Fresno was fair in judging cannabis retailers. Now it must follow up with final licensing
As we begin to recover from the impacts of the pandemic, there are many exciting developments in Fresno: A thriving craft beer scene, the ongoing revival of our downtown, and an emerging regulated cannabis industry, to name a few.
Five years after California voters passed legalization, Fresno is finally on the precipice of welcoming responsible legal cannabis retailers. City leaders have spent approximately three years working to get the implementation of this policy right, and we commend the city for being thoughtful and deliberate in its approach to such a delicate industry.
Implementing effective cannabis policy that overcomes stigmas and instills community confidence is no simple task, and with this objective the city can usher in a new industry with tremendous economic potential for our community and its workforce.
As we approach the final stages of this process, with scores for cannabis applicants released and appeal hearings concluded, there has been much chatter about who will ultimately be operating these local businesses. As other municipalities grapple with how to enact cannabis policy, it is our sincere hope that Fresno’s process can serve as an example of getting it right.
City leaders developed and implemented a rigorous, merit-based process to review and score all applicants. No process is perfect, but Fresno’s scoring was consistent and appears to have awarded the highest scores to those applicants who share this community’s values. Conditional approval was provided, pending the result of appeals which were just recently heard by council. Now it is up to the administration to revisit the score sheet and award the highest-scoring applicants retail cannabis licenses.
Fresno deserves the best legal cannabis retailers based on its own scoring criteria — a deliberate process that has been used to make every decision.
The Fresno, Madera, Tulare & Kings Counties Central Labor Council represents thousands of local union members and serves as a unified voice in the pursuit of economic opportunity and justice for workers. That is why we believe in the importance of getting local cannabis policy right in Fresno — ensuring fairness through objective use of the scores in awarding retail licenses preserves the integrity of this process as well as in subsequent non-retail licensing processes.
Fresno has reached the goal line of a three-year process, and we are close to closing this chapter and ushering in responsible legal cannabis businesses and the associated workforce opportunities and tax revenue. Now more than ever it is critical that we stay on course, remain true to the process, and pick in a fair manner by objectively following the score sheet that was used to select applicants.
Doing anything else undermines our ability to stand as an example of effective public policy and opens the city up to potential litigation, only further delaying what has already been a long process.