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File Number: 15-463 <br />principals of HSL to the City Manager and staff that HSL is separate, in organization and <br />management, from Harborside Oakland, in that it will be its own collective. As such, the <br />Department of Justice would have to file its own civil forfeiture action against HSL, and its <br />assets. <br />The prospect of that occurring today, versus three years ago when the Department of Justice <br />brought the initial action against Harborside Oakland, is arguably low because of several <br />subsequent pronouncements and events related to Federal civil enforcement, investigations, <br />and prosecution of medical cannabis dispensaries and patients, and the funding for those <br />activities. August 29, 2013, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole issued a Memorandum <br />to all United States Attorneys, a copy of which is attached to this staff report, which shifted <br />federal enforcement away from strict enforcement of federal cannabis laws towards a more <br />hands-off approach in "jurisdictions that have enacted laws legalizing marijuana in some form <br />and that have also implemented strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems to <br />control the cultivation, distribution, sale and possession of marijuana." San Leandro's strong <br />regulatory and enforcement systems that follow the prevailing State laws and closely track the <br />California Attorney General's Guidelines are the minimum standard; the City Manager and <br />staff also met with and took advice from staff of other jurisdictions more advanced in their <br />experience with medical cannabis dispensaries, most notably the City of Oakland, Alameda <br />County, and the City and County of San Francisco, for best practices and lessons learned, <br />which have been incorporated into the analysis of the applications, and proposed conditions <br />of approval. <br />Additionally, in December 2014, as part of the federal spending bill, an amendment was <br />passed that basically blocks the Department of Justice from spending federal funds to <br />prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries or patients that abide by state laws. Finally, the <br />City and its State lobbyist are actively commenting and monitoring AB 266, which is the <br />Legislature's latest, and it appears most successful attempt so far, at establishing <br />comprehensive medical cannabis regulations meant in significant measure to put California in <br />compliance with the Cole memo. In weighing these matters, the City Manager is reasonably <br />assured that legal issues related to Harborside Oakland, coupled with the Federal shift in <br />enforcement priorities away from medical cannabis dispensaries and patients, will not have a <br />detrimental effect on HSL, and that HSL is not significantly exposed to a future civil forfeiture <br />action. <br />Conclusion <br />As outlined above, this recommendation represents the culmination of a methodical and <br />objective screening process with an extensive public process that was guided using the <br />Council -adopted criteria, based on industry best practices. All eight of the Phase III <br />applications were submitted by teams who currently operate permitted dispensaries <br />throughout various other jurisdictions in Northern California, and several of the top teams <br />demonstrated local ties with San Leandro residents serving in some capacity in their executive <br />management or oversight boards. Therefore, in staff's estimation, all eight of these teams <br />demonstrated the capacity to operate a viable dispensary in San Leandro. However, given <br />that San Leandro's adopted dispensary ordinance allows for only one dispensary, the City <br />Manager and staff focused on identifying the applicant that demonstrated the superior <br />combination of knowledge, experience and expertise based on the totality of quantitative and <br />qualitative factors measured against the Council -adopted criteria. Pursuant to that totality, the <br />City Manager recommends that the City Council select Harborside San Leandro for the award <br />City of San Leandro Page 8 Printed on 9/212015 <br />