A License to..

Last night was annual license renewal night at the Board of Selectmen.This is the meeting where the board members perform their duty as the “licensing board” and mass approve all the food, business, vending and other various licenses that have to be renewed every year.

It sure seems to prove the libertarian point of view that licensing seems meaningless when you approve everything in bulk.  Why not just make licensing a one time thing, and just bring forward problem cases as they occur? 

One thing that bothered me was a board member’s request for a list from the Police Department of all calls to a specific establishment. The chief had sent a report saying that there was nothing of a nature that needed to be brought to the board’s attention.

You would think that would be his call.

Fact is, you want local businesses to feel free to call the police if they have problem customers or incidents that they need support with.

If they feel threatened that every call they make will land on a list that will be put on public political display, they will tend not to call for help and then problems will percolate under the radar until they become a crisis.

If the board has a problem with an establishement, be it serving to minors or becoming a haven of violence, then they should deal with it.  But don’t discourage them from trying to work with the police. 

We’ve hired a police chief, I’m sure he will let the board know if there is an issue.