The ongoing process of codifying the future of recreational marijuana sales in the city took yet another small step forward at last week’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen Legislative Matters Committee.

By Jim Clark

The City of Somerville Board of Aldermen Legislative Matters Committee of the Whole met last Thursday, October 18, during which time the drafting of the adult use of marijuana licensing ordinance was a topic of discussion.

Committee Chair Mark Niedergang led off by summarizing the key issues he identified as being important as the discussion went forward:

• Are the three existing marijuana dispensaries being considered as priority applicants or not?
• The lack of time, the exclusivity time window during which only priority applicants can apply for licenses.
• Does the city want to cap the number of licenses?

Alderman At-Large Stephanie Hirsch added that she felt that the intended ordinance could provide an opportunity invent a whole new industry and to rethink the process and start from scratch. “The most important part when I think about that is how do you have it benefit Somerville residents in particular,” Hirsch said. “But the way that we can especially support locally owned businesses and businesses that employ people locally, as well as potentially providing other types of supportive services to those employees – like, I can imagine saying all right, we’re going to have a program like a worker’s co-op where we target parents with kids in public schools. And we do job training. We also give housing subsidy. But the more we can design this kind of wraparound system that also supports people as they work in this industry. That’s what I have been thinking about.”

Alderman At-Large Wilfred N. Mbah expressed his hope that equity for people of color will be considered as the process for establishing priority applicants goes forward.

After the initial remarks from the aldermen, City of Somerville Director of Planning George Proakis addressed the Board with his report, remarking on the latest draft of the ordinance that has been submitted.

Proakis informed the Board that the previous draft of the ordinance had only been slightly modified to clarify the 20 percent rule related to liquor applicants as it relates to marijuana retailers.

Proakis then invited Alex Mello from his team to address the Board on the potential economic impact related to marijuana sales in the city.

Mello said that the existing medical dispensaries were asked to provide information on the number of employees that they have, how many of them are Somerville residents, and the wages that are paid to them.

“On average, they’re providing about 16 jobs per dispensary,” Mello said. “From what we hear, they’re expecting to increase that number, and as of right now, about 35 percent of their employees are currently Somerville residents. And in terms of their wages, they are starting their retail customer service – where they call them patient advocate positions – at about $18 per hour.”

Additionally, Mello said that the dispensary’s employees were being offered benefits such as 401k plans, paid time off, and subsidized MBTA passes.

Mello said that expected revenues from recreational marijuana sales were extrapolated from data provided by the two medical dispensaries that are currently in operation.

Director Proakis then addressed the issue of setting a cap on the number of licenses granted, saying that the question of whether the Board of Aldermen or the Licensing Commission has yet to be determined and that a legal answer is yet to be provided.

Chair Niedergang pointed out that such a determination would be important going forward in the process.

Frank Wright from the City Solicitor’s Office told the Committee that the matter would have to be looked in to and that an answer would hopefully be provided by the next Committee meeting.

Wright also said that in his opinion it would be proper for the Committee to go into Executive Session to discuss possible legal challenges going forward and whether current dispensaries should be considered priority applicants. The Committee then voted to go into Executive Session to discuss the matter.

Upon reconvening, Ward 2 Alderman J.T. Scott elaborated on his proposal that the Licensing Commission should consider all applications, but to ensure that 50 percent or more of total active licenses be economic opportunity applicants at the time of licensure.

Scott’s suggestion was generally agreed to by several Board members.

Director Proakis expressed concern over further delays to finalizing the ordinance in the context of altering the licensing process.

Chair Niedergang suggested that Alderman Scott work with Director Proakis to craft an amendment to the ordinance that could be discussed at the next Committee meeting.

These and other related issues were referred to the next Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 1.

A video of the full meeting can be accessed at the city’s website: https://www.somervillema.gov.

A copy of the current draft of the proposed ordinance can be downloaded at: https://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/SCO%20License.pdf