SVCG Blog

A Hollow Victory

This sidebar once declared in its headline, “Success!”. And it was true at the time. After 4 long years of cajoling and discussion, the city of Sonoma had finally come to permit 2 walk-in retail cannabis dispensaries.

Unfortunately, that good cheer was short-lived. Though the first dispensary plans to open this spring, its owner, Erich Pearson of sparc, along with his personal lobbyist, Amy O’Gorman Jenkins, have worked with the Sonoma City Council to stop the process for a second dispensary.

Mr Pearson chose to misrepresent his financial situation to the Sonoma City Council in order to convince it to support what amounts to a city-sponsored monopoly, rather than face any competition that would provide medical patients with better prices, more product choices, and additional services.

Ms Jenkins, who runs her own lobbying firm, Precision Advocacy, and is also the Legislative Advocate for the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA), is a native to Sonoma. Her ties to the local community afford her a unique position to influence local policy. She was a contributor to the campaigns of cannabis-friendly candidates Rachel Hundley in 2018 and Sandra Lowe in 2021.

Appearances are everything. Contributions can create avenues for corruption, either grand or petty. Cronyism and favors to rig a market are unacceptable.

Thanks

We thank everyone in this group and on our mailing list for their support, for signing the petition, for writing the letters and contributing to the discussions.

Thanks to Ken Brown and Jewel Mathieson for their years of advocacy for patients’ access to safe, legal medical cannabis. Their goal of  local access has finally been realized.

And thanks to our past city council allies Amy Harrington and Logan Harvey for leaning forward on this issue. They helped define Sonoma as a city of progressive values in Sonoma County.

In the meantime, the Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group will continue to keep you informed on all the latest developments in 2022.

 

Best Regards,

Gil Latimer

Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group

The Voice for Cannabis in Sonoma Valley since 2017

The mission of Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group (SVCG) has been to assist the city of Sonoma form a compassionate cannabis policy that will ensure safe and legal access to medicinal cannabis for the residents of Sonoma and Sonoma Valley.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

On January 20, 2021, the city council voted to amend our ordinance to permit an additional walk-in retail dispensary. The newly revised ordinance went into effect on May 19.

A second retail outlet would improve service to the 45,000 people living in the greater Sonoma area. Competition can provide folks here with easy, safe access to more product choice, better services, etc. That’s what the free market is all about, isn’t it? Everybody wins, the city, adult consumers and *especially* medical users.

However, there have been forces within the industry that are working against the second dispensary option and would prefer that the new permit process be slow-walked. You can read about it in this post.

“Evil genius”

“Evil genius”

by | Nov 16, 2023

Erich Pearson, the owner of the only dispensary in our town, has worked diligently to prevent the Sonoma City Council from permitting our second dispensary. Mr. Pearson is adamantly opposed to any competition that would keep him from dominating the local market, even to the point of publicly defaming our advocacy group in front of the Sonoma City Council.

But, he does not limit his suspicious activities to the city of Sonoma.

Our letter to all Sonoma City Councilmembers regarding Erich Pearson’s failed attempt to gain an unfair advantage should he ever open a dispensary in Sausalito:

We would like to call your attention to this news article, “Critics call mysterious Bay Area pot proposal ‘evil genius’”, published by SFGate on September 27, 2023. (please scroll through the advertisements to read the entire article)

According to the story, Erich Pearson sponsored a tax initiative in Sausalito that appeared to many as an attempt to give SPARC an unfair advantage in the Sausalito cannabis space.

“Councilmember Joan Cox said that the measure was “evil genius” because it would tax existing delivery services, but future pot companies that open in the town could be exempt. That could presumably benefit a businessperson like Pearson, who could theoretically open a SPARC location in Sausalito after the retail ban is lifted and instantly have a business advantage.”

We remind that Mr. Pearson brought his own ballot measure to permit Sausalito’s first retail cannabis dispensary in 2022. That initiative was removed from the ballot after a Marin judge ruled it invalid because the measure’s two proponents, Paul Austin and Joseph Erich Pearson, were not residents of Sausalito.

We also recently apprised the city council of racist remarks made in public by the holder of two Sonoma County dispensary permits.

The citizens of Sonoma and the Valley deserve better. By issuing the RFP for the second dispensary, the community and the city will establish a healthier business environment that will benefit everyone, government and consumers alike.

Sincerely,

Gil Latimer, Founder, Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group

Cc: David Guhin, City Manager
Policy Group, Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group

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2nd Cannabis Dispensary and Sonoma City Council Priorities

by | Feb 8, 2023

The video of the City Council Priority Setting Session has finally been posted, 6 days late. Nevertheless, our comments can now be seen by the public, as well as the comments made by Vice Mayor Gurney and Council Member Farrar-Rivas that put our issue on the 5 month...

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2nd Dispensary for Sonoma?

2nd Dispensary for Sonoma?

by | Feb 5, 2023

As you can see in these photos, city council members were tasked by the interim city manager to draw up a list of goals/priorities they felt should be included in a five-year, one year, and five-month plan. The goals reflect a vision of the city’s future and guide...

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