Fernando Cortes

722 W. Dutton Rd
Eagle Point, OR, 97524
(541) 551-1741
Fernando@sektorpro.com

July 20th 2021

The Honorable Kate Brown, Governor of the State of Oregon, and attached
Government Officials, media representatives, and organizations.

Dear Governor Brown,

My name is Fernando Cortes Arce, I am a legal resident of the state of Oregon,

residing specifically in Jackson County, successful cannabis and hemp
entrepreneur, OLCC and ODA license holder, Hispanic American father of
three.
I’m writing this letter today on behalf of myself, my wife, my children, and
thousands of other Hispanics living and working in the Rogue Valley of
Southern Oregon.

We are deeply concerned about the racial charge that’s being implicitly and
systematically attached to the launch of bill HB 3000.
There is a palpable and overwhelming racial tension and anti-hispanic bias
brewing in the Rogue Valley and it has trickled down from the comments and
quotes of Government Officials. It needs to be brought to everyone’s attention
that this has not gone unnoticed by our community, and we are suffering
consequences. Regardless of our work, trade or political affiliations, it’s
affecting all of us.

On May 7th of 2021 a letter was sent out by Gordon Layford to various
legislators including yourself, urging for government interference to aid in the
eradication of illegal marijuana operations in Jackson and Josephine Counties.

The issue of illegal marijuana grows in Southern Oregon counties is a problem

for all of us and we all stand behind the need to address it.
The contents of bill HB 3000 are contents we can all stand behind as an
industry and as a community.

The problem is the language that has been used by Government officials,
specifically the word “cartel” and the constant referral that these grows are
equipped with mostly Hispanic labor.
Although Mr. Layford clarified in his letter that cartels can be from any part of
the world, the word “cartel” is automatically associated with Mexico, both in
the US and in the world in general. The acceptance of this language was the
beginning of this “cartel invasion” rhetoric and it’s been taken out of context
and proportion in deterrence of Hispanic Americans ever since.

After several articles of media outlets and quotes from government officials
were released with this rhetoric, illegal marijuana grows were quickly assumed
to be a problem that’s Hispanic in nature to the local non-Hispanics.

The problem is not about whether crimes are being committed or not, they
clearly are. And the problem is not about whether these crimes need to be
stopped or not, they clearly need to be stopped.
The problem is that there’s a skin color being assigned to the crime.

On May 10th of 2021 KTVL published an article with an interview of Sheriff

Daniel of Josephine County, in which he said:

“I think the cartels have discovered that we have limited funding, have
limited enforcement, and they have moved in”.

Instead of clarifying that the word cartel wasn’t being meant to be connected
to an ethnicity in particular, he added “they bring Hispanic workers to
conduct these grows”.

Obviously reinforcing a connection between Hispanics and cartels.

This is a connection, I might add, that is not only hurtful but also inaccurate in
the case of illegal marijuana grows, it is simply not true that the marijuana
black market is controlled or disproportionally owned by Hispanics as
compared to other ethnicities. Not to mention that every single agricultural
activity in Southern Oregon fully depends on Hispanic workers. All of it.

When Sheriff Daniel was asked how one can identify these alleged cartel
members, he mentioned three things and ONLY three things:

-Cash Flow
-Expensive black cars
-Suits
That was the day I learned that according to the Southern Oregon law
enforcement agencies, I look like a criminal.
The fact that I have those things, and happen to be Hispanic, and happen to
be part of the cannabis and hemp industry, made me feel I had a target on my
back, it actually kept me up the whole night.
My wife and children are Americans contributing to their community in a
positive way like myself, who love their country, their community and their
home. To them Oregon is home, their only home, their true home.
My youngest daughter was born at Asante. My eldest daughter (born in
California) enjoys riding her bike around Medford making friends and speaking
from the place of kindness and compassion that I raised her to always carry
with her, Oregon is where I told them they could be safe, the place where they
can develop, a place to learn, to love and be loved.
A place to respect.
I didn’t know that the State sees us as criminals, mainly because we are
Hispanics with cash flow that have benefited from creating successful
businesses.
Perhaps an oversized sombrero, a donkey and perpetual poverty, would suit
us better?

Furthermore KTVL decided to quote, out of context, something Gordon wrote

in his letter: “We have seen an invasion of illegal cartel grows”.

The key word there is “invasion”, coupled with the word “illegal”.

I should point out that on May 10th of 2021 I reached out to KTVL and the
Josephine County Sheriff Daniel. I didn’t get a response or follow up from
either of them.

I wasn’t the only one to feel the impact of this, not only did we as a Hispanic
American community and workforce start discussing it, I immediately started
feeling the animosity of former partners and acquaintances to deal with me,
the dirty looks on the street, the awkward silence at the agricultural stores.
It cost me business, relationships, and made me feel humiliated.

My son Fernando, who is twelve years old, just asked me three days ago what
a cartel was, trying to pretend it was an innocent question that had nothing to
do with him. But I know why he asked, and so should you. He’s being singled
out and accused. He’s being bullied as a direct result of the quotes from a
Sheriff and more recently from OLCC.
The comments online inside the growing communities and scanner groups are
too hurtful and too disgusting to even quote on this letter, I’ll write down just
one example of a comment that was written on the comment section of the
KTVL article:

“You journalists have the responsibility to tell Oregonians about the illegals
coming in to do these operations, leave out the political correctness and
call it what it is, it’s an invasion”.

This comment was allowed and left there by KTVL.

After May 10th and the following weeks, because of the delicate legal nature
of the cannabis industry, and in fear of retaliation from the State if I spoke up
about what was happening, I decided to “suck it up” and live with it.
Looking people in the eye hasn’t felt the same ever since.

But yesterday and today, with the announcement of bill HB 3000, several
news outlets like KDRV came out brandishing a direct quote from the
Executive Director of the OLCC, Steve Marks, shining on top of the
announcement of the bill like a righteous sword of purity:

“What’s going on in southern Oregon with the cartel takeover of cannabis

growing through the guise of hemp and our role in being able to enforce
that is all incredibly important”

Again, cartel… cartel.. cartel.

I have spent thousands upon thousands of hours over the years, and millions of
dollars, making sure I can please the State, the County, and the OLCC in the
building of my company, my facilities and my reputation.
The Hispanic community in Oregon has literally broken its back to make Southern
Oregon a productive state, in the vineyards, in the pear industry, in the strawberry
fields, in every single realm of the Oregonian workforce, I would have never
imagined that we were going to be used as political cannon fodder in a time of
crisis.

Hispanics will not be seen or treated the same by the rest of the community after
this, it has hurt not only us but the very fabric of social unity and it erodes the core
principles that the United States of America is built on.
This is why I thought and felt it important to bring to your attention, for the
good of the west, the good of America and the prosperity of a country that
faces so many international challenges today. We need unity, not division, we
need healing, not subtle and implicit racist rhetoric coming directly from the
State.

The spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans with the emergence of Covid
should be data that’s recent enough for legislators, law enforcement and
media outlets to remember the power that words and implications can have
over the collective unconscious of their followers and listeners.

All of the federal efforts to decriminalize and/or legalize cannabis are revolving
around social equity, I find it very ironic and saddening that Oregon, out of all
states, would subtly take the opposite direction.

I cannot stress enough that this has nothing to do with the crimes in question, we
are all against these environmental crimes and illegal commercial grows, very
much so.
This is about assigning a color to the crime, implying that the cannabis black
market problem is a problem Hispanic in nature. It’s unfair, it’s dangerous, it’ll
cause hate crimes, and on top of all, it’s not even true.

Even though the damage has already been done, I do write this letter with one
request:

Stop calling the illegal marijuana grows “cartel” and stop linking them to Hispanic
Americans and Hispanics in general, directly or indirectly, implicitly or explicitly.
Call them criminal organizations, call them crime syndicates, call them organized
crime, call them illegal commercial marjuana grows, just please stop calling them
“a cartel invasion.”

Or, alternatively, law enforcement can name the specific Mexican cartel that is
supposedly owner of the majority of these grows, and present evidence to the
public to sustain these claims.

I thank you very much for your time and attention, and hope that our voice can
make a slight difference, for the sake of our children, and national healing.

Sincerely,

Fernando Cortes.