“I started to raise my antenna and just realized that there had to be some more oversight.”
After a summer of controversy over who would benefit from the commercialization of marijuana, Connecticut’s Social Equity Council, tasked with overseeing key elements of the state’s growing cannabis industry, appointed a new executive director last week to lead its efforts: former state Rep. Brandon McGee.
McGee’s experience in state government and the nonprofit sector should be effective, the council said, given the organization’s main goal of distributing community reinvestment funds generated by cannabis license fees to nonprofits in areas disproportionately impacted by the “war on drugs.”
“My career in public service, as a legislator and chair of both [the] Housing Committee and Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, has always been driven by a deep commitment to advocating for marginalized communities, and this opportunity aligns perfectly with my life’s mission,” McGee said. “My recent role as the deputy commissioner of housing has further fueled my dedication to ensuring everyone has a fair chance to succeed.”
Gov. Ned Lamont asked the office of Comptroller Sean Scanlon to audit the council’s management earlier this summer after questions were raised about how the Social Equity Council was distributing millions of dollars in tax revenues.
“We created the Social Equity Council to oversee the transfer of the cannabis market from one that for many decades was unregulated, operated dangerously and caused severe injustices and disparities to one that provides stronger public health and safety oversight while righting some of the wrongs caused by the so-called war on drugs,” Lamont said.
“Brandon, particularly through his service in the legislature and his role as deputy commissioner at the Connecticut Department of Housing, has spent much of his adult life serving as an advocate for those who have been historically disempowered and marginalized, and he has the exact experience and dedication needed to guide the council in carrying out the mission we envisioned when we enacted this law.”
The controversy
In June, the council’s chair, Andréa Comer, received a complaint that Ginne-Rae Clay, the previous executive director of the SEC, had suggested that a cannabis license applicant make a donation to a church in Waterbury she attended. The church was one of many businesses and organizations selected for an SEC grant.
Clay denied the claims, and the accusations divided the council.
The accusations brought up larger questions about who chose the recipients, how much each beneficiary was awarded and the guidance surrounding the grants.
Dividing the state into six regions and providing approximately $1 million to each, the council outsourced the process for choosing recipients to six nonprofits with grant-making experience: The Prosperity Foundation of New Haven, the Hispanic Federation of Hartford, the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, the United Way of Coastal & Western CT (Bridgeport), the United Way of Coastal & Western CT (Stamford) and NEST Waterbury.
It appeared that no one had a clear answer on the grant distribution process.
“Several stakeholders, including social equity applicants and legislators, have voiced concerns regarding the financial management and decision-making processes of the programs and initiatives under the purview of the SEC,” Lamont wrote at the time.
Others in government held concerns about the management of the SEC and the decision-making process for grant recipients, including members of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, a group McGee had been a part of.
“My members looked at the list, it’s like, ‘Hey, there are some agencies that are missing from this list that are on the ground doing the work,’” Sen. Patricia Billie Miller D-Stamford, the chair of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, previously told The Connecticut Mirror. “I started to raise my antenna and just realized that there had to be some more oversight.”
Eventually, Clay resigned in an emailed letter to the council.
“Regrettably, my final days in this role have been marred by unsubstantiated allegations, threats, and publicly leaked false narratives, all of which have unjustly called my character and integrity into question,” she wrote in the resignation letter. “I have informed the SEC staff of my decision and expressed my deep gratitude for the opportunity to collaborate with such a dedicated and resilient team.”
To select the next executive director, the SEC developed a hiring panel that included SEC chair and State Treasurer appointee Comer, Senate Minority Leader appointee Avery Gaddis, Black and Puerto Rican Caucus appointee Melvin Medina, and House Majority Leader appointee Ojala Naeem.
Once the hiring panel recommended the SEC appoint McGee, the Council “overwhelmingly” voted in favor of the selection.
Along with Lamont, others including Comer were supportive of the decision, citing his “decades of experience” and his “passion for empowering marginalized communities.”
Under McGee’s leadership, the SEC will be tasked with streamlining and solidifying its process for who receives grants, as well as fairly distributing the current $34 million in the Social Equity and Innovation Account, where 60% of cannabis taxes are deposited.
McGee’s tenure will begin on Aug. 30.
This article was republished from the Connecticut Mirror under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. You can read the original version here.
