Residents fill council chamber in opposition to recreational pot shops

Councillors place proposal to repeal retail marijuana shop ban on file

By Barbara Taormina

Marijuana landed back on the table at the City Council this week, and the City Council punted.

Ward 4 Councillor Paul Argenzio, chairman of the City Council’s Legislative Affairs Subcommittee, said the committee briefly discussed a proposal to repeal the city’s ban on recreational marijuana and voted to recommend that the City Council place it on file, essentially canceling any public hearing on the matter. That triggered a somewhat confusing and tense exchange involving Councillor-at-Large Michelle Kelley, who called for a vote on placing the motion to repeal the ban on file. Kelley said it was unfair to the many residents who worked hard to voice their opposition to marijuana businesses in the city, many of whom were at the meeting with protest signs and banners. Kelley said residents should be heard during a hearing on the repeal, which should move forward.

Councillor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto interjected that he had spoken with almost everyone in the room. “I know how they feel; they’re against it,” he said.

But Kelley said that wasn’t the point. She said councillors are obliged to let residents know where they stand on the issue, which drew loud applause from the crowd in the City Council Chambers.

“When you put something on file, that means it’s dead,” said Argenzio, adding that the city’s ban on recreational marijuana would remain in place.

The City Council moved forward and voted 10-2 to place the motion on file with Councillors Kelley and Zambuto voting against filing it. But before moving forward, Kelley made another motion: that if a new motion to repeal the marijuana ban is made before the end of the current legislative session on Dec.31, 2025, a robo call should go out to the entire city informing them of the motion and the location, date and time when it would be heard.

Fellow councillors questioned the motion as well as the cost of a community robo call, which some suggested would exceed $5,000. Zambuto said the motion calls for financial analysis by the City Council’s Ways and Means Subcommittee. Kelley said other robo calls had been used without digging into the cost, but she agreed to the idea of having CFO Richard Viscay advise the City Council on the cost of the robo calls before the City Council votes on her motion.

A Zoning Subcommittee report on recreational marijuana was also placed on file. However, before moving on, City Council President Anthony Cogliandro allowed Viviana Cataño to present a petition. “This has 2,119 signatures of residents saying they do not want recreational marijuana,” said Cataño.

“That concludes all the business on recreational cannabis,” Cogliandro told the audience. “There will not be recreational pot shops in the city of Revere.”