By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, SEPT. 22, 2014) — Tomorrow night, if the center continues to fall apart, our Right Honorable Good Friends on the Pittsfield City Council shall face a tipping point. After this vote, citizens will know where councilors stand: Are they for We The People and for open government or do they favor the mayor and his closed, democracy-trashing administration?

This story developed on social media. Over the weekend, councilor-at-large Barry Clairmont posted the following:

I just looked at the agenda for the next council meeting. The Mayor is going to answer the list of questions I put forward regarding the move of 40% of City Hall workers to 100 North Street. I was kind enough to agree that he could delay the answers from the September 2nd meeting (at his request) until the first meeting in October (as I’m on vacation and will miss the meeting next Tuesday). President Mazzeo assured me the answer session wouldn’t take place while I was on vacation. Well, so much for promises. She put it on the agenda for Tuesday night. How fair is that? I believe transparency was the theme the Mayor ran on.

Tabling Will Happen; Will Councilors Support It Or Will They Back Closed Government? 

Clairmont raises a serious charge which brings up many lines of discussion. Before that, let’s share some additional news on this disturbing development. THE PLANET has learned that:

* The mayor intends to sign the lease for 100 North St. on Wednesday of this week, the day after the council meeting.

* Council president Melissa Mazzeo asked the mayor not to sign the lease, arguing that Bianchi owes the council — and more importantly, citizens — a full explanation on “100gate.” The mayor refused this request.

* Clairmont’s petition is on the Oct. 14 agenda. Bianchi supposedly will answer Clairmont’s questions then. Of course, the ink on the lease will have been three weeks dry. It will be like Amos McCoy telling Luke to close the stable door after Mr. Ed has wandered off on Wilbur Post, to mix old TV sitcom metaphors. Heckuva lot of good it will do.

* A motion will be made to table agenda item 11. The ensuing vote shallmeasure where individual councilors stand on “100gate” and its many alarming aspects. A vote to table shall be a vote to stand with citizens, taxpayers, and the public. It shall also be a repudiation of the moldy, damp, dark, and claustrophobic style of “leadership” redolently emanating from the corner office. A vote not to table shall identify the mayoral water carriers and rubber stamps.

A Couple of Points are in Order:

1. Fair Play — Clairmont’s questions regarding “100gate” were scheduled to be answered on Sept. 2. The mayor requested a delay to October, because city solicitor Kathy Degan was not available on Sept. 2. THE PLANET asks why the mayor was incapable of answering Clairmont’s questions with legal advice? Was he worried about illegalities? In the spirit of collegiality, Clairmont deferred to the mayor. Now, the at-large councilor says, the council president broke a promise and gave in to the mayor to have the matter dealt with while Clairmont was unavailable.

2. Into the Darkness, Blindly — Once again, citizens and taxpayers — with nearly a $500,000 on the line — Mayor Dan Bianchi has kept you out of the loop. This continues an almost unbroken display of mayoral arrogance against Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, the proverbial Little Guys as well as a contempt for the democratic process, openness, transparency, and sound fiduciary policy.

What Can You Do About It?

The lease won’t be signed until Wednesday. This gives you one last shot to make your voice heard. What can you do?

SHOW UP.

Attend the council meeting on Tuesday and bring a bunch of friends. Sign up to speak during the open mic session that begins the meeting. In politics, there is strength in numbers. Citizens can send a loud message by making it know they have a voice today and in the 2015 mayoral elections.

To give you a taste of the online debate Clairmont started, here is a string of comments with respect to Clairmont’s Facebook posting:

• Tom Sakshaug I think the agenda is quite transparent. It is,”screw you!”

  23 hrs · Unlike · 4
• 

  James Wilusz That’s really too bad and unfortunate but not surprised.
• 

  Mary’s Carrot Cake One big nightmare. Thanks for caring. Very upsetting to see the lack of collaboration, mistrust, and blatant deceit. Poor Pittsfield. Time for new leadership. Honesty is all we ask. Not getting it. Sorry Barry.
• 

  Jeff Barcus can a citizen go and make a request to table? Seem that roberts rules (or whatever the council uses for guidance) should allow that an author that is not available be accorded that courtesy.
• 

  James Wilusz I would like to see the city council, (you know, the one’s we vote for) step up and table this.
• 

  Dan Valenti This SHOULD NOT take place without you, BC. We The People must do more than be “sorry, Barry.” WEP must make their voices heard and not allow this tactic. That would assume a lot, I realize, for example, that people — citizens and taxpayers — not only realize that THEY own the government but that they act as the owners. Tabling until Oct. 7 is the only honorable thing to do. Surely, the council president knows this. Surely, council members will realize this and act accordingly.
• 

  Mary Lou Mosca Robinson This is unacceptable and shows disrespect for you Barry and the entire council members as well! Melissa Mazzeo should step up to the plate and honor the promise she made to you and postpone this issue to the next meeting.
• 

  Mary’s Carrot Cake It’s been hard to work around dictatorship. Democracy is a constant battle to maintain amid what we are watching.
• 

  Jeff Whitehouse BS
• 

  Barry Clairmont Jeff, I hope this does get tabled. Please, make your voice heard at the open mic period at the beginning of the meeting. If people don’t speak up, the other councilors will think you don’t care.
• 

  Jeff Barcus OK I’ll be there….sweating bullets—-I so dislike public speaking but this is important on principal.
• 

  Mary Lou Mosca Robinson I urge everyone to attend the meeting.and speak at the open mic period stating our dismay and outrage
• 

  Mary Lou Mosca Robinson This is a total slap in the face to all of the residence in our city! This behavior must stop!
• 

  Kathy Lloyd Holy moly! Really??
• 

  Dan Valenti People, listen up. Time to get a social network going. One tell two. Two tell four. Four tell eight. The message: contact the city council president, your individual councilor, and as many councilors at large as you can/ That tactic brought down Mubarik in Egypt. It can get a get a friggin motion table in Podunk. Rise up!! Also show up. Be there Tuesday. Let your voice be heard from the open mic. Make your preference known with your PRESENCE. Intimidate them. Show them who’s boss. This could be a great moment for the city, you know.
• 

  Mary Lou Mosca Robinson I would hope that those on the city council will speak up and support Councilor Clairmont on this..speak up and voice your dismay. This can not continue!
• 

  Jeff Barcus any body know the protocol? do you just show up? or do you have to sort of “sign in” in advance?
• 

  Tom Sakshaug Jeff, you get there before 7 pm and put your name on the sheet at the podium. You get about 3 minutes to speak. I wish I could be there but I will be out of town.
• 

  Denis Guyer And here I thought I was going to be able to just simply enjoy my “retirement” …..quietly.
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  Tom Sakshaug Have at it, Denis! You too Jeff. And Mary. And Dan. And anyone else. Demand tabling.
• 

  Tom Sakshaug If I ask you a question and you CHOOSE to answer it when I am not present, it says a great deal about your integrity.
• 

  Tom Sakshaug I suppose I could repeat my previous comment. Integrity, courage, plain courtesy.
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  Tom Sakshaug A motion to table this item will be made. The vote will separate the wheat from the chaff, the lackeys from the independent thinkers, the fair minded from the robots.
• 

  Tom Sakshaug It’s right there in black and white: ” 11. A communication from Mayor Bianchi stating that he will be making a presentation regarding the Inspectional Services Department’s move to 100 North St.” Am I reading it wrong?
• 

  Tom Sakshaug http://www.cityofpittsfield.org/…/cc_packet_9_23A_14.pdf
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  Kathy Lloyd If Councilor Mazzeo thinks this is a misstatement from Councilor Clairmont, I’d love to hear the other side. This looks pretty bad from BC’s statement.
• 

  Denis Guyer Maybe putting it on an agenda when BC is out if town is nothing more than a petty power move…..another tit for tat that has now become quite normal in Pittsfield. OR it could also be taken that the Mayor and his council allies are doing it this way so that BC is not present to ask any probing questions about the deal.
• 

  Kathy Lloyd So I just had a 25 minute conversation with Melissa Mazzeo. She says that Barry’s petition is not in fact on the agenda Tuesday night, that the Mayor is coming to answer questions from the other city councilors because he is signing the lease the very next day. She asked the Mayor to put off the lease signing but he will not and she therefore felt that the rest of the council (and the public) deserved an explanation from the Mayor on his decision to sign the lease before he signs it. Barry’s petition is still on the agenda for the 14th of October and the Mayor will answer his questions specifically then. The council and we have no power to stop the signing of the lease and no real say in the matter, which I find frustrating.
• 
• Tom Sakshaug This whole lease thing has been anything but transparent.
• 

  Kathy Lloyd spending this amount of money without a large and loud public conversation is reprehensible.

  ——– 000 ——–

This gives you an idea of the tone and tenor of the debate, an important one that goes beyond the immediate issue at hand. At stake is nothing less than ownership of the government. Ladies and Gentlemen, the ball is in your court. Stand up. Be heard. Be counted. Demand accountability.

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“And Wendy’s stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks, and Freddy’s got spots from ripping off the stars from his face. Funky little boat race. Television man is crazy, saying we’re juvenile delinquent wrecks. Oh man, I need TV when I got T. Rex. I’m a dude, dad.” — Mott the Hoople, “All the Young Dudes,” (1973).

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.