The Paper Trail: Why the City Manager’s Swift Departure Demands Scrutiny
For everyone tracking the sudden departure of City Manager Matthew Mogensen to return to Marina, the administrative record surrounding Pacific Grove’s storefront cannabis licensing lottery reveals a concerning sequence of procurement decisions and contract expansions that occurred before his departure.
The No-Bid Procurement: On December 18, 2024, Mogensen brought forward a professional services agreement with HdL Companies for cannabis permitting services on a no-bid basis, with an initial cap of $24,000. According to the City’s public records, the contract was approved without a competitive review of alternative municipal consultants.
The Fee Structure Shift: On December 17, 2025, as the number of cannabis applications increased, the City approved an amendment restructuring HdL’s compensation to a flat fee of $3,500 per application reviewed, up to a $50,000 cap. This changed the compensation model from a fixed-fee arrangement to one that compensated HdL based on the number of applications processed. The agreement itself did not include provisions requiring review for affiliated or coordinated ownership structures.
The Result: Eight applications publicly identified as being affiliated with the same multi-state operator, Off The Charts, ultimately advanced to the June 15 randomized lottery. As a result, one ownership network controlled eight of the ten lottery entries—an 80% statistical chance of winning the City’s single retail cannabis license. Competing applicants have argued that this outcome exposed weaknesses in the City’s administrative framework and increased the risk of costly litigation.
When a city manager leaves a municipality shortly after procurement decisions that later become the subject of significant public controversy and potential litigation, it is reasonable for the public to ask questions about how those decisions were made and whether the City’s processes functioned as intended.
A formal complaint has been submitted to the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury (pg5) requesting review of the procurement process and related records. The complaint asks the Grand Jury to examine the procurement decisions, communications, and financial records associated with the cannabis licensing process. Whether the Grand Jury elects to investigate is entirely within its discretion. The community deserves transparency regarding what was approved, how those decisions were made, and why the City’s process did not prevent multiple affiliated applications from advancing to the lottery.
