural labor relations board at the state level. we know, there's not a lot of tul it -- cultivation level. they need to be educated on what their rights are, how they can be represented by union representatives. and how they have action and

redress available to them through the state law. currently they're not being told that, as much as they should be. we're trying to push out an education program to make sure that that happen. those are some of the areas i'm most interested in. i have to say, i have a 15-year-old at sacred heart, just started this last year up the street. and one of the big areas that not represented, supervisor fewer, in this is, you know, advocacy for parents. i know that a lot of parents made a big deal. i appreciate the leadership on getting rid of the advertising. i don't think any of us will benefit the industry or society as a whole if we have the bud wider of weed or the marlboro of weed. we'll talk to the folks at juul about that, right. we really want to make sure that we keep in mind that there are kids out there who have easy access to weed already. it's gotten easier. let's be honest. i won't mention any particular delivery companies. but the standards are not that high in terms of what the retailers have to go through, in terms of screening customers and what the others do. another area that we would love

to see some focus on as well. >> supervisor ronen: thank you very much. >> supervisor fewer: yes. so, you know, in san francisco i think what we've heard about the state regulations also is that it has pushed people to go underground, people to go into the black market. just the regulations, also the taxes. and they can actually get product that is tested, everything else, like good product. and still sell it on the black market. so how do you think we bring these people, and considering it's now getting so highly regulated. >> sure. it's -- i remember i went to golden gate for law school. i don't practice now. i do policy stuff, like i'm doing for oak. if you look back at the history of prohibition and everything else. what we did with prohibition, we have fought basically a war on the streets of america to stop the illicit operators and to promote the legal businesses.

i wouldn't want to ever see that here in the united states -- here in san francisco or anywhere else in the u.s. but we have to somehow get to that level where we start to enforce more against the illegal operators. but we also have to lower regulations, because right now the only way that that anyone, who is just a fledgingly business can survive in san francisco, i don't even know what it is. it's probably $8,000 to $10,000 a month to pay the lease. you have to sell a lot of cannabis to pay that and your employees. at the end of the day, if we have a more enhanced enforcement against the operators and promotion of the legal operators, through a decrease in taxation and regulatory burdens, that are really keeping them out of the market, we might get to place where we see greater equilibrium. but it's really the truth. i mean, i think we all have to kind of admit it, legalization has made it easier for the bad guys to do business, as you mentioned. they get access to great product

and then just resell it. so it's -- it's a -- it's a tough one because it's going to take a lot at the state level. but i think we can get there. i think it would help again to have programs that promoted the core functions at the school and lucky to be a part of. which is helping patients, first and foremost. not forgetting patients, veterans, those people who need this. and also helping those adversely affected by the war on drugs. and that way, at least at the governmental level, we're starting to promote those who are the great operators and the illicit operators, i hope, will start to go away. it's not an easy fix at all. >> supervisor fewer: okay. thank you very much. >> supervisor ronen: supervisor walton. >> supervisor walton: thank you. just the same question. how important do you think feel diversity is for this committee? >> i think it's really important for this committee. it's also really important for this city to be at the vanguard, just like over in oakland, and down los angeles, the vanguard

of pushing for equity programs that work. as i mentioned earlier, i met with a lot of equity candidates. i've had a chance to do job training seminars for them on building a business. and, you know, often times with the focus on just finding somebody to be your business partner, or take you in, i think it sort of actually devalues what those equity candidates have to offer. and you've heard a lot today from people who are local operators, and local producers, who have great ideas and sometimes if you make them be a part of a larger enterprise, which is really again let's be honest, just looking for an equity license to get, a license to do business in san francisco. it devalues the contribution that equity candidates can provide to the industry. so there's got to be other paths. and what i was mentioning before, perhaps an apprenticeship program or something along the lines of flat-out forcing the bigger employers, who want to do business here, and i don't mean to bibbing on juul, this is a

great example. they're putting $112 million behind -- $12 million behind the anti-vaping initiative. that's more than what med man pushed for full commercialization in florida. july is putting in $12 million to fight anti-vaping here. so going to those employers and saying, look, if you want to do business here, we would love for you to partner with equity candidates. we want you to career path, within your executive rank. because it's not okay to have them just be retailers or bud tenders or delivery driver. they need to be trained to be executives at companies that can scale to the national level, where this industry is going. that's truly the way it's the way to promote equity candidates es to get them opportunities. give those people the opportunity to get great jobs

with great companies. don't just say to them, you have to go find somebody to partner with and they're going to put you in a position here. i think we really need to do that. >> supervisor ronen: thank you very much. i just on a side note, i was whispering to supervisor fewer in the corner. you guys are making this really difficult for us. >> supervisor fewer: truly. >> supervisor ronen: the candidates are exceptional. and i will say it says a lot for this industry. and, you know, i wish people that have a knee-jerk reaction against this industry could be with us today. because if they could see the thoughtfulness, the professionalism, i think it would change hearts and minds. again i thought i would interject halfway through, a little more than halfway through and just really thank everyone for their incredible commitment and willingness to serve in this capacity. >> well, thank you. any other questions?

>> supervisor fewer: thank you. >> thanks again. >> supervisor ronen: hello. >> my name is ryan miller. i also want to acknowledge the excellent candidacy from this crowd. i also want to mention that there's some powerhouses on deck here. so standby. [ please stand by ]

>> our veterans of color, low income, disabled, food insecure, many with substance abuse, with former incarceration and we're experiencing transformative results. we're shifting bitter crow money johns to warm members of our community and these are the most vulnerable citizens we have here in san francisco. i've been working with the senator for the past two years to get this bill passed at the state level. it's currently on the governor's desk and it's received unanimous approval from the legislature. i also advocated for multiple cities and at the national level. i have been involved with the

decriminal nature movement. i'm here really just to be of greater service to this beautiful city. veteran voices are elevated in the halls of legislature and we mentioned access and how everyone in san francisco can access cannabis, not my people. a lot of my people have to choose between eating and medicating with cannabis. so i'm here to serve as that compassion voice. i would like to answer the diversity question up front. where i grew up, i was labeled as gringo, powder, whitety. as a child, i asked my single parent mother saying i love my dad, but why couldn't he be mexican? it would have helped me fit in as a kid.

i learned about my privilege and that privilege has led me to the streets of oakland. i was arrested in sacramento this year for stephon clark and also deployed with the veterans to the pipeline protest in standing rock, north dakota. i'll see you on alcatraz this year for thanksgiving, for the sunrise ceremony and i'm grateful to serve and grateful for all the advocates here also. >> thank you supervisor fewer. >> thank you very much. so do you think when we're rolling out this equity program and we're trying to wrong -- right many of the wrongs we have done around the enforcement of cannabis, do you think we forgotten about our veterans? >> thank you for mentioning that.

absolutely, and in the most mill tar listic country in the world, veterans are often an afterthought. yes, i love the equity program, the original equity group that has brought that legislature forward, this culture forward. i think it's important to have a separate pathway for veterans, and that doesn't disrupt the initial intention of the equity program. in the military, we have this culture of no one left behind. that's what i'm here to do, to ensure that the veterans aren't left behind also. >> and how do you think on the state level, with all these state regulations, that we can have our veterans have access to medicine? >> that's a great question. with s.b.-34, we hope that they

will find that any day now and we're working with the state treasurer to eliminate the state medical i.d. card requirement for veterans, something that hasn't been mentioned. once you register for that state card, you forfeit your gun ownership rights. for veterans, that's an irrational choice. >> okay, thank you very much. >> do you have any questions supervisor mar? >> how important is it that diversity be on this committee? >> absolutely. the majority of the veterans i serve are veterans of color, low income, disabled, housing and food insecure, substance abuse experience, and what i'm here to say if you're going to put a white dude on the panel, i'm the one you want.

[laughter] >> since coming back from the military, like, you could find me when we're protesting on the streets of oakland. i'm eyeball to eyeball with the police. i'm standing between the police and the community, inviting the tear gas and rubber bullets on me to buffer between the violent police and the december -- desperate community demanding justice. i'm here to leverage those privileges to elevate the communities affected by these terrible policies. >> thank you. next speaker. >> chair ronen, supervisors walton, mar, fewer, hello. i'm a fifth generation san francisco native.

i'm an alum of usf where i received my mba. i want to be on the cannabis oversight committee because i want to be an access -- asset to the city of san francisco and all of you, through collaboration, using my experience, and through my deep commitment to the community here in the city i love. i have experienced some judgment to provide a valuable voice on the oversight committee and hope to earn your recommendation today. i don't usually put myself out there politically like this, but i feel i'm uniquely situated in providing you support in creating the best environment for legal cannabis in our city. i serve as the chief compliance officer where i oversee multiple

permits of cannabis, in cultivation, manufacturing, distributi distribution. i have experience and expertise, and genuine commitment to community and equity. i also lead our company equity and public affairs work. it's inclusive of all people. to help us meet our equity goals, we look to community organizations and thought leaders in the community to help us. groups like success centers and young community developers are helping us learn how to best serve the communities we operate in and i think it's a critical part of all businesses navigatinavigat navigating equity in the city. i provided you letters of

recommendati recommendations. i was the c.e.o. of the first cannabis laboratory in the united states that was not adjacent to law enforcement, that was created to provide a way for cannabis companies to self regulate and introduce quality control into the industry at a time where there was none. that is symbolic to the forward thinking to solve the problems that the industry is facing. i applied for seat 12 and 14. my relevant experience for seat 12 includes being an owner of four dispensary companies. i also am the owner of two retail dispensaries outside of san francisco. i'm an ally and outspoken person of the office of cannabis, and

with the department of public health, i worked closely to provide analysis and feedback to create sensible policy for the city's equity goals and business. my relevant experience for seat 14 is i am the chief compliance officer, meaning i'm responsible for all relevant laws and government affairs. we analyze policy, we engage with our policymakers, and our legal team reports to me as well. this experience makes me qualified for seat 14 not only because i have expert knowledge in san francisco and california cannabis law but because i have applied knowledge. i have boots on the ground with my staff everyday to figure out standard operating procedures, stra training, and to answer problems that arise that we work to implement the laws and the regulations that the state and city has put in place.

we inevitably encounter challenges and on every white board in my office, it says find the solution. that's how i want to work with you guys as we navigate this exciting opportunity to create a collaborative relationship with the board of supervisors through the oversight committee. i'm happy to take any questions from the committee. thank you. >> supervisor fewer. >> thank you very much. thank you for coming today. norcal, i see that you applied for the position that actually says that you're an owner of a storefront cannabis retailer, but isn't that a delivery service? >> it's a company that we have all different types of cannabis permits. in terms of retail, we have four applications in. none of our retail stores are open yet.

all of our applications were submitted over 12 months ago and all are in the process. i think the fact that i have experience and firsthand knowledge of the complications of navigating the retail process makes me uniquely situated to represent the struggles that retailers are trying to open right now. we don't have a retail store in san francisco today. >> how do you see the relationship between delivery service and brick and mortar and how can they work together instead of opposition to each other. >> i see brick and mortar and delivery as complimentary. i see that because i personally and my company have under taken a lot of research to understand consumer behavior. consumers want interactions that happen at the dispensary level. there's many people who don't want to travel to dispensaries

or who are chronically ill and prefer to get deliveries. consumer demand in the marketplace is driving that. i think that it's important for all of the city retailers to remember and understand that they are allowed to deliver and that if they are feeling impacted, i think there's an opportunity to do education related to ways that they can expand their brick and mortar retail to serve delivery and the customers they already have relationships with. >> so, what do you think about having brick and mortar retailers, actually having a maybe pool of delivery people that are employees, joint employees of these retailers, that actually do delivery instead of a service like norcal. >> i think it's a really interesting idea. it would be really exciting to get some people at the table to

talk about it. that's where i would want to starting -- start. to understand the laws and regulations of how possible it would be and if it's something that people want to do, then to think about how we need to create policy to empower the businesses to execute on those innovative new ideas. >> okay. >> thank you, how important do you think it is to have diversity on this committee? >> deeply. i think diversity of not only humans, but of expertise and perspective is critical. you seen from all the people that stood up, people are bringing different levels of knowledge to the table. i think what the board is looking for outside of assets, to give advice is critical. diversity of people, diversity of ideas, diversity of experience, it's a great question and absolutely very important.

>> thank you so much. >> any other questions? >> thank you. >> good afternoon supervisors. my name is aaron flynn. out of high school, i joined the marine corps. i did a combat tour in iraq in 2003 and in afghanistan in 2004 after which i exited the service and was not in a good place, mentally and physically. the v.a. gave us a lot of different options, pharmaceutical options to alleviate that pain and none of them were working. fortunately i was lucky enough to land in humboldt county where one of my comrades from the service had grown up. i found cannabis to be by far in a way to be the best medicine i

was suffering from. very quickly i realized that being involved in cannabis is something i wanted to do in my life. it helped me and it helped a lot of my comrade from the military and many other people that were sick and had issues. so, i jumped in with both feet. i learned to cultivate there an outdoor greenhouse, indoor up in humboldt and i came to san francisco to pursue a larger patient base, with a larger population in 2010. around 2015, as it became clear that the city was going to create new policy and the state was going to create new policy, i recognized that as a cultivator, as a manufacturer, as a distributor, there was not a lot of representation on the advocacy level. in san francisco back then, when you said cannabis, most people thought retail. they didn't think there was much

production going on here and as you heard many times today, there isn't a lot of production, but i devoted a good amount of my time and efforts towards banning the not retail side of the cannabis industry together. i helped create the san francisco chapter of the growers association in 2015. up until now, i worked on representing the producers here in san francisco. there's not many of us, but we're proud to be here in this city and proud of what we do. by default, we are craft and small. there isn't any space in san francisco for these huge, you know, half acre facilities, so i want to make sure that those businesses continue to be represented as more rules roll out. i'm currently the cofounder of a company called gold fill san francisco. we hold a cultivation permit and

distribution and manufacturing permit. i'm proud to say 70% of our staff, we have four people at cultivation, and we hired our 8th at manufacturing and distribution. 70% of them are san francisco district, and 30 are from bayfield. i am applying for seat number 9, which is an operator of a cannab cannabis cultivation. we spent every last dime and waking hour to navigate the complexity of the permitting process. many of them lie with the department of building inspection, with the department of public health and the pl planning department. it's been incredibly difficult

to get through this process as many of these rules are just being laid out and there is still a lot of uncertainty from the plumbing department on how they want to see the different pipes run, from the planning department, how they want things. it's taken so much more. we knew it was going to be hard but we didn't realize it was going to be this difficult. one of my primary concerns is folks who have not even started this process. i started in the very beginning of 2018 and i would say that i'm about three-fifth of the way done with the cost and with the build and with the permitting. i truly believe that in order for many of the small and equity owned businesses, to make it through this process, they will need assistance from folks who have been there in it before them. i was sadden to see that the office of cannabis did not get their requested permit navigator position they asked for.

i honestly thought that it was probably one of the most important things that the board could have given the office of cannabis as far as resources. we can do all kinds of different things as far as getting equity folks into this pipeline, but if they're gummed up by the two year process that it takes to get through the planning department, to get through the building department, then all of it would have been for nothing. i truly believe that one of the ways that you see larger companies, both cannabis and non-get through the complex process is through expediters. very unfortunately, not very many equity folks can afford expediters. in this position, i would focus on imparting as much of that knowledge i have gained from going through this process myself, to those folks coming behind me. i encourage the chamber of commerce for whom i'm a member. many of the organizations that we work with closely, the office of economic and workforce

development to focus on this. i really think there is a lot of focus and we're ignoring some of the facts on the ground on how difficult it is to just simply get through the technicalities of d.b.i. and the planning department. i will say i've been privileged to engage with the success center and closely engage with the office of economic and workforce development. i'm glad to see an apprenticeship program moving forward. i appreciate the way the industry has reached out to. it would be a mistake to create a training program that didn't address the needs of the employers and was something that was more of a blanket. i want to continue to engage as much as possible to get that perspective on the non-retail side of the cannabis business. finally i want to say i'm grateful to build a cannabis business in san francisco. i am not from here, my wife was

born here, we had our second child here. there are many just as qualified and likely more deserving of this opportunity than i am and it's one of my primary motivating factors to apply for this committee. as i mentioned, it's been a difficult process to get to where we are right now and if i'm afforded the honor, i'll bring all my experiences and pain points to create a more streamline pathway. i love operating in this city. i don't want to just be one of a select few non-retail operators that is left here when the dust settles. i hope we can see a diverse community of business owners. i really believe that is through training and engagement of folks interested in running these businesses and we're the best suited, those of us on the ground, to give that knowledge; information, and training and i will be committed to doing that.

>> thank you so much. supervisor fewer. >> so what are some suggestion that you would give to streamline it for these small businesses that are just starting out. we know that small businesses are having a problem, but with even more regulation on the cannabis business, i think they're especially vulnerable. you applied for the seat where you have less than 20 employees, classified as a small business. what are some of the things that the city and county of san francisco can do to assist? >> certainly, the planning commission, to my knowledge, there's only one person in the planning commission who is focussed on moving cannabis permits through and he's so inundated with permits right now that there's this incredibly long lag. there's a long period of time for folks to get planning commission hearings. so the first thing i would say is to create a job inside the

planning commission or this navigator position so when someone says they want to be a cultivator in san francisco, here are the land use you need, and the application will be moved to the top of the pile as soon as possible, otherwise you are in a year backlog. i would aggravate all the information we learned about specific code that is required from the electrical department, plumbing department, fire department, and get all this knowledge and resources into a centralized place. what happens right now is i could go in with my architect and talk to the fire department and they would say, yes, you can do this for co2 alarming, for instance. when i come in with my permit, there is someone else at the fire desk that says something different. that's happened to me a number of times. i believe this stuff needs to be standardized and the only way to

do that is to look at some of the cases that already moved through the process and make clear decisions at each one of these departments, inside the planning department. it's going to take time and effort. i wish i had a short and quick solution, but i will say myself and many of the other members of the non-retail community and the cannabis community at large would be willing to sit down and share this information and get this stuff aggregated. i think streamlining means having everyone in the department on the same page as far as what they want, having each inspector on the same page with the plan checker, and that can only be done not conceptu conceptually but looking at cases that's already moved through and saying here's what we did wrong in this one. this cost them four months. that shouldn't happen in the future. here's how we make that work. >> thank you. >> supervisor walton, did you

want to ask your question? >> yes, same question, how important do you think it is for diversity to serve on this comb committee? >> i think if we don't have diversity on this committee, we're not going to come up with solutions to these problems that look at every aspect. i think having people of all different levels of experience in this committee will bring us to a well rounded solution that will work well for everybody. i really truly also believe that it is important that folks on this committee do have experience, so that they can bring that experience to the table, especially given how fluid this process still is here in the city and how much learning we also have to do. >> thank you. >> my pleasure. >> any other questions? thank you so much. >> sure. >> next applicant. ms. parks. >> good afternoon supervisors.

my name is leah white, but i am known as leah parks because i still do photography under that name and that's how i earned that. my early life of san francisco, i was born and raised here and i am so proud to be from san francisco. i went to rooftop elementary school, who had an amazing arts program and i'm also committed to diversity. i got into rooftop because of i'm half filipino and half jewish and they needed more filipino students to come to the school so i was able to get into that program. you can imagine what 24th street was like in that time period and i was a having a blast, much to my parents' dismay.

eventually it got me sent to an alternative correctional facility in new mexico. i was away for a year and a half in a drug detox program, when i was 17 years old. i came back and i started city college and started studying criminal justice because prior to getting sent away, i was a part of youth moments here . it was called third eye movement. we were committed to fighting against gang violence, the juvenile initiative, where we saw a lot of doingness come out our high schools and middle schools and new money infusion into building correction facilities. we saw money go towards ygc and

now they're getting closed down because they've never been more than a fourth full. my life in san francisco has expanded like that historic context. i claim worked as a case manager and after school educator, where the youth program i worked with started to be harassed by the police department. we wrote many, many -- like we put in a lot of reports to the police oversight committee or whoever is suppose to be accountable during that time period. we could not maintain a program because the kids were so fearful of harassment. supervisor ronen helped work on the order to address the harassment that was happening with our youth. we made sure that the general order was comprehensible to a 15-year-old, so we knew anyone reading it could understand that