After months of ordinance writing, rewriting, vote taking and report making, the selection of Oakland’s cannabis dispensary owners came down to pingpong balls.
The rattling spheres inside a bingo cage in City Hall’s council chambers Wednesday determined which 32 individuals would have their dreams crushed and which lucky four would get the chance to open a lucrative cannabis shop this year.
The televised lottery took one nail-biting hour, as applicants and their business partners, friends and family sat in the gallery, hoping their assigned pingpong ball wouldn’t be plucked from the metal cage until the very end — the final four were the winners.
Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
