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Adelanto signs contract to speed cannabis permit reviews after backlog; council debates oversight
Summary
After extended debate, the city approved a contract to provide additional staffing and document-management support for Adelanto’s cannabis permit program so finance can catch up on backlogged permits; council members pressed staff on vendor oversight and audit separation.
Adelanto’s City Council voted Aug. 27 to proceed with a contract that will give the finance department added capacity to collect, organize and prepare documentation for cannabis permits and compliance reviews, a step city staff said is necessary to catch up on years of unprocessed paperwork.
Councilwoman Evans raised concerns that a single contractor could perform business-development and compliance-related tasks, and cautioned against a vendor effectively policing its own work. "I don't like any organization that polices itself," Evans said during a lengthy exchange.
Dr. Kanon, the city’s finance advisor (identified during the meeting as the former city treasurer), the city manager and other staff responded that city code designates the finance director as the city’s cannabis administrator and that any third-party work will support—not replace—city finance oversight. "This contract essentially assigns additional resources to help the cannabis administrator," Dr. Kanon said, adding that all cash and revenue collection will remain with the city and that outside, third-party auditors will continue to perform formal audits.
Council members were told there are hundreds of cannabis-related permits aggregated in the city and that the contract is intended both to correct historical gaps and to provide ongoing compliance support and monthly reporting to the council. Proponents argued the program brings significant revenue to the city and that catching up on paperwork is necessary to preserve that revenue and improve enforcement.
After the debate, council members voted to authorize the contract; staff will return with timelines, monthly reporting metrics and deliverables.
The transcript records concerns about past write-offs during earlier audits—comments council members said resulted from historical backlog and inconsistent record keeping. Those claims were discussed in the hearing but were not independently verified in the meeting.
