chapter 1
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
chapter 2
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
chapter 3
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
chapter 4
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
chapter 5
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
chapter 6
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
chapter 7
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
chapter 8
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Bay Area man who said ‘white people will stand up’ receives social equity grant
By Lester Black, SFGate Cannabis editor – Aug 5, 2024
“John Loe, a pot shop owner in Sonoma County, received the grant in May as part of (Sonoma) county’s cannabis social equity program, which aims to help people impacted by marijuana criminalization succeed in the cannabis industry. In an interview Wednesday, Loe said that he was only awarded a grant because he was actively investigating the program.” Loe was awarded $39,687.50.
But wait, there’s more. This isn’t just about John Loe:
“The county announced in May that it had issued $635,000 in cannabis grants, sending money to all 20 people who applied for the program. County Supervisor David Rabbitt said in a May press release that the program “aims to serve socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals” in the industry, but an investigation by the Sebastopol Times found that a majority of the 20 recipients “are among the most successful and influential people” in the county’s pot industry, including four people associated with SPARC, a cannabis retailer with seven different locations across the Bay Area.”
This news only highlights how our local patients and consumers are held hostage by a combination of the poor implimentation of Sonoma County’s equity program, the greed of an undeserving Erich Pearson, the racial hatred of John Loe and the Sonoma City Council’s complicity in blocking reasonable access to cannabis medications and products.
You can read Lester Black’s entire article here.
“At the heart of Tuesday’s chaos was John Loe”
This is the guy who 2 of our city council members suggested other investors team up with to help him overcome financial difficulties in opening two dispensaries outside of Sonoma.
According to the Press Democrat, “At the heart of Tuesday’s chaos was John Loe, also known as John Lobro, who previously made headlines when his Sebastopol neighbors complained about his frequent discharge of semi-automatic weapons at the personal gun range he has constructed on his property. Loe has also been trying to open two cannabis dispensaries in the Sonoma area.
“He has delivered angry messages at other recent public meetings. And on Sept. 22, he sent a demeaning, misogynist email to Supervisor Susan Gorin that took exception to a reference she had made to the gun range issue.
‘Be careful what you say about me to your friends in the press,’ Loe wrote in the email, which The Press Democrat reviewed. ‘i am taking notes and will hold you accountable. I promise you i will expose, challenge, and defeat you.’
He added, ‘i wish the worst for you and your loved ones including poor health and sickness.’”
We have to ask, would you ever buy from someone who is antisemitic, racist or anti-gay?
You can read the article, “More vitriol aimed at Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, this time in person” at the Press Democrat.
Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group
The Voice for Cannabis in Sonoma Valley since 2017
Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group
The Voice for Cannabis in Sonoma Valley since 2017
<- We’ve got a ranting white supremicist on the left, and a self-serving, ethically-challenged operator at the right, both of whom own dispensaries in the vicinity of the city of Sonoma and the Valley. ->
And right here in the middle, we have patients and consumers who are subjected to dubious service at the hands of those who do not reflect the values of our community.
We deserve better. Why should we be victimized by circumstances that strong arm us into giving away our hard-earned money to support businesses more interested in profit than honorable service?
We believe everyone would be better off if the city of Sonoma would stop protecting Erich Pearson and company, cease running John Loe as a screen against reasonable access, and start the process for the second dispensary.
#boycottsparc #boycottloedispensaries
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.
Rather Fail with Honor than Succeed by Fraud – Sophocles
by | April 23, 2023
Erich Pearson, CEO of sparc, currently operates 5 cannabis dispensaries in Sonoma County and San Francisco. His dispensary in the city of Sonoma has been open for nearly 2 years and until recently enjoyed the enviable position as the one and only cannabis retail shop within a 15 mile radius. It was, at the very least, a one hour round trip drive to any of his competitors.
In order to maintain his retail stronghold, Mr. Pearson has employed numerous questionable tactics, but the charge he lodged against us in public to the Sonoma City Council, strikes a new low. See video, above.
1. Our Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group is a 200+ member independent, informal advocacy group. SVCG is not, nor has it ever been, affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with any other company, agency or government agency. We view any charge to the contrary as defamation of character, resulting in a negative reflection on our reputation.
2. Furthermore, we can say with certainty that no members of SVCG have allied themselves with any “out-of-town operator” who lives in San Francisco.
3. SVCG has never received any funding from any outside source.
4. Our mission has been to assist the city of Sonoma shape compassionate cannabis policy and to keep our members informed of developments that bear on their needs. SVCG finds Mr. Pearson’s accusation that our group is something more than an unfunded, small town, grass-roots advocacy group to be insulting, deceitful and completely devoid of truth.
Under circumstances such as this, a public retraction and apology would be an appropriate remedy.
Gil Latimer
Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group
A Victory, but…
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, though the first dispensary opened last 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
More Featured Posts
Yes on Measure Y
Hello everyone. The following is not an official position of SVCG. I cannot speak for all our members. But, as an advocate for patient access to medicinal cannabis, I think it’s important to help voters understand Measure Y. On one hand, Measure Y removes nearly all...
Buzz kill: Council walks back on Sparc pot dispensary
Uncertainty was interjected into Sonoma’s cannabis future this week when the Sonoma City Council failed to approve negotiated terms for a commercial dispensary license for Sparc, the Santa Rosa-based cannabis cultivation and sales company chosen to be Sonoma’s sole...
Cannabis initiative finally comes to voters
On Nov. 3, City of Sonoma voters will consider Measure Y, the “Personal Cannabis Cultivation Initiative.” If it passes with a simple majority, Measure Y would revise the city Municipal Code to “permit personal cannabis cultivation on all residential properties,” and...
Sonoma’s lone dispensary license goes to Sparc
Sparc, a Santa Rosa-based cannabis company, will receive Sonoma’s lone business license to operate a storefront dispensary in the city limits.The Sonoma City Council voted 5-0 at its Aug. 17 council meeting, held via the Zoom online platform, to award Sparc a...
Sonoma Cannabis Dispensary Update
To all SVCG members and supporters: As you may know, some months ago Sonoma adopted its cannabis ordinances which allow 1 walk-in with delivery and one non-storefront delivery service. It will also permit one testing lab and one manufacturer, perhaps next year. In...
Sonoma Mayor Speaks on November 2020 Cannabis Initiative
Sorry, remiss in posting Mayor Logan Harvey’s recent appearance on Ken Brown’s “Hey Neighbor” show. The Mayor gives a brief rundown on the city’s new cannabis ordinance and what it currently allows here. He also expresses his opinion on the November 2020 ballot...
November 2020 Ballot Measure Could Jeopardize Sonoma’s Control Over Cannabis Businesses
We would like to offer a word of caution to anyone considering entering into the application process for a dispensary in Sonoma. Please be aware that there is an initiative coming to the ballot in Sonoma in November, 2020 that could change things. The impetus for this...
2020 Ballot Initiative in Conflict with City of Sonoma’s Cannabis Ordinances
The City, having stonewalled past the initial election deadline, is now finalizing its own ordinance. Early is waiting for an update from City Hall. “Please inform me within the next two weeks (now expired), one way or another, if the ballot measure meets all the...
so, ok, no comment for you
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Copyright ©2020 EdgewireMedia All Rights Reserved
so, ok, no comment for you