Subject: Massachusetts Open Meeting Law & State Ethics

To: Evan Brassard, Monson Town Administrator

From: Eric Schwartz, Farm Bug Co-op Co-founder

Date: Thursday, August 16th, 2019, 4:27PM

Hello Evan:

I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to convey that I always find the democratic
process in towns like Monson to be a very beautiful thing to watch. I like that town
residents vote in town meetings. It gives citizens a voice over policy. Where I live in
Somerville, Massachusetts, we elect City Councilors. However, we do not get a vote on any
local policies. I am currently engaged in an effort in my city to give more voice to the voters.
There are very few opportunities to comment publicly around the issues that face my city
and I believe that it is very undemocratic. So, I'm always happy to see democracy at work as
I did in Monson for the Special Meeting.

The purpose of my email is not to weigh in on the political process of the Adult Use
Marijuana Bylaws in Monson as it stands. As an entrepreneur, I do my best to stay neutral
on local political entanglements. However, as an advocate at the state-level that works with
our state legislature, the Attorney General's Office, and the Cannabis Control Commission
(along with a number of other various Departments and agencies), I feel that it is my
responsibility to represent local residents when it comes to matters of state law and ethics.
I also think that it is my responsibility, as a local entrepreneur in this space to see to it that
the process of the adult use marijuana is carried out in a fair and just manner, which means
the upholding of state law and state precedents.

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The first item that I wanted to address was the open meeting law violation that occurred on
the Adult Use Marijuana Committee in Monson, which was confirmed by the Attorney
General's office. According to the letter, Monson was "ordered" (their words, not mine) to
make public the emails referenced in their letter along with attachments. To the best of my
knowledge, this has not yet occurred. Please correct me if I am mistaken there. The state
ordered this done within 30 days of their decision. I asked my contact at the AG's office
what the normal procedure was and she said that such violations are normally
acknowledged in the next meeting of the group. Although I did see the Committee
discussion around the complaint of a possible violation, I have not seen any follow up on
this matter after the ruling (at least to the best of my knowledge).

The second item that I wanted to take up is related to Mr. Craig Sweitzer's involvement on
the Adult Use Marijuana Bylaw Committee and his position as Chair of the Monson
Planning Board. Per Mr. Sweitzer himself during the Special Meeting, the business that he
owns is employed by a marijuana facility. I can only assume that he is employed by Holistic
Industries, Inc. As such, I have already emailed Josh Genderson and David Cohen about this
matter. What I will mention to you is essentially what I said to them. What this means is
that Mr. Sweitzer now must recuse himself from the process of the creation of the adult use
marijuana bylaws. Although Mr. Sweitzer seemed to recuse himself the evening of the
Special Meeting, I am not aware that anything has been made official about this recusal. My
own City Councilor had to recuse himself from the zoning process of adult use marijuana
due to owning a commercial property within the zoned area. What this meant (which I saw
in person) was that he could not even be in the room when adult use marijuana zoning was
being discussed by my City Council.

As I conveyed to both Josh and David over email and will convey to you here, the State
Ethics Commission is very clear on conflicts of interests, particularly as they relate to what
the state describes as "Self-dealing:"

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Public employees may not participate in their public position in matters in which they or
any of their immediate family members have a personal financial interest, unless they get
an exemption.

The State Ethics Commission, from what I understand, can also issue a $10K fine for such
practices that violate these ethics.

To the best of my knowledge, the next Planning Board Meeting is occurring next Tuesday
(according to their usual schedule listed online). I trust that Mr. Sweitzer's recusal will be
carried out during this meeting, as he has already seemingly recused himself in a public
forum. If this recusal does not occur, I will have to submit a formal complaint to the State
Ethics Commission. I don't see such a complaint being a political act, as all of the
information that I have seen and heard seems to show a clear conflict of interest. If you
agree, hopefully it can be cleared up so that a complaint doesn't have to be filed. If you'd
like, you can read the entire state law around conflict of interest in Chapter 268A, Section
19.

The third and last item relates to something that you said in a public forum during the
Special Meeting on July 22nd. I would like to preface my comments here by conveying that
this item pertains much less to law and precedent and much more to a grey area that we
are in right now with the emerging cannabis industry in the state of Massachusetts. As you
know, much of this has not been litigated yet. But, as an entrepreneur, I need to be reading
as much as I can to create a successfully profitable business. The implication that I got from
a statement you made during the Special Meeting was that the Town of Monson would
engage with a non-retail operator in a host community agreement that accepted donations
above the 3% community impact fee. At least that was how I took your comments. Again,
much of this is tough legally at the moment, but our legislature has stated on several

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occasions that any host community agreement for adult use marijuana that promises
donations above the 3% impact fee is not consistent with what was written into law
under Chapter 94G, Section 3. My Senator, Patrician Jehlen, who sits on the Joint Committee
on Marijuana Policy, was very clear on this in her comments in 2018 in the Boston Globe
where she called such host community agreements "illegal." There is also currently a bill in
the legislature (Bill S.1126) that will likely pass this year that would give the Cannabis
Control Commission further authority to oversee host community agreements. I am in
regular contact with both Senator Jehlen's office and Senator Cyr's office (where this bill
came out of). I am only bringing this up because it is my opinion, given what I see and hear
and given where this seems to be going, that any such host community agreement signed
that go over the 3% community impact fee could be subject to litigation in the future. This
is an issue that is still very much playing out, but I wanted to provide you with the full
information that I have at this stage. Certainly, take it as you will. Much needs to be litigated
when it comes to legal cannabis. But, I thought this perspective would be helpful following
your comments at the Special Meeting. If I by any chance misheard or misunderstood your
comments, please disregard this and my apologies if that was the case.

As an advocate, I've always taken on the responsibility to educate both town officials and
the public about this new industry--its laws and its regulations (which, as you know, can be
very layered and complicated). Also, as you know, there are also many misconceptions
about the plant. You mentioned to me in Monson once that your brother works at Holistic
and I would imagine that he still deals with the stigma of marijuana on a daily basis. There
is hope I think, though, as I am seeing progress (although slow) as the perception is starting
to change across the state as folks get more educated. The industry is only at its infancy and
we have a long way to go. It's a bright future for sure, but it's taking a lot of advocacy and
education to get us there. As I mentioned to both Josh and David, what I always strive to
ensure is a fair and ethical process. This has been my position since the beginning, whether
it is when I am speaking to our legislature or the Cannabis Control Commission, as I did

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yesterday in Springfield, Massachusetts. That was something to watch, by the way. It's the
most farmers and farmer advocates that I have seen testify in front of the CCC in all of my
experience and it was a common message from all of them. At the end of the day, the
farmers want the ability to grow this plant legally for the commercial market because of the
business opportunity that it presents. I've heard too often along the way from our local
farmers that are struggling. I can't remember if you have any dairy farms in Monson. But,
man, I hear this from dairy farmers all the time. Those price drops have really hit dairy
hard over the past decade or so.

Thanks in advance for your attention to these matters and for reading my comments. I am
available, as needed, should my knowledge be of any service to you or the Town of Monson.
I know all too well the emotion that goes along with the roll out of adult use marijuana. I
see the emotion everywhere I go in the state of Massachusetts. At the end of the day,
though, marijuana is legal in our state. The state needs to ensure, at all levels of our
government, that the process is carried out in a manner that is best for its citizens while
upholding law, precedents, and state ethics.

My Sincerest Regards,

Eric

Eric R. Schwartz
Co-founder
Farm Bug Co-op
eric@farmbug.coop
farmbug.coop