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Do Your Job

The Board of Selectmen (BOS) has previously conducted three sparsely attended public hearings on whether cannabis dispensaries should be permitted in Guilford. The April 3 hearing was attended by no more than 30 residents, and the June 3 and June 17 meetings were attended by considerably less than 30 residents. BOS member Charles Havrda said in a June 20 Guilford Courier article (“Cannabis Sales Moratorium Extended”), “The BOS has continued to extend the moratorium [until Nov. 30] due to a lack of public input [and] … we can’t keep having these moratoriums.” Yes, Selectman Havrda, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. How could you ever expect a significant turnout for these public hearings when the BOS never utilizes the Guilford mass-communication system to advertise these public hearings and when these public hearings are usually scheduled for the BOS conference room at the Town Hall which holds a maximum of 34 people and are usually scheduled at 8:30 a.m. on Mondays when most people work.

It's crystal clear that the only way to ensure a significant percentage of residents weigh in on this controversial issue, which could have significant and lasting negative repercussions for our children and community, is to place the nonbinding referendum question “Should recreational and medical cannabis dispensaries by allowed in Guilford?” on the Nov. 5 ballot. This is exactly what was proposed in Petition Four, signed by 90 Guilford residents, but was unanimously rejected by the BOS on July 15 based on our Town Counsel’s opinion “that there is no general statutory authority which would authorize a municipality to seek an advisory opinion, via nonbinding resolution from the electorate as proposed.” How absurd! Do your job, BOS, and put this question on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Peter Connal

Guilford