Letter to the Editor: Regarding City of Lamar & Marijuana

Concerned Citizens of Lamar is a group of people who live in Lamar and the surrounding area that love their children and grandchildren and are concerned about the future of Lamar. They love their community and their children and are dedicated to keeping Lamar a safe place to live, shop, and thrive. There are a group of investors from outside the area seeking to change the community by bringing in dispensaries and grows to our area.

The mayor of Lamar has repeated claimed he and the council are neutral regarding the marijuana, but actions speak louder than words. City Council member Anne-Marie Crampton resigned from the council earlier this year and Mayor and Council appointed Brent Bates as the new council member for Ward one. For those of you don’t know, there were several candidates to choose from that were very qualified including Jay Brooks, Wiley Work, George Gotto, Terry Martin, and Shani Davis. All are long term residents of the City of Lamar and while claiming to be neutral, Mayor and Council chose to appoint Brent Bates, who had just submitted a petition to allow marijuana dispensaries and grows to the City of Lamar. By and through their actions, the Mayor and Council have openly shown they are pro-marijuana which is a direct conflict of what Mayor Kirk Crespin has repeatedly stated to the public. In addition, Brent Bates received a letter of recommendation from Prowers Economic Prosperity leader Cheryl Sanchez, which was dated March 19, 2023, after Brent Bates had filed his marijuana petition with the City of Lamar and considerably before Anne-Marie Crampton announced her resignation.

It is our belief that Mayor, Most Council Members, and Prowers Economic Prosperity are pro marijuana and have been fooled by the belief that the “marijuana money” will bring untold money to the City of Lamar.

We believe there can only be two reasons for this belief and both of them are quite alarming. The first is the greed and love for money regardless of the cost to our community in mental health, theft, attraction for homeless people, cost of added security. (It has been proven for every $1 received in marijuana tax revenue, $4 is spent on other items. Not to mention there is no amount of money that is worth the mental health suffering that is happening with the high THC levels.) The second is they have not studied the facts, Center for Disease Control, Smart Marijuana studies, Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division issues, and the huge amounts of water required in Cannabis Industry as a business in Lamar. (This was confirmed by an open records request received from the city clerk). Since this will bring lifestyle changes to our community, it is imperative that Mayor and Council know and understand the facts surrounding the addition of marijuana dispensaries to our community.

According to the City Clerk Linda Williams, the marijuana petitions are due on July 31, 2023. At that time, anyone can challenge the petition and the signatures to verify they have the required number of signatures, and the petition format is correct.

This year, there are several positions on Council up for reelection, including the following:
Mayor 2 year term
Ward I 4 year term
Ward II (1 )4 year term and (1) 2 year term
Ward Three 1 4 year term

Applications for the positions can be picked up on August 8th.

Respectfully submitted:
Belinda Sturges,  Member of Concerned Citizens of Lamar

Letter from City of Lamar Submitted by Sturges in Email to The Prowers Journal