With over $3 million in funds set aside to help low-income applicants start-up cannabis businesses, Stacy Mungo looks to carve out unfair loopholes.
OPINION - It’s not every Tuesday that the suits at City Council talk about how best to share a joint. But there’s one City official who stands out among her peers against equitable access to the cannabis industry.
The motion before City Council this Tuesday was straightforward. Should City staff craft policy to help underserved victims of the war on drugs own cannabis businesses?
Long Beach Cannabis dispensary, The Circle
In other words, isn’t it only fair that the very Long Beach residents who were most impacted by the war on drugs be first in line for over $3 million in grants for cannabis start-up capital?
Councilwoman Mungo, went out of her way Tuesday to undermine a proposed cannabis policy that reconciles injustices primarily faced by black residents in Long Beach. While this Tuesday she focused on restricting the policy, months earlier she attempted to create an inequitable loophole says a City Hall insider speaking under condition of anonymity.
To understand the magnitude of Councilwoman Mungo’s position, imagine this hypothetical.
Slavery has just ended and Congress is considering an equity bill to give blacks grant dollars to help get into the cotton planting business. The idea being that it’s only fair that the newly liberated victims of slavery should benefit from cotton profits.
For most people this sounds like the right thing to do. But for Stacey Mungo, the equity of such a policy seems to escape her.
Mungo believes that it’s more fair that all unemployed people should have access to the cotton business. That is to say that even unemployed whites should be entitled to the grant money. Never mind the pesky fact that they weren’t slaves on cotton plantations.
Replace cotton with cannabis and you've got a pretty good idea of what's so racially insensitive about Councilwoman Mungo's politics.
Fortunately, Councilwoman Saro was courageous enough to stand up for her constituents and amend Mungo’s inequitable loophole.
In a show of restraint, let’s refrain from labeling Councilwoman Mungo a “Karen” or resorting to calls that she be “canceled”. Instead it’s best to educate the City official as to why her positions this Tuesday maintain the very institutions of systemic racism most of our City is fed up with.
Helping Mungo Understand Equity 101
What’s now called the cannabis industry used to be the most effective vehicle at criminalizing and imprisoning black men. Like prohibition in the 1920’s, the war on drugs crippled the black father, black families and black neighborhoods.
Back when cannabis went by “weed” and was illegal, the City of LongBeach arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned black business owners. Now that cannabis is both socially acceptable and legal throughout the State, business is booming. Former black business owners, however, find themselves exiled from an industry they pioneered.
In fact, today there isn’t a single black owned Cannabis dispensary, manufacturer or retailer in the entire city of Long Beach.
Whether legal or illegal, cannabis was always big business. Just as the so-called war on drugs was a war on black owned businesses, Council woman Mungo’s politics are a continuation of the shameful practices of systemic racism.
What Stacy did Tuesday
After this PowerPoint presentation by City staff, Mayor Garcia exited the council meeting for reasons unknown. Then the fireworks began.
Tuesdays motion to allow City staff to explore equitable changes to the City’s cannabis policies was brought to the floor by by Vice Mayor Rex Richardson who, after Mayor Garcia’s exit, presided over the meeting.
Before council members unanimously passed the motion, several of them proposed amendments.
Newly elected council woman Saro moved to amend Mungo’s inequitable loophole that allowed all unemployed Long Beach residents to qualify as equity applicants. A bold move by the first Cambodian woman to win election in the underserved sixth district.
Councilwoman Zendejas echoed her colleague from the sixth district. A sensible gesture since both women represent districts devastated by the war on drugs.
Councilwoman Allen then stepped to the plate. She voiced concern that if there wasn’t a cap on the number of equity licenses then the market might find itself over saturated.
She feared that “too many (cannabis delivery) businesses that are uncapped may hurt the folks that are getting into the industry”.
Having been an owner of the Long Beach Post, Councilwoman Allen certainly knows a thing or two about the effects of over-saturating a market to the detriment of smaller players. Nevertheless, Allen’s call for a cap is short sighted because cannabis delivery is a borderless industry. Meaning that caps on the number of equity licenses in Long Beach are futile since we are only a short drive from numerous cities housing similar delivery services. Next time she’ll do her homework.
Councilwoman Price spoke next. She noted the importance that staff look at best practices to enforce and distinguish illegal third part delivery apps - such as Weed Maps - from legal delivery services.
Such Enforcement is key to protecting legal cannabis delivery businesses from being undercut by the elicit market. As a prosecutor, we can appreciate her attention to detail.
Al Austin took the stage as well. Austin remarked “I just need a little more clarification from staff” but that he supports the equity policies “in spirit”.
The third term councilman’s chief concern was that the plan to allow equity applicants to share manufacturing space with existing businesses might lead to abuse and unintended consequences. Basically Austin wants to be sure the law actually, and only, helps the equity applicants it’s designed for.
As a steward of the largest black population in Long Beach, we look forward to Austin’s leadership on this and other equity concerns.
Last to speak was Stacy Mungo. She had so much to say that she requested more time. However the Councilwoman did little more than parrot the later refuted suggestions related to capping made by Cindy Allen.
All things considered, Mungo’s long winded line of questioning for City staff was little more than a childish tantrum. Upset she had been out maneuvered by newcomer Councilwoman Saro, Mungo pivoted to calling for restricting the number of equity applicants for “their own protection”.
Funny how the very Councilwoman who tried to steal equity dollars from survivors of the war on drugs now wants us to believe that her true intent for “restricting” equity licenses is to give black owned businesses a “head start”.
Why this Matters
This is a matter of fundamental fairness. When our City’s policies harm people we should do our best to make them whole.
There are entire families and whole neighborhoods who if they had been permitted to sell cannabis legally instead of facing mass incarceration could have purchased homes, seen their kids grow up and pass on generational wealth.
The City has over $3 million in grants for equity applicants. Each applicant is eligible for up to $250,000. The money can be used toward equipment, leases, vehicles or construction. Only a small fraction has been awarded and many more equity applicants are needed.
Today the descendants of the victims of the war on drugs deserve the opportunity to own businesses in the very industry that once criminalized their loved ones. It would be patently unfair if their lack of access to capital left them out in the cold while communities that didn’t bear the same burden profit from the industry they pioneered.
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