“We agree that there was a need for some clarity and this is our way of addressing some of that.”
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The Cannabis Control Commission, which has come under fire for a disjointed and ineffective management structure, released a draft document on Thursday that attempts to clarify the responsibilities of key players at the agency.
The draft governing document has been in the works for more than two years. It was released at a meeting that followed close on the heels of a legislative hearing this week where Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro urged lawmakers to place the agency in receivership while the Legislature develops a new governing structure for it, particularly in relation to the duties of the commission chair and its executive director.
Lawmakers seemed hesitant to pursue receivership, which they called the “nuclear option.” And a proposed amendment to a Senate economic development bill that would have paved the way for receivership was defeated on a voice vote.
Ava Callender Concepcion, the acting chair of the commission, reiterated her view that a receivership is unnecessary because the agency is capable of sorting out its leadership issues on its own.
“We’ve all watched the [legislative] hearing and listened to the IG’s perspective around the need for clarity,” Concepcion said. “This is us first recognizing that we agree that there was a need for some clarity and this is our way of addressing some of that and providing clarity in terms of who does what…and also informing the staff of what expectations are for commissioners and the [executive director].”
The commission has been working on the governance charter since May 2022, before the inaugural chair of the commission, Steven Hoffman, resigned. The process was started with the express goal of the defining distinctions in roles, responsibilities and processes between commissioners and staff members.
The governance charter document designates the commission chair as the head of the agency but puts the executive director in charge of all of the staff. It states that the chair “has and exercises supervision and control over all affairs of the Commissioners.” Meanwhile, the executive director is set to be the executive and administrative head of the commission and is tasked with managing all of the work of the commission’s staff. The chair and the executive director are supposed to work “cooperatively,” according to the charter.
The governance charter has not been available to the public before now because the commission worked on it in private executive sessions with a mediator present to smooth any conflict. The mediation has cost the agency $160,000 since the commission first began the effort to clarify its governance.
It’s been no secret that there has been friction between the people who have occupied the roles of commission chair and executive director at the state agency.
Hoffman resigned only several months before his term was set to end without giving a reason.
Shannon O’Brien, the suspended chair of the commission, has made it public that there is bad blood between her and the past executive director of the commission, Shawn Collins. In fact, part of the reason for her suspension was her alleged mistreatment of Collins.
In a court filing arguing for a chance to defend herself against allegations against her, O’Brien claimed that Hoffman resigned due to “unsubstantiated allegations” lodged against him, and that a cannabis commission employee told her that she would be “Hoffman 2.0.”
The commission has been criticized by Shapiro and others for its slow pace in releasing regulations addressing agency problems. One example is the two-driver rule, which requires that two agents be in the car every time a cannabis delivery is made. Delivery companies say the high cost of using two drivers to make deliveries has made their business untenable.
The commission voted to eliminate the two-driver rule, and allow deliveries with just one driver, in December 2023. But new regulations implementing that decision haven’t been approved yet, and commissioners indicated on Thursday that the new regulations would not be finished for several more months, October at the earliest.
Delivery licenses are currently restricted for an “exclusivity period” to social equity applicants, those who qualify for one of two license types targeted toward individuals impacted by the war on drugs. The aim of the “exclusivity period” is to give businesses time to get off the ground and start making profits before bigger companies enter the market. At Thursday’s public meeting, the commission kicked off the process of considering extending that exclusivity period.
The CCC was slammed by Somerville City Councilor Willie Burnley Jr., who sponsored a resolution rebuking the agency for slow-walking social consumption, which he said has caused the city to lose commercial tax revenue and tourism dollars. Social consumption is one goal that the CCC has yet to deliver on. Last summer, members of the commission took a trip out to states where social consumption is already possible but, based on public meetings, social consumption is still a distant dream.
Commissioner Nurys Camargo defended the commission and said that regulations take time and manpower.
“We are always getting yelled at for something but when you see the work that goes into every single word within our regulations, [you see that] today is a historical day,” said Camargo.
This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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