Thank God for the moral attributes of Stacey Giomi and Lisa Schuette in not voting for more marijuana stores. They were not politically persuaded.
I am appalled that the other supervisors passed this. Where is your sense of pride in our community? Why would you succumb to companies that do not represent our town? Jeanine White had good reason to speak on behalf of herself and fellow residents. Would you want this in your neighborhood?
As president of the Downtown 2020 Group, we spent years revitalizing our downtown from 2009-16 to make a strong downtown core to bring back our economy.
We achieved just that and were highly successful until the pandemic struck and wiped out many businesses and changed the structure and morale of our city. I had worked on renovating some of these buildings that are now abandoned. What a sad statement that Nevada is known for prostitution and now marijuana stores. What a legacy that a few of our board members are leaving who represent our town. Our population is growing, the downtown core is weak with vacant buildings and school enrollment is dropping. Has the board looked at the correlation among these?
Lori Bagwell’s comment that the city can focus on drug prevention for our youth and then approve another dispensary for adults is absurd. Where does she think our youth get their drugs? No, they can’t buy them from the dispensary. They buy them from adults who purchase them from the dispensary. This seems like a no-brainer.
We have a homeless situation that is growing and is something we have had local meetings with our mayor and sheriff, to no avail. This affects everyone.
A blight area and vacant buildings will attract more homeless people and adding more dispensaries just adds to the problem that creates major issues in our downtown area that strongly affects our local businesses and community.
Pharmacies have closed, and that should tell the supervisors something about the need of adding more dispensaries.
I was OK with two, for I have seen the positive effects of medical marijuana for very sick people with such illness as cancer, but we definitely don’t need four.
Instead of dispensaries, offer incentive programs to our youth to work and for the businesses who are struggling to thrive. Have a marketing plan to recruit retail boutique shops and more family-oriented events as well as offering school programs to students on being a good employee and working with the public. This will benefit them for life.
We are not just a senior or homeless community. We are a college town and what draws students to attend is an active and vibrant downtown. The Brewery Arts Center has been a great asset in contributing to public events for all age groups to enjoy.
Jazz & Beyond Art Festival, The Wine Walk, The Arts Alliance, Farmers Market, Downtown Vintage Market and others are supported by the downtown businesses that participate and contribute to these community events with weather permitting.
What else can be done to strengthen our downtown core on the heels of the pandemic to make our city family oriented? We are a 24-hour state and that brings its own set of problems, from drinking and gambling to increasing homelessness.
There are programs out there like CIRCLES who are empowering people in poverty to live better lives and the Ron Wood Center to help those in need.
Giomi, Schuette and our new school superintendent Andrew Feuling, give hope to our community, as well as the Legislative Interim Finance Committee who approved the loan program for Nevada Small Businesses. This is one program that may help with the shortages of downtown businesses. A strong downtown core is needed to sustain our community to be family oriented and welcome all ages and ethnic backgrounds.
Not more marijuana dispensaries.
Doreen Mack is a third-generation Carsonite and president of the Downtown 2020 Group.
