Clouted mix of insiders, others tied to state politics behind social equity pot bid

A famed restaurateur.

An ex-Chicago police commander.

A longtime Republican Occasion operative.

A former Chicago Transit Authority official.

A hashish trade insider associated to a former state lawmaker.

A former director of the state company that oversees weed dispensaries.

What do all of them have in frequent?

They’re working collectively for Inexperienced Renaissance Illinois, a budding agency that was lately named a finalist within the state lottery for the subsequent spherical of pot store licenses.

The corporate submitted 25 good purposes underneath the identify GRI Holdings LLC, that means it might win the fitting to confide in 10 shops. Underneath one estimate, these licenses might be price greater than $133 million.

GRI’s registered managers make up a clouted mixture of insiders and others with ties to state politics, together with restaurant mogul Phil Stefani; former high-ranking Chicago cop Thomas Wheeler Jr. and John Trotta, the CTA’s former vp of buying and warehousing. Ashley Barry, the previous director of operations for the Illinois Home Republican Group, can also be serving as GRI’s neighborhood outreach coordinator.

All through the appliance course of, GRI has been guided by two consultants with shut ties to Springfield: Ross Morreale, the co-founder of one of many state’s extremely profitable marijuana cultivation websites and brother-in-law of former state Rep. Michael McAuliffe (R-Chicago), and Jay Stewart, a former director of the Illinois Division of Monetary and Skilled Regulation, the company that may difficulty the brand new pot store licenses.

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What’s extra, GRI’s listed deal with in Hinsdale is identical workplace suite utilized by a number of high-powered lobbyists registered with the state. GRI spokeswoman Anne Kavanagh stated the placement is merely a mailing deal with and insisted that not one of the tenants are financially tied to the corporate.

Underneath heavy fireplace from scorned candidates and Democratic lawmakers calling for a halt to the lottery over issues the appliance course of favored extremely capitalized and related corporations like GRI, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s workplace has continued to boast that the entire 21 lottery contributors — out of greater than 900 corporations that submitted purposes — are so-called social fairness candidates. These are the parents given a leg-up within the course of in an effort to bolster variety within the white world of weed.

‘In full compliance with state rules’

After the Solar-Occasions reached out to a number of individuals tied to GRI, Kavanagh responded by saying the corporate’s chief govt is actual property developer Gabriel Martinez, who’s Latino. Kavanagh stated the staff additionally contains girls, veterans and African People, together with Wheeler.

“Our software was submitted in full compliance with state rules and we stay up for having a optimistic influence on Illinois’ leisure hashish trade,” Martinez stated in a press release.

A bio on Martinez’s firm web site says he’s labored in residential and industrial actual property for greater than 20 years, “creating strategic partnerships” with neighborhood, enterprise and authorities leaders. He’s additionally a member of the Latino Management Council.

The agency certified for social fairness standing within the state licensing course of by hiring a workforce of not less than six those who meet numerous necessities, like residing in an space that’s been harmed by the drug battle or having an expungeable hashish arrest or conviction. Kavanagh stated.

State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago), who has criticized the end result of the social fairness licensing course of because the finalists had been introduced, decried “the effectively related having their means on this cesspool of state authorities.

“Anyone that thought that they’d an opportunity to get into hashish with a good shot, it appears as if they had been unsuitable,” Ford stated Tuesday. “They usually invested and borrowed to make this dream turn into a actuality when their odds had been towards them as a result of the percentages had been for the effectively related. And that’s an issue.”

The state is now locked in authorized battles with numerous dropping candidates that search to halt the lottery. A spokeswoman for Pritzker’s workplace stated the ultimate date for the lottery hasn’t been set.

“As we proceed to overview questions which have been raised, our purpose is to offer time to make sure that the method is truthful and equitable,” spokeswoman Charity Greene stated in a press release.

Agency in search of develop licenses, too

In the meantime, GRI isn’t passing on the state’s different grass-related alternatives. Kavanagh stated the staff has additionally utilized for the upcoming craft cultivation, infusion and transportation licenses, though her assertion didn’t present additional particulars.

GRI can also be tied on to South Elgin CGF Inc. and Northbrook CGF Inc., corporations that utilized to open craft develop amenities in these suburbs earlier than state officers have issued these licenses, which have been delayed by the pandemic.

Regardless of taking these steps, Kavanagh stated the 2 firms had been dissolved Tuesday after the Solar-Occasions raised questions in regards to the connections.

Anthony Vazquez/Solar-Occasions

However members of GRI’s administration group match descriptions of the unnamed board of managers outlined in a zoning doc submitted by applicant South Elgin CGF earlier this yr.

Stefani, who runs Tavern on Rush and different scorching spots, seems to be listed because the applicant’s chief monetary officer, who’s described as having “constructed a extremely profitable household enterprise from the bottom up” and working 15 profitable companies within the Chicago space. Former President Invoice Clinton has described Stefani as a “good buddy.”

Ties to state politics

Ross Morreale performed a key position within the efforts to realize approval for these suburban amenities, presenting himself to native officers as an professional within the area.

He co-founded Ataraxia, a downstate weed grower, although he’s not affiliated with the agency. He additionally helped begin the Medical Hashish Alliance of Illinois, an trade group whose membership has included most of the state’s present homeowners.

However he’s additionally the brother of Kim Morreale, who’s married to the previous state Rep. McAuliffe and beforehand served because the spokeswoman for the commerce group.Earlier than stepping down final yr, McAuliffe voted current on the invoice that legalized leisure weed, selecting to not take a facet.

When McAuliffe resigned, his spouse was embroiled in a scandal over a $6.6 million contract awarded to her communications agency by the Illinois Tollway Authority. Kim Morreale had beforehand served as a director of the Illinois Division of Transportation.

The uncle of Kim and Ross Morreale, Robert C. Gloppe, is among the many registered managers of GRI.

Reached by telephone Monday, Ross Morreale stated he’s merely a guide and has little interest in the hashish trade.

“I’ve no possession,” he stated. “I’ve submitted no purposes. I’m not on any purposes in Illinois for something.”

Nonetheless, Ross Morreale is listed as the first contact particular person and full proprietor of Northbrook CGF within the agency’s zoning software, which was submitted in January. And in February, Ross Morreale was described in a information report as South Elgin CGF’s enterprise supervisor when he appeared at a public assembly alongside Martinez, Wheeler and Stewart, one other guide with state authorities ties.

Stewart was the director of the division {of professional} regulation on the IDFPR when medical hashish was legalized in 2014. That part of the company offers instantly with licensing.

Earlier than that, Stewart was the final counsel for former Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. When Quinn, a Democrat, moved into the governor’s mansion after his successor Rod Blagojevich was faraway from workplace, Stewart was tapped as his senior counsel. Stewart later went on to function chairman of the state’s Procurement Coverage Board and chief of the Cook dinner County Bureau of Financial Growth.

However a former Republican operative can also be in loop. Along with working for GRI, Barry’s LinkedIn profile states that she’s additionally a hashish software guide with Morreale’s agency. She beforehand labored as a communications analyst for GOP members of the Illinois Home of Representatives earlier than transferring onto the Illinois Home Republican Group.

Lawsuit: Competitors was not nameless

A federal lawsuit filed by a listing of dropping candidates towards the IDFPR and a prime company official seeks to halt the lottery for dispensary licenses, alleging that most of the contributors are “owned by politically-connected insiders.” In a movement in search of an injunction filed Sept. eight within the Northern District of Illinois, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Jon Loevy, states that the appliance scoring course of “didn’t management for political affect or bias by scoring anonymously.”

“The overwhelming majority of states with competitions to award hashish licenses (together with the unique rounds in Illinois) achieve this through a course of that requires candidates to redact all references to the names and affiliations of their principals for grading functions,” the submitting states. “Inexplicably, this competitors was not graded anonymously.”

State officers didn’t instantly reply to the lawsuit’s claims. However final week, a spokesman for the skin agency that graded the purposes stated the method was “goal, following the state’s standards, with a blind scoring methodology.”