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Council presses for more transparency on cannabis license applicants, administration open to policy change
Summary
Council members urged more disclosure about cannabis operators seeking city letters of support; Councilman Ramos proposed a resolution and the administration said it supports more transparency where state law allows.
Newark councilors raised transparency concerns about cannabis cultivator, manufacturing and retail applicants who are seeking city letters of support.
Councilman Ramos said council members and residents want more information about the entities seeking licenses. “I just still don't understand why we can't disclose more information about these operators as part of the city's resolution,” he said, calling the current process opaque and asking whether the council could encourage state-level change.
Business administrator Eric Pennington told the council the administration supports more transparency and would back any appetite from the governor's administration to change state privacy provisions that currently limit disclosure. Pennington urged the matter to be worked through the cannabis committee, and the council agreed to a follow-up discussion with committee members before deciding whether to defer or advance the resolutions.
The items remain under committee review; council members asked the cannabis committee to draft a proposed resolution encouraging greater transparency and to report back before the next meeting.
