BROCKTON SOCIAL EQUITY & ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ORDINANCE

AN ORDINANCE TO (ESTABLISH A PUBLIC MANDATE) TO PRIORITIZE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MINORITY

OWNED DISPENSARIES AND TO ENSURE MINORITY OWNED BUSINESSES HAVE ACCESS TO
PARTICIPATE IN THE COMMERICALIZATION OF CANNABIS.

Be it Enacted by _____________________________________________ of BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS:

SECTION 1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this ordinance is to ensure access for minority owned businesses to
establish cannabis businesses in the City of Brockton.

On December 15, 2016, recreational Marijuana was legalized in Massachusetts for commercialization. The
Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA) wrote the November 8, 2016 ballot initiative to legalize, tax,
and regulate marijuana for adult use. They did so with the intent to end the failed policy of prohibition and to
prioritize public safety, public health, economic empowerment, and social justice. This includes reversing the impact
that the criminalization of marijuana has had on black and minority communities.

On March 20, 2018, Mayor Bill Carpenter made a public announcement that he issued 10 host community
agreements to potential retail recreational applicants, four host community agreements for recreational marijuana
cultivation facilities and two for marijuana product manufacturing. By not creating a public application process, the
host community agreements were issued outside of a public domain where there has been no evidence of what the
basis and rationale for the mayor was to issue these host agreements. The outcome was that not one of the
successful host agreement recipients were granted to a minority applicant, nor was a minority applicant allowed the
opportunity for consideration. Ultimately minority residents were kept out of the process for consideration.

Source: https://www.enterprisenews.com/news/20190213/brockton-mayor-signed-10-host-community-agreements-
for-pot-shops

In August 2019, Mayor Moises Rodrigues opened a host agreement application process to Brockton residents that
had obtained a Social Equity or Economic Empowerment Opportunity designation granted by the Massachusetts
Cannabis Control Commission. The outcome was that Mayor Rodrigues issued four host agreements to minority
applicants. Since then as of July 2020, no minority has opened a Marijuana establishment in Brockton and the four
who have host agreements are going through the license application process with the Cannabis Control
Commission.

Source: https://www.enterprisenews.com/news/20190922/brockton-mayor-giving-minorites-shot-at-
marijuanabusinesses

The BROCKTON SOCIAL EQUITY & ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ORDINANCE is proposed to ensure that the
City of Brockton has adopted a public mandate to prioritize that minority owned businesses have access to establish
a Marijuana business in Brockton by requiring that:
1) The four licenses that will be issued to the four minority host agreements leads to the establishment of
marijuana businesses in Brockton, prior to any other marijuana businesses owned by a non-minority
resident.
2) Brockton City is to create a subcommittee to monitor the cannabis industry in the City of Brockton to ensure
that its accessible for minorities to participate in.
3) Brockton is to issue an immediate moratorium to all non-social equity or non-economic empowerment host
agreement applicants for a period of 2 years. This is to provide an even playing field for minority owned
businesses to be established and to make up for any applicant that was excluded from the process during
the Bill Carpenter Administration who issued host agreements outside of a public application process.

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 4) Brockton is to create a fund directly addressing minority economic development, and minority owned
b ine o co n e he impac ha he Wa on D g ha had o mino i comm ni ie .
5) The Brockton CFO is to publish an annual report to list how funds from marijuana tax are spent.

SECTION 2: ADDITIONAL FACTORS

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) documented the disproportionate impact that the illegalization of marijuana
has had on black communities in the U.S. By sourcing empirical data from the FBI and US Census Bureau on all 50 states
(and the District of Columbia) the ACLU published an unprecedented national report in 2013, The War on Marijuana in
Black and White, and then in 2020, A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the ERA of Marijuana Reform
(ACLU, 2020). Their research concluded that Marijuana use is roughly equal among Blacks and Whites, however
between 2001 2018, Black people have been arrested at higher rates than white people for marijuana possession. The
national average was that black people are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana
possession, however a black person is 100 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in Franklin County,
Massachusetts (A Tale of Two Countries, p. 33).
Source: https://www.aclu.org/report/report-war-marijuana-black-and-white?redirect=criminal-law-reform/war-marijuana-black-and-white

The illegalization of Marijuana has been a key factor for the mass criminalization of predominantly minority and black
communities despite whites having a similar usage rate of marijuana. Communities of color such as Brockton have had
historically high rates of arrest, conviction, and incarceration related to Marijuana crimes. Therefore, minority families
in Brockton have suffered by not having a family member who are incarcerated or subject to legal fees and fines that
handicaps families. In addition, persons who have criminal records from marijuana related police citations are
economically handicapped from not being eligible for employment such as government employment.

The c iminali a ion of ma ij ana and he Wa on D g mo e b oadl ha disproportionally impacted the black and
minority communities which has crippled many Brockton families. Brockton as a majority minority-population has been
significantly impacted and has a responsibility to lead and demonstrate social equality and justice through the fair
application of marijuana commercialization.

However, in the City of Brockton, minorities were excluded from the host agreement issuing process under Mayor Bill
Carpenters Administration. This is evidenced by the fact that on March 20, 2018 when Mayor Carpenter made a public
announcement that he had issued out over 10 host agreements and none of these recipients included a person of color,
even though many minority applicants had asked he ma o office for information on how to apply for a Host
Agreement multiple times in 2017, 2018, and 2019. This is supported by documented personal testimonies from June
2017 where numerous Brockton minority residents asked Mayor Bill Carpenter and his entire administration for
instructions, guidance, and direction on how to apply for a host community agreement. Their multiple attempts to
receive information were never responded to until Mayor Bill Carpenter made a public announcement on March 20,
2018 that he had issued out 10 host community agreements to potential retail recreational applicants. These
testimonies include the experiences of minority own businesses that received a host agreement during Mayor Moises
Rodrigues administration.

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SECTION 3: THE SOCIAL GOOD

The social good for the City of Brockton to adopt the BROCKTON SOCIAL EQUITY & ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
ORDINANCE is to alleviate poverty in minority communities of Brockton which suffers from having:
1. An overpopulated public high school that indirectly contributes to the school to prison pipeline. Which serves
as a pathway to crime, prison, and poverty for many residents due to inadequate school space, computers
for students, and teachers per student.
2. Partially abandoned and neglected downtown business district that lacks commercial activity to sufficiently
provide city revenues to service a community of approximately 100,000 residents.
3. Roads that are falling apart, curb sides that do not meet US Highway road standards, and insufficient
funding to implement traffic control measures to reduce the risk of automobile related accidents.
4. An environment that does not compliment or encourage businesses by not being an attractive environment
for money outside of Brockton to enter from tourist and consumers from neighboring towns.
5. Brockton poverty, property neglect, and homeless population is the most central observation of Brockton.
By prioritizing the establishment of Minority-owned businesses to have access to participate in the Cannabis
industry grants minorities the opportunity to reinvest money back into the City of Brockton to address the social and
economic challenges. By endorsing this city ordinance, the City of Brockton grants the opportunity to increase the
prosperity of all its residents for economic and social mobility.

SECTION 4. REPEALER.

All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed.

SECTION 5. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE.

If any section, provision or part of this ordinance shall be adjudged invalid or unconstitutional, such adjudication
shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole or any section, provision or part not adjudged invalid or
unconstitutional.

SECTION 6. WHEN EFFECTIVE.

This ordinance shall be in effect after its final passage, approval and publication as provided by law.

Passed by the Council on the ______ day of ______ 20 __ ,

and approved this ______ day of ___________ , 20___

_______________________________ Mayor

Attest:_________________________________

Clerk

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 Timeline of Cannabis Policy reform in Brockton, Massachusetts

2008 MA Voters approved a ballot initiative decriminalizing possession of small amounts of cannabis.
2012 MA Voters approved a ballot initiative legalizing medical cannabis for patients suffering from serious health
issues.
2016
- November 8, 2016 - Voters approved a ballot initiative legalizing cannabis for adults and establishing a
regulated cannabis market similar to alcohol such as the licensing of marijuana establishments. This eliminated
penal ie fo limi ed po e ion and c l i a ion fo ad l e
- December 15th, 2016 effective date of the ballot initiative which became Chapter 334 of the Acts of 2016 and
c ea ed he Reg la ion and Ta a ion of Ma ij ana Ac G L c G Ma ij ana Ac
2017
- The MA state legislature voted to delay implementation by six months, pushing legal retail sales forward from
January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2018.
- July 28, 2017 - Gov. Baker signed it into law he Ma ij ana Ac hich c ea ed he fi e-person Cannabis
Control Commission, a twenty-five person Cannabis Advisory Board, as well as a hemp program to be run by the
Department of Agricultural Resources.
- Aug 2017
- October 8, 2017 – Brockton MORATORIUM of THE REGULATION AND TAXATION OF MARIJUANA ACT for the
duration of 6 months.
2018
- March 20, 2018, Mayor Bill Carpenter made a public announcement at Bridgewater State University to
announce his plans to roll-out state legalized recreational marijuana in Brockton.
- Jun. 5, 2018, B ock on e iden and mino i b ine o ne Ian Wood poke o Ma o Ca pen e Chief of
Staff, Peter and Nick who advised that no ordinance or guidance exist regarding Host Community Agreements
for Retail Marijuana Establishment.
- July 2018 – January 2019, numerous Brockton minority residents asked the Ma o office for Host Community
Agreement applications and were turned away with no guidance or direction.
- September 2018 Mayor Bill Carpenter issues most community host agreements without a public application
process and confirms this in an interview in Feb 2019.
- November 20, 2018 - The first two adult use retail stores opened for businesses in Northampton, MA and
Brookline, MA.

2019

- Jan. 24, 2019, The Brockton City Solicitor, Phillip Nessralla advised minority-business owner Ian Woods that the
Mayor handles the decision to issue host agreements and there is no public application process.
- February 19, 2019 – Mayor Bill Carpenter self-admitted his method for granting 10 host community agreements
as being no a fo mal p oce hi i m di c e ion Ca pen e aid I m ing m be j dgmen ba ed on
i ing i h people He also noted that most agreements had been issued by September 2018.
Source: https://www.enterprisenews.com/news/20190213/brockton-mayor-signed-10-host-community-agreements-for-pot-shops
- February 25, 2019 Brockton Ordinance amending Chapter 27 of the revised ordinance of the City of Brockton
Concerning the regulation and zoning of Marijuana.
- August 2019, Mayor Moises Rodrigues opened a public host agreement application process to anyone in the
p blic ha had ob ained a Social Eq i o Economic Empo e men Oppo ni de igna ion g an ed b he
Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. This was done after Brockton resident and minority business
owner, Ian Woods went to City Hall to request to speak to Mayor Rodrigues on the first day of his
administration to ask when will Brockton Host Agreement Applications be available to the public.

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