Committee on Appointments and Briefings Meeting - December 9, 2025
Committee on Appointments and Briefings - December 9, 2025
The Committee on Appointments and Briefings convened to address a contentious issue regarding New Bedford's cannabis licensing process. Following a recent email from the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) indicating the city could proceed with a Host Community Agreement (HCA) without a prior Social Equity Policy (SEP), the Administration opened a new application round limited to social equity applicants. However, the Administration stated it would not grant the HCA to House of Diesel immediately despite their pending application, citing the presence of other prospective social equity applicants who were previously unable to apply due to city policy. This decision sparked significant criticism from council members and the applicant, who argued the city created financial harm for House of Diesel by delaying the process and now forcing them into a competitive lottery against newcomers.
Consent Calendar
- Received and tabled a letter of absence from Councillor Choquette regarding an out-of-town business commitment.
Public Comments & Testimony
- House of Diesel Representatives (Shamar James, Tyrone Gomes):
- Position: Expressed strong opposition to the Administration's plan to open a new competitive round and argued that House of Diesel was set aside and treated unfairly after investing significant time and money based on early assurances. They stated, "it appears that this is targeted... you pissed us off... it just not gonna be you."
- Arguments: Asserted that the CCC email allowed for a compliant pathway via a Model HCA that the city ignored, forcing them to wait. They argued the new plan forces them to compete against applicants who may not have the same financial capacity to secure locations or security plans. They highlighted that the timeline for a decision under the new six-month window would cause them to miss a Social Equity Trust Fund deadline on Thursday.
- Context: Stated they submitted an application as a courtesy in 2018, were told it wasn't officially accepted, and were told they were "first in line" only to be told later they must re-apply against new competitors. They expressed that they are renting a location in an Opportunity Zone and have incurred years of expenses without a pathway forward.
- Council Member Gomes:
- Position: Expressed deep skepticism and anger regarding the Administration's motives, suggesting the area was not intended for redevelopment and that the Administration "drew the map" to exclude House of Diesel. He argued the Administration is trying to "eat them, eat their money" to make them leave so the city can pursue its own waterfront development plans.
- Arguments: Noted that House of Diesel has been a good steward despite the lack of support, contrasting their treatment with other organizations. He accused the city of moving the goalposts and creating a "checkers game" that favors the Administration's preferences over the applicant's hard work.
- Council Member Jakes:
- Position: Expressed concern that the Administration's delay and subsequent decision to open the round to others unfairly penalized House of Diesel for work done and issues created by the state agency (CCC).
- Arguments: Argued that House of Diesel should have "first dibs" and that the Administration dropped the ball in monitoring the state's progress, leading to this situation. He felt it was disrespectful to the applicant to let "other people... benefit for the work that they put in" while the original applicant is forced to "pay" via a lottery.
- Council Member Abrew:
- Position: Expressed that the current path does not favor House of Diesel and questioned why the Administration did not accept their application sooner given the city's history of accepting others quickly.
- Arguments: Described the situation as a "checkers game" where the Administration decides who gets the grant, noting that House of Diesel has been sidelined while others were "funneled down the tunnel real quick."
- Council Member Baptiste:
- Position: Expressed that the current process is "crazy" and that the Administration dropped the ball, causing House of Diesel to lose the benefit of their hard work to new applicants.
- Arguments: Stated the Mayor should have checked the status of the application and that it is unfair to force House of Diesel into a lottery where they might not win despite their prior efforts.
Discussion Items
- Administration Explanation of Process:
- Attorney Drakes and Planning Staff explained that while the CCC allowed the city to issue an HCA without a social equity policy, the city policy (subject to CCC approval) mandates that for the next six months, only social equity applicants be accepted.
- The Administration stated it is inappropriate to grant the HCA to one specific applicant when multiple social equity applicants are present or could emerge in a new round. They emphasized an "open and equitable application" process where all applicants are judged equally.
- Clarified that while the next HCA granted will go to a social equity applicant, the current round accepts applications from all social equity candidates, and the number of grants is not fixed at one but follows a one-to-one ratio with licenses.
- Planned to contact all identified social equity candidates to inquire if they wish to apply in this round.
- Council Debate on Fairness and Timeline:
- Council members questioned why House of Diesel had to re-apply after being told they were in line, given the city's own delays. Council Moran and others asked if the round could be limited to House of Diesel to allow them to secure a grant before the Thursday deadline.
- The Administration maintained that they cannot guarantee a one-to-one ratio for this specific round without seeing applications, and that a decision timeline extending six months is a risk for the applicant.
- Councilman Gomes proposed that the only viable solution is for the Mayor to enter into an HCA with House of Diesel immediately to allow them to apply for state funding before the Thursday deadline, effectively bypassing the competitive new round.
Key Outcomes
- Motion Passed: The Council passed a motion made by Councilor Gomes and seconded by Councilor Virgo to draft a letter to the Mayor.
- Directive: The letter requests that the Mayor immediately enter into a Host Community Agreement (HCA) with House of Diesel to allow the organization to pursue state grant funding before the Thursday deadline.
- Vote Tally: The motion passed with a 9-0 vote (Council Avery, Able, Baptist, Verde, Virgo, Carney, Giustan, Gomes, and Moran voted Aye; Council Oliver and Pereira were present but the vote count confirmed 9 in favor).
- Adjournment: The Committee tabled the original motion regarding the new application process and adjourned the meeting at 6:49 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Testing one two three, testing one, two, three. Okay. Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the committee on appointments and briefings. It's December 9th to 2025 and it is six. Ian April. I have one letter to read into the record. It's from Councillor Choquette. I am writing to inform you that regretfully I will be unable to attend the committee on appointments and briefings meeting on Tuesday, December 9th, 2025, due to an out-of-town business commitment. Please read this letter into the record to make my colleagues and the public aware of the reason of my absence. Second by Councillor Oliver. All in favor say aye. Aye. I suppose the eyes have it. It was heard and then tabled on February eighteenth. The ayes have it, it's probably before us. As you may recall very briefly, we've been trying to get the social equity policy approved by the Cannabis Control Commission going back to August. It's still not been approved, but last week they said we could proceed with an HCA. As a result of that, I spoke to the administration, and the mayor has indicated he is happy to open a new round of applications limited solely to social equity applicants. However, the House of Diesel is not the only social equity applicant that has approached the planning board over the last few years with the intention of submitting an application. And as you know, the planning board did not accept any of those applications. So the planning board will be accepting only from social equity applicants. Applications for a host community agreement. But the administration believes that it is not appropriate when there is more than one applicant to grant it to one particular applicant that has been pressing for a license. It should be an open and equitable application. If you don't mind, I don't mean to interrupt you and I don't mean to disrespect you in any way. Hasn't this been going on for a while? When did this all come into play that um we had other players in the game and that we're gonna now we're gonna open this all up? So what you're telling me tonight is that this organization has to reapply all over again. They have to submit their application as soon as we open the round. We will have a definitive period of time to accept them. There will be other applicants. We're aware of at least one other application that was turned down because we weren't accepting applications in the same way that House of Diesel's application was not accepted, and there is at least one other, a third applicant who had made numerous inquiries and been told we aren't currently accepting applications. So now we are going to accept applications. The difficult thing, Counselor, and I recognize it, is the CCC has imposed a deadline that affects the House of Diesel financially. But this problem is created greatly by the CCC. They haven't responded me to me since August. They finally responded last week and said, yep, you can do this backwards. Go ahead and do an HCA, and we'll look at the HME CME after the fact. That came out eight days before the deadline for this grant application that I understand the House of Diesel is asking for. That is not the administration's problem. The problem is you have a state agency that hasn't been doing its job for the last four months. And as you recall at the last meeting, even the nice folks at House of Diesel acknowledged that the CCC can't get its acting gear. Okay. I'm going to yield for a minute. Okay. Council Baptiste. Thank you, Madam Chair. How are you doing, Councillor Jakes? The only issue I have with this is other people are going to benefit for the work that they put in. Right.
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