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b'October 7, 2021 \\u2014 The Board of Supervisors discussed applications for over $20 million in state-funded cannabis grants this week. \\nThe $2.2 million dollar equity grant was awarded to the county last year by the Governor\\u2019s Office of Business and Economic Development. \\nThe much larger Local Jurisdiction Assistance Grant Program was approved as part of this year\\u2019s state budget as a way to help local governments move cannabis businesses into the regulated market. Mendocino County was one of seventeen cities and counties eligible to apply for a certain amount, in this case just a little over $18 million. \\nBut applicants to the smaller equity grant are frantic at the possibility that they won\\u2019t get their awards before the deadline in February. If the county doesn\\u2019t allocate the funds by then, the money will have to go back to the state.\\nEquity grant applicants must be able to demonstrate moderate income, which is just under $68k for a household of two, and that they suffered specific harms from the drug war. About fifty people have applied for awards, which cap out at $50k. Twenty three of about fifty applicants have been approved so far. Supervisor Glenn McGourty asked cannabis program manager Kristen Nevedal if she was still suggesting that recipients get all the money up front, before the proposed projects are completed. Nevedal said yes, because a lot of the proposed projects couldn\\u2019t be completed before the clock runs out on the grant. \\u201cThose are really generous terms,\\u201d McGourty noted. \\u201cI\\u2019ve never seen grants like that before in my life.\\u201d\\nSupervisors pondered eliminating the income threshold for the equity grant, or prioritizing various criteria. Though Nevedal said applicants typically use tax returns to prove their income, Supervisor Ted Williams said he wanted to make sure the awards were not going to anyone who had failed to file taxes.\\nNursery owner Ron Edwards took issue with bringing taxes into the discussion, and he and Williams had an exchange during public comment. \\u201cThat\\u2019s absolutely possible,\\u201d he said, when Williams asked him what it means when someone grows 10,000 square feet of cannabis and reports zero income. \\u201cYou could get bad clones from someone and you don\\u2019t pass the certificate of analysis,\\u201d Edwards offered as an example. \\u201cRemember, cannabis is reviewed more than any other product that goes to market, so there are a lot more ways for this product to fail.\\u201d Communications on the part of the county as well as the grower community could use some improvement, he allowed, but \\u201cwe are here addressing the equity grant issue, and I think that\\u2019s what the focus should be.\\u201d\\nThe board agreed unanimously to prioritize applicants who are up to date on their taxes, with preference given to those who have already applied.\\nThe county itself has until November 15 to apply for the $18 million grant to get its provisional permit holders over the line to their annual state licenses. Williams had a couple of gripes, and suggested that the county send a letter to the state, saying the state system doesn\\u2019t work for the county. \\u201cIt\\u2019s like the state sent us a puzzle, and it\\u2019s missing half the pieces,\\u201d he analogized. \\u201cI know it\\u2019s an eighteenth century approach, but maybe we should pass a resolution, send it back to the state, and just be open about it. We tried. This program doesn\\u2019t work for our county. What do you want us to do?\\u201d\\nHe also doesn\\u2019t think the money will go very far, with short-staffed county departments, the high cost of living, and expensive contractors, \\u201cif we could find one who would take this project. And you\\u2019ve got to wonder about anybody who thinks this is a good assignment. Eighteen million sounds like a lot. It\\u2019s not enough to get the job done...these are Band-aids.\\u201d\\nBut Michael Katz, the director of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, sees the grant as a sign that the state is taking the plight of small growers seriously. \\u201cI would say this is a significant Band-aid,\\u201d he opined. \\u201cIt\\u2019s more like triage...so the state is not throwing their hands up. They\\u2019re continuing to move this conversation forward and that\\u2019s what we need to do for this substantial component of this community. We don\\u2019t get to throw our hands up and walk away.\\u201d'