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Morro Bay awards pot shop permit to political donor

July 18, 2019

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Following the lead of Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo, the city of Morro Bay has awarded one of its marijuana dispensary permits to Natural Healing Center, a business owned by local pot mogul Helios Dayspring, a political donor to multiple council members. [Cal Coast Times]

Morro Bay’s marijuana ordinance only allows for two pot shops to operate in the city. Under the ordinance, Morro Bay’s city manager selected the two recipients of the pot shop permits following a recommendation by a committee.

City Manager Scott Collins tentatively awarded the permits to Natural Healing Center and the Sacramento-based pot business Perfect Union, which currently operates several dispensaries in the Sacramento area.

Natural Healing Center currently operates a dispensary in Grover Beach and is in the process of opening a San Luis Obispo location. The permit awarded for the Grover Beach dispensary has been the subject of pay-for-play allegations centered around Dayspring and a former mayor of the South County city.

Likewise, the city of SLO has been criticized for awarding two of its dispensary permits to major donors to the mayor and a pair of councilwomen. Last October, Dayspring and Natural Healing Center hosted a fundraiser for eight local politicians, including three current members of the SLO City Council and now-Morro Bay Mayor John Headding and now-Councilwoman Dawn Addis.

A total of six applicants applied for Morro Bay’s two dispensary slots. A subcommittee consisting of the police chief, fire chief, and finance director conducted interviews and recommended two dispensaries to Collins.

The employees of Natural Healing Center and Perfect Union must still pass background checks prior to the businesses receiving their Morro Bay operating permits.


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don’t be so hard on NHC or the local politicians! Had local businesses not been so stingy with bribes and campaign contributions they could have purchased licenses too. Shoot, if enough money was offered, they would allow for another dispensary to open.


We all know about Pay to Play. If you don’t do it you’ve got no one to blame but yourself! Either you’re too idealistic and have the stupid notion that we’re all equal under the law and that “fairness” applies, or we’re too lazy and stingy to cough up millions of dollars to bribe local officials.


Either way, NHC bought their representation fair and square. If you can’t play ball in the big (bribe) leagues, then it’s best to watch it on TV.


9

Folks, we all have access to the FOA, I do it, use it, find out where the money is at. We were all blind to the wine and Ag industry until Chavez, then lost steam. Let this all be transparent, and make awesome tax revenue on a cheap product to grow ecological indoors even. These business’s have not been totally busted federaly, therefore they are ok now I guess.


-1

I gotta hand it to nhc, they know how to pick winners. Everyone at this fundraiser won. Not a loser in the bunch!

This is what they used to call “legalized graft” something fishy, maybe even a bit crooked, but legal


6

Not altogether legal. Dark money, or concealing the source of campaign funds by using employees, or a variety of LLCs owned by donors, or different addresses is not transparent and violates Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) rules. It is likely a RICO (Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations) violation to have an application before a government body and donate to the councilmembers and mayors up for election using a different name or names and different addresses or LLCs than the name and address of the applicant. This was the practice of all the players featured in the flyer in this article, and of their donors. I expect those of you out there with more legal expertise than I can add to the list of legal violations! Conflict of interest anyone?


3

What a swamp.


13

Folks,


Lock em’ up!


The political corruption associated with the permitting process for marijuana dispensaries speaks poorly of our local politicians, and those involved ought to be subject to investigation and prosecution. Enough is enough.


The following local politicians have engaged in a quid pro quo with the marijuana dispensary operators, and ALL should recuse themselves from any further participation on issues surrounding this marijuana:


Heidi Harmon: Mayor of SLO.


John Headding: Mayor of Morro Bay.


Dawn Addis: Morro Bay Councilwoman.


Jeff Lee: Mayor of Grover Beach.


Miriam Shah: Grover Beach Councilwoman.


Barbara Nicholls: Grover Beach Councilwoman.


Erika Stewart: SLO Councilwoman.


Carlyn Christianson: SLO Councilwoman.


These same people have the audacity to justify some of their whacky political decisions by claiming they are acting on behalf of the ‘next generation’, but it is now obvious that these people are willing to expose our youth to drugs if it helps fund their political career. Shame on the hypocrites!


It is a betrayal of our children to embrace drugs and to introduce corruption into our local politics.


5

Several businesses of rotten tomatoes in a bushel isn’t the real issue, when the bushel was already rotten. Our kids have more to worry about than marijuana, really. Dui death and too many wine bars and bars, and its permitting process should matter more.


3

My concern is the seniors. The only open/opening dispensaries in Grover Beach are those whose owners number convicted felons among them. Clean local and out of town businesses were either denied permits or refused to do business in Grover Beach because they wouldn’t agree to extortion and bribery. Those who find relief from cannabis for chronic conditions (many with the support of their medical practitioners) need and deserve reliable, non-toxic medical marijuana. Clean products come from clean providers.


3

Just show me the money


9

Government created monopolies. Jeez they don’t even try to hide the corruption anymore, award the permits to proven “play alongs”. So much for pot being an egalitarian business opportunity. The stench of this corruption is unbelievable


22

Common in every state, nation and country sadly. China, Usa. Etc and Slo county, of corse there is favoritism and lobbying. Look at Measure G.


-2

So that makes it OK?


0

Wasn’t there a time when we believed that we in the United States held a higher standard than the banana republics?


2

Nice way to use there power & positions. sweet mary~jane was voted in to create revenue……

The City of Atascadero has plenty of vacant buildings and could use revenue, where”s all the pot shop applications?


12

Anyone who believes this isn’t Corrupt Crony Capitalism of the worst order is just blind.

Pay to Play in Small Town America where the Political Connected Class take care of their own.

But don’t expect there to be outrage…there is too much fun with fake issues on FakeBook….


18

How do we fix a free market and greed though, the demise of every past culture and civilization. I ponder daily. Even good people eat the apple in eden sadly.


-4

The greed here is all on the part of the government, to squeeze money and POWER out of an ancient plant literally as easy to grow as a weed, on the pretense that the “weed” poses a danger if not regulated because of some who ABUSE the weed.


Blaming a person’s downfall on the abuse of and/or addiction to drugs or alcohol, is like blaming a pencil for a misspelled word. In a free market, the price of liberty is that CONSUMERS are responsible for how they consume a product.


In a dictatorship, government is responsible for overseeing what and how products are distributed to consumers, and at what profit.


History has shown which model works best.


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