Opt Out Newton, the citizens group seeking a ban on retail marijuana stores is believed to have collected in excess of the 6,000 signatures it needs to go back before the City Council.
The council will now be asked to put the ban on the November ballot. The petitions will be discussed at the council’s Programs and Services committee meeting next week, with a full council vote by mid-September. If the council denies the request, the organizers could collect an additional 3,000 new signatures to force the question onto the ballot. However they would only have a few weeks to do so to meet the ballot deadlines.
Have they been verified yet?
My understanding is that the signatures have been verified. Just waiting for official confirmation.
Wow, these people REALLY hate fun.
In multiple past posts on this topic and at the public hearing, most opponents have said that the Opt Out question should not go on the ballot unless they collect 6000 signatures. Now that they have done so (in 6 weeks, no less!), I’m eager to see what new creative hurdles opponents will propose to keep Newton voters from being able to have a say on whether they want pot shops in Newton.
They had an easier time collecting signatures than I thought they would but I suspect that is because they were scaring people using flat out lies. They scared a few friends of mine into signing by saying that the stores would be marketing into children.
Jennifer,
The next creative hurdle will be to play the race card…
Consider the demographic of Newton. Many seniors, a sizeable population of non Americans who may have an old fashioned attitude towards mj, many families who move here so their kids get a good education and peer group(eg tiger moms)
Socially liberal folks who… “i wish to decriminalize pot, but i would not allow my own kids to smoke it”
You should only be suprised at 6000 signitures if your circle mainly consists of like minded people
@Bugek, “Non-Americans”? The city only validated signatures by citizens who were also registered voters in Newton. Maybe you meant immigrants?
Bugek
“Consider the demographic of Newton. Many seniors, a sizeable population of non Americans who may have an old fashioned attitude towards mj, many families who move here so their kids get a good education and peer group(eg tiger moms)”
WOW That’s a lot of assumptions.
Seniors don’t think as a group and many see no need for another ballot.
Laurie
Yes immigrants, i was trying to find a term to describe immigrants who are more conservative (less drinking, more fiscally responsible, less partying)
Got it, Bugek! I think you’re right that most immigrants fit that description.
As a person who was accosted multiple times at the Newtonville WF with lies about the new law, I am shocked. The man here admitted to me he wouldn’t care about the law, if he didn’t live a few blocks away from a location that COULD be a location.
I also felt odd about the man (not a Newton resident) being paid to collect signatures at the Newton Highlands WFs. He was open to the fact he would be paid more for more signatures. It did make me wonder what would keep someone from faking signatures.
What is the validation process for verifying the signatures?
Bujek. So “Non Americans” are liberal drunks, financially profligate and wild party types who are probably here illegally, but your favored “immigrants” are solid citizens, near prohibitionists, prudent and civically virtuous. And today, your hero Donald Trump called us Democrats unhinged, violent radicals. I’ve learned a few things in my 82 years on this planet and one of them is not to pigeonhole people by their political philosophies or how they vote. I know many people who are solid Republicans and some who still support Trump. It’s totally frustrating to me how they can share so many of my values yet come to political conclusions that are so different from mine. On the other hand, I’m sure they scratch their heads about me as well. It makes me feel good that one of John McCain’s last major political accomplishment was to work with Bernie Sanders to iron out differences over a major veteran’s reform bill a few years back. They swore at each other, yelled at each other, pounded the table and held firm while recognizing that they were both searching for the best for veterans. They were both extremely stubborn, but they finally ironed out a compromise because they respected each others intentions and wanted to do the best for veterans. We desperately need more of this.
And I’m a veteran who has recently started using some VA medical services in West Roxbury because the Trump Administration is planning serious cutbacks in the medical insurance I receive from my federal service. I’ve been very impressed by the respect and service I’ve received and some of these improvements derive from what McCain and Bernie forged a few years back.
My understanding is that multiple employees at the City Clerk’s office took over a week (including over the weekend) to scrutinize every name, address and signature and make sure it matched the signature and address from the voter registration page of all signers of the petition. It’s unlikely that the person who “accosted” you at the Whole Foods multiple times in the 90 degree heat would have bothered to do that if he could have just pulled some names and addresses from the phone directory and submitted them.
Pretty impressive that it only took 6 weeks to collect over 6,000 voter signatures. Especially during the summer vacation period. Especially in 90+ degree heat. Especially with the rainy weather virtually every weekend.
The last signature drive was by the League of Women Voters — and it took them 8 years, not 6 weeks to do it.
Say what you will about supposed concerns about some isolated incidents with particular canvassers — the fact of more than 6,000 Newtonians signing the Opt Out petition (a whole lot more) should send a message. People are very deeply concerned about hosting pot shops in Newton. Especially with so many other communities around us having decided to Opt Out themselves.
This is a massively impressive grass roots effort!
@Bob, thanks for your service to the country. I”m not sure, however, what Trump, Democrats, Republicans, Bernie Sanders or John McCain have to do with this particular issue though.
No matter how much you spin it, you can’t change this stubborn fact: the amount of signatures gathered within six weeks defies your perception of what Newton residents want. We want a chance to vote, and it’s awfully small of you to dismiss that, given that this process you are watching unfold is absolutely a part of your Yes vote to Question 4.
I genuinely wonder if proponents here believe in the entirety of Question 4? Because everything opt out newton is doing fulfills the requirements to facilitate a ballot question. And suddenly, the will of the voter, which over and over again was asked to be respected, is suddenly despised when this hard earned ballot question to opt out of recreational marijuana stores goes before voters.
Why are you so scared of asking the voter directly? It’s only been 2 years since the vote on Question 4, which everyone insists was so obvious in its intent. So why are you suddenly concerned with how people will vote? If the 2016 results were clear, then relax. Take a chill pill and Trust Newton Voters.
Bob,
Thank you, i am an immigrant who waited in line patiently to come here legally. If walking across the border was considered legal, i would have no issue with those people who come over. Sorry if people find it offensive that people should follow the law.
As a generality, I’m suggesting that most legal immigrants may sway against recreational mj. I have no proof other than my own circle of immigrant friends and family
If correct, congratulations to the Opt Out movement. I believe the 6000 signature bar shows sufficient public interest that the question should go to ballot to let the public decide.
I voted for the original referendum to legalize recreational marijuana and I don’t support a ban. But I’m totally impressed with this signature effort and believe the council should respect this effort and put the question before voters.
Well done Opt-Out Newton. Looking forward to a vigorous campaign and the eventual defeat of your proposed ban.
My daughter (regretfully signed) the petition because she believed the misrepresentations (lies) of the person asking for her to sign the ballot petition. Lesson learned: She will never again sign a ballot petition without actually reading what it says.
I too had a rather unpleasant confrontation with a person collecting signatures who used obvious scare tactics – a direct quote “there will be a pot shop on every corner in Newton”. Sigh
@Lisap, as the law stands now, there is a minimum of 8 stores that will be required to be allowed in Newton (20% of current liquor store licenses), with no upper limit on the number of stores. If voters don’t want that, they need to engage on the issue and think about the proposed ballot questions. If they’re fine with lots of pot shops, then that status quo is fine.
@Jennifer. You are correct. Sometimes my mind just wanders to places I never knew existed when I started to write.
Jennifer, if voters don’t want that they can vote yes on the current question that will be on the ballot in November 2018 limiting the number of pot stores to 2-4 instead of insisting on a total ban.
@Jennifer,
There is a vast difference between 8 retail establishments (assuming that 8 retailers approved by the Cannabis Control Commission apply for licenses and can obtain leases in areas properly zoned) and “a pot shop on every corner”. The latter which was a direct quote from one of your signature collectors was a gross and ridiculous misrepresentation intended to frighten people into signing the petition. It was but one of many absurdities that came from the individual collecting signatures.
I also note that Opt-Out Newton claims that there will be a “3% MA Sales Tax Revenue” (Opt-Out video at 9:18). That’s another deceptive statement. The city is permitted to impose a 3% LOCAL tax. In addition to that, marijuana is subject to a 6.25% sales tax and a 10.75% excise tax. Source: https://www.mass.gov/regulations/830-CMR-64n11-marijuana-retail-taxes
I’m all in favor of thoughtful civic engagement. I just prefer it when the debaters use actual facts and not half-truths.
@Lisap, I couldn’t agree more about using actual facts about taxes. There is a 10.75% excise tax and and 6.25% sales tax on retail recreational marijuana sales but these taxes go to the State of Massachusetts, not to Newton. Only the 3% local marijuana tax goes to the town or city, plus any short-term extra fees that different cities negotiate in their Host Community Agreements. Surprisingly, very few of the people I have spoke to have expressed much interest in the tax revenues (maybe because Newton’s share is relatively small), but you bring up a good point that the state will get tax revenue from this as well. However, the state will receive the same amount whether those sales are made in Newton, Brookline, Boston or elsewhere.
Maybe you’re talking to the wrong people because as a municipality we face some big fiscal challenges. A three percent sales tax is not inconsequential.
Neither are the host agreements or the foot traffic that could benefit other businesses that would be created by having these businesses in our city.
And let’s not forget the rental income (and added property taxes) that come from renting otherwise vacant properties.
Oh and, there’s the personal property taxes paid to the city by these legal businesses.
Or money spent on carpenters, electricians, security guards, marketing, etc
And, oh yes, jobs for the folks employed by these new business owners.
@Laurie Palepu:
And the state, in turn, gives money back to local cities and towns in the form of educational and local aid. Would you support an “opt-out” of any increase in local aid from revenues generated by marijuana sales outside of Newton? If other cities and towns are going to take on the burden of being the locales for such establishments, it seems to me only fair that they should receive the bounty as well. Would you agree?
Quick follow up: In case you’re wondering how much aid Newton receives from the State of Massachusetts, you can see the data here: https://dlsgateway.dor.state.ma.us/reports/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=CherrySheets.CSbyProgMunis.cs_prog_munis_MAIN
In 2016, Newton voters passed the ballot question 24.7k votes to 20.5k, so in hindsight, getting 6k signatures was attainable if not impressive. But forgive me if I withhold my congratulations.
While not illegal, soliciting help from people outside of Newton, on what is fundamentally a local issue, taints the results of a true, grass roots effort. If paying for votes is illegal, how is paying for signatures (via paid solicitors) any better. Asking for signatures based on scare tactics and lies (like these shops seriously intend to risk all their efforts and expense by “marketing to children”?) is Fox News in real life
This has become Newton’s version of “build that wall” and that’s saddening.