From: Devon Julian <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2024 5:01 PM
To: James Light <[email protected]>; Nils Nehrenheim <[email protected]>; Todd Loewenstein <[email protected]>; Paige Kaluderovic <[email protected]>; Zein Obagi <[email protected]>; Scott Behrendt <[email protected]>; Mike Witzansky <[email protected]>; Elizabeth Hause <[email protected]>
Subject: Redondo Council Letter
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Dear Honorable Mayor, City Council Members, City Manager Mr. Mike Witzansky, and Community Services Director Ms. Elizabeth Hause,
Below are some comments about two issues and pitfalls in the latest draft of the application scoring process.
The bonus points section for each million dollars in revenue above $3 million up to $22 million dollars is not an objective criteria. This does not demonstrate how good an operator is,but instead how little competition there is around a store. A store in the City of Los Angeles will have revenues much lower than a store in Pomona as an example, because of the lack of legal cannabis access within many miles from the approved locations. However, a store who is able to operate profitably in the City of Los Angeles could very easily have a much stronger team because of the saturation of stores and the need to successfully compete. This does not protect the health and safety of the local Redondo community, but rather allow bonus points subjectively, nor guarantee the best operators.
There is a section about audited financials. Audited financials in the cannabis space require a niche CPA who will charge upwards of $20k to do an audit. Also, all CPA’s are not created equal. There might not even be enough CPA’s out there to audit all the applicant’s financials separately and objectively. Tax receipts, ability, and a history of paying local and state taxes is a much stronger criteria to show an operator’s success, and can easily be requested from local and state authorities.
Also, having an operator select one store to show, and prioritizing bloated revenue numbers does not tell the whole story. How profitable is that business? What is the corporate structure of that business and who is operating the store? Are they current with their local and state taxes? By selecting a store of an applicant’s choice, you are incentivizing the operator to show you what they want you to see, not what you are ultimately requesting as objective criteria.
While we appreciate all that you are doing and attention to detail, we ask that criteria remain as objective as possible.
Best,
Devon Julian
Culture Cannabis Club
Thanks,
DEVON JULIAN
Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
Office : (909) 529 2273
Mobile: (619) 277 2827
Want to book time with me? Click here https://calendly.com/djulian/devon-30-minute-immediate-clone for a 30 minute virtual phone call.