St. Louis County Council member worked for marijuana industry as county worked on pot laws | Politics

Without disclosing to the council or the public that she was paid about $5,000 for that work, Clancy eventually cast votes on the bill that the county adopted as its zoning ordinance for marijuana operations.

Clancy, a Democrat from Maplewood, is up for reelection this year for her 5th District seat. She is unopposed in the Aug. 2 primary.

The information about her marijuana work came to light last week; the woman who hired Clancy released text messages and emails to the Post-Dispatch that included exchanges between her and Clancy.

“In the back of my mind, I kept wondering how it was not a conflict,” said Shelby Partridge, a grant writer who formerly worked for the Summers Compton Wells law firm.

The exchanges between Clancy and Partridge also indicate that County Executive Sam Page objected to the work Clancy was performing.

Clancy’s efforts on the marijuana applications began around June 24, 2019, and lasted until about Aug. 7.

Clancy refused to be interviewed by telephone, saying by text, “I don’t have time to be interviewed.”

She did forward a letter from the law firm, dated July 11, 2019, that states the firm had “concluded that (Clancy’s) engagement on this project does not involve any conflict interest with your position on the County Council.”

Later, Clancy texted that because marijuana licenses are awarded by the state, “I stand by it that I had no conflict of interest in this work.”

Starting in April 2019, Partridge, who is not a lawyer, said she was at the law firm and working with clients who were applying for a marijuana license. Specifically, she was filling out applications for a company seeking several marijuana dispensary licenses. That company eventually secured one permit for a dispensary in south St. Louis County.

“The applications contained specific questions about things like community outreach and issues like that,” Partridge said, adding that she needed help in those areas.

After one potential employee did not work out, Partridge said she sought out Clancy in June 2019; Clancy had joined the County Council in January.

Partridge said Clancy was recommended by Winston Calvert, who was Page’s chief of staff and in a personal relationship with Partridge at the time.

In an interview Friday, Calvert said he had only a vague recollection of the events. “I just don’t remember details, I don’t remember the timing,” he said.

Later by text, Calvert said that he told members of the firm of several people, Clancy among them, who were adept at grant writing. He said he believes those recommendations were made before he joined Page’s staff, Calvert said.

An email between Clancy and Partridge, dated June 24, 2019, indicates that Partridge and Clancy met face-to-face at the law firm three days earlier, on June 21.

In that follow-up email of June 24, Clancy said to Partridge: “I can be helpful to you, your team and your clients to complete competitive and successful medical cannabis license applications.”

Clancy notes in the email that her “background, strong local knowledge, and professional expertise” were best suited to address issues of community impact, training and diversity and inclusion.

Clancy concluded the letter by negotiating for more than the $35 to $40 hourly rate first offered.

“I am willing to bring it down to $90/hr or we can discuss a fixed rate per question or for the entire project,” Clancy wrote to Partridge.

Despite an initial concern about potential conflict of interest, Partridge said she was not that knowledgeable about politics and that she had been told by Calvert that it was not a concern.

About one month into Clancy’s work, on July 31, Clancy told Partridge she would have to stop working on the applications because of Page’s reaction, the texts indicate.

After Partridge texted, “Sorry if you’re in a tough spot,” Clancy replied:

“I thought I was fine until Sam flipped out about it the other night,” Clancy wrote. “I’ve put in about 25ish hours I think. Still more to do but I can certainly wrap up where I am and pass it off to you with some direction.”

Page had been in the county’s top position for about three months at the time, having succeeded Steve Stenger, who resigned and later pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

On Friday, a spokesperson sent a statement that said Page did not recall any conversation with Clancy about the matter. The statement did say that Page always “has had his reservations about the marijuana industry.”

After Page objected to Clancy’s work, Partridge suggested that she would finish the work on the applications for St. Louis County locations, and that Clancy could keep working on the company’s application for dispensaries in St. Louis city and Jefferson County.

“That’s a good solution,” Clancy replied.

The texts indicate that Clancy was paid by the law firm — an amount Partridge recalls to have been about $5,000 — about one week after her work ended.

According to a text from Aug. 16, Clancy wrote to Partridge: “Damn, got my scw (law firm) check already! That was speedy!!”

Clancy’s financial interest statement filed with the county for the 2019 calendar year did not list any payments from the law firm. The statements are required of all elected officials and are designed to disclose sources of income and other business relationships.

Under the employment heading, she lists only “St. Louis County Government,” and under the sole proprietorship heading, she lists “Lisa Clancy LLC.”

County ordinances state that it is unlawful for any officer or employee to engage in any private business or professional activity that would place that person “in a position of conflict between his private interest and the public interest” of the county.

Councilman Mark Harder, R-7th District, chairman of the council’s ethics committee, said he had received similar information from an anonymous source.

“But if it’s true, it’s disturbing,” Harder said. “And if the information can be verified, I would make a recommendation (that the committee) take a look at it.”

The committee includes two Democrats, Rita Heard Days, 1st District, and Shalonda Webb, 4th District; and Tim Fitch, 3rd District, a Republican.

Parallel to Clancy’s work for the law firm regarding a specific client, the county was in the process of creating the zoning ordinance aimed at governing the locations of marijuana growers, suppliers and dispensaries.

The bill that originally was forwarded in early July 2019 to the council by the county’s Planning Commission recommended a 300-foot buffer between marijuana locations and churches and schools, the buffer size preferred by the marijuana industry.

The commission later expanded the buffer to 500 feet, but opposition from some council members, specifically Fitch, resulted in the buffer being set at 1,000 feet in the legislation officially introduced in August 2019.

Clancy and Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, D-2nd District, ultimately voted against the bill because of the 1,000-foot buffer.

In a Post-Dispatch story about the vote, Clancy said she thought the larger buffer was a burden on both marijuana companies and people who needed the medical assistance.

The text exchanges obtained by the Post-Dispatch also indicate that former Missouri House Speaker Steven Tilley had a role in writing the county’s initial marijuana zoning ordinance, the one with a smaller buffer zone.

In one exchange, the lawyer at Summers Compton Wells asks Partridge if he, the lawyer, has been given a copy of the latest draft of the ordinance.

Partridge replies that he has, “… it’s the draft with the Tilley edits,” she wrote.

Tilley, a close ally of Gov. Mike Parson, is the founding partner of Strategic Capitol Consulting and a lobbyist for the state’s largest medical marijuana trade group, the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association, or MoCann.