First Few Applicants Appointed to Kodiak City Council Marijuana Advisory Special Committee

KMXT sunburst logoKayla Desroches/KMXT

The Kodiak City Council’s marijuana advisory special committee has had three applicants so far, all of which the council appointed to the committee at its regular meeting last night.

However, not all councilmembers were satisfied with the process of selecting candidates from the public. Councilman Charlie Davidson made a motion to postpone the three appointments to the marijuana advisory special committee in order to have more time to interview the candidates. The motion failed with all councilmembers except Davidson and Councilman Gabriel Saravia against.

Councilman Rich Walker explained he thought the existing selection process was sufficient.

“We actually have councilmembers running this, just like it would be us in there. And with that, I think we have that interview process covered, plus they’re letting us know, and we’re finding out about any of the additional people coming on board, so at this time, I think we’re getting where you want to be with that by having our own councilmembers as chairmen on the committee, Charlie.

The motion having failed, the council went ahead and appointed the applicants to the committee, two as city business owners and one as a city resident.

The business owner representatives are substance abuse counselor Jonathan Strong, owner of Strong Solutions, and Janiese Stevens, whose business, Three Sisters Co-op, is licensed under “agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting.”

Stevens is also the first Kodiak resident to submit a marijuana business license application to the Alaska Marijuana Control Board. On her application, she lists Three Sisters Co-op as the business she hopes to be licensed, and that license application is currently labeled as “under review.”

As for the city resident representative, the council appointed Glenn Yngve to that seat. Yngve says he’s worked in flooring installation, spent time as a fisherman and is now retired.

While Yngve will sit only on the city’s marijuana advisory special committee, both Strong and Stevens hold seats on the borough’s marijuana task force, Strong as the medical professional and Stevens as the retail business owner. The two city councilmembers appointed to the committee, Laura Arboleda and Randy Bishop, are also the city representatives on the borough’s marijuana task force.

The three applicants the council appointed were the only three individuals that have applied since the clerk’s office starting advertising, and one city resident seat is still open for interested community members. Applicants should send a letter of interest to the city clerk’s office.

Check Also

Kodiak Fisheries Workgroup setting priorities and action items to help local fishers after four year hiatus

The Kodiak’s Fisheries Workgroup wants to host informational forums to speed along fish-related action items …

%d bloggers like this: