On the 31st of August, after confirming that the attorney who’d represented your wife in our lawsuit (Nov 2019-Apr 2021) no longer represented her in that matter, I sent a very generous offer to your wife.

I did not receive a reply from her.

On the same day your wife’s special permit with the Planning Board lapsed, that is, on September 20th, I sent the same offer to your wife’s all-things-cannabis attorney, Blake Mensing, asking him to present my offer to your wife.

I did not receive a reply from him.

Replying to offers made to one’s clients is one of those things that lawyers are duty-bound to do: Always present an offer to your client; get client’s informed consent to: 1. accept the offer, 2. make a counteroffer, or 3. reject the offer.

I presume that your wife read my offer. I presume her attorney read my offer.

And now, given the information I’ve unearthed, I think I know why they both chose to not reply.

Even so, here’s that offer from late August, three months ago:

Dear Christine,

I want to see Littleton Apothecary open. I want to see Littleton Apothecary follow through on its philanthropic mission. And I want to see the abolition of poverty in town.

I recognize that today’s profit margins are not what they were in April 2021. Stores are closing. Cannabis has turned into just another race-to-the-bottom market. ”Why bother?” seems to be the refrain by those coming into the industry who are now looking at (only) a 15-20% profit margin.

And for you, these realities are compounded by our settlement agreement.

Let’s say Littleton Apothecary has $2 million in sales. If you’re hitting the 20% profit margin, that’s $200k for you and $200k for me. But if you come in at 15%, it’s still $200k for me, but now it’s only $100k for you. And if all the bad news about the cannabis market plays out for you and you make only a 10% profit? That’s $200k for me, and nothing for you.

I can completely understand why you would have zero motivation to open with 9.99% in gross sales coming to me.

When we presented our business plan, Littleton Apothecary had a significant philanthropic element. I don’t think Littleton Apothecary ever would’ve gotten the go-ahead were it not for the promises we—and then you alone—made. But then after you got the HCA, you announced that your vision to give away the profits was dead.

Well, I’m here to suggest a revival.

If you still want to do right by Littleton, I’m willing to renegotiate our settlement agreement to make that happen.

Here’s what I’m thinking: I will forego my interest in the settled-upon 9.99% of gross sales if the profits from Littleton Apothecary are, instead, divided 33.0% to me, 33.0% to you, and 34.0% to those living in poverty in Littleton.

Using the same hypothetical sales of $2m, if Littleton Apothecary makes a 20% profit, you’d get $132k, I’d get $132k, and the impoverished in Littleton would get $136k. If you only make a 15% profit, it’s $99k for you, $99k for me, and $102k for the poor. And if it’s only 10%, you’d still get $66k, as would I, and the poor would get $68k.

As is obvious, it is financially disadvantageous for me to make this proposal, but I don’t care. We humans are running out of time to be good to each other, and I still see a chance to do something radically good with the profits from cannabis.

My offer is conditioned on:

1.       Littleton Apothecary being open on or before 12/6/2023

2.       My receiving weekly updates as to the progress you’re making toward opening

Everything I read nowadays about “making it” in the cannabis industry focuses on differentiation from competition.  

Giving the profits away is that differentiation. People will go out of their way to shop at Littleton Apothecary when they learn the profits are going to help others. My proposal drives traffic into Littleton Apothecary which drives sales which drives bettering the lives of others.

I want one of the two licenses in town to do some real good.

If you do as well, let me know by noon on Monday.

You see, Matthew, I am willing to do pretty much anything to work toward the abolition of poverty here in town—including foregoing what was agreed to in the 2021 settlement agreement that your wife and I signed because opening the Apothecary would be the most expedient way to get that money to the poor.

But . . .

On November 16, 2023, the Planning Board made a finding that your wife’s special permit had lapsed.

It seems the Select Board will be getting a letter from the Planning Board, informing your board that your wife did nothing at 160 Ayer Road. Though you probably knew this already, to be fair.

Your board (excluding you, of course, to preserve that “transparency” in governance that you’re always going on about) needs to decide whether to stick with your wife’s idea for a shop, which, by objective observation, is “No shop for you, Littleton, and Ka-Ching! for me”

And by extension, Ka-Ching! for you, too, Matthew.

Or maybe, your board will decide that the radical idea of giving 100% of the profits away, in $10,000.00 increments, to Littletonians living under the poverty line is a “better deal” than The Littleton Project, which your wife said was dead anyhow on FB on December 4, 2021—a few weeks after she’d told Tom Porell she’d “gotten a better deal” and right before you all had that super nice vacation in the Dominican Republic.

TTYS,

Jkb