A nonprofit and a politically connected subcontractor were awarded a six-figure contract from the city of Berkeley to run a marijuana education program between 2022 and 2024, but failed to complete key parts of the project and still got paid.
The City of Berkeley ultimately paid the nonprofit, Berkeley Youth Alternatives, and its subcontractor, Patricia Brooks — now chief of staff to Oakland City Council Kevin Jenkins — a total of $607,000 of the $1 million it initially received from the state for the program. They don’t appear to have faced consequences for failing to deliver parts of the contract.
The struggles of the grant are reflective of larger problems that have dogged California since voters passed Proposition 64 in 2016 to legalize recreational marijuana. Lagging revenue has disappointed the state and the industry — thanks largely to a thriving illicit market…