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New documents show med-mar scoring was completed ahead of schedule

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Illinois

* AP…

Newly released documents show former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn received recommendations on which businesses should receive lucrative medical marijuana licenses but did not act on them before leaving office.

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration released the material to The Associated Press and other news organizations in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Quinn said he would issue the licenses by the end of last year, but he did not act before Rauner succeeded him, saying agencies in charge of evaluating applications still had more work to do.

The documents appear to show the agencies made recommendations to Quinn around Dec. 25.

Quinn had set an unofficial January 1st deadline, and it appears his agencies beat that deadline.

* Were there political concerns?…

The applications went through a blind scoring process. But the records obtained show it wasn’t that straightforward.

The documents show that companies the Sun-Times has previously written about were either disqualified as dispensary applicants or put on “hold,” but no explanation was given.

Among those was HealthCentral, which had applied to the state for three downstate cultivation center licenses and two dispensary licenses, in Springfield and Collinsville.

A former Quinn chief of staff, Jack Lavin, served as the company’s lobbyist and a company owned by a partner in HealthCentral had been sued in Colorado for allegedly handing out marijuana-laced candy to unsuspecting Denver County fair goers.

And in the list of applicants recommended for dispensary licenses based on a supposedly blind scoring process, HealthCentral is ranked one and two. But their entry is highlighted in red and noted as disqualified, the records show.

So, the applicants went through a blind scoring process, which was apparently completed in December. Did Quinn and his top staff find out who the winners were and then decide not to take action that could cause the governor some embarrassment?

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 8:58 am

Comments

They were too busy working on the end of term report…

Yeah that’s the ticket…

Comment by OneMan Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 9:02 am
Simple answer to that question: Yes

Comment by Fred Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 9:11 am
Politics trumps policies in Illinois.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 9:12 am
I found it interesting that they released the IDFPR tally sheet that showed how each dispensary applicant scored, but the Department of Agriculture list only showed the final picks for cultivation licenses. It would be useful to see how the cultivation applicants were scored. GTI was going to get 3 cultivation licenses–a good return on investment for hiring Mike McClain, Terry Gainer, and Hillard Heintze.

Comment by Anon Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 9:14 am
Quinn’s gone. Move along. The questions regarding Med-Mar need to be directed to the current governor.

Comment by PublicServant Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 9:21 am
The last day there were the last minute appointments and the executive orders; they were just so busy taking meaningless actions that there was no time to do something that would actually matter.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 9:24 am
If PQ had awarded the licenses in the last two weeks, and high profile politicos were among the winners, the news treatment and political response would have been very harsh.

I guess I am among the few who think Quinn did the correct thing: defer final decisions to the next Governor who will have the responsibility of actually administering the program. Awarding the licenses during the closing days of his administration would have smacked of political expediency. Besides, Rauner would have overturned them with an Executive Order if he did.

Comment by Suburbanon Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 9:36 am
I wish I was a fly on the wall today inside some of the lobbying firms that went above and beyond to try and get a free ride with some of the groups that did not win! A lot of drinking will take place today lol

Comment by no suprise Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 9:48 am
“Did Quinn and his top staff find out who the winners were and then decide not to take action that could cause the governor some embarrassment?”

Yes

Comment by okgo Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 11:03 am
Is this all they released, the scoring summary? No supporting documents–notes, grading criteria, etc.?

Silly, really. They should make it pass/fail. If you pass, you get a license and good ol’ free market capitalism decides the rest.

Comment by What A Mess Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 11:03 am
== Did Quinn and his top staff find out who the winners were and then decide not to take action that could cause the governor some embarrassment?==

Another so-called ==trap== left for Rauner? Or just a courageous moment by Quinn?

We will see.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 11:15 am
Applicants who used no lobbyists should prevail…heh?

Comment by flea Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 11:21 am
I guess the question is, who put the “Disqualified” and “Hold” notations on? If it was DPFR, it’s odd that there’s no commentary at all. Withdrawals have comments stating why (usually because two applications submitted by same group in one district.)

The other Sun article about Bob Morgan’s emails on the matter shed a little more light. He had his staff preparing multiple press releases for different scenarios up until Rauner’s hand was in the air. Discussed releasing only 12 cultivation centers and 10 advisory board members OR 12 cultivation centers, 56 dispensaries and 10 advisory board members OR the 10 advisory board members only.

Seems he was as surprised as anyone it wasn’t done before noon that day.

Comment by Illini97 Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 11:32 am
He wanted to take action but was distracted by a bag of Cheetos; then he fell asleep.

Comment by enoughalready Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 12:58 pm
Its interesting how some would like to make decisions that are so complicated — uncomplicated.

I think if Quinn had time to sort through the questions regarding the medical mar, he would have.

He simply ran out of time.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 1:49 pm
Stories read that med mar decisions before left office — clearly that is not the case cause Quinn did not announce them == staff may have made recommendations but Quinn was the umpire — and he decided that if was too close to call and left decision to the permanent umpire (Rauner).

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 1:52 pm
Strip club operator Perry Mandera was on the list?

Kudos to whoever put a “hold” opposite his name.

Mandera was briefly a Republican Ward Committeeman twenty-five years ago from the 26th Ward.

Comment by Under Further Review Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 2:21 pm
I find it sad that more emphasis is placed on scoring and who got what than the people who will be most affected, the patients and caretakers who have award letters. What happens to them; their safety? I am fully understanding of the review process to be sure everything was done on the up and up, Rauner is new and of course they would never approve work they didn’t implement. However, time is ticking for many sick and dying patients.

My hope is now that the names have been released this applies pressure to Rauner and his staff to implement the review process STAT and hand it over to the Attorney General if required so we can move this program along. If there was corruption, scratch the business off and move down the line. Because, lets face it, without cultivation centers and dispensaries, we can’t get quality controlled product and we remain criminals.

Comment by Sandy Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 4:52 pm
Furthermore, there’s a lot of talk today regarding the releasing of names for dispensaries and cultivation centers. The winners want their licenses, the non-winners want the process to start over. I am a patient advocate for this program. Let it be clear here and now, I will NOT advocate for a start over. We worked too hard to get where we are and starting over is NOT an option. I will bust my behind to help this administration and our sponsors move forward, not backward. So if you hear of advocates and/or businesses that lost now advocating for a start over, it is not us. Our heart and soul went onto this and I will not take a chance of Jim or others being gone before this program is implemented.

Comment by Sandy Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 5:24 pm
It looks like the Sun Times will have even more on this tomorrow.

Comment by Formerly Known As... Monday, Jan 26, 15 @ 9:30 pm
This process needs to start over .. Pay to play is no longer an option to our legislators. There’s a new sheriff in Town and he will clean this mess up. Start the process over so it’s done fairly without corruption . The news is not going away on this issue.

Comment by SouthSide Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 12:47 pm
SouthSide, do you think you had enough empty slogans in that comment?

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jan 27, 15 @ 12:52 pm