Governor Appoints Member of Cannabis Social Equity Advisory Board

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BOSTON — Governor Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg jointly appointed Ryan Dominguez to the Cannabis Social Equity Advisory Board. 
 
Dominguez is the founder and executive director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition and Mass CultivatED, and in this role, will help advise efforts regarding the development of regulations, administration and reporting of the Massachusetts Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund. 
 
"The Cannabis Social Equity Advisory Board plays a critical role in ensuring that communities in Massachusetts that have historically been harmed by marijuana regulations have an equal opportunity to be involved in the cannabis economy," said Governor Healey. "Attorney General Campbell, Treasurer Goldberg and I are excited to appoint Ryan Dominguez to the Board, as he has dedicated his career to advocating for equity and success in the cannabis industry." 
 
The Cannabis Social Equity Advisory Board was established by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2022 to advise the Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED) as it administers the Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund. The Fund encourages the full participation in the state's regulated marijuana industry of entrepreneurs from communities that have been disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement.   
 
"I'm honored to be appointed to the Cannabis Social Equity Advisory Board," said Ryan Dominguez. "I have spent my career advocating for disenfranchised communities. This role will allow me to promote entrepreneurship in the cannabis industry and ensure equitable access. I look forward to working with the rest of the Board and the entire Healey-Driscoll Administration to serve the people of Massachusetts." 
 
As founder and executive director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition, Dominguez has been working to bring together cannabis businesses of all license types as well, as ancillary businesses,  to create a better social, economic, and regulatory landscape for the cannabis industry across the state. He is also the founder and executive director of Mass CultivatED, a non-profit organization that seeks to undo the effects of the War on Drugs. Together with stakeholders from the state legislature, cannabis companies, community colleges, legal aid organizations, and community-based non-profits, he designed a holistic workforce program with comprehensive social services. Dominguez also worked for State Representative Chynah Tyler as a legislative aid. Dominguez has a B.S. in Philosophy from Northeastern University and a Master's of Public Policy Degree from Harvard Kennedy School.  

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Pagliarulo, Strout Win Seats on Dalton Select Board

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

The election saw about a 20 percent turnout of registered voters.
DALTON, Mass. — Voters returned one of two incumbents to the Select Board and one newcomer on Tuesday. 
 
Antonio "Tony" Pagliarulo won one of the two seats in the four-way race with 577 votes for the board, outpolling the other three candidates by 107 votes. Coming up second was incumbent Marc Strout with 486. 
 
William Drosehn, chair of the Finance Committee, was 13 votes behind at 473. 
 
Robert Collins, who won a seat by 13 votes in February's special election found himself out of the running this time with 459 votes. 
 

Pagliarulo expressed his gratitude to the voters and hopes that he and the board can do a good job by them.


"Everybody's going to be in office, even though the other two candidates didn't make it. We have a Finance chair and we have a person on the Planning Board, so hopefully we'll work in harmony together," he said. 


Collins holds a seat on the Planning Board; Pagliarulo is a member of the Green Committee and the Public Safety Facility Advisory Committee.


The elections saw above-average voter turnout, with 1,001 individuals voting in person at the Senior Center, and 83 mail-in ballots were counted after the polls closed, for about 20 percent of registered voters. 


Residents lined Field Street with signs in support of their preferred candidates as some played lawn games to pass the time. 


When the unofficial results came in, several of Strout's supporters cheered as they left the Senior Center. 


Strout said he looks forward to serving on the board for another three years and will do so with honesty and integrity. 


This will be Strout's fourth term. When running for Select Board nine years ago, he didn't think he would ever get to this point. 


"But when you get in here and you're able to serve the people and look out for them and take care of the small things for them, whether it's a pothole on their street or the street light out, those are the things that are important to people," Strout said. 


"We got a lot of work ahead of us and bringing people together to get things done, and that's what's going to take for all of us to work together." 


Although losing this race, Collins intends to stay involved in the town, continuing his work on the Planning Board and Storm Water Commission. 


When asked whether he would request a recount given the close results, Collins said he does not intend to and emphasized his trust and faith in the town clerk’s office and the volunteers who handle the counting process. 


Drosehn said he does not believe the results reflected the true vision of the town’s people, feels there was an "anomaly" in the results, and plans to call for a recount.


He said town voters prefer to have someone on the board, "one in particular," that he thinks doesn’t approach the issues.  


Unofficial results for other contested races were: 


The Planning Board had three candidates for its two open seats. Voters elected Dennis Croughwell, who had 729 votes, and Donald Davis with 456. David Martindale had 434 votes. 


The Library Trustees had five candidates for its four available seats. Voters elected Anne Ronayne, who had 1,263 votes, Thomas Condron with 710 votes, Leonardo Quiles with 623 votes, and Sherri Belouin with 576 votes. Michael Jamrog had 356 votes.

 

 

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