STATE TREASURER Deborah Goldberg’s office indicated on Tuesday that she intends to meet next week with Shannon O’Brien to discuss why she suspended O’Brien as chair of the Cannabis Control Commission.
A spokesperson for the treasurer said the meeting would be private, suggesting the public will most likely remain in the dark about what led to O’Brien’s suspension more than two months ago. The spokesperson, Andrew Napolitano, declined to comment on why the meeting will be private, whether O’Brien wanted it to be private, and what the format of the meeting will be.
O’Brien’s spokesperson declined comment.
Goldberg suspended O’Brien on September 14. No reason was given for the suspension until two weeks later, when Goldberg said it was a result of “serious allegations made by a commissioner and CCC staff about the chair’s behavior.” An independent law firm was hired to conduct an investigation into O’Brien’s behavior, but that report has not been released to the public.
O’Brien put a lawsuit against Goldberg on hold when the treasurer said she would meet with her on November 7, a date that was subsequently pushed back to December 5. O’Brien, in a statement at the time, called the meeting a “hearing” and framed it as an “opportunity to explain in detail to the treasurer and the public the significant issues facing the Cannabis Control Commission, what I encountered when I tried to fix them, and explaining why I should immediately resume my duties at the Commission as chair.”
If the Goldberg-O’Brien meeting goes ahead on Tuesday, it’s unclear whether it will provide a resolution to the situation. Everything to do with this drama is very opaque.
In the meantime, the commission tasked with regulating the $5 billion cannabis industry has no chair, and the four remaining commissioners are having difficulty picking an acting chair amongst themselves. There is no foreseeable end to this situation until the O’Brien situation is addressed.
In the past several months, the CCC has lost its executive director, commission chair, chief financial officer, and chief operations officer. The CCC is looking for people to fill these positions. Chief People Officer Debbie Hilton-Creek, who has been at the commission for less than three months, is temporarily serving as the executive director.
Earlier this fall, lawmakers called for oversight hearings or new legislation to provide greater scrutiny of the commission. They cited ongoing problems with the commission’s handling of its complex regulatory responsibilities as well as the new uncertainties with O’Brien’s suspension. The commission needs more “oversight, transparency, and accountability,” according to a letter authored by Sens. Michael Moore, Michael Brady, and Bruce Tarr, and Reps. Donald Berthiaume and Michael Soter.
More recently, Moore sent a letter to state Auditor Diana Dizoglio requesting her to audit the cannabis commission. A DiZoglio spokesperson said that the auditor’s office is looking to incorporate Moore’s concerns in their next audit of the CCC which will begin in the next few months.