Caroline Pineau of Stem Haverhill on her fight to end impact fees

Caroline Pineau of Stem Haverhill on The Young Jurks live, discussing Haverhill's bs fees, who’s helping, and who’s helping the mayor!  The Young Jurks will also announce endorsements of local campaigns in Boston, Cambridge, Malden, Methuen, Haverhill...Vote on Tuesday! Background on Stem Haverhill and their lawsuit from Mike Labella of the Eagle-Tribune: https://www.eagletribune.com HAVERHILL — A state official said Friday he has concerns about the relevance of impact fees being charged to retail marijuana shops by communities across the state, including in Haverhill. Nearly six months after the owner’s of Haverhill’s Stem — a retail cannabis shop — filed a lawsuit against the city and Mayor James Fiorentini requesting documentation of costs the city has incurred because of hosting the business, the city has provided a report listing $1.3 million in expenses. The report, which was provided to Stem along with pot shops Full Harvest Moonz and CNA Stores on Sept. 10, outlines both existing costs and annual expenses city officials say Haverhill will incur due to retail marijuana. The documents costs per city department, with police accounting for the highest portion of the total — including six new police officers and two new cruisers — with an annual cost of $866,930. Although he cannot comment on Haverhill’s report specifically because Stem and the city are still in litigation, Steven Hoffman, chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, says he’s reviewed the document. “We built a big industry but it’s not a new industry as it’s replacing an illicit industry that has existed for decades,” Hoffman said. “So things like training police on DUI and drug education has been going on for a long time and has nothing to do with the introduction of a legal business replacing an illegal business, therefore, a lot of the incremental expenses cities and towns are saying they are incurring — I just don’t buy.”