Cannabis Dist. Supervisor Letter

Dear Supervisors;

Please follow the will of the voters and allow cannabis growers to get licenses. Two years into the program the County has issued zero commercial cannabis licenses. The result of not allowing licenses is loss of jobs, money in the local economy and taxes to support County needs.

When growers get legal licenses they:

• Hire employees
• Build security features - fences, cameras, lights and alarms
• Build buildings, driveways, sheds and greenhouses
• Build environmental protection features
• Add rural fire fighting features with water tanks, fire hydrants and better access driveways
• Contract for construction
• Contract for accounting and legal services
• Buy supplies and equipment

Cannabis could be an instant anti-COVID business stimulus. Had the County allowed 150 cultivation licenses there would have likely been 1000 new jobs, $10m in new taxes, and millions of dollars in economic activity in the depressed rural areas. Cannabis operations have a small environmental imprint that is similar to the imprint from other types of agriculture.

Please fix the commercial cannabis program by allowing cultivators to get licenses as soon as possible and

When cannabis cultivators get licenses our community will improve because of less illegal activity, new community support, and less neighbor to neighbor prejudice.

Thank you for making positive changes in El Dorado County.