While the embattled state agency endures a media circus over a few bottles of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, it also appears unwilling to carry out a central purpose of its existence, which is to regulate the cannabis industry and protect small businesses and Oregonians. It points to serious lapses of oversight by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. The story of La Mota isn’t simply one of a company’s struggles. In Oregon, perhaps you can burn quite a few. “It’s really easy to run a successful business when you don’t pay bills to vendors you buy from,” claims Colin Hobbs, chief revenue officer for cannabis product company Buddies.
Some think it’s approaching a day of reckoning. While the entire cannabis industry is reeling from too much supply and not enough demand, observers say La Mota is in a different league. More troubling, the Oregon Department of Revenue has issued tax liens of more than $1.6 million against Mitchell, Cazares and La Mota companies since 2018, including at least $621,000 in cannabis taxes dating back to 2016.Īnd, on the federal level, the IRS placed liens on Cazares and Mitchell in March and November last year, totaling $1.4 million for nonpayment of personal income and employment taxes.ĭetermining the scale of Cazares’, Mitchell’s and La Mota’s troubles is complicated by its maze of LLCs.Īltogether, Cazares, Mitchell and several La Mota entities have faced 30 lawsuits filed in Oregon circuit courts since 2017 that collectively allege more than $1.7 million in unpaid bills from cannabis vendors, handymen, testing labs, and even the accounting firm hired to complete 2021 tax returns for all of the LLCs. The most recent lawsuit alleges Mitchell and Cazares left cat urine and feces strewn across the floors. But the couple were, in fact, renting the house from Eric Breon, the founder of Vacasa, who since that event has sued them twice in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleging seven months of unpaid rent and extensive damage to the home.
Many guests at the party that night said they believed the home was owned by Cazares and Mitchell. On the one hand, the chain and its founders exude success, a willingness to expand quickly, and a history of being generous with political contributions.īut WW has learned that beneath the trappings of success, there are problems.Ĭazares and Mitchell hosted frequent political fundraisers at a Northwest hills mansion they rented. “There’s only one Rosa.”īut the party that May evening illustrated the central mystery of La Mota and its owners. “She’s kind of a unicorn,” says Meghan Walstatter, a friend of Cazares’ and a fellow cannabis business owner. During the election year of 2022, La Mota became a regular sponsor of events for Democratic Party candidates. She co-hosted a black-tie gala for Kotek at Hotel DeLuxe on the brink of her winning the governor’s office. “She seems like a smart businessperson.”Ĭazares hosted several fundraisers and political gatherings at the Northwest Portland home-two for Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, one for Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, and another for Kotek. “She is really smart and thoughtful,” says former House Majority Leader Barbara Smith Warner (D-Portland), who attended Cazares’ parties.
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