Title
a. Receive a presentation by Citygate Associates, LLC of the report entitled "Organizational Review of the Current Cannabis Program, County of Monterey"
b. Provide direction to staff
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Receive a presentation by Citygate Associates, LLC of the report entitled "Organizational Review of the Current Cannabis Program, County of Monterey"
b. Provide direction to staff
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
On July 13, 2021 the Board of Supervisors accepted referral no. 2021.12 from Supervisor Phillips requesting "a review of the Cannabis Programs efficiencies, particularly the processes for permit review and compliance inspections". The referral goes on to state that lack of progress in local authorization/permitting has impacted the cannabis industry's ability to obtain State annual licenses. The referral also proposes that County permitting staff funded by cannabis tax revenue should report directly to the Cannabis program manager for a period of one year to streamline the County permitting process.
In order to address the Board's referral, staff hired Citygate Associates, LLC to conduct an organizational review of the County's cannabis program. Citygate was selected based on their already comprehensive knowledge of the County's permit processes gained through their organizational study and recommendations related to the former Resource Management Agency(RMA).
The principal recommendation from Citygate led to the reorganization of the RMA into the Housing and Community Development Department and the Public Works and Facilities Department. Citygate made a number of other important recommendations to improve operational effectiveness. The majority of the Citygate recommendations have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented.
Staff's experience with Citygate is that their work is very thorough, very professional and highly objective. Citygate began its' review of the County cannabis pr...
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