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Uxbridge School Committee member accused of deceiving town over his marijuana business

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Uxbridge School Committee member accused of deceiving town over his marijuana business

Longtime Uxbridge town official Barry Desruisseaux secretly altered key provisions of a community host agreement he was issued in 2019 for a marijuana business in town, Massachusetts Inspector General Jeffrey S. Shapiro alleged Thursday. 

“Changes to the contract were requested, denied and then the contract was changed without detection,” Shapiro wrote in a news release in which he called on Uxbridge town officials to institute better controls and review the situation with lawyers “to determine if legal remedies are available.” 

Desruisseaux had been chairman of the School Committee until the committee reorganized on Tuesday. He declined to comment on Shapiro’s allegations when reached by phone Friday. 

Shapiro, in the news release and a related letter he sent to the town’s Board of Selectmen, said his findings came after an investigation he initiated after receiving a complaint in 2020. 

Desruisseaux, Shapiro said, had negotiated a host community agreement – a document required for operating a marijuana retail business in Massachusetts – with the town in 2019, during a process in which some of the terms he sought were denied. 

“He received the HCA via email from the town and was instructed to sign and return it,” Shapiro said, going on to note that, by the time Desruisseaux received the agreement, the town manager with whom he’d originally discussed it had left the position. 

“Desruisseaux deleted key provisions, such as business hours, town’s input on facility managers and the circumstances under which the town could terminate the HCA, renumbered the paragraphs, signed and hand-delivered it to Town Hall,” Shapiro alleged. 

Shapiro said Police Chief Marc Montminy, who was serving as acting town manager at the time and had not been involved in the original discussions, then signed the altered agreement without reviewing it. 

Shapiro called on Uxbridge town leaders to improve the process by which they approve contracts. 

“It is critical that municipalities have strong contracting procedures in place to mitigate vulnerabilities, as illustrated by this troubling and preventable course of events,” he said.

Shapiro recommended Uxbridge detect possible changes to legal documents in the future by ensuring documents are “locked” once agreements are reached, and establish a final review process before documents are signed. 

He also suggested the town consider legal action. 

“This situation demonstrates that we cannot assume that basic, fundamental practices are followed within each municipality with regard to contract negotiation, review and execution. Basic controls must be used to protect municipal interests and resources when entering into contracts or agreements with private entities,” he said.  “It is unfortunate, but we must always be vigilant to protect against those with nefarious intent.” 

Desruisseaux has served on several town boards stretching over a decade. In addition to his post on the School Committee, he was elected last week to the Board of Health.

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