Latest news with #Tolley
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Zoning Police Come for Cape Cod Lobsterman
People looking for fresh lobster know where to go on Cape Cod. For 50 years, third-generation fisherman Jon Tolley has welcomed customers to his Yarmouth home, where he offers the day's catch. His father did the same thing at the same home, using a home-based business model that Tolley's grandfather pioneered in 1930 at a different location near the Bass Hole boardwalk. The town of Yarmouth should celebrate this entrepreneurial spirit, and yet, the town ordered Tolley to cease and desist operations in March 2025—weeks before the start of a new season. The reason has nothing to do with public health, safety, sanitation, or environmental concerns. Tolley has commercial fishing and retail licenses, and he complies with all requirements. Nor has the town mentioned traffic or parking concerns. Tolley has two massive driveways that easily accommodate his customers, including many who just walk from nearby. Instead, the town is citing a zoning ordinance that prohibits sales in residential neighborhoods. The ordinance has no exceptions, even for fresh-caught lobster sold by a lobsterman in Cape Cod, where families have stayed afloat this way for centuries. According to the town, someone complained to authorities, but they will not say who. "Everyone in the town knows I have been selling there my whole life," he writes on his Facebook page. "I have sold to building inspectors, Town Hall employees, selectpersons, police, firefighters, and residents of Cape Cod and beyond." On March 7, Tolley was issued a violation notice for selling lobsters at his home, and Yarmouth has threatened him with daily fines of up to $300 if he does not cease operations. For his part, Tolley only has heard support, and he does not intend to go away quietly. He will fight back at a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on April 10. It is unlikely that he will face the person who issued the complaint. Besides the economic implications of this move, the Building Department should consider the Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause does not allow arbitrary infringement of property rights. People can use their property in normal, productive ways, and the government cannot stop them without good reason. Cities and towns routinely try this sort of thing. Home-based enterprises make popular targets, and the results can be ironic. Zoning officials ordered Lij Shaw to shut down a recording studio that he operated behind soundproof walls at his home in "Music City" Nashville, Tennessee. If Palo Alto, California, had taken this approach with Hewlett-Packard and shut down the region's first "garage startup" in 1939, Silicon Valley might never have emerged. Once local inspectors take out their clipboards, even modest dreams can die. Zoning officials ordered single mom Bianca King to close her home-based daycare center in Lakeway, Texas. They ordered Art and Kimberly Dunckel to close a farm animal sanctuary on their rural property in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And zoning officials blocked Peter and Annica Quakenbush from opening a green cemetery on their private woodland preserve in Brooks Township, Michigan. We have seen just about everything at our public interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, as part of our Zoning Justice Project. Far too often, what is missing is common sense. Nobody wants a tannery, nightclub, or fireworks factory next door. But people rarely cross boundaries like these. They generally regulate themselves because they want to live peaceably with their neighbors. Tolley shows how. He listens for community feedback and makes adjustments when necessary. All good businesses do the same. There is no other way to survive in one location for 50 years. Code enforcers can step in when necessary. They have a role to play. But they should not rock the lobster boat, inventing problems that do not exist. The post Zoning Police Come for Cape Cod Lobsterman appeared first on
CBC
21-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Black on the Ballot: Most Black Canadians taking part in politics face discrimination, study says
Most Black Canadians participating in politics face discrimination and barriers to getting involved in government, according to a recent study. Erin Tolley, who is a Canada Research Chair in Gender, Race and Inclusive Politics and associate professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, is the author of Black on the Ballot: What Black Canadians Told Us About Running for and Serving in Elected Office. Her study involved a first-ever national survey of Black Canadians in politics and archival research to produce the most comprehensive account of their inclusion in Canadian politics, she said. "There really is not a lot of research on Black Canadians in politics," Tolley said. "Historically, political scientists have not thought about race in Canada. We tend to think race is a construct more useful in the United States." One of the key findings of Tolley's work was how many Black Canadians experience negative reactions when entering politics. Among the 95 people who responded to the survey, 67 said they had experienced discrimination while in office or running for office. More than half of these people said they were discriminated against while out in public or at their office. These experiences can influence how long Black Canadians stay in politics, Tolley said. Study reflects African Nova Scotians' experiences Virginia Hinch received racist emails while running for Halifax regional council in last fall's municipal election. Hinch, who was elected councillor for Halifax Peninsula North, shared one of the emails on social media during her campaign but said she has since moved on from the experience. "I'm going to take what he said with a grain of salt because, again, I reached out to meet with this person and there was nothing since then. So I'm not worried about that anymore," she said in a recent interview. Wanda Thomas Bernard became the first African Nova Scotian woman in the Canadian Senate when she was appointed in 2016. Thomas Bernard, a longtime social worker, educator and activist, said she experienced both overt and subtle racism when she arrived in Ottawa. She said on one occasion she was the only person forced to show her identification while on a shuttle that takes senators to the upper chamber. After Thomas Bernard spoke in the Senate for the first time, she said several senators approached her to congratulate her on how well she spoke. "I'm thinking that feels like a microaggression, like I'm a professor, why shouldn't I speak well?" she said. Both Thomas Bernard and Hinch are participating in a panel discussion about the experience of Black Nova Scotia women in politics on Friday at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia in Cherry Brook. Hinch said Bernard was one of the first people she spoke to when considering entering politics and her guidance proved invaluable. Bernard said a big part of her role has been mentoring other Black politicians across the country. She said simply having someone who looks like them in office can have a positive effect. "I believe it gives people critical hope. I believe that it's a form of encouragement. I believe that it helps people to believe in themselves," she said.
