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1 City of Salinas Contact: Megan Hunter, Community Development Director Phone: (831) 758-7408 Email: [email protected] Community Development Department 65 West Alisal Street, Suite 201 Salinas, CA 93901 Consultant’s Designated Lead Contact Person: Brad Rowe, President of Rowe Policy and Media, Inc. Phone: (213) 500-8170 Email: [email protected] May 12, 2023 Dear Director Hunter, Rowe Policy and Media, Inc. (RPM) is pleased to offer services for the Community Development solicitation “Cannabis Social Equity Assessment for the City of Salinas” request for proposals. RPM has been working on social equity efforts through workforce development, entrepreneurial technical support, educational attainment, criminal justice reform and harm reduction projects for over two decades. The social equity program assessment and ensuing project design and implementation are important for several reasons. Salinas is an historic agricultural community with the opportunity to make the economic leap forward by staying true to the values it has set out in earlier community work and by engaging a vibrant and diverse cannabis business community. The City Council has set the stage with cannabis ordinances that may wedge open the door a new generation of opportunities. Small and minority owned businesses will need as much help as they can get to overcome the regulations and taxation that is challenging new cannabis businesses statewide. RPM sees openings for growth and improvements for marginalized communities by optimizing local resources. The research team assembled to assess the current equity situation and design the foundations for a new industry are second to none. From data collection, qualitative methods, literature review, social sciences, economics, equity, labor, and other critical areas; this team will bring insights to the questions asked, listen patiently, then apply local knowledge to what they have learned across the state. The result will be a multiphase study, done on a lean budget that will leave the City of Salinas and its Community Development efforts with the best chances for successful, compliant businesses and new opportunities for good jobs and wealth creation especially in communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs.
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2 Rowe Policy and Media, Inc. was born out of work with the most socio-economically disadvantaged job seekers, criminal justice involved, and marginalized men and women in California. The team assembled has worked with hundreds of first-generation immigrants and those in reentry who are looking for a hand up into better opportunities. We know how to open doors, assess where the gaps exist, activate community networks, and pull in resources to best position workers and entrepreneurs for success. This work has continued as we have developed curriculum for social equity cannabis businesses, trained businesses to develop compliant and tax paying businesses, and in many cases make the transition from the unlicensed market to the regulated California cannabis industry. The RPM research, design, and implementation group assembled for this bid are currently at the forefront of California Department of Cannabis Control funded research in the areas of sociodemographic of owner operators in the state, an understanding of illicit markets, and the conditions of failure and success with the cannabis industry labor pool. We have been a part of the inception and evolution of the industry and are working with cities across the State and Country to meet great market and financial challenges. RPM has recently completed a series of equity studies including “A History of the War on Drugs”, “Lived Experience of the War on Drugs” and “Best Practices and Recommendations for Social Equity Programs” for the City of Sacramento; over a hundred hours of digital content across all license types designed to support social equity cannabis businesses to succeed; a monthly podcast on tools for success for social equity entrepreneurs and the text book “Cannabis Policy in the Age of Legalization” (for Cognella Publishing) which includes dozens of interviews with social equity subject matter experts written by RPM’s founder. Some of the team here are the top social equity advocates and researchers in the country and are highly sought after for their experience, compassion, innovation, energy and scientific expertise. This group comes from key stakeholder positions in Oakland, Mendocino, Los Angeles and out of state. RPM conducted the first cannabis jobs analysis in the State which resulted in Long Beach reducing its non-retail cannabis excise tax resulting in rapid economic growth and a doubling of tax revenue. The team crosses historic legacy experience and skill sets across industries to better inform the important questions brought about in this proposal. We are poised to address the needs of the social equity community. First, we listen with respect and deference. Next, we synthesize what we heard with our deep experience. Finally, we bring our best recommendations to the City, its elected officials and those that will be building the next generation of successful businesses in Salinas. In 2000 RPM started developing curriculum in workforce classrooms on Skid Row and in the Valley in Los Angeles. The media side of the business told the stories of women immigrating ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
3 through the Sonoran Desert and the obstacles faced, leveraged that work to produce dozens of Spanish language documentary stories of economic perseverance, leadership and community building in Mexico, Colombia and Panama. Around 2010 that work shifted to developing educational opportunities for marginalized families and those coming back to communities from time in the criminal justice system. That evolved to work with Mississippi and Illinois and Massachusetts and speaking truth to power to systems that produced school to prison pipelines, dropout factories, and mass incarceration. In 2013 RPM had its first taste of government cannabis policy work with the State of Washington as they were developing their programs. Since then, it has worked with dozens of communities, states across the country, associations, and the workers they represent. The industry evolves and so do the answers to its problems. This group this thrilled to have the chance to step up and bring its expertise to lifting the social equity program in Salinas. We were happy to think through an approach that should bring the most value and fuel to launch a bigger and better social equity effort in the City of Salinas. Sincerely Brad Rowe ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
4 The following is a response to the “Cannabis Social Equity Assessment for the City of Salinas” RPM TEAM BIOGRAHIES, ORGANIZATIONAL CHART AND RESPONSIBILITIES: For the City of Salinas, Rowe Policy and Media will utilize the following Researchers, Community Activists, and Consultants PROJECT TEAM Illustrating team members assigned to the project. Assigned Roles: • Brad Rowe – Project Lead Rest of research and implementation team members listed Alphabetically. • Amanda Reiman - Social Equity Business Data Lead • Amber Senter - Social Equity Program and Business Lead • Andrew DeAngelo - Social Equity Operation, Industry and Criminal Justice Reform Consultant • Daniella Hagopian – Community Outreach Social Media Consultant • Dilara Uskup – Qualitative Survey and Interview Lead • Erin Espinosa - Data Leads • Kristin Nevedal – GoBiz Grant Writer • L. Jani Shepperd – Bias and Cultural Competency, DEI specialist • Rob Chlala – Quantitative and Mapping Lead • Stephanie Thomas – Social Equity Operator Consultants The research and implementation Study team operates within a flat structure. This is done to help the operation increase performance, encourage collaborative decision making, and direct communication through efficiency and flexible group organization and reorganization in which one person is point on one sub-task and supports on the next. All team members are established professionals at the top of their fields and can handle being challenged. All work is coordinated through Brad Rowe and is reviewed, commented on, and edited in through a dual and sometimes multi-directional process. Each researcher that is involved in each of the subtasks will report to a key responsible individual for that task collaboratively. There is necessary overlap of skills across domains and the key for one subtask will be a non-key for other tasks.
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5 RPM FLAT STRUCTURE
All workers will be available for the duration of the project. In the event a team member substitution is required, RPM will nominate and solicit approval from the City. That individual will be of like/ equal caliber, collaboration, and productivity. TEAM BIOS Brad Rowe, M.P.P. (STUDY LEAD) is a Lecturer and Researcher in Criminal Justice and Drug Policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. He is founder and President at Rowe Policy and Media where teams provide technical assistance to Social Equity Licensees and applicants as well as curriculum and media production capacity to municipalities and states. He recently completed authorship of “A Brief History of the War on Drugs”, “Lived Experience of the War on
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6 Drugs” and “Social Equity Program Best Practices and Recommendations” reports for the City of Sacramento’s social equity program. He is a faculty member and policy advisor to the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids and Associate Editor at the Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research Journal Associate Editor. Rowe created Public Affairs 136 “Cannabis Policy and Society” and authored “Cannabis Policy in the Age of Legalization” a Cognella Publishing textbook for university level cannabis policy coursework – both first of their kind in the country. Rowe started equity work in 2000 with the creation of workforce curriculum for marginalized and homeless job seekers – programs he customized in 2011 for post-earthquake Haitian relief workers and educators. For over a decade he worked with the Spanish speaking immigrant community in the Valley to help overcome employment obstacles. His work with the United Way of Greater Los Angeles centered around advocating for greater access to education and opportunities for underserved low-income California families. Rowe has designed, implemented, and delivered over a dozen cannabis and criminal justice reform related public policy evaluations, research projects and implementations over the last decade through his time running BOTEC Analysis (clients: Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, Massachusetts Probation, Mississippi Attorney General, Winnebago County reentry strategies), researcher at UCLA (clients: LAPD Foundation), as a Fellow and Founding Executive Director at NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management’s Criminal Justice Program (Clients: Cannabis Science and Policy Summit), as senior policy advisor at Avenu/MuniServices Cannabis Compliance (Clients: California Municipalities and CA League of Cities), and contract research firm to Evident Change (Clients: Los Angeles Department of Probation) Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches (Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation, technical assistance to social equity licensees), the UCLA Department of Family Medicine (Socio-demographic research for CA Department of Cannabis Control) and UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids (Potency Tax Feasibility Study for CA Department of Cannabis Control). Rowe has produced over a hundred hours of digital social equity training content. Rowe lived and worked in Spain and Puerto Rico for two years and has produced and over a dozen Spanish language documentary films. Rest of team listed alphabetically. Amanda Reiman, Ph.D. has a master’s degree in social work with a focus on community and administrative practice. During her practicum she worked on community development in vulnerable communities in Chicago. She earned a PhD in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley in 2006 with pre- and post-doctoral work in Public Health. There she studied the community health aspects of medical cannabis dispensaries and patient experiences in the San Francisco Bay Area and has continued to conduct public health research with this population. She taught at UC Berkeley for 10 years post-graduation, including survey research design, program evaluation and drug and alcohol policy. In 2010 she became the Chair of Berkeley's Medical Cannabis Commission. They were charged with being a communication conduit between the public and elected and regulatory officials. In 2013 she was appointed to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission for the City of Oakland. This position lasted through state legalization, ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
7 and before she left the post in 2017, had assisted the city in creating the country's first cannabis equity program. The Commission was involved in determining eligibility criteria and program components. At the time, she was disappointed with the lack of technical assistance that was being offered through the program, so she helped a group of women start The Hood Incubator, to provide technical business assistance to equity program participants. In addition to research and community work, Reiman has extensive experience in policy and program development. As Manager of Marijuana Law and Policy for the Drug Policy Alliance, she worked very closely with local and state agencies as well as community organizations around issues related to social justice and the drug war. She also led the education component of the Prop. 64 campaign in California and was an active participant in the drafting of social service and equity provisions. Currently, she works for New Frontier Data, an international cannabis think tank that conducts survey research and develops data driven economic market models for the industry, governments, and others. Amber Senter has over twenty years of marketing and project management experience. She heads fundraising, supply chain management, government relations, strategy, product development and marketing for MAKR House. Senter is co-founder, Chair of the Board, and Executive Director of Supernova Women. Formed in 2015, the organization is dedicated to empowering people of color to become self-sufficient cannabis industry shareholders. She is a US Coast Guard Veteran and has held many leadership roles in the cannabis industry. As the former Chief Operations Officer (COO) of an Oakland dispensary, her primary responsibility was to create and implement procedures to improve sales and increase profitability. While at the dispensary she obtained Oakland’s first onsite consumption permit. Her voice is trusted in the growing cannabis industry as a role model for new cannabis business entrepreneurs. Senter’s organization, Supernova Women, worked with the City of Oakland to establish the first social equity program in the nation. They worked with CA Senator Steven Bradford's office to create SB1294, the bill that funds local social equity programs throughout the state of California. Most recently Supernova Women has worked with the City of Oakland to create the country's first social equity workforce development program for cannabis. In her for-profit business, MAKR House, they have launched EquityWorks! Incubator, the first shared social equity cannabis manufacturing facility in the country. Senter is constantly working to lower barriers of entry for Black and Brown people, and for communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs. Andrew DeAngelo is a Global Cannabis Consultant & Strategic Advisor and Executive Coach who builds organizations from the ground up. Andrew is also a founding Board of Directors member of the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA), the premier cannabis industry trade association in California, where he served from 2013 to 2020 building the organization from zero to 500 member companies. He is co-founder and chairperson for the non-profit Last Prisoner Project (LPP). LPP’s mission to free and re-integrate all cannabis prisoners on earth into mainstream society. He was born in 1967 in India and spent over three decades as an activist, Andrew worked on a variety of voter initiatives which legalized medical and adult-use ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
8 cannabis in San Francisco, Washington D.C., and California. During his almost 13-year tenure at Harborside, Andrew pioneered legal cannabis business processes and provided groundbreaking political engagement and thought leadership to the cannabis community. DeAngelo led the design and development of gold-standard cannabis retail by innovating many “firsts” for the industry including the introduction of CBD medicines to heal severely epileptic children as documented in Discovery Channel’s Weed Wars, implementing the first lab-testing program in the history of cannabis dispensing, creating child-resistant packaging for edibles, standardizing inventory tracking, initiating senior outreach, successfully preventing the federal government from seizing Harborside in forfeiture actions against the company in 2012. Andrew and his brother Steve DeAngelo recently formed DeAngelo Brothers Productions (DAB), producing and distributing cannabis related content over a variety of mediums and platforms. Daniella Hagopian, M.P.P. is a digital strategist who is passionate about creating accessible political education content. With over 5 years of experience in digital strategy and video production, Dani has created impactful, high-performing content across all social platforms. Dani's goal is to contribute to building a safer world for everyone. They believe in the importance of sharing the lived experiences of underrepresented communities to continue challenging the status quo. Dani has worked with a wide range of clients such as MIT CoLab, Rowe Policy and Media, and Urban Resource Institute, and is always striving to promote social justice through their work. Whether she's developing social media campaigns, crafting video content, or devising innovative digital strategies, Dani approaches each project with creativity, passion, and purpose. She is dedicated to using their skills to make a positive impact on the world. With her passion for world-building and social justice, Dani is sure to continue making a meaningful contribution to the digital world and society at large. Dilara K. Üsküp, Ph.D., Ph.D. is an Investigator in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Sciences. She collaborates and consultants with faith-based and faith-placed cannabis organizations that are engaged in social justice work around incarceration/citizen reentry, employment/job creation, economic development, health equity, and cannabis social equity. She is co-principal investigator of CaliCANN, a demographic analysis of the state of California cannabis market. Professor Üsküp previously was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Scripps College where she taught courses on American politics, public policy, gender/sex/sexuality, and religion and politics. Uskup has consulted for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation, County of Los Angeles Office of Cannabis Management, the City of Sacramento Office of Cannabis Management, corporations, non-profit organizations, and governments across federal, state, and local sectors. After graduating early from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Dr. Üsküp served as a White House Intern in the Domestic Policy Council’s Office of National AIDS Policy. There she authored a presidential memorandum, entitled “Establishing a Working Group on the Intersection of HIV/AIDS, Violence Against Women and Girls, and Gender-related health Disparities,” that was signed by then President Barack Obama in March 2012. She was the first ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
9 in the University’s history to be awarded both a Ph.D. in political science and a Ph.D. in theology from the Divinity School and is an ordained minister. Her burgeoning research portfolio includes the areas of politics and theology, HIV prevention, cannabis and social equity, and health policy. Dr. Üsküp is also the founder and owner of Pink Paper Productions® LLC. (PPP). PPP is a woman-owned procurement, research, & management consulting small business. It specializes in innovative scientific and research evaluation, assessment, organizational design, human performance enhancement, project management, data analytics, training and curriculum development, teaching & facilitation, and technical assistance. Its current foci include but are not limited to cannabis social equity and implementation, health disparity elimination, and small business development. Erin M. Espinosa, PhD joined Evident Change in 2019 and had served as the Director of the Texas Center of the Institute for Innovation and Implementation out of the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work, and as a consultant for the Child, Adolescent, and Family Branch’s (CAFB) Children’s Mental Health Initiative (CMHI) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In her more than 25 years working in and researching child- and family-serving systems at the local, state, and national levels, Erin has published widely, presented research findings, conducted trainings, provided technical assistance, and undertaken or directed a wide range of implementation- and research-related efforts in criminal justice, juvenile justice, substance abuse, mental health and the systems interface impact on children and families. Her primary research interest is in using and translating data to bridge research to policy and practice for families engaged in social service systems in the United States. Kristin Nevedal is a subject matter expert in the areas of cannabis regulations and commercial cultivation policy. As a second term gubernatorial appointee to California’s Cannabis Advisory Committee (CAC), she serves as vice-chair of the Committee, and Chair of the Cultivation Subcommittee. As Director of Mendocino County’s Cannabis Department, Kristin oversaw the transition of the County’s Cannabis Program from a division of Planning and Building Services, with a budget of $65,000 annually, to a stand-alone department with a budget of nearly $3 million annually. She also implemented Mendocino’s Local Equity Program, procured $2.9 million in equity funding, and awarded over $3 million in direct grants, fee waivers, and tax waivers to qualified local equity applicants. Kristin has extensive leadership and entrepreneurial experience in the private sector, and also in the nonprofit and trade association sectors. As Principal Consultant for the Nevedal Group, she assisted clients with acquiring local permits and annual state licenses for commercial cannabis operations, and has assisted clients with maintaining compliance once operational. She is a co-founder and the former Executive Director of the International Cannabis Farmers Association, a co-founder of Sun + Earth Certified, and served two-terms as a board member for the California Cannabis Industry Association, where she co-chaired the Agriculture and Manufacturing Committee. With over 20 years of experience farming sustainable sun grown cannabis, Kristin is well-known for her work on the development of appellations of origin for cannabis, and as an advocate of public policies ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
10 that foster equitable, sustainable, and readily accessible medical and adult-use cannabis programs. L. Jani Sheppard is the President and founder of ljs.LeadershipSolutions. Her work reflects 32 years of commitment to Leadership Development, DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) ), Executive Coaching, and Organizational Development. She is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University and, a PONO and Weinberg Fellow with a focus on non-profit Management and Leadership Development through Hawaii Pacific University. She is an Executive Leadership Coach with the Gratitude Network and a Partner and facilitator for JAIDE (Justice, Advocacy, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity) Conservation Collective, LLC for environmental and racial justice, Jani is a co-founder of the Mendocino County DEI Task Force, founder of Allies for Equity, former Chairperson of Ukiah City Council Equity and Inclusion Committee, DEI Advisor for the AM, LLC DEI Committee, DEI Consultant and Trainer for Gratitude Board of Directors, and co-founder of Ho’ikaika Partnership. Her research for training program development has focused on the intersection of DEI and Trauma, (rooted in the research and evidence-based ACES - Adverse Childhood Experiences- framework) including cultural and environmental trauma, DEI in the Workplace, and supporting BIPOC women in creating professional spaces from which to share their skills, brilliance, and experiences confidently and safely. Her work with ACES includes promoting trauma and DEI-informed organizations, with a focus on organizations serving children and families. Jani partners with organizations to develop comprehensive, accountable, and authentic DEI workplace initiatives and programs. Jani’s work with local communities, historically marginalized communities, vulnerable populations, and grass roots organizations includes coalition building, conducting key Informant Interviews and facilitating focus groups. Her facilitation style helps to ensure relevant and robust information from participants, as they experience a safe and authentic approach and environment in which to share their hopes, thoughts, and experiences. She partners with those impacted by policies, as well as allies and other stakeholders, to ensure they have a seat at the table and that their voices are included in policy and service development. Her organization Maui Family Support Services received multiple awards including six “Best Places to Work”, and a commendation from the State Commission on Fatherhood, and she was recognized by Hawai’i Business Magazine as one of the top 10 CEOs to Know in Hawaii. Her strength-based approach celebrates the individual or community and their capacity to experience success on multiple levels. Jani is a skilled facilitator: She creates safe and open environments where participants learn, share, and develop skills needed to meet their goals. Jani is a staunch proponent of trauma-informed care and support and is honored to have the opportunity to work with survivors of trauma, including historical and cultural trauma. Rob Chlala, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral scholar at the UCLA Labor Center & Insstute for Research on Labor & Employment (IRLE) whose work is at the intersecson of labor, urban development, movement-building, and abolison. Obtaining a $1.05 million grant from the Department of Cannabis Control, he is co-leading a first-of-its kind statewide study of California cannabis workers centering equity, with a team from the UCLA Labor Center, Center for the Advancement ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
11 of Racial Equity (CARE) at Work, and worker and community partners. The new statewide study builds off research alongside workers, labor unions and equity advocates in the Los Angeles cannabis industry since 2013. He recently completed his PhD in Sociology at the University of Southern California, and his book manuscript and publicasons in journals such as Environment and Planning C explore the cannabis market’s growth in relasonship to urbanized racial capitalism, sexuality, gender, and social movements in Los Angeles. His engaged research and media work has included addressing how workers and community reinvestment fit in Los Angeles’ social equity policies and reparasons. Trained in community-based research at USC Equity Research Inisasve, he also recently served as a Senior Program Manager for Funders for a Just Economy, developing an ongoing Building Power in Place project in cises like Houston. He sees his research as indebted to community who created and sustain the knowledge, relasonships and processes shaping cannabis as medicine and to Angeleno survivors and thrivers among decades of disinvestment for the sake of mass incarcerason – and he draws deeply from his pracsce of Nichiren Buddhism as part of the Soka Gakkai Internasonal towards imagining and enacsng a value-creasng economy. Stephanie Thomas is a Finance, Real Estate and Project Management professional with over twenty years’ experience in commercial property development, management, and leasing. She has a resourceful and efficient approach to completing projects in a wide array of disciplines. In the cannabis space particularly, Stephanie has over eighteen years of experience guiding startup, application process, site acquisition, buildout and ongoing operations support for state-legal dispensaries and cultivation facilities in multiple states. She has written application sections for hopeful applicants in 24 states and has provided financial and management consulting for cannabis companies and ancillary cannabis companies operating in the US and Mexico. Stephanie was also the Founder of Women Grow Philadelphia and successfully ran its monthly networking events from 2015 through 2017. Stephanie holds an undergraduate degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Bachelor of Science in Economics, concentration in Real Estate), maintains Real Estate Sales licensing in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and is a member of Mensa.
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12 PROJECT RESPONSIBILITIES AND SUBTASK ASSIGNMENTS Team member assignments are as follows. When team member is (key), that is indicated at the end of the subtask name. o Brad Rowe – Project Lead Subtask Areas § What population and which neighborhoods have been most harmed § What is the state of equity in the cannabis industry in Salinas § What are the components of a successful equity program § What are the appropriate equity metrics for analyzing the success § What alternate directions should the city explore to achieve greater equity (key) § Engage staff, cannabis business owners and potential applicants (key) § Identify opportunities and make recommendations on strategic neighborhood investments (key) § Identify opportunities and make recommendations for changes (key) § Provide periodic progress reports to the Community (key) § Provide a detailed briefing on the study results (key) § Document all data, findings, and recommendations o Amanda Reiman - Social Equity Business and Data Lead Subtask Areas § Identify community needs and service gaps for strategic investment § How to promote equitable ownership and employment (key) § What does an equitable cannabis industry mean § What are the barriers and mitigation strategies to participation (key) § What alternate directions should the city explore to achieve greater equity § Identify opportunities and make recommendations for changes o Amber Senter - Social Equity Program and Business Lead Subtask Areas § Identify community needs and service gaps for strategic investment (key) § How to promote equitable ownership and employment § What population and which neighborhoods have been most harmed § What does an equitable cannabis industry mean (key) § What are the appropriate equity metrics for analyzing the success § What are the barriers and mitigation strategies to participation § Identify opportunities and make recommendations on strategic neighborhood investments ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
13 § Identify opportunities and make recommendations for changes o Andrew DeAngelo - Social Equity Operation, Industry and Justice Reform Consultant Subtask Areas § Land use, fiscal/economic § Identify community needs and service gaps for strategic investment § How to make strategic investment of cannabis revenue to mitigate the harm § What is the state of equity in the cannabis industry in Salinas § What are the barriers and mitigation strategies to participation § What alternate directions should the city explore to achieve greater equity (key) o Daniella Hagopian – Community Outreach Social Media Consultant Subtask Areas § What alternate directions should the city explore to achieve greater equity § Reach out to local non-profits and staff to identify service needs and gaps o Dilara Uskup – Qualitative Survey and Interview Lead Subtask Areas § Identify community needs and service gaps for strategic investment § What is the state of equity in the cannabis industry in Salinas (key) § What does an equitable cannabis industry mean § Engage staff, cannabis business owners and potential applicants § Conduct a community survey regarding proposed strategic investments o Erin Espinosa – Data and Criminal Justice Reform Lead Subtask Areas § Demographic and historic data on criminalization (key) § What population and which neighborhoods have been most harmed § Develop a geo-spatial map that shows impacts of criminalization § Conduct a community survey regarding proposed strategic investments (key) § Document all data, findings, and recommendations o Kristin Nevedal – GoBiz Grant Writer Subtask Areas § Phase 1 proposal writer (key) § Phase 1 City Council process support and management (key) § How to promote equitable ownership and employment o L. Jani Shepperd – Bias and Cultural Competency, DEI specialist Subtask Areas § Identify community needs and service gaps for strategic investment § What does an equitable cannabis industry mean ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
14 § What are the appropriate equity metrics for analyzing the success (key) § Reach out to local non-profits and staff to identify service needs and gaps (key) o Rob Chlala – Quantitative and Mapping Lead Subtask Areas § Demographic and historic data on criminalization § How to promote equitable ownership and employment § How to make strategic investment of cannabis revenue to mitigate the harm (key) § What population and which neighborhoods have been most harmed § What alternate directions should the city explore to achieve greater equity § Develop a geo-spatial map that shows impacts of criminalization (key) § Engage staff, cannabis business owners and potential applicants § Conduct a community survey regarding proposed strategic investments § Document all data, findings, and recommendations o Stephanie Thomas – Social Equity Operator Consultants Subtask Areas § Land use, fiscal/economic (key) § How to make strategic investment of cannabis revenue to mitigate the harm § What is the state of equity in the cannabis industry in Salinas § Document all data, findings, and recommendations ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
15 PHASE 1 Assist the City in identifying potential grants for the development of a data- driven Cannabis Equity Assessment (“Study”). Drafting GoBiz Proposal for Study Phase 1-1 Task: Preparation of Type 1 GO-Biz application for funding of the development of a Cannabis Equity Assessment Note: Historically, the State of California through the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) has funded the development of Cannabis Equity Assessments and it is expected that the State may issue a Notice of Funding Availability later in 2023. In addition to this potential funding source, RPM would identify other potential grants. RPM would prepare a standard grant proposal for Salinas based on the requirements of GO-Biz funding. It is understood that City staff as needed may modify this grant proposal for other funding opportunities that come along. There are two types of local jurisdiction equity grant program funding available through Go-Biz Type 1 funding is for the purposes of developing an assessment and using that assessment to inform the development of the local equity program. Type 2 funding is largely “pass-through” funding that the local jurisdiction can apply for to fund fee and tax waiver programs, expungement programs, direct grant, and loan programs. A local jurisdiction like Salinas may only apply for type 1 or type 2 funding and may only receive type 1 funding once. The City of Salinas may apply for a max of $75,000 in type 1 funding, of which $40,000 may be spent on conducting the assessment and up to $35,000 may be spent on developing the local equity program. The proposal response as addressed in Phase 2 below reflects that break out of effort and expenditure. Go-Biz funding may only be spent on approved projects and cannot be used to reimburse a jurisdictions activity — such as preparing the application to Go-Biz. There are seven (7) application questions on the Type 1 grant application, plus the budget form to prepare. It will be necessary to interview or survey Salinas City Council and staff, or at minimum to comb through public meeting footage and ask for input from Council and staff to complete the application questions. #3. Describe the local jurisdiction’s interest in supporting equity in the cannabis industry by completing an equity assessment and/or developing a cannabis equity program. (1750 characters) #5. How does the jurisdiction intend to use its cannabis equity assessment to inform the creation, revision, and/or development of its local equity program? ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
16 The City of Salinas would need to provide funding for preparation of the application for Go-Biz funding. The task of preparation of a Type 1 application will take 20 to 30 hours. The City can expect the next grant solicitation to be released in October 2023, and that grant applications will be due mid-December 2023. Go-Biz will review applications and announce awards between mid-December, and mid-January 2024. Funds will provided to local jurisdictions in March with Grant terms that will likely run from April 1, 2024, to October 31, 2025. To be eligible to apply for Type 2 funding in October 2024, the City of Salinas will need to have: 1) Conducted a cannabis equity assessment by the application due date, and 2) Have adopted or operates a local equity program by the application due date. a. Adopted means the City will have had to approve, at minimum, an equity program manual and established a date to start accepting eligibility applications. b. RPM recommends Salinas be at least accepting eligibility applications by the time of application for Type 2 funding. The work to get the Type 1 proposal drafted and submitted will be performed immediately upon award. This portion will come to 30 hours for preparation and submission. Time Frame: Month 1 Responsible Team Members: Kristin Nevedal (key), Brad Rowe Phase 1-2 Task: Management of Type 1 GO-Biz process with City Council Likely each grant application will require a minimum of two City Council votes: 1) To approve an entity to apply for the Go-Biz grant and 2) To approve the grant application before submission. a. Note: The Salinas Cannabis Equity Assessment RFP suggests that the City Council is looking for the consultants to present this material at the City Council meetings. b. Likely the program manual will also need to go before the City Council for approval and adoption. Additional work with City Council, agenda summaries and presentation materials, working with lead department. would take place over the 9-month study period TBD. This process and management work will come to 30 hours. Time Frame: Months 1-9 Responsible Team Members: Kristin Nevedal (key), Brad Rowe ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
17 PHASE 2 SCOPE OF WORK APPROACH AND DELIVERABLES: For the City of Salinas, Rowe Policy and Media will utilize the following approach to the Scope of Work including Tasks and Deliverables Overall scope to complete a data-informed Cannabis Equity Assessment (“Study”) using geo-spatial analysis and measure the success of and identify growth opportunities for equity in the cannabis industry. SURVEY 1: The first critical research element that many of the others will lean on is the survey instrument that will be extended into the Salinas cannabis business community. RPM will work with the city, community groups, area associations and unions to gather a convenience sample that is representative and will help the City get a clear picture of where social equity is now and what a program could hope to attain. This is outlined in detail later, but the team will collect vetted / quality emails and phone numbers for an email and text message outreach effort and sample until no “new” concepts emerge. We are looking for a semi-exhaustive list of what businesses want and what approaches, or strategies, they would like to see to arrive at a social equity program that would serve their purposes. The City is looking for 500 members of the neighborhoods and communities to participate. RPM would set out to hit that number but will work with the city to measure when “saturation” has been achieved. If we can accomplish a mostly complete list of wants and needs at that point, we can repurpose funding into other assessment and outreach activities. SURVEY 2: The team will revisit this group later in the research period to get a sense of how it wants to build its new social equity program. The progression is 1. First survey gathers the wants and the will of the community, 2. The team assembles its assessment and preliminary recommendations of what is possible against these wishes and 3. Goes back to the community for survey 2 to feel out what the community would like to integrate into a new program. STUDY GOALS 1. ORDINANCE and LITERATURE REVIEW: Inform public policy pertaining to land use, fiscal/economic, and other regulations through an equity lens. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. The research and implementation team will review local land use and economic regulations with an eye for potential for greater access and equitable opportunity ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
18 generation. The team will work through Economic Development code (Salinas Code of Ordinances, Chapter 10-6 through 10-15) and find areas for review in the following areas: loans for projects, loan agreements, fees, rents and charges, security for loans, and employment of experts and consultants… as well as other articles covering applications for financing, industrial development and fair use of fees and service charges by the city. The team will provide recommendations on possible council actions or regulatory and implementation improvements that could improve outcomes for social equity businesses in the City of Salinas. Time Frame: Months 1-3 Responsible Team Members: Stephanie Thomas (key), Andrew DeAngelo 2. DATA: Present demographic and historic data on neighborhoods in Salinas most impacted by the criminalization of cannabis a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. DATA COLLECTION, CLEANING AND ANALYSIS: To examine both disparities in and the effects of legalization upon cannabis-related arrests, administrative data will be collected from the Salinas Police Department on individual arrests from the time period of [1992 or 2003] through 2023. To examine the patterns of neighborhood level arrests over time, the data extract will include (at a minimum) offense type [e.g., public intoxication, possession of cannabis, burglary, assault, etc.], offense severity (e.g., felony, class A misdemeanor), offense date and time, address where the offense occurred, and data on offenses including use of firearms and other weapons. To examine racial and ethnic disparities related to the arrest patterns, demographic information, with a specific focus on race and ethnicity (e.g., white non-Hispanic vs white Hispanic), age, and gender. The retrospective longitudinal and population-based nature of this data collection will allow the research team to examine trends over time and to examine contextual, policy, and practice-based influences related to those trends.Initial analysis will include baseline descriptions and trends over time, as well as bivariate analytics to examine disparities or differences by demographics (e.g., race, gender, age), by neighborhood, over time, and by contextual factors. Differences will be measured through standard analyses such as independent t-tests and chi-square analytics. Time Frame: Months 1-8 Responsible Team Members: Erin Espinosa (key), Rob Chlala, Brad Rowe ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
19 3. LAUNCH SURVEY 1 plus Identify community needs and service gaps for strategic investment in community programming, facilities, and infrastructure. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. Here we conduct the first round of survey work. We design a simple survey meant to elicit the basic needs that the area community is looking for. The results give us an understanding of NEEDS. The RPM team will measure these against the strategic investment opportunities it has seen in other jurisdictions and begin to identify SERVICE GAPS and opportunities for investment, programing and infrastructure. The RPM research team assembled here has worked with dozens of communities across the State of California to assess service gaps and opportunities for strategic investment in communities. Programming can take the shape of trainings; a learning management system complete with evergreen digital technical support content that can be accessed by local licensees and their employees. Other programmatic areas RPM would assess for relevance and potential for high return on investments would be in provision of regionally sourced legal, real estate and financial assistance. Utilization of risk assessment and fitness measurement tools for candidate businesses will help the City determine which businesses have the greatest likelihood for success and those that might need additional support. This gap analysis will help the city customize what interventions and supports will help generate compliant and tax paying businesses that will employ local workers. This triage effect will allow the city to best leverage its limited resources and to predict tax revenues and administrative costs with greater accuracy. The team has experience working with collaborative and cooperative licensing models such as the Type S (shared use facilities) manufacturing groups and encouraging the use of bulk purchase, buyers’ clubs and building stronger positions for small businesses through coordination and collective negotiation with insurance, legal, production input and other providers. This work can take the shape of actual repurposing of facilities or the creation of new ones. Cooperative groupings allow for more optimal utilization of warehouses, employees, vehicles, and other resources that can bring down overhead and contribute to success for Salinas area cannabis businesses. The RPM team can help the City consider what types of infrastructure adjustments or expansions it would like to address in future rounds of licensing and support of existing businesses. Beyond physical infrastructure expansion; the interlinking of ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
20 existing education, public facilities, and transportation resources could benefit social equity owned and operated businesses. These sentiments are captured in some of the City Plans (addressed later in the proposal) and could be repurposed to drive success in the cannabis industry in Salinas. Time Frame: Months 1-6 Responsible Team Members: Amber Senter (key), Dilara Uskup, Amanda Reiman, Andrew DeAngelo, L. Jani Sheppard OUTLINE RECOMMENDATIONS 1) How to promote equitable ownership and employment opportunities in cannabis a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. With the DATA COLLLECTION and SURVEY RESULTS in hand, the team can break out some preliminary recommendations. The research team has decades of combined experience working to promote equitable ownership and employment opportunities in cannabis. We are prepared to listen to the community and to the City first as to what is important. We address those survey and interview components in other sections of the study. From there we will bring to the City some of the options that we have seen first-hand, gathered from our contemporaries in other cities and states, and customize them to the needs of the social equity cannabis business community in Salinas. Promotion of equitable ownership requires defining a healthy business structure and regulatory relationship with the City and State. There are many forces at play that are out of the sphere of control of the City and its business operators including market forces that have driven flower, extract, and other product prices down. The resulting margins and business projections must adjust. The sheer size and influence of illicit / unlicensed / traditional markets that run in parallel to licensed operators causes additional pressure to local operators. The City has certain tools at its disposal to discourage illicit operations but the impacts of this work are felt more for local retail and delivery than for non-retail which is competing regionally and statewide – and therefore competing against illicit markets across the State. Time Frame: Months 1-8 ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
21 Responsible Team Members: Amanda Reiman (key), Amber Senter, Rob Chlala, Kristin Nevedal 2) How to make strategic investment of cannabis revenue to mitigate the harm on communities disproportionately impacted by criminalization of cannabis and poverty based on data. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. Development of strategic tools would be related to the identification of long-term or overall interests and the means of achieving them. This sub task will require knowledge of the results from the data collection and analysis done with city and police and other historic data sets. Arriving at informed strategic investment of cannabis tax revenue requires understanding the priorities of the community and using resources to achieve those aims. This task will also lean on the survey and interview portions of this study to connect the needs, gaps and challenges faced by the social equity community. Time Frame: Months 5-8 Responsible Team Members: Rob Chlala (key), Andrew DeAngelo, Stephanie Thomas QUESTIONS ADDRESS REQUIREMENTS: For the City of Salinas, Rowe Policy and Media will address the following questions: a. DATA: What population and which neighborhoods have been most harmed by criminalization of cannabis and poverty. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. DATA REVIEW: looking at quantitative results from the initial data collection, cleaning and analysis the team will derive location based results of where and what demographic groups suffered the greatest harms from disproportionate enforcement. This question will derive quantitatively from the sub task “Present demographic and historic data on neighborhoods” section. The research team can analyze race, gender and age to the extent is provided by city and police sources. Mapping will help to give a sense of where enforcement has been most intense though not necessarily where the arrestees or misdemeanants lived. These ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
22 indicators can be cross referenced with indicators of poverty or other measures of health equity. Time Frame: Months 5-7 Responsible Team Members: Rob Chlala (key), Erin Espinosa, Amber Senter, Brad Rowe b. What is the state of equity in the cannabis industry in Salinas and how is it measured? a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. SURVEY ANALYSIS: The team will include self-reports on perceptions of equity as well as some tangible / measurable effects of equity implementation. The state of equity, fairness and impartiality in a community are difficult to measure in concrete terms. The research team will be able derive a “state of equity” through self-report statements received on the survey instruments that will be dispatched in the study. This sub-task will require collecting the themes that touch on “state of equity” and offer up the best most actionable assessment possible. Fairness measures included comparative statements on distributive justice (rewards), procedural justice (how the rewards come about) and interactional justice (how treated by authority figures for example). Each of these dimensions can be captured in surveys addressed to owner operators and employees in the cannabis industry in Salinas. Time Frame: Months 1-8 Responsible Team Members: Dilara Uskup (key), Andrew DeAngelo, Stephanie Thomas, Brad Rowe c. What does an equitable cannabis industry mean and how can it be achieved? a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. This is a higher-level question, with important definitional consequences, that we will put to the team members that have committed careers to answering it. An equitable cannabis industry needs to both include the locally derived version of what equity is, who is included, and how well the City and industry are doing to remain faithful to those definitions and boundaries. This definition and measurement of perceived fidelity can be drawn from the survey instruments as well. These questions can be posed to interviewees and those at convenings as ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
23 well. The knowledge gained here will allow for inclusion and exclusion conversation when building qualification standards for the program. Time Frame: Months 1-8 Responsible Team Members: Amber Senter (key), L. Jani Sheppard, Dilara Uskup, Amanda Reiman ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
24 LOCAL EQUITY SECTION 2 DEVELOPING THE LOCAL EQUITY PROGRAM d. What are the components of a successful equity program both in terms of economic development and community investment. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. Achieving the hopes and desires of the local social equity community is the highest order connection to “success”. We will start again from the insights pulled from the survey result. Success in terms of economic development comes through job creation, direct and indirect economic stimulus, and the development of workforce through transferable skills. Community investment is more difficult to score for success in the short term. It is an investment in future through infrastructure, training, savings, or reduction of barriers to entry and success. Community investment success through the equity lens also includes a fair distribution of those benefits among the demographics that have been defined as eligible for social equity support. The research team will spend early months understanding these definitions and collecting evidence of their presence or absence through the survey, interview, and literature review components of the study. Time Frame: Months 1-8 Responsible Team Members: Amanda Reiman (key), Brad Rowe e. What are the appropriate equity metrics for analyzing the success of an equity program and what should the benchmarks be to address disparities and inequities? a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. This question can be approached from a “best practices” perspective and the team will lean on nationwide research and experience. Appropriate equity metrics include applying merit criteria deemed suitable or proper to communities in Salinas. These can include groups disproportionately impacted by the cannabis law enforcement, sustained poverty or other challenges that would make participation in the cannabis industry inequitable.
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25 Recent challenges to place-base criteria (challenges from constitution’s Dormant Clause) may make use of poor or disproportionately enforced zip codes ineffective in the long term. Challenges to affirmative action make use of race as criteria a challenge as well. RPM has worked with jurisdictions that are meeting these challenges and can provide insights into design of eligibility criteria that will serve the community well. Time Frame: Months 3-5 Responsible Team Members: L. Jani Sheppard (key), Amber Senter, Brad Rowe f. What are the barriers and mitigation strategies to participation in the Salinas cannabis industry? a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. Again, having the institutional memory from this group of researchers and consultants, we can quickly bring forth the barriers and mitigation strategies that can improve the odds of success for cannabis entrepreneurs and their employees. Barriers to participation in the Salinas cannabis industry may be like other jurisdictions that RPM has worked with, though that should be put to the community through the survey and interview components of the work. Traditionally real estate, access to capital and legal services loom large in this area. Understanding the odds of how difficult running a cannabis business is can be aided by using risk assessment tools that RPM partners have developed for this purpose. Mitigation strategies come from accurate gap analysis and allocation of resources to reduce handicap from deficiencies along any of these dimensions. Time Frame: Months 2-7 Responsible Team Members: Amanda Reiman (key), Andrew DeAngelo, Amber Senter g. Based on the literature and case studies and given the legal and regulatory parameters within which the City must operate, what alternate directions should the city explore to achieve greater equity in the cannabis industry in Salinas? What changes should be made to current city policies and regulations to increase the number of equity participants? a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame.
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26 LITERATURE REVIEW and CASE STUDIES derived from work with other cities and states will bring us to the heart of this exploration more quickly. Alternate directions for exploration start with knowing where the City currently operates. RPM will inventory and understand the legal and regulatory frameworks that define the playing field for businesses and how they are taxed and regulated. Equity must come with compliance even as the City attempts to work with first time operators and those transitioning from the unlicensed market. Social restitution for the War on Drugs is acknowledging harms done. Economic restitution includes building a healthy industry that brings wealth and opportunity to marginalized communities. The City will have to share how the policy levers at its disposal can be utilized to effect desired change, and when the tools are not up to the task, figure out how to replace or improve them. With a successful program will come equity participation. Proper promotion and use of low-cost scalable tools like social media can help to increase awareness and participation. As indicated earlier there are macro-economic factors that make participation in the industry difficult, but systemic support from the City may ameliorate some of those barriers. Time Frame: Months Responsible Team Members: Andrew DeAngelo (key), Rob Chlala, Amanda Reiman, Daniella Hagopian BUILDING A PROGRAM: CONSULTANT PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS: For the City of Salinas, Rowe Policy and Media will Perform the Following 1. Develop a geo-spatial map that shows impacts of criminalization of cannabis and poverty by census tract. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. These will be the areas where the city will want to concentrate its resources. Restitution for the War on Drugs and other inclusion criteria established earlier will appear more clearly in heat mapping that indicated which areas of Salinas were more affected than others. Utilizing arrest administrative log data to be collected from the Salinas Police Department, we will map the geographic clustering of arrests related to cannabis from 1992-2022, which will include both penal codes and vehicle ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
27 codes related to unlawful possession, open containers, selling to minors, and other cannabis-related violations. 1992 is selected as a year in which the continued drug war had continued to accelerate and was well-established as guiding local policing and policy. Clustering of data by will be mapped using ArcGIS into tracts to examine which and where the greatest number of cannabis-related arrests and incidences of police contact occurred; given the large size of Police command areas and council districts, this will depend more on census tract clustering. This data will be mapped and tracked in relationship to the clustering in what the state defines as "disadvantaged communities." These are defined in relationship to the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015 and can be assessed using the CalEnviroScreen mapping tool that examines the confluence of economic, health, and environmental burdens by census tract, and in Salinas has detailed information on differential exposure to these burdens. At the same time, we will also look to the relationship to other key indicators at the census tract level, including working poverty and 250% Federal Poverty Level; educational attainment; relative racial diversity and foreign-born population. These will be used to assess and understand the disproportionate impact of drug enforcement by the census-tract level, and tools will be provided that can help - for future purposes of equity assessments - the public locate their own census blocks to understand where and how they fit into both arrest data and impacts of inequality/burden. The team will use the data collected in the earlier study sub task and leverage the incident location report data to map where the concentrations of arrests occurred. We will cross reference that with poverty data and other socio demographic characteristics that are important to the City and the Social Equity community. This group has done this mapping work for criminal justice, social and health equity, educational and public health projects. Depending on the availability of expungement data, we will also attempt to examine the relative disparities and effectiveness of efforts to repair the drug war's harms in terms of the kinds of records expunged via state and county/local processes, including which and what type of records are being processed, and if possible where residents are located; what we cannot obtain directly through local records request we will seek to answer through stakeholder, including district attorney and County of Monterey official data. Time Frame: Months 5-6 Responsible Team Members: Rob Chlala (key), Erin Espinosa, 2. Reach out to local non-profits and staff to identify service needs and gaps in impacted neighborhoods.
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28 a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. An important voice to the work being done here is the local non-profit community. Their constituency is workforce, public safety, educational and vocational attainment and other public goods. RPM research team will reach out to relevant non-profits (Sample = 10) and staff that can shed light on service needs and gaps in impacted neighborhoods through scheduled interviews. These will be conducted over video conference platform. The research team will work with the City to determine the best pool of non-profits to engage for the study in advance of outreach. Time Frame: Month 5 Responsible Team Members: L. Jani Sheppard (key), Daniella Hagopian 3. Engage staff, cannabis business owners and potential applicants who have yet to apply for a cannabis permit to gain insights and develop a realistic understanding of the Salinas cannabis industry’s current environment, context, and culture. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. RPM research team will engage local cannabis business owners (Sample = 30) and potential applicants (Sample = 30) through a total of four (4) meetings: broken down as two (2) virtual convenings and two (2) in-person convenings. The meetings will be conducted through a facilitated community conversation including polling, white boarding, open question, and answer, and follow up email. Meetings will be held at varying times to accommodate work schedules. In-person convenings will take place in two distinct locations that are easily accessible, have free parking, and refreshments provided. Notes will be reviewed and analyzed for findings. Those findings will be reviewed by the RPM team and study responsible City employees. Participants will receive a $25 certificate / cash card for their participation. The City of Salinas will provide video conferencing platforms for virtual convenings and physical space in Salinas for the in-person convenings. Project budget will cover refreshments and renumeration. Outreach and invitations will be vetted, cleared for cultural sensitivity, shared / distributed through email and social media to non-profit organizations in the community. Time Frame: Months 3-5 ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
29 Responsible Team Members: Brad Rowe (key), Rob Chlala, Dilara Uskup, Amber Senter. 4. PLAN REVIEWS: Identify opportunities and make recommendations on strategic neighborhood investments based on best practices and recommendations found in various City plans including: a. Salinas Council’s Strategic Plan. Address recommendations such as: Develop an Agriculture Technology Plan, partner with local colleges and workforce development board to ensure training for farm workers, support small business, employ modern techniques to build climate resiliency, maintain effective code enforcement practices, establish and equity plan, apply data-driven management to decision making, provide DEI training for policy makers, support effective governance for City commissions, improve employee wellness and retention, make government services more accessible and culturally responsive for non-English speaking residents, offer more literature and the SalinasConnectApp in Spanish, and address Visión Salinas b. Alisal Vibrancy Plan. Address recommendations such as: Empowers the residents and stakeholders of the Alisal by giving them broad control of the vision, content, and implementason strategies of the plan, engage a broad a cross-secson of the community through a variety of engagement/ outreach plaÄorms, create an iterasve process that allows the public the chance to review recommendasons and draÅs at each stage of development, overcome barriers to parscipason, conduct innovasve or alternasve outreach acsvises to engage community members that would not typically aÇend formal events, create materials and informason that educates the community and facilitates greater understanding of the community planning process, conduct outreach and share informason in a manner that provides transparency in the outreach events and discussions, provide parscipants an opportunity to collaborate on content, provide input, and validate that recommendasons that reflect their input, reach consensus on the recommendasons to ensure they align with community expectasons and provide greater certainty to the development community, using steering commiÇee and working group meesngs, stakeholder and community group interviews, business engagement workshop, website and social media for community surveys, process evaluasons, engage technical advisory commiÇee member groups like Center for Community Advocacy, Hartnell College, Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources 4-H Program c. Chinatown Revitalization Plan. Address recommendations such as: supporting City Staff and partners in proactively managing neighborhood land and resources, initiate public input, support targeted revitalization and sustainable, well-designed land use and development, support the core values of efficient customer service and citizen engagement, economic vitality for community ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
30 development, integrity, mutual respect, courtesy, dignity, innovation, and teamwork. d. Parks and Recreation. Address recommendations such as: Enhancing life through high quality cultural programs, events for all ages and wholesome experiences. e. Libraries Master Plan. Address recommendations such as: building community profile, conducting outreach and community surveys, establish a systemwide gap analysis, create program categories of priority, acknowledge future challenges, develop implementation strategies and capital improvement plans, inventory capacity and organizational structure. f. Community Alliance for Safety and Peace Strategic Plan. Address recommendations such as: Building a better future for the children of Salinas, creating web-based content in English and Spanish, reduce violence, provide reentry strategies in the community. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. Again, the deep experience of this work group will allow for a quick assimilation of the sentiments of the local studies and gleaning of actionable recommendations that translate to the goals of building and equitable cannabis business community. The team will review the recommendations addressed from the community studies and mission statements for integration into process for research (during beginning months of study) and for synthesis into final recommendations for the report (at final stages of study). Leadership from these organization and authors of the reports will be consulted as to the intent of the recommendations and for translational context to application with the cannabis social equity business framework. Time Frame: Months 1-2 and 8-9 Responsible Team Members: Brad Rowe (key), Amber Senter 5. SURVEY 2: Conduct a community survey regarding proposed strategic investments reaching at least 500 individuals. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. After initial Survey 1 analysis and reading the community through various means, the team will be ready to put another survey out in the field to measure excitement for some of the preliminary social equity program build and growth recommendations that are put forth. From earlier outreach and community engagement research RPM will derive a small set of proposed strategic investments ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
31 for consideration with the community. RPM will work with the City and community organizations to collect contact 2,500 vetted / quality emails and phone numbers for an email and text message outreach effort – with the end goal of engaging 20% of solicitations. Generally, inductive research designs require that sample selection continue until no “new” concepts emerge (Bryman, 2013; Coyne, 1997). At this point, the “theoretical” saturation needed to answer the questions understudy are reached (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Thus, most inductive researchers who aim for qualitative interpretation of both sample and population-based inferences, do not rely on probability sampling. Rather, the sampling procedure is purposive (Coyne, 1997; Marshall, 1996]. It aims to select cases whose study will illuminate the questions under study most directly applicable to the community under examination. The RPM research team proposes to use a stratified sampling study design that includes a mixed methods approach toward examining the community perspectives regarding proposed strategic investments. The methodology will include both survey and prospective interview or listening group sessions to ensure that the views of at least 500 members of the neighborhoods and communities views are reflective of the responses to the questions posed in the RFP. References include: 1.) Bryman A, Bell E. Business Research Methods 3e. Oxford: Oxford university press; 2011. 2.) Bryman A. Social Research Methods. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2013. 3.) Coyne IT. Sampling in qualitative research. Purposeful and theoretical sampling; merging or clear boundaries? Journal of advanced nursing. Wiley Online Library; 1997; 26: 623 - 630. Marshall MN. Sampling for qualitative research. Family practice. Oxford Univ Press; 1996; 13: 522±526. This effort will begin after initial findings from community outreach and establishment of broad strategic investment categories for consideration. The RPM team will develop a survey instrument, review and ground-truth language and approach for cultural sensitivity with community members and distribute on the Qualtrics platform. Analysis and resulting recommendations will be completed at the end of the 6-month research period. Time Frame: Months 3-8 Responsible Team Members: Erin Espinosa (key), Rob Chlala, Dilara Uskup 6. Identify opportunities and make recommendations for changes to policies, procedures, and practices to achieve greater equity in the Salinas cannabis industry. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. Review of Survey 2 results will pivot the program building into informed policies that can be codified into ordinances and departmental guidance across City service ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
32 groups. All novel research and studies conducted in the commission of this study will be reviewed and analyzed against the literature review on relevant topics to establish recommendations for policy changes. This work will be done in concert with the creation of a final report for the City. Brad Rowe will manage the collaboration to synthesize findings, integrate mapping, figures and tables in a collaborative Google Doc. Preliminary recommendation will be shared with a small group of stakeholder groups in the City of Salinas before final version is drafted. That final draft will be shared with the City Attorney and other internal reviewers before public release of recommendations. Time Frame: Months 8-9 Responsible Team Members: Brad Rowe (key), Amanda Reiman, Amber Senter 7. Provide periodic progress reports to the Community Development Department. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. Brad Rowe will manage periodic progress reports to the CDD. RPM will welcome project leads as needed to update the City / CDD on advances in research and findings, identification of challenges, coordination of activities with City and other stakeholders. RPM and the City will find a rhythm that is conducive to the best advancement of the work and optimal use of time, perhaps bi-weekly progress check in calls, monthly short report updates on all deliverables and other convenings as necessary. Time Frame: Months 1-9 Responsible Team Members: Brad Rowe (key) 8. Provide a detailed briefing on the study results to the Cannabis Subcommittee and City Council. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. RPM will put together a 45 minute – 1 hour PowerPoint Briefing to be delivered to the Cannabis Subcommittee and City Council in person or on Zoom (as preferred by the City.) This report will include the entirety of context, methodology summary, key findings, and recommendations. The final report with Executive Summary will be made available to committee and council members in advance of this presentation to allow for preparation and questions for presenters.
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33 Time Frame: Month 9 Responsible Team Members: Brad Rowe (key) plus key study leads TBD 9. Document all data, findings, and recommendations and provide to the city, along with the Study. a. Narrative describing the approach and work plan / Major tasks and estimated time frame. All aggregated de-identified data, findings and recommendations will be made available to the City will be delivered to the City with the final report. Raw survey responses will theme-coded and converted to themes and anonymized quotes for the report. Original Salinas Police Department data analyzed will aggregated so that licensees or individuals with personal identifiable information in those data sets cannot be identified. Time Frame: Month 9 Responsible Team Members: Erin Espinosa (key), Rob Chlala, Brad Rowe, Stephanie Thomas ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
34 HOW SELECTED METHODOLOGIES CAN ACHIEVE THE STUDY GOALS Methodologies and approaches listed above are drawn from high level social science, data analytic, economic, and business tools. These scientific approaches leverage specific methodologies to each task. Soft skills such as listening, empathy and creating a space for honest dialogue complement academic proficiency. Qualitative methods for interviewing, convening, and extracting themes to saturation to help Salina prioritize programs and communication strategies come from decades of research and providing recommendations to states and cities by the team. Quantitative data collection, cleaning and analysis will allow the City to understand specifically how and where disproportionate impacts occurred over the given period of observation. Literature reviews done with the proper training filters poor or biased research from the study and lays a solid foundation for the City to continue the important work with confidence. All findings and recommendations produced from this research will be reviewed by several members of the team and challenged until it has reached the highest standards for delivery to the government client. All this work is done with the knowledge that policy change affects every day working people and their families. The RPM team is cautious before making claims and recommendations and will lead interactions with the city and community by listening first and synthesizing next. ACTIONS TAKEN BY ROWE POLICY AND MEDIA TO REDUCE IMPLICIT BIAS AND IMPLEMENT CULTURAL COMPETENCY RPM has been studying and teaching about implicit bias for over a decade. Because of that we measure, track, and review our policies and practices to meet the needs of everyone we serve. The work began with challenging clients, police departments and criminal justice institutions to challenge their prejudicial attitudes, behaviors, and actions. This work is critical for systems change to be built on an awareness of automatic and unintentional bias that affects behaviors. Better to front load that work, then to engage in destructive behavior that requires massive course corrections. Turning that light on our own organization means that we seek employees and contractors that embody those values. We treat clients, the subjects of our research, vendors and our team members with dignity and respect. We discuss bias and call it out when we see it in business and day to day conversations and actions.
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35 As professional “non-biased” researchers, we are constantly disclosing conflicts real or perceived and work pro-actively to call out and name anything that would interfere with not only research but the ability to work in communities that are different from our own. RPM was born in work with marginalized communities, criminal justice involvement, trauma connected to violence and mistrust of researchers and government. We are leading change in our communities and start with the work to see that change in ourselves. Each member on this proposed research team has had to meet and beat the highest standards of cultural competence and bias reduction to thrive in work that meets communities head on and facilitates their ability to speak truth to power. ROWE POLICY AND MEDIA’S COMMITMENT TO RACIAL EQUITY AND DEI At RPM, we are committed to promoting justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion (JEDI) in all aspects of our work. As a firm that focuses on cannabis and social equity, we recognize that our work is inherently linked to systemic racism, social justice, and community empowerment. We also acknowledge that our work involves continuous learning, growth, and improvement, and as such, it is rooted in self-reflection, honest communication, and a commitment to change. We are committed to promoting JEDI in our workplace practices, client engagements, and the work we choose to do. We actively seek out partnerships that share our values and commitment to social justice. RPM prioritizes work opportunities that contribute robust data and, culturally and linguistically relevant evidenced-based practices, that highlight and mitigate the impacts of systemic racism, and promote equity and justice; We embrace opportunities that promote community resilience, elevate the voices of those who have been historically marginalized, and excluded, and provide concrete resources and solutions for meaningful and lasting change. We strive to ensure that our work reflects our values and commitment to acknowledging the truth and accuracy of the experience and contributions of marginalized communities; research and data that educates and advances understanding; policies, interventions, and services that promote a just, equitable, and inclusive society for all. ADDITIONAL OR INNOVATIVE SERVICES ROWE POLICY and MEDIA, INC.
36 EQUIO EXPLORE (brought to the team by Amanda Reiman) Description: With a free membership to Equio Explore, businesses have access to national level data on our Consumer, Market, and Retail Data Dashboards, access to Global level data on our Global Dashboard, access to view a select number of analyst reports and the ability to purchase data products within our Data Marketplace. The Consumer Dashboard provides national level data on consumer density, annual and monthly consumption rate, medical patient count, which product forms are consumed most often, consumption frequency, average spend per transaction, primary sources of cannabis, motivations for consumption and a breakdown of consumer archetypes. The Market Dashboard provides national level data on the legal, illicit, adult use and medical market sizes, annual consumption rate, 5-year CAGR, total addressable consumers and market projections for the next 5 years. The Retail Dashboard provides national level data on the number of licensed dispensaries, product sales trends by category, the top selling brands and products in the US, the value per transaction average for different product categories, the breakdown of licenses in the US by license type, and revenue by day of the week.
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37 COST PROPOSAL AND FEE SCHEDULE
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41 SAMPLE INVOICE – PDF COVERSHEET and WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT (SAMPLE BELOW)
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43 PROJECT SCHEDULE: SALINAS EQUITY ASSESSMENT TIMELINE