With very little drama surrounding the town office races, attention in Chelmsford’s municipal election yesterday turned to a second attempt to allow legalize cannabis sales in the town. And as was the case with the first go-around in 2016, that effort was once again nipped in the bud.
Nearly 16% of the town’s 27,123 registered voters headed to the polls, with the 2,509 “No” votes easily outpacing the 1,502 “Yes” ballots. The 58%-35% difference was an even bigger defeat for the cannabis crowd, which came within a 50%-48% margin in the 2016 state ballot question which legalized recreational marijuana sales and use in the Commonwealth.
While there were no contested races on the Select Board side, the School Committee race resulted in Maria Lourdes Santos (3,149 votes) and John Moses (2,905 votes) outpacing Doreen Deshler (1,200 votes).
Other contested races found Marcie J. Comtois besting Nancy Kay Araway (1,827-1,484) for the Planning Board. Maura K. Snow (1,664) prevailed over Judith Ellen O’Connor (1,185) and Rodney E. Cleaves (608) to capture the five year seat on the Housing Authority.
There were also a trio of Town Meeting Representative races which saw more challengers on the ballot than the five seats available. Click here to view those races, as well as the complete unofficial election results.
2 responses to “Chelmsford Votes Down Cannabis…Again”
Chelmsford votes it down losing all that potential in revenue, taxes, possibly benefiting other businesses as a by-product. While 2 miles away from the town border you can find multiple shops in Lowell, Tyngsboro etc. Just sit outside one shop and watch the influx of customers.
Was just coming to say this. The revenue they could have brought in. These shops are operated with such strict guidelines, and rules. They’re clean, and they aren’t dilapidated looking places. They’re clean and well kept, unlike other places in this town. Oh well. Surrounding towns are going to boom while Chelmsford suffers.