Say hello to the city of Boston’s newest government agency: the Cannabis Board.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh on Wednesday appointed five members to the board, which will issue local licenses to marijuana companies and advise Walsh’s office on cannabis regulation and policy.
They are Kathleen Joyce, the chair of Boston’s Licensing Board and a former top lawyer at the Boston Planning and Development Agency; Monica Valdes Lupi, Boston’s former health commissioner; Darlene Lombos, the executive secretary-treasurer of the Greater Boston Labor Council; former Boston Police Department superintendent Lisa Holmes; and John Smith, the director of programs at TSNE MissionWorks, a nonprofit that provides meeting space plus management, training, and consulting services to other nonprofits.
Advertisement
The members will serve two-year terms and be paid $600 for each day they work on behalf of the Cannabis Board, according to an executive order issued by Walsh. They are barred from working for or financially benefiting from any cannabis companies in the city.
It was not immediately clear when the Cannabis Board will first meet; Walsh’s executive order creating the body says the mayor can designate one member to issue licenses to companies that have already signed a host community agreement with the city.
“The purpose of Boston’s Cannabis Board is to make sure our actions continue to match our values: supporting equity, diversity and local ownership in this new industry,” Walsh said in a statement. “I’m proud to appoint these exceptional members to the Cannabis Board as we work to ensure every resident has access to the same opportunities in our growing city.”
The announcement follows a 12-1 City Council vote in November approving an ordinance to overhaul the city’s much-criticized process for selecting which marijuana operators win coveted local permits that are required before companies can apply for licenses from the state Cannabis Control Commission. The measure, proposed by council president Kim Janey, is intended to increase the transparency and predictability of the process by having the board vote in public on applications using clear, weighted criteria. Previously, Walsh’s Office of Emerging Industries made those calls behind closed doors.
Advertisement
The ordinance also establishes an equity program offering technical assistance and training for entrepreneurs who were arrested in the past for marijuana crimes, or who belong to groups or communities disproportionately targeted by police enforcing the prohibition of cannabis. The program would be funded with as much as $5 million in fees charged to marijuana operators over the next five years. The new board must approve equal numbers of such equity program participants and other firms seeking licenses.
“I am excited by the appointment of the Boston Cannabis Board today,” Janey said in a statement. “This board is so important to our City as it will bring a new, transparent and public facing process, focused on equity, for creating Host Community Agreements in Boston.”
Boston’s first recreational marijuana store, Pure Oasis in Grove Hall, is expected to open within weeks.
Dan Adams can be reached at daniel.adams@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Dan_Adams86.