Prince George's County Cannabis Equity Work Group Meeting - August 6, 2026
Prince George's County Cannabis Equity Work Group Meeting - August 6, 2026
The meeting was held on August 6, 2026, starting at 9:00 AM. The board discussed town hall planning, reviewed a community survey, and received updates on the methodology and grant application. The meeting lost quorum before a vote on the survey could be taken, and next steps were deferred to a future meeting.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approval: The minutes from the previous meeting were approved by a motion from Valencia, seconded by Mayor and Yang, and carried unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Opening Remarks: Chair Carpenter expressed disappointment that the board might not attend the Mako conference due to budget constraints from the council. She emphasized the need for access to administrative fees to allow the board to operate effectively, as other boards across the state are able to do.
- Methodology Update: The methodology was presented to the county council on July 21, 2026, and the letter was approved for transmission to the Office of Social Equity, moving the process forward.
- Town Hall Planning:
- District 6 (Councilmember Hunter): Brianna Young, Chief of Staff, offered two locations: the Wayne K. Curry building tech lounge or the North Forestville Community Center. Board member Randy Atcheson recommended North Forestville due to its organic fit with the grant's mission and the area's historical impact from cannabis enforcement. The board agreed to the North Forestville location. The date was set for August 27, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM (the originally proposed August 31 date was unavailable). Registration will be encouraged but not required, and advance questions will be collected.
- District 4 (Councilmember Adams): Jabina Brown, Policy and Communications Director, will research the best centralized location (Greenbelt, Bowie, or Glendale/Lanham) and coordinate with Carlos Lopez. A September date is planned, with care to avoid conflicts with back-to-school nights.
- Outreach Materials: The board agreed to create a one-pager about the board's purpose and members. Carlos Lopez will assist with flyer design and community outreach.
- Survey Review: The board extensively discussed the community survey intended for distribution at town halls. Key points of debate included:
- Zip Code Question: Changed from a dropdown to an open-ended line with a "not sure" option, to capture all zip codes, not just those in disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs).
- Race and Ethnicity: Chair Carpenter advocated for keeping the question, stating it is important for analyzing community impact. Some members noted the Office of Social Equity advised against collecting race data to avoid discrimination, but the board ultimately decided to keep it as a separate question (race and ethnicity) to allow rolling up data.
- Income Question: Proposed by Crystal as an optional question to analyze responses by income level. Dr. Campbell opposed, arguing it could have a chilling effect and the survey is not random. No final decision was reached.
- Question Wording: Dr. Mims suggested aligning the survey language with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and state law. Specific changes included adding "programs" to truancy and absenteeism interventions, and updating transportation improvements to include "high-density areas that have public transportation."
- Organization Types: The list of organizations that should receive funding was updated to match the SOP, including established nonprofits, brand new nonprofits, educational institutions, health providers, and others. Dr. Mims questioned whether the public would understand the categories, but others noted it helps prioritize funding.
- Combined Questions: Dr. Mims noted that combining items like "youth enrichment and after school" into one rating option may confuse respondents who feel differently about each part. The board agreed to consider separating them.
- Open-Ended Options: The board agreed to include space for write-in responses for challenges not covered by the checkboxes.
- Grant Application: Originally on the agenda for review and approval, it was moved to the end of the meeting. Due to loss of quorum, no vote was taken.
Key Outcomes
- Town Hall Location and Date: The District 6 town hall will be held at North Forestville Community Center on August 27, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM.
- Survey Not Voted On: The board lost quorum at approximately 7:05 PM when Dr. Jordan left. The survey could not be approved. The board will attempt to vote on the survey via email or at the next meeting on August 19, 2026, to meet the deadline for the August 27 town hall.
- Next Steps: The board will meet again on August 19, 2026, to finalize and vote on the survey and grant application. Staff will incorporate the discussed changes into the survey before that meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Can you note that on the record on the recording? What has transpired? What we're doing? Yes, ma'am. And if you would, what is the uh the count for uh the roll call, Ms. Wright? Five, sir. Okay, five members present. Okay, madam chair, I'll turn it over to you for opening remarks before we move on with the one with the agenda. Just want to say thank you all for the attention you paid to um the methodology, the survey, all of the questions um that we have from the previous meeting. I know folks have weighed in to some extent, and then some folks we're weighing in tonight. Um, right now we don't have a quorum. Um, we do have some business to take care of. I will I will just start off at the opening of this to say that um, you know, I was hopeful that we would go to Mako conference next week. You know, we've you know receive feedback that that may not be a possibility due to some budget constraints from the board. I mean from the council. Um I will I want us to leverage that as an opportunity to show the importance of us having access to administrative fees so that we will be able to do what we need to do in accordance with how they have been written and how other organizations or other boards across the state are able to operate um that limitation and the fact that we were not allowed administrative funds has hindered us from the ability to be able to do things that we think serve the best interest of this board and also serve the best interest of our community. So I just want to emphasize that at the front end of this meeting um to say that we need to really advocate for access to the administrative fees that the law allows us to have. So just wanted to say that and recognizing that we have another member that has joined. Um just want to delve into the meeting in the interest of time. Thank you so much, uh, Mary and Yang. Can you say your name for the record, please? Uh good evening, Mrs. Mary and Yang. Okay, we do have a quorum. Then uh if we uh we probably should move back to the minutes, and um hopefully everyone has had an opportunity to review the minutes. Uh, thank you for placing those on the screen for us for those that this time if we have a motion to approve the minutes. This is Valencia. I would like to move for approval of our minutes. Second, this is Mayor and Yang. Randy I Dr. Jordan. And we'll see our uh. With that, thank you. The minutes are approved. We have uh on next on the agenda, madam of chair. If I may, I'll just provide a brief update about the uh status of the methodology. Yes, thank you. Okay. Just wanted to let everyone know that the uh methodology was presented before the county council during their final meeting of the year on the uh um July 21st, and the letter was approved for transmission to the Office of Social Equity. Um, and um that will uh that will allow that uh step in the process to begin moving as we begin uh the other steps in this process, which we'll be discussing uh later on on the agenda. But I just wanted to let everyone know that that has uh has moved forward. The uh the next item on the agenda is review and approval of the revised grant application and uh discussion and consideration of uh final approval of that application. Can we can I is it possible for us to motion to um shift that agenda item to after we finish? I feel like that should be the last agenda item. Um just so we can kind of get through the other two pieces really quickly. I think we can, but you let me know if it don't look like we can in the other two pieces, but one of which is the town hall and and and and the those pieces. Sure. I know we tend to spend a lot of time on this. Sure.
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