If anyone objected to the marijuana dispensary because some (few) clients are POC, that is wrong. My concern is that they change the character of Brookline because they bring large crowds and they sell a drug. I am unimpressed by the money the dispensary gives Brookline. I do not want more police, because too many POC have bad encounters with them. The current approach allows problems to occur and pays to rectify them. Lets be proactive, not fix problems with money.

The only businesses that flourish here are banks-12-,cigar stores and marijuana dispensaries. The Pear Tree, a bead store, Crossroads trade and Walgreen’s, the convenience store on Pleasant street, run by a local famil gone. Why won’t Brookline help small positive businesses?.

What will happen to Coolidge Corner, if the place is mobbed with people? Marijuana is totally corporatized, for huge profits. You can grow your own, or you can pay a lot to dispensaries. I voted to legalize. I am no fanatic. Yet, let’s have appointments to avoid crowding.

I was at the last Select Board meeting. When someone asked how the civilian review board worked, she was silenced. The attitude is that there is no problem with racism, because there are no appeals. Wrong. There have been appeals, and many people don’t appeal, because they have no faith in the process. Unless the civilian review board has teeth, it is meaningless.

The current select board, except for Mr. Fernandez, is unable or unwilling to stop racism.. We don’t need more hand wringing. We need people who actually stop racism. It is no longer an option for Mr. Alston to return to work, because the atmosphere is unsafe. Brookline must stop appealing and pay him his salary for the rest of his career. This could have been avoided had Brookline done right long ago. The Diversity Committee must have teeth to combat racism.

We need new leadership that understands and implements clear policies to end racism.. Let’s put forth new candidates who act decisively to stop racism.

Come to the meetings next week. Raise your voices on important issues facing Brookline, including the civilian review board, strengthening the Committee on Diversity, the marijuana dispensaries etc. See for yourselves how the town operates and do something about it. Lets make the leadership responsive to us and make Brookline a welcoming and caring town that is about people, not profit.

Shifra Freewoman

Longwood Avenue