Dear Chuck, When we met up for coffee on 2/3/23, upstairs at Kimball’s (mezzanine, not the back room), it was the first time I’d seen you up close and in person since your wife passed. I didn’t know her, only of her. And what I knew of her was this: she was deeply loved, and […]

Read more "An Open Letter to Chuck Decoste"

That’s what I’d give away. In a year. To poor people in Littleton. You see, the other cannabis retail shop in town sold close to $5m of cannabis over four recent, consecutive quarters. With the current, average “take-home pay” for 100% owner/operators sitting around 15-21% of gross sales, that amounts to $750,000.00 to $1,050,000.00. A […]

Read more "$10,000 Checks, Matthew, a Hundred of Them"

In April 2019, your wife and I submit Littleton Apothecary, LLC’s written business proposal to the town, and in May, your wife and present this proposal to the Select Board in an open public meeting. About a week later, your wife and I host the mandatory community outreach meeting in the cafeteria of the middle […]

Read more "A Quick Political Timeline, Matthew"

In August 2020, your wife contacted the Board of Bar Overseers and filed a complaint alleging that I, as “her lawyer” for the Apothecary, had violated professional ethics and committed malpractice. Did you know that? Did you know that your wife concocted some story to the BBO in an effort to have me censured, admonished, […]

Read more "Saturday Afternoon Long Read, Matthew"

On Black Friday five years ago, your wife and I told a gathering of people (at my house during our family’s traditional Leftover Potluck) that we were going to try to open one of the two pot shops in town. Since nothing really seems “real” until it’s named, naturally, the friends and family who’d heard […]

Read more "What a Difference Five Years Makes, Matthew"

The next day—the very next day—your wife reneged. By email. Tom told me he simply could not believe she was pulling out—“Not after everything we’d been through negotiating with her, not after that breakfast meeting,” where they had agreed all that was left to do was “draw up the contract” and sign. Handshake though it […]

Read more "The $800,000.00, Sale, Matthew (Part Two)"

You and your wife sold the Apothecary in late October/early November 2021 for $800,000.00 to former FinComm member Tom Porell and his business partner in a deal coordinated by Zoning Board of Appeals (then/current) member Sherry Gould. Matthew, I don’t know if your wife called Sherry, or Sherry called your wife, and frankly, I don’t […]

Read more "The $800,000.00 Sale, Matthew (Part One)"

In the spring of 2022, your wife’s cannabis shop did not open. The other one did. When that happened, people were reminded that Littleton is supposed to have two shops, and they started asking your board what was happening with “the other license,” aka, the license your wife holds from the board you sit on. […]

Read more "Stonewall Matthew"

“My mom sold the Apothecary for a million dollars and now she’s going to travel the world.”—Your son. “Ah, no . . . she’ll be opening in the spring.”—Your other son, a short time later, when asked about the sale of the Apothecary. Those two statements were made early in the new year, 2022. Naturally, […]

Read more "The 1,000,000.00 Sale, Matthew"

Before you go asking your wife how she intends to pay me my cut, I think she might actually have to give the money back. There seems to be some confusion. In November 2016, Littleton residents voted YES to legalize cannabis. Given the statutory calculus where seven packies get you two cannabis shops, Littleton’s Select […]

Read more "Hold on, Matthew"