Select Board votes to oppose cannabis Question 8

Select Board · Meeting of October 19, 2026

BELMONT — The Belmont Select Board voted unanimously to oppose state ballot Question 8, citing local cannabis business impacts. Precinct 1 town meeting member Emma Thurston, chief operations officer of the town's dispensary, told the board the business contributes 3 percent of its revenue to Belmont and employs 16 people, warning "I guarantee you and we are licenses are at stake." Chair Taylor Yates said the board didn't need "sophisticated analysis" to oppose the measure. Separately, the board clashed for 45 minutes with Board of Registrars Chair Kate Foster, who said a newly adopted citizens petition policy's open-meeting signature certification requirement violates state voter-privacy law and asked the board to suspend it; Member Matt Taylor instead proposed striking that language while keeping the policy in effect, with edits to continue in collaboration with the registrars.

The board also voted 8-0 in a joint meeting with the Board of Library Trustees to appoint Max Calise over Justina Gallegos, and unanimously appointed Ariane Frank and Janet O'Malley to the Cultural Council.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
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• The complete report — 2,903 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of October 19, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.