By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014) — THE PLANET, through a variety of means, is privy to a lot of information and what the National Security State imaginatively calls “intelligence.” Much of it comes to us raw. From there, we examine and, if called for, turn it over to our various experts from among the Few and the Brave in the Secret Squadron for decryption, analysis, and commentary.

The raw data hits the desk all over the place — up, down, over, under, around, and through. Some of it is quickly dismissed as being evidently dismissible, especially information that comes from the certifiably “Bat-Shit Crazy” among us, an official designation in the “Psychiatry” section of the Physicians Desk Reference.

Some of the surviving material gets the once over but quickly falls to the wayside of insignificance or irrelevancy. Still more of the items, though factual and true, never get published for one reason or another. Additional  happenings only indirectly make it into our reports here on the web or on PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION for the way they inform or add to a specific item on which we happen to be reporting. Still some other news tips are used as backgrounder, serving as wedge-and-lever with which we can move otherwise inaccessible information from its hiding place or prison.

This leaves us, then, with a small few items that actually deserve (and therefore receive) THE PLANET’s full attention. One recent example is The Empty Suit‘s “outed” media policy. As we have conclusively demonstrated, TES, the mayor of Pittsfield, drew up the moth-eaten plan in panicked haste, intending it to remain secret and having as its dual purpose to (a) gag his department heads on the matter of press relations and (b) instill fear in every city employee that if they dare speak to a member of the press without permission, especially any newshawk with the initials D.V., they will be called right quick before the Gestapo on Rug Row, corner office, 70 Allen St.

THE PLANET has devoted much coverage on this site to the media policy. Last week, we gave it a full hour of treatment on PV-TV (to view, go to YouTube, and in the search engine type “Planet Valenti;” it’s the show from June 26).

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Then there are a few items that fall into the potentially and potently “Significant” or “Big” categories. These are stories with the capability of becoming “Huge,” depending on what happens (d’ya like these technical terms). THE PLANET usually gets apprised of them straight from the Mr. Ed‘s mouth, with the proviso that we cannot break the news unless (a) our source(s)  gives us the OK or (b) until the source(s) themselves take the first step to release the story.

At the moment THE PLANET sits on two such interesting numbers. As we just said, we have given our word to embargo the stories until certain times that only we and the other parties know. Most likely, you won’t be hearing about them from us first, though we will point out that we were the first among the local media to learn of the two potential bombshells.

We can tell you this much. The first story has to do with information (in the form of serious allegations) that currently sits before a regionally supreme adjudicating authority.

The charges involve a current city official. The back-up material in support of the allegations appears to be well sourced, documented, and detailed.

If the allegations prove true, they could be ruinous of reputation and career.

The second story has to do with (what else?) water. H2O has been making news regularly in Pittsfield for some time, most recently the raw-sewage dump.

No. It’s not the state DEP’s investigation into the leakage of raw sewage from the Pittsfield Water Treatment plant.

The effluence poured unabated for some time into the badly-abused Housatonic River and onto adjacent farmland from what appears to be an entirely preventable lapse in competency from management there. An aside: Just how much harm will humankind inflict on the those innocent waters?

As high as those stakes are, we’re talking about ones higher.

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Consider this a clue … or not. You might be interested to know that in terms of cost to taxpayers, the most expensive city departments are:

1. School Department — $56,524,399 officially budget to PSD but, adding costs hidden on the city-side ledger, topping $100 million.

2. Police Department — $8,550,093

3. Fire Department — $6,545,997

4. DPU Waste Water — $4,288,204

5. DPU Water Treatment — $4,117,686.

Why the city does not treat the two DPU cost centers as one, we don’t know. Both are water costs under the management of the Department of Public Utilities, Bruce Collingwood, head. Combining them into one, we have $8,405,890, just a shade under the cost of the police. But wait. There’s more.

You also have to add $412,686 from the sewer enterprise fund. This brings the total to $8,818,576!

That makes the DPU’s water facilities the second most expensive part of the city for taxpayers. Bet you didn’t know that.

For that $8,818,576, Pittsfield citizens have received and are receiving — if the mounting anecdotal evidence proves accurate — incompetent management that takes unprofessional blundering to astonishing levels, even by Pittsfield’s standards.

If and when these two stories break, pretend like you’re surprised, because you didn’t hear it here first.

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Finally, THE PLANET is approaching what may be a break-through in the identify of the recipient of the largesse that former Greylock Federal Credit Union loan officer Michael Dicenzo is accused of providing. Dicenzo faces nine criminal charges, including four charges of tax fraud, according to documents filed last month in U.S. District Court. Court papers allege that the charges are connected to a kickback scheme involving “a Pittsfield-area businessman.”

For some mysterious reason, the documents did not name the businessman.

THE PLANET is getting close to the identity of “a Pittsfield-area businessman.” There is still more “due diligence” needed. No one has yet provided a good reason why the name of the “businessman” was kept out of the public proceedings. If there is such a reason, we would like to hear them. Short of that, well, we see a curtain. We hear a distant echo: “Don’t look behind that curtain!”

You know what we usually do when we hear that order!

We will ask the reader to refrain from naming names. If you think you have information on this subject, please contact us privately! THE PLANET puts you on your honor, ladies and gentlemen, as ladies and gentlemen.

Stay tuned.

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“A boy and his dog, when out looking for the rainbow. Oh, what did they learn, since they did that thing together?” — Van Morrison, “Under the Redwood Tree,” (1970).

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.