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Record of Proceedings

Prince George's County CRF Board Informational Meeting - October 22, 2026

County Council & Boards — Thursday, October 22, 2026
BodyPrince Georges County, Maryland
SessionCounty Council & Boards
DateThursday, October 22, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:31:32

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

But for the purpose of the roll call, Mr.

0:03

Randy Attrison should be considered excuse absence for an event that he had to attend tonight, as well as Ms.

0:11

Deborah Mims.

0:13

Both of them emailed or messaged to say that they would not be able to attend.

0:17

So just want to make

Unassigned speaker

0:18

that

Speaker 1

0:18

note for the record.

Unassigned speaker

0:23

And

Speaker 2

0:24

I know Miss Doris had texted me.

0:26

She was having difficulties getting in.

Speaker 1

0:28

Right.

0:29

I text her the link, so she should be coming shortly.

Unassigned speaker

0:34

So

Speaker 1

0:34

hopefully we'll hear her shortly.

0:36

Okay, roll call is complete and

Unassigned speaker

0:41

I

Speaker 1

0:42

think we're probably one short of quorum.

Speaker 2

0:48

Yeah.

0:50

You can just indicate that this is this meeting is for informational purposes since we don't have a quorum and you can start that way.

Speaker 1

0:58

Since this meeting, uh, we did not meet quorum.

1:01

The time is 612.

1:02

We have not met quorum yet.

1:03

So this meeting will be held for informational purposes only, meaning there will be no official voting tonight.

Unassigned speaker

1:10

Just

Speaker 1

1:11

wanted to state that for the record, but we still will proceed with the agenda for the non-voting items.

1:19

Mr.

1:20

Tet, you want to run agenda?

1:21

You want me to?

Speaker 2

1:23

You probably need to go ahead and tell you get

Speaker 1

1:25

back.

Speaker 2

1:26

Yeah.

Speaker 1

1:26

I have a few items.

1:30

Um, and at the end of the meeting, we

Unassigned speaker

1:32

will

Speaker 1

1:32

uh have public comments for public folks that might be on the line that want to weigh in on any of the things that we're discussing tonight or any recommendations for the board.

1:43

Um we have an invited guest today, Miss Courtney Davis, um, who's the deputy director of the Maryland Office of Social Equity.

1:52

That is very we are very excited that Ms.

1:55

Davis decided to join us today.

1:57

Um we appreciate the work that you all have been doing across the state.

2:01

Um, but I'll let you introduce yourself and tell them about your role and the role that OSE plays.

2:08

Well, I guess it kind of shifted the role that OSE plays for the cannabis reinvestment um boards or the CRF funds.

Speaker 3

2:18

Yeah.

2:19

Good evening, everyone.

2:20

Thank you all so much for inviting

Unassigned speaker

2:22

me.

Speaker 3

2:23

Um,

Unassigned speaker

2:23

as

Speaker 3

2:24

Crystal mentioned, my name is Courtney Davis.

2:26

Um, I'm joined today by Artie Kamale, who is the um serves of our chief of external affairs, as well as I believe the secretary might be on Secretary Simmons.

2:40

And so just wanted to acknowledge them.

2:43

Um we really appreciate your interest in CRF and your commitment to ensuring that these resources benefit the communities that they were intended to serve.

2:54

Um, in terms of our office's role, um, I'll talk a little bit about you know, the fund was established through the Maryland Cannabis Reform Act of 2023.

3:05

You guys probably already know that,

Unassigned speaker

3:07

um,

Speaker 3

3:08

to reinvest resources in communities that were disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of cannabis prohibition.

3:15

Our office is responsible for statewide oversight of the fund, including supporting compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, um, reviewing the jurisdictional reporting, which was due on October 1st, um, providing guidance and facilitating training.

3:34

Um, and so as well as the implementation plan.

3:38

Our focus is is essentially to ensure that the resources are administered transparently, consistently, and in accordance with state law.

3:48

Uh the law establishes the permissible uses of CRF funding, which you guys are probably all familiar with through the statute, which includes community-based initiatives benefiting low-income communities, as well as specific requirements related to the distribution and administration of funds.

4:05

In July of this year, our office adopted emergency regulations.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Grant Applications█████████████████████████████████████████████47%
Cannabis Regulation███████████████████████24%
Procedural███████████12%
Public Engagement███████7%
Data Management███3%
Community Engagement███3%
Government Operations██2%
Racial Equity██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Prince George's County CRF Board Informational Meeting - October 22, 2026

The Prince George's County Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund (CRF) Board held an informational meeting on October 22, 2026, starting at 6:12 PM and adjourning at 7:43 PM. The meeting lacked a quorum, so no official votes were taken; all discussions were for informational and planning purposes. The board welcomed guests from the Maryland Office of Social Equity (OSE) and reviewed progress on the grant application process, scoring rubric, and community engagement efforts.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public offered comments during the designated public comment period.

Discussion Items

  • Presentation by Maryland Office of Social Equity: Courtney Davis, Executive Director of OSE, accompanied by Artie Kamale (Chief of External Affairs) and Secretary Walter Simmons (Maryland Department of Social and Economic Mobility), provided an overview of the CRF program. Davis explained that the fund was established by the Maryland Cannabis Reform Act of 2023 to reinvest in communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition. OSE oversees statewide compliance, reviews jurisdictional reports (due October 1), and issued emergency regulations (COMAR 14.17.23) in July 2026. Davis emphasized the importance of meaningful community engagement, transparency, and plans for permanent regulations by January 2027. Secretary Simmons noted the state's budget deficit and cautioned that unspent funds could be reallocated by the legislature, urging counties to develop and communicate plans.

  • Board Questions and Discussion: Board members raised several topics:

    • Reporting templates: OSE confirmed no template was provided for the current year, but one will be available next year.
    • Administrative expenses: The 15% cap on administrative costs was explained as a guardrail to stand up operations.
    • Comparison to Local Impact Grants (casino): Secretary Simmons and Artie Kamale clarified that while the high-level structure is similar (revenue from regulated industries), the granular details of allowable uses and distribution differ significantly.
    • Timelines and infrastructure: Board members discussed the typical one-year timeline for counties to build infrastructure and the importance of communication with the state to avoid fund reallocation.
    • Community engagement update: Chair Eubanks reported that the board has held three town halls (Districts 1, 6, and 4) and is scheduling additional ones on October 28 (Iverson Mall) and November 14 (Oxon Hill) to ensure South County coverage. Board members also tabled at farmers markets and sought meetings with the county executive and council chair, which have not yet occurred.

  • Grant Application and Scoring Rubric Review: Shannon Rogers from the county's grants division presented the proposed application and scoring rubric. The rubric covers compliance, organizational strength, program design, outcomes, financial management, collaboration, and scoring weights. Board members provided feedback:

    • Implementation capacity and readiness should be added as a scoring category.
    • Preferences for Prince George's County-based organizations or those serving specific target populations (e.g., low-income, racial minority, female-led) should be included, potentially as bonus points.
    • The rubric should be more detailed to reduce subjectivity and align with the approved methodology.
    • The application should capture previous county funding and allow for detailed budget breakdowns (e.g., housing vs. transportation).
    • Rogers agreed to revise the rubric and application to incorporate suggestions, with changes highlighted in red, and circulate a new draft before the next meeting.

  • Future Meeting Dates: The board discussed holding its next regular meeting on Wednesday, November 4, 2026 (subject to quorum) and a virtual town hall on Wednesday, November 18, 2026. Though no formal vote could occur, there was consensus to proceed with the virtual town hall.

Key Outcomes

  • No votes were taken due to lack of quorum; all discussion items are pending formal action at a future meeting.
  • The board directed Shannon Rogers to revise the grant scoring rubric and application based on feedback, including adding implementation readiness, local preference considerations, and more detailed scoring criteria. The revised documents will be distributed for board review before the next meeting.
  • The board agreed to hold a virtual town hall on November 18, 2026, to continue community outreach.
  • The meeting minutes from the previous session were not adopted and will be held for approval at the next meeting with a quorum.

Meeting Transcript

But for the purpose of the roll call, Mr. Randy Attrison should be considered excuse absence for an event that he had to attend tonight, as well as Ms. Deborah Mims. Both of them emailed or messaged to say that they would not be able to attend. So just want to make that note for the record. And I know Miss Doris had texted me. She was having difficulties getting in. Right. I text her the link, so she should be coming shortly. So hopefully we'll hear her shortly. Okay, roll call is complete and I think we're probably one short of quorum. Yeah. You can just indicate that this is this meeting is for informational purposes since we don't have a quorum and you can start that way. Since this meeting, uh, we did not meet quorum. The time is 612. We have not met quorum yet. So this meeting will be held for informational purposes only, meaning there will be no official voting tonight. Just wanted to state that for the record, but we still will proceed with the agenda for the non-voting items. Mr. Tet, you want to run agenda? You want me to? You probably need to go ahead and tell you get back. Yeah. I have a few items. Um, and at the end of the meeting, we will uh have public comments for public folks that might be on the line that want to weigh in on any of the things that we're discussing tonight or any recommendations for the board. Um we have an invited guest today, Miss Courtney Davis, um, who's the deputy director of the Maryland Office of Social Equity. That is very we are very excited that Ms. Davis decided to join us today. Um we appreciate the work that you all have been doing across the state. Um, but I'll let you introduce yourself and tell them about your role and the role that OSE plays. Well, I guess it kind of shifted the role that OSE plays for the cannabis reinvestment um boards or the CRF funds. Yeah. Good evening, everyone. Thank you all so much for inviting me. Um, as Crystal mentioned, my name is Courtney Davis. Um, I'm joined today by Artie Kamale, who is the um serves of our chief of external affairs, as well as I believe the secretary might be on Secretary Simmons. And so just wanted to acknowledge them.

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