The case arose after Quality Roots filed suit against Royal Oak in 2022, alleging the city violated the open meetings law by holding private meetings to determine which applicants would receive the two cannabis retail licenses it planned to award. According to the court records, Exclusive Capital and Quality Roots were two of 31 applicants competing for the licenses.
Quality Roots argued that the city manager conducted four closed-door sessions with selected city officers to rank applicants, without keeping official records of these meetings. Royal Oak countered that the city manager’s role was only advisory, and the ultimate decision on who would receive the licenses was made by the city commission during a public meeting in April 2022.
However, the appeals court disagreed, finding that the city manager had, in effect, decided who would receive the licenses. The court noted that the city commission’s April meeting appeared to rubber-stamp the city manager’s recommendations, without considering other applicants.
