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Stockton council hires consultants to review two cannabis license applications amid public questions on spending and recusals
Summary
On Oct. 20 Stockton Borough Council authorized professional contracts totaling up to $9,000 to assist its cannabis review committee — Jersey Professional Management (up to $5,000) and Phoenix Advisors (up to $4,000) — after residents questioned consultant spending and raised recusal concerns.
Stockton Borough Council on Oct. 20 approved professional services contracts to help review two applications filed in response to the borough’s Request for Applications for a cannabis business license.
The council authorized Jersey Professional Management (JPM) to perform a Municipal Impact Review at $130 per hour for a not-to-exceed $3,000 fee, with additional as-needed consulting at the same hourly rate for up to $2,000 more (total not to exceed $5,000). The council separately approved a financial-review contract with Phoenix Advisors not to exceed $4,000 (rates of $195 per hour for a managing director and $145 per hour for an associate/analyst). A separate resolution authorized Stockton’s qualified purchasing agent, CFO Diane McDaniel, to solicit and award any additional contracts under the bid threshold in consultation with the cannabis review committee.
The approvals were taken by recorded votes. Council approved the JPM contract and the Phoenix Advisors contract by 3–0 tallies on votes where Councilperson Fisher was recorded as recused; the governing body noted that any individual recusal is judged on its particular facts. The council’s cannabis review committee will continue reviewing both applications; no license has been awarded.
Resident Mike Odenwald questioned the spending in public comment, saying the borough was “spending $8,000 in hiring two consultants in to assist the cannabis committee to evaluate two license applications” and suggesting the money could go to other borough needs. Mayor Aaron Lipsen replied the fees are intended to ensure a “thorough, professional” review and to give the committee technical advice and guidance.
On recusals, Borough Attorney Lisa Maddox told the assembly that “every recusal is factually different and there could be a conflict or concerns with a conflict and if the area is gray you err on the side of caution.” Odenwald had also asked why both applicants were not invited to present in person; the council did not vote to require in-person presentations at this meeting.
Next steps: the review committee will use the consultants’ impact and financial analyses as part of its due diligence and will report back to the council. Any licensing decision will be made in a subsequent public meeting.
Speakers quoted or referenced in this article are those listed in the transcript.
