HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Comment - Reefer MadnessFrom:Reefer Madness
To:Cassandra Edney; City Clerk
Subject:My public testimony - Item 3 on the 1/25 AAB meeting
Date:Tuesday, January 24, 2023 7:30:31 PM
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Dear Palm Springs Appeals Board Members,
My name is Gustavo Flores, and I’m a supervisor at Reefer Madness. When theowner asked me about the alcoholic beverage allegations, I was scared for my job,because Officer Nabhan’s story is false. We have never had alcoholic beverages inthe shop. Officer Nabhan looked over a Lagunitas THC beverage. The beveragedoes not contain alcohol. Luckily, we still had video of his visit. I was able to goover the video and verify that the accusations are false. As a supervisor, I’mresponsible for ensuring rules are followed. If we were not able to verify the truth, Imight have lost my job.
What is even more disappointing, we were issued a big citation for ALLEGEDLY notsecuring product. We do in-fact secure all product by locking up the secure storageroom. During the inspection on 7/20/22, I was working in the secure storage roomwith my coworker Dominic. We were in the middle of putting new products intothe system and taking product counts. The storage room was NEVER LEFTUNSECURE. Without a doubt, this citation was issued in error.
Kind Regards,
Gustavo Flores
Supervisor
Store: (760) 424-8588
Hi my name is Amanda, I do most of our administrative work and marketing for Reefer
Madness. In my time working for Reefer Madness I have seen our owner, Steven
Wijatyk continuously navigate the challenges and ongoing requests of Code
Enforcement’s requirements. At times it has felt the rules are made up as they go. For
instance, I organized our 2 year anniversary event in which the Mayor was to attend for
a ribbon cutting. Two code enforcement officers showed up to the event. We were
compliant in every way and everything went smoothly. Later, their department sent out
an update for all dispensaries, they created a set of rules around the entire event that I
had organized. We have had multiple visits from code enforcement prior to them taking
any issue with our storage area. Officer Nabhan specifically was present at our original
walk through when we opened and had zero issues with the layout of our place of
business. However Officer Nabhan has taken issue with the layout 2 years after we
have been up and running. It was Stevens' suggestion to Officer Nabhan that we could
possibly put in a cage. Officer Nabhan must have liked the idea because he mentioned
it to Steven at a later date through email. After that, it seemed he made Stevens' idea a
requirement. I helped research finding a cage for the back room and sent suggestions
to Steven. Later, I was alarmed to find out that something Steven suggested as an idea,
compliance took and ran with it then fined him the same day the cage was installed. I
wondered what is the legality of compliance’s approach, since it was a suggestion from
our side. I read the report and found many untruths. It's very disheartening that
someone who is supposed to represent the law would say and do things to cause such
harm against a small business and its employees. In the report Officer Nabhan states
there was alcohol on premises. When I saw this I was shocked. We do not keep nor
have ever kept alcohol on premise. However I still reviewed hours of videotape of
Officer Nabhan’s visit and did not see anything that would indicate alcohol was found.
Nor were there any photos of this in his report. I found this to be strange considering
there were photos of all the other things he felt were out of compliance. I passed along
this info to Steven and he then reviewed the tape himself and the video clearly shows
Officer Nabhan removing a THC drink from our fridge in the sales area with store
supervisor Gustavo and taking it into the back room while he is talking to Gustavo. None
of our THC drinks contain alcohol. The other thing I viewed on tape was Officer Nabhan
talking to one of the employees asking them to get the manager and after the employee
had just entered the storage room, Officer Nabhan snapped a photo and then claimed in
the report that the door was left open un-attended. Furthermore, our security guard had
the area covered. This was deliberately done and again this is a falsehood. Fortunately
we have video evidence and emails to prove no codes were broken. Officer Nabhan's
dishonesty is scary on many levels. All of our employees including myself are anxious
and worried that they may be targeted by Officer Nabhan next. Had myself and Steven
not reviewed the footage of the inspection and investigated, I would have had to take
Officer Nabhan's word on his report and I would have had to fire our store supervisor
Gustavo for allowing multiple code issues to happen in our store. I have the highest
respect for officers of the law and what they do to protect and serve. In fact my cousin is
a police officer in Arizona and a few of my husband's friends are police officers. Officer
Nabhan has caused unnecessary stress, anxiety and wasted hours of time and
research to show we are following the law and compliant with the laws of Palm Springs.
Which now leads me to say, based on all of the aggressive visits saying we were not
compliant and outright lies in the report, I believe we are being harassed with malicious
intent. I’m not sure if it's because we are a small business or a gay owned business but
this is what I believe is happening. The evidence that Steven provides is especially
compelling to reiterate all of our concerns and directly reveals code compliances
unprofessional strategies and mentality.
Respectfully,
Amanda Adkins