BEACON BOONDOGGLE: MOTHER OF ALL PITTSFIELD SCAMS?
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
ADD 1 — Happy Thanksgiving to all PLANETEERS. Enjoy the day, count your blessings, and reaffirm your commitments. We shall be back with new content on Monday. Until then, relax, have fun, refresh, and recharge.
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(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY & BEYOND NOV. 20etc., 2018) — To track back the hedge maze of financing that made possible the boondoggle known at the Beacon Cinema makes one realize the intent behind its implementation. Designers of the impossible-to-account-for project, deliberately built in financial confusion and chaos as a means of making a muddy swine appear as a white swan. How else can one account for the bewildering money-mish-mash?
A succession of duped mayors and council rubber stampers thought the pig looked immaculate, and acting in the name of Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, gave developer Richard Stanley everything he asked for more, demanding little to nothing in return. Free public money for dubious “private” development with little-to-no accountability? Do you recognize the formula? Perhaps the names of EV Worldwide, WorhshopLive!, Spice, and Nuclea ring a solstice for you, just to name a few.
That’s to leave out the countless projects for which public money was absconded with insufficient rationale or public input, including the countless runway repaving at the airport, more than a million dollars to Hiccup Shaker Village, the new THS, and the Berkshire “Honey, I Stole the Rockwells” Museum. Meanwhile, businesses — coffee bars, restaurants, clothing stores, general stores, boutiques — on the wrong side of politics that tried to make it on their own found out the hard way found out that Pittsfield is a city where the rich go to the “thea-tah” two months of the year and the poor can suck the public tit for 12 months out of 12. There is no middle class. There is no discretionary income.
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It’s as if someone put a “Kick me” sign on the back of Pittsfield, Mass., luring every fore flusher and carpet bagger this side of Guam to the county seat. Or maybe the DPW put up signs that read, “Welcome to Suckerland, Mass.” The same rotten formula can be seen in the influx of drug addicts, Section 8 single moms, gangs, bums, alkies, mentally ill, group homes, and other assorted gimme-groups who expect taxpayers to provide them not with a hand up but a perpetual hand out. Pittsfield took the grant money, and the fine print said that the city would accept the human refuse from other tonier parts of the state, notably east of Route 128. As an aside, THAT is a story waiting for the picking that the alleged mainstream media, especially The Boring Broadsheet, is apparently too lazy or timid to investigate. Why doesn’t THE PLANET? We are a one-man band with a loose collection of sources, spies, gum shoes, and Z-agents. We don’t have a 40-person newsroom.
The Mother of All Mothers in this endless development game of Pick Pittsfield Clean might yet turn out to be Stanley’s Beacon Cinema, which has sucked up more than $22.1 million, of which the developer put up $150,000 to turn the crank on the “economic engine.” They hid the trail through four mortgages, a series of tax credits, unjustified grants, and other subsidies. When this project first surfaced under mayor Gerry Doyle, Stanley said that the most important aspect was “who might make a buck” off it. It was probably the only time Stanley ever told the truth about his intentions for the Beacon. Jimmy Ruberto called the flick house “the crown jewel of the revitalization of downtown.” How’d that work out, Jim?
As the city and others explain it, there are two options:
- (1) Forgive Stanley the $2.55 million he owes and allow him to sell to a Michigan-based movie chain.
- (2) The banks foreclose.
Which should the city council choose?
In a world where there’s a level playing field, it’s an open discussion, but this has been a fixed game all along. THE PLANET‘s examination of the financials, maze-y as they are, convinces us that Option (1) would allow Stanley to walk away with Who Knows How Much of the $22.1 million and be a bad deal all around. This should be a no-brainer for the city council: Select Option (2). Forgiving the loan lets Stanley off the hook, sends the wrong message, and keeps a losing enterprise on North Street. It’s far better to cut losses. Let the banks take the property, with the city getting a lien for money owed. Let the theater go dark and put the property up for sale at a competitive price to PRIVATE money. That should be followed up with a thorough audit of the project.
One other question that no one wants to ask: Why can’t the city and the banks sue Stanley for the money he owes? We can reasonably assume that he has a net worth in excess of $2.55 million. So why can’t the principals in the case foreclose and then then go after him? Perhaps there’s a good reason, but we haven’t heard it. THE PLANET comes from a place where people pay what they owe. Period.
Councilors are again facing a vote that tells us who is for Us and who is for Them. We heard through council sources that the mayor secretly polled “friendly” councilors before she put forth her plan, making sure she had the votes. THE PLANET couldn’t confirm that, but the vote will reveal all.
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“You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out” — Warren Buffet.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE”
LOVE TO ALL.
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Stanley is a liberal buffoon. He ignores the 5,000 Trump voters in Pittsfield by refusing to show movies that appeal to conservatives and libertarians. He does not serve the public interest.If you want to see a movie and you have to travel to Springfield or Albany to see it you can only conclude that Stanley is a anti 1st amendment tyrant. May he go to hell.
Reply to Non Essere Uno Stronzo:
I like that Italian name: translates in English:
Do not be an asshole–Non Essere Uno Stronzo:))
Bravo! Nicely said!
Why does it matter how many toilets you have. The sewer rates should be determined on how many people live in a house.
Secretary tyer states in today’s eagle that people should install water meters. There is no doubt that if you have a meter and you are frugal with water use you can save on your bill. There is a caveat here though. The water and sewer rates are enterprise rates meaning they are paid solely by users of water and sewer. The costs of the projects are a fixed number. If everyone got meters there would not be enough money coming in to pay down the enterprise debt and that means only one thing rates will have to be further increased to pay the debt service.Translation: Your damned if you do or damned if you dont. Do you understand that secretary tyer ???
Getting back to this khashoggi killing again. Scump refused to believe our own intelligence agents that stated the Saudis butchered khashoggi. The Saudis realizing that scump isn’t that bright has flooded the market with cheap oil in the past week. Scump was touting this not realizing that once he has satisfied himself and give the Saudis a pass they will raise rates just as quickly. Translation: It was alright to butcher as long as you help the US. Saudis should pay with stiff sanctions that would insure cheap oil for a long period of time as their penalty for the butchering. The Saudis have a pidgeon in trump and they got away with the killing of a US resident for a few barrells of oil. What may be next????
I know you admire the solar system but your head is too close to Uranus Art.
Essex Have you been watching how closely scump is involved financially with the Saudis. Do you think that maybe scump didn’t chastise the Saudis because they own him??? I doubt that you would have seen this on fox or breitbart your bibles. What I do to not look foolish is to scan many media sources before I post. I try to post factual information because I know that many people are not as immersed in info gathering as I and I am happy to share my finds with everyone. Your posts are very Terse and indicative of not being too immersed in fact finding. Happy turkey to you.
Why do they care more about who killed Khashoggi than about who killed our men in Benghazi?
Correct all killings are unacceptable. This is the most recent and we have difinitive evidence of it. What is totally unacceptable is that a US president is condoning it for the cost of a few barrels of oil. These situations must be front and center and must be dealt with in the harshest of actions. To do nothing sends the wrong message and by so doing we will see more of this. We need to all agree when something is right and also when something is wrong. Otherwise we will have bedlum. Happy turkey to you.
There is a moron running for Mississippi senate and her name is Cindy Hyde Smith. You have to see and listen to her. She is a racist and the most disgusting candidate I have ever seen or heard. I can’t wait to see the outcome of this race. She is a republican tuning against democrat Mike Espy. The race is too close to call but I can’t remember when a democrat prevailed there. This is an interesting race. And the last senate race to be decided. Scump is going to scump for her.
Excellent point. Enterprise funds are user based. The fund always gets paid, if more people save, the rates go up to match.
I wonder what they did with all the money from Richmond ($600k) and Lenox for the connect fees? Did the invest them or give them to the Beacon.
Art, if I may, I love most of your stuff, the random interjection of trump/scump hate into multiple threads that have nothing to do with said President is a bit distracting.
As a fan I ask that you maybe keep the scump stuff out of replies to other stuff. I get it, I’m not telling you what to do, I’m just politely asking so we can keep on focus with the non-scump stuff.
Reply to Art Seller:
Please, do not abuse our Lovely Mayor, Linda Tyer!
She was indeed a good secretary and wise City Clerk.
Linda Tyer brings her vast secretarial experience
into city’s daily paper work and bureaucratic routine.
Without her, we would be lost in mountain of files and folders, but thanks to Linda–all papers are in order.
If she is not re-elected, I would be honored to hire her–
as part time secretary in my office.
So it’s a common thing to count toilets, cubic feet, or in most cases EDU’s (equivalent dwelling units).
Each has its pros and cons
From an end user perspective, a single person would probably be smart to put in a meter. A family of four, maybe not so much.
Some towns meter water in, and then base the sewer rate on a calculation against water in, say 95%.
Agent you are correct. One has to study their situation and decide . However this enterprise fund is a fixed expense and when expensive updates such as these are undertaken the more people who resort to meters redu es the income to pay the fixed costs and additional rate increases will become necessary. Because you are relatively new to this site let me say a few things to you. The biggest problem facing the city today is the fact that the city’s Dpw commissioner David tutocy has no background in sewer or water treatment. A good intelligent Dpw commissioner is a road block to consultants who would come in with preposterous priced projects such as these. Tutocy can not stand up to the consultants and thus they
Run rough shod over him straddling the city with an outrageously costly project. Mr. Gaetani saw this situation in the 80s where by Metcalf and Eddy engineers could pull the wool over another clueless dpw commissioner Gerald Doyle St. Those individuals were proposing a 150 million dollar facility and he was proposing a 16 million dollar facility. Gaetani was able to convince mayor smith to fire Doyle and the consultants and he built the facilities for 32 million He had no choice and had to charge the city 32 million because the regulatory authorities forced him to put in 100% backup into the system Regardless he still saved the city 116 million dollars. Gaetani is very well respected in the fields of water and wastewater in both private sector and municipal sectors. He is very heavily involved in the cracking field of energy recovery He said tracking water recycling is the most difficult liquid to treat but his group has developed new technology and patented it and the equipment is used in just about all tracking operations in the US. In fact by chance they have discovered that in municipal applications there is no manufacturer that can compete in target removal or capital investment and they are now moving rapidly into municipal projects such as Pittsfield’s Gaetani is always involved in cutting edge technology as he was in the 80s when he and his two partners Dr Milos Krofta and Dr Lawrence built there patented sand floats as the heart of the treatment stream. Gaetani sees his new technology as perhaps being the standard for all! Future water and waste water projects. The Gman is getting up there in age but he has brought in the young and brightest individuals he could find so that when he is gone these youthful scientists and engineers can continue to advance in solving the worlds water and wastewater problems. I hope this helps you agent. Happy turkey to you.
Reply to Art Seller:
Long Live Mr. Graig Gaetani!
Gaetani for Mayor!
Greg, Turocy can flush a toilet so he has some knowledge.
Art, is it fair to presume you are calling her a Racist due to her comment regarding her comment regarding her attendance at a public hanging?
No. I dislike her because she tells bedtime stories. Get with the program man!!!!!
The more I read about the Beacon theater the weirder it gets. Tyer wants to ram this new deal through before people can find out what a con job it has been on the taxpayers. Her subcommittee on the matter is made up of political hacks who would not dare cross her and do not even have all the facts to make an educated decision on the matter.
It is no wonder the city is a stumbling bumbling skeleton of its past because it had to take some real time con men to put this private project together and leave the taxpayers holding the debt. Much of it seem illegal and immoral and looks ripe for a look by the state Attorney General. She had better hurry though before the mayor and her cronies are able to bury the whole mess and pretend it never happened.
And if this mess was looked into deeply what other stones might get turned over n the process? What are they afraid of that they need to sweep this under the rug so quickly?
Kudos to Melissa Mazzeo for trying to open this Pandora’s box.
Mazzeo generally seems to be ahead of the curve on most of this. She gets it but she’s facing an uphill battle with the likes of Krol, Tyer, Moon, etc.
The AG isn’t going to look at anything because the AG is part of the problem. The Harrington support, Tyer was first in line for that mess and the AG was pretty close behind.
I hope Mazzeo runs for mayor. Four more years of Tyer and we’re sunk.
Is that the best we can do? Mrs I Don’t Get It?
Reply to Agent Smith:
Unfortunately, you are Absolutely rights!
They are all the same group,
including LGBT Mass Attorney General.
Situation is hopeless here…
Anybody—-to file a lawsuit in Berksh Superior Court?
There are plenty of facts to state there.
City simply can’t beat them off–corruption and incompetence.
This just in Andrea Harrington plans to be “out of the office” at least two days a week and doesn’t expect to try any cases.
“It more important that I’m the face of this organization, I’m more of a CEO type.” Or so it has been alleged by someone in her transition team.
That comes as no surprise – she is not a trial lawer. I didn’t expect her to try cases, and am glad she won’t. Better to leave that to the folks with experience. There is also no requuirement that an elected offical work any set hours. She could literally never show up, and get paid. Here is a shining example of the new wave of prosecutors:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/from-defendant-to-top-prosecutor-this-tattooed-texas-da-represents-a-new-wave-in-criminal-justice-reform/2018/11/19/e1dca7cc-d300-11e8-83d6-291fcead2ab1_story.html?utm_term=.e9c29f8def8e
Andrea will be busy indicting ham sandwiches at her husbands market.
Or will he sell out to be a house husband. He is a real nice guy but man running a store like that is a tough way to make a living. Maybe some Nice Indians will buy it and stink it up like all the ones in Pittsfield. Even Stockbridge’s got gobbled up by Indians.
Harrington is required to go to crime scenes, no. Just sayin….
No she is not, and no investigators want the DA walking all over every crime scene, especially one that doesn’t know what she is doing.
Will she weigh in on the Beacon case?
Happy Thanksgiving you Planeteers, even though it is a racist holiday according to the liberal numbskulls, and Dan, lets hope you don’t type instructions in capital letters to your student, or allow clapping on campus – causes anxiety in the children.
Just as I predicted yesterday. The eagle had no mention of Mr. Gaetanis very good speech to the subcommittee discussing the beacon cinema. Details in my yesterdays post. She mentioned everyone who spoke except Mr blumin and Mr. Gaetani. The reporter was dumb dumb crane. They even mentioned by name super tyer ass kisser Kate lauzon who stated the beacon should stay open because they gave her some free tickets. You couldn’t make this stuff up. Mr. Gaetani appears at all city hall meetings and gives very good advise by petition and in presentations and the eagle Never mentions him. People who get their news solely from the eagle do not even know who the wizard is and that’s the way the eagle likes it. You would think the eagle would cover Mr. Gaetani as he is a k own quantity who has saved this city a fortune and is poised to save the city big money again soon. The Eagle k owe that the Gman likes politics and they are scared to death of him wining some political office and rightly so. If he decides to run for some office he will expose the eagle from his position as a city official and we all know that the Gman has no problem telling any buffoons to kiss his ass. The Gman is a city jewel and everyone should appreciate what he does for us because he has to take a lot of bull shit from people who haven’t a brain in there head but hide their incompetence behind being a city official Regardless the Gman never gives up on anything and for that we should be greatful
The Berkshire Eagle prints all the fake news that’s fit to print much like the national news media. It’s a mystery to me that people don’t make that connection. But those who live by fake news will also die by fake news.
Fake news. The eagle reporter amanduh drano is a disgrace to the taxpayers. She keeps the public in the dark as to what is really going on in pittsfield. She is embedded with clueless tyer and her band of dwarf intelligence challenged minions. She is very aware that her reporting is very poor but makes no attempt to change her reporting style to also cover critics of this juvenile secretary and her band truth challenged lightweights. All we are getting from tyer and her underlings is one lie after another. I feel sorry for those who get their news solely from the eagle because they are not computer Davy and thus not informed of what is really going on in this city. The I’ll informed seniors are a large part of the voting bloc and they go to the polls without the info they need to make an informed vote and in most incidents they only vote for a name they recognize and that is why we have such poor quality candidates being elected time after time. We all need to combine and make our displeasure known to the eagle and if they dont conform we may need to take more drastic action such as a mass protest and threats to cancel subscriptions. We need to do something. The Eagle controls every thing in the city and that power needs to be broken up. Failure to not do something will perpetuate the election of tyer types time after time We all have seen the disaster tyer has been as mayor. She hasn’t a single accomplishment. We must do whatever it takes to insure she has no chance of being elected again. Four more tears of tyer would mean the end of pittsfield. Amanduh Drano. I know you read the planet and you should realize a lot of us are fed up with your reporting. Its time to become a real reporter and stop being a tyer ass kisser. Time for real news.
Amanduh is the Eagles answer to Jim Acosta.
Crane is out to destroy the g-man dude.
Hondurans. Not a chance. Amanduh drano has marginalized the Gman for a long time but the Gman looks at it as just a slight set back. The Gman’s game plan is working perfectly. He gave himself a 3 year window to reach where he is today. He will be front and center on Dec10 and he intends to save the taxpayers a fortune. The Gman has much experience dealing with political incompetents and because he knows that this is what he is dealing with in pittsfield he is prepared to put on a presentation that will put the politicians under a microscope to vote with the taxpayer best interest at heart. That’s the Gman’s goal. The presentation will be a piece of cake for the wiz and after the presentation the only choice the politicians will have is to choose the product they have seen already or what the Gman will show them. The proposed technology by the city’s consultants ballasted technology is relatively dinosaur technology. The wiz will be showing technology that is very new and state of the art with capability of dealing with any type of pollutant that may come into the sewer plant and neutralize it real time. Ballasted flocculation can not do this. Ballasted flocculation has a price tag of 75 million. The Gman’s technology costs????????????¿?? Find out dec10 at city hall or on pctv. The Gman told me to tell you that he never loses. If he wins the taxpayer wins. If he loses the real losers are the taxpayers but the Gman doesn’t lose because he gets to make an ass of those who vote against the taxpayer. The Gman always like to simplify things. That way everyone gets to understand what he is talking about. You’ll see on Dec10 th
I know I will be wards. G Man has done it before and deja vu,all over again, at a time when we (taxpayers)need a break, and not a phony 10 dollars a year. Wish everyone, a Happy, Happy Thanksgiving, even the crazy drivers,looters and criminals.
the Beacon gave a ton of advertising to the Eagle. so they may feel like they own the guy a little something.
Seriously Hon?Crane fount against G,huh. That would be like throwing Popcorn at a Battleship.
Tyer and Drane think flocculation has something to do with sheep herding.
I have an alternative idea for savings on water-sewage because os a gallon or two of phosphorus pouring into the Long Island Sound. Have a scorecard of your waste sent directly to a numbers person at City Hall,operating a switch board tally.
The toilet at your homes will have a digital recording device attached that will register every flush,then it goes to the operator at C H. If there are multiple Family members, they could dispose of waste in bundles, just make sure the toilet doesn’t flow over, due to excess waste. By doubling and tripling up,will be huge savings for each recorded flush. The City, in the case of the latter,will provide face masks to curtail any foul Odor…..just sayin.
or just completely turn the water to the toilet off and plunge all the stool matter down with a golf club or baseball bat
easy peasey
H and johnny: liked your innovative ideas to treat waste. Very funny. You should contact the wizard. He likes innovative thinking people like you. Perhaps you will invent something the wizard can patent. He is very generous. He will take 99% of revenue and give you 1%. Seem reasonable? Well if the project is a half billion dollar project that 1% starts to look very inviting. Do you agree? Start inventing.
I appreciate the offer Art but the baseball bat already has a patent on it. Maybe if I just widen the end I can get it through as a different animal and we can move forward. However, if we get into French market we will need to modify as those people expect to get their hineys washed with each flush which makes the baseball bat methodology problematic.
In any case I will get started on a work around and then have my people get in touch with your people and we can get started with the stock options for start up monies.
Please be patient as this could take some time.
I will be waiting johnny.
How about crapping into a plastic bag and shut the water off completely.
How many sinks and toilets does the Beacon theater and its adjoining assets have? Were they charged like everyone else or did they find a work around for that as well?
It is a fair question because this deal seems to have been created in the swamp of political/private collusion and the taxpayers have a right to know.
Both Stanley and city hall are praying this topic dies out over the weekend and is never mentioned again. If taxpayers drop the ball on this one it will be akin to waving the white flag of surrender.
H you are very creative. Let me add one thing to your post. Bring the bag to the secretary’s office.and have her give it to tutocy to dispose of. This should pose a challenge to him
If Stanley owes city 2.55 mil and he borrowed 2.55 mil, does this mean he never paid a nickel of the loan? What were the terms of the note? All the bs about how this was only structured as a loan because they couldn’t give him the money outright is bs. The fact is he borrowed the money and the city never told the Kapanskis it would be a gift. It is time to pay the fiddler my friends and let the chips fall where they may. Foreclosure is fine with me. This whole thing stunk from the get go, and for Ruffer and Stanley’s lawyer to brag about what a success this project was is a joke. Twas a failure on every level and there is zero proof it led to new business and why aren’t they mentioning all the failures after Beacon arrived – Crowne Plaza, Spice, Hudouckers, On A Roll,
Joes Lunch Box, and on and on and on.?????
Give the new company nothing. For all we know, the current owner Stif,could be buddy buddy with the Michigan outfit. Why do you think they would be coming here? This is a failed business in the eyes of most taxpayers,the only ones for it,are the current stakeholders and most of downtown because they are invested.
Movie theatres are OBSOLITE? STOP,throwing our money away. People like Councilor White and Tiny and others are carrying water for Downtown Inc. for another failing entity, who shouldn’t get another dime from Joe T.
Check out LO at the Conservation Committee meeting, doing sound checks. LO, no one wants to hear your blather.
Lothrop likes to conversate
Fake News…..so Trump really did not say we should rake the forest floor the size of Conn.Ivanka did not set up her ow email for the Russians and China to read….Trump gave all real answers to Mueller…
Can’t wait
.
Hey dink! Post the link.
Is it true that Donnie Trump has a poster of himself dressed as a Navy Seal hanging over his bed?
How about Smoke Spotter for Forest Fires….
How about BS spotter in the council chambers?
Trump says Ban Transgender Military. I’m definitely for that. I can’t believe Mass Voters,said yes to Prop 3.
Reply to AlaskaBushClowns:
Mass Voters said “Yes” on Prop3, because Question3 was deceptively structured by Dem Liberals/Progressives in power.
They basically switched real Question : ” Should we allow mentally sick men to use women’s bathrooms and school girls locker rooms?” into completely opposite, assuming by default that
Men (Women) can change their chromosome DNA, if they simply want so and then use opposite sex bathrooms?
Liberals even wrote on the ballot: Answering “Yes” keeps current Non-discrimination Bill in place!
Deception High Degree!
It just ain’t normal V K.
In the past week, the laundry mat on Elm St was broken into twice.
Doors broken to get in, and dryer doors ripped off, etc.
Also., cars broken into in the neighborhood on Concord Parkway.
Nothing in the “paper” regarding this two incidents to alert. The judge in one of his “coffee” meeting said he only liked good things printed.
The most important meeting coming up is the public works sub committee meeting on Dec.10 th when the wizard will give his proposal for the sewage treatment plant updates. The wiz is this city’s expert on water and sewage problems. We have all heard the administrations take on these most serious problems. What we haven’t heard is the wizards take on these problems. The wizard has concrete proposals to solve these problems. He will detail these proposals on DEC. 10 th. Until then any comments regarding these proposals are moot. The wizard is this ciy’s voice regarding these problems. All else talking about these problems are buffoons.
I have a brother and his wife and god farther añd his wife who are ignorant as to what is going on in pittsfield. They say they they get their information from the Berkshire eagle. This is proof positive that the Eagle is the bible for the residents of the misinformed. These people are the most dangerous people to the democracy of the government in pittsfield. We who are cognizant of what is going on in pittsfield are up against this. We must unite to defeat this dinosaur type thinking. If we dont we are all doomed to failure.
Yes, they are very much like those who watch CNN and MSNBC.
Lounge lizard. No they are like those who watch fox and Breitbart. The bibles for you and the miscreants who dont have a scintilla of nervous tissue in your cranial cavities. The wiz will have a letter to the editor in n the beagle soon detailing why the sheep of the city should listen to the wizards message. It won’t be for you because you are to far gone to listen to an individual who speaks intelligently. However if you stop being ridiculous maybe you can be saved. The wizard has arrived and needs no one. He always makes his own way Those who do not support him will fall by the wayside. The Day of the wizard is at hand. He is the most important person to ever live in pittsfield. And if you think otherwise you will soon be proven wrong. Long live the wizard.
Amanduh is a Doties darling just like fake Krol.
Lizard : she is but just posting will solve nothing. When will we see you standing along side the wizard at city council meetings? If you dont show up you are just like all others on this thread who talk but accomplish nothing. Just saying. Waiting for your reply.
For all planet posters. We have to decide whether we are a people who live by the truth or live by accepting lies. We can’t have it both ways. We all are capable of telling the difference between a lie and the truth. Those who are not capable of telling the difference are people we must shuñ and not allow into the conversation. We need to become a nation who knows the difference. Whether we are democrats or republicans we are all capable of knowing the difference between right and wrong. If we do our part in establishing right from wrong we will all benefit. In pittsfield we are a small plurality of a larger plutocracy who must strive to insure that truth is the lay of the land. To do otherwise we short change ourselves as being a community who strives to insure we are a community of factual law We can not dellude ourselves that lies are truth. To deviate from the truth weakens ourselves as a community. We must seek out and demand that truth is the only thing we accept. Short of this we sink into the abyss and no one wants this. The truth must reign supreme today and always.
We can not dellude ourselves that lies are truth unless we watch CNN and PMSNBC.
There are other ways of being involved beside bloviation.
Lizard bloviators are generally the individuals who know what they are talking about. What do you do to benefit society?? Dont give the excuse that you blog because blogging won’t solve anything. Just think if there were 30 individuals who were just like the wizard speaking at CC meetings. If everyone who posts on this thread came to city meetings to support the wizard we could take control of our city. This will not occur though and the incompetents who run this city will continue to run rough shod over the taxpayer. Why do they do this??? Easy as they see no opposition. Think about this post. Who can we count on to stand side by side at a city meeting????
If you want to control this city go to the clerks office and get a list of those who didn’t vote in the last election. Raise some money so they can be sent mailings. Get a group to start making phone calls. Not enough people watch city council meetings or shown on PCTV. That’s the way to do it.
Yeah, but sometimes the truth isn’t the truth,ask Rudy.
Lizard you are correct. Those people are the ones the wizard always mentions. Those ,21000 are registered but never vote. Can you help out to make that happen?????
Wonder what Stanley will be getting mayor Tyer for Christmas. And what will she be getting for compliant rubber stamper councilors with no backbone and no intention of honoring their oath of office to work for the PEOPLE instead of special interests. They know who they are…and so do we.
Exactly,their allegiance to this p t Barnum has been met tenfold. There is no allegiance to give anymore taxpayer donations to anyone, especially the millionaire raiders coming in from mi. We are the laughing stock for giveaways. Pay down on OPEB’S and the new School, and dump the water-Sewer big dig. Make Covanta accountable for the 500g gift, and get back assurances from them,oh, thats to late, and sue Stanley for misleading the City on the sojourn of phony investments he’s made the last umpteenth years. Make him accountable with a spreadsheet, see Uffer about that.
It is time for Pittsfield to go to a Town Manager. Based on accountability and performance. Bottom line.
Saw Pat Muraca of the failed Nuclea; he was grocery shopping with his girlfriend. Driving a Lexus. Anyone know if he ever was convicted & spent time in jail?
Trump turned his well wishes to our military into the most embarrassing call ever made in public.Trump is the ,Wait for it,Wait for it President…telling military how he was securing Americas southern front from invasion by unarmed political nomads….I am embarrassed for his psychiatrist
So the question remains what do you want the US to do about 6,000 supposed unarmed political nomads that want to enter the US illegally?
I think Trump is one of the most disgusting human beings to ever walk the face of this earth. BUT, I do think these people need to be kept out if for no other reason than that if they are let in thousands if not tens of thousand more will follow. And it may go on for years. And that just seems like a major problem to have to deal with when we have so many poor and homeless already that we seem not to be able to deal with.
Not sure what the solution is for these poor people but options need to be looked at.
6K is a very low estimate.
.Reply to The School committee:
Long Live the Best President of all Times-
Donald J.Trump! Trump for 2020!
Pittsfield School committee is an embarrassment to human dignity.
Not you personally, but all members–
corrupted people to the bone.
Terrible decision not to go to Arlington,unexplainable and unacceptable. Message sent to Coown prince was a slap in the fae of Democracy, does Trump really think the Saudis control oil? Who is their biggest consumer? it’s going to be the Wild West here and abroad.
No rope tow for the kiddies this winter. Ruffer has more poor excuses than she did for Beacon’s failure. City can forgive 2.55mil Stanley debt (and did he ever make a payment to city all these years?), but won’t pony up 10,000 for rope tow. Last time I checked 10,000 was less than one half of one percent on 2.55 mil Stanley giveaway. Disgusting!!!
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/no-rope-tow-at-osceola-park-for-this-winter-at-least,557230
I would think the Beacon Cinema might step up as a corporate sponsor. Giving is so good this time of year.
Every one should read the eagles commentary today. They are pushing for the 75 million dollar updates at the sewer plant. They lavishly praised secretary tyer for things she didn’t do. Ironically but not surprising they dont even mention the Gman and his December 10 th presentation to try to save the city’s residents 10 s upon 10s of millions of dollars. I wouldn’t be surprised if the eagle doesn’t even cover the Gman’s presentation. I called the Gman today and asked him if he saw the article. He laughed and said what did you expect. He said Hey drano never mentioned him even once in three years so what is one more commission. He says he has a big Xmas present coming for the taxpayers of this city and when they get it they will all will be rejoicing and that is when he will acknowledge the taxpayers thank you’d. The wiz Always delivers when he is dealing with the intelligent. However we know who he will be talking to in Tyer and the council. These are the individuals who can only derail the Wizard’s project and if they do they will be dead meat in next years city election.
Who wrote that editorial? That nitwit Everhart?
Bill loves his fake news.
Crane is out to get U G Man
November 24, 2018
Dear Clarence Fanto,
Your recent column praising Beacon Cinema as a substantial piece to downtown revitalization in Pittsfield supports the forgiving of 2.55-million of so-called “loans” from the city government. This comes after the Berkshire Museum shakedown by auctioning off its historic pieces of art to raise $55-million dollars for its trust fund account. This comes after PEDA turned 20-years-old with zero private tenants, and industrial toxic waste pollution problems.
I find Pittsfield politics to be questionable and misguided when it comes to its public investments in economic development projects. Per Beacon Cinema, it could become a black hole of debt. It already cost over 22-million dollars! It received a number of tax breaks.
North Street is in the zone of violent crime, poverty, and the like. See my “Public Safety Alert” –
Stay off of:
NORTH STREET,
Tyler Street,
Lincoln Street,
First Street,
Second Street,
Linden Street,
Dewey Avenue,
Cherry Street,
Burbank Street,
Kent Avenue,
Madison Avenue,
And Seymour Street,
And you might survive.
Pittsfield is number 5 in Massachusetts for violent crime, and it is the above downtown streets that contribute to its unfavorable distinction.
How much more money will Pittsfield spend on failed economic development projects like Beacon Cinema and PEDA before they realize the reality that thousands of people have already moved away due to the hundreds of lost living wage jobs that ain’t coming back in our lifetime? How does Pittsfield look to the world when people see the Berkshire Museum shakedown, PEDA empty and polluted, and a debt-ridden Beacon Cinema that may still sink under its unsustainable debts?
Lastly, I don’t believe Mayor Linda Tyer’s 2.5-cents per day residential tax break will help matters.
– Jonathan Melle
Bad streets
One more story providing irrefutable evidence that this newspaper is a tool of the good old boy shadow government of Pittsfield.
This shadow government is a hungry self serving parasite which has attached itself to the Pittsfield taxpayer. The newspaper is a feeding vein but not the only media outlet that has been coopted into symbiotic servitude.
And that is why I will read it for free but would never pay money for it.
Dan,
If you could check into Karen Bell the new ADA I think you will find some interesting information about her if you speak with those that have worked with and for her. Let’s just say we are not out of the legal vacuum by a long shot.
Thou art paranoid
I don’t know anything about Bell but I do know that Harrington is a obdurate not wiy so I expect Bell to be in that vein.
Infuriate nit wit
Buffoon, this is not Betsy. Fire tablet program changes spelling and Harrington is a nitwit.
The new Taconic had a giant brawl that is just being reported now in the BB, but happened at the end of October. Even with a heavy police presence at the brawl, punches were still being thrown by the students. McCandless has said that this will not be tolerated in Pittsfield. The Berkshire Eagle claims that this is not unique to Pittsfield, but students across the country are becoming violent in the schools.
Let’s get to the truth. It’s a fact that Pittsfield violent crime is among the highest in the state. Some parents have suggested that metal detectors be put in local schools. Local parents say that enough isn’t being done to stop the school violence. Why is the BB reporting on this story a month after it happened?
I agree Pat. The BB staff is probably still on holiday vacation, and needed a story to fill the pages – so they dug out this one from last month.
The school discipline policies need to change in the middle & high schools. The principals need to suspend the troublemakers for longer than a day, report incidents to the police and in some cases have repeat offenders placed in off-campus programs or sent to jail. Words are cheap – let’s get these troublemakers OUT of the schools.
These kids should be made to walk through a hallway of pot smoke on their way into the building. Studies show that kids doing this are more likely to be mild mannered and easily distracted if someone throws a punch. If it works in Denmark it may work here.
Getting kids stoned to keep them quiet?!? Is that the next “cure” from the Progressives for all of our social problems? Since heavy pot use in the young also slows cognitive development this would be advantageous for those who wanted slow thinking people to vote. Schools currently do not teach critical thinking skills so adding pot to the mix would guarantee that future generations of students could be easily influenced to believe just about anything since their thinking skills would be so impaired.
The Beatle is the Fox news of the berkshires,no bad news here….Trump is the greatest no weird stuff here
In France Macron is in trouble due to high fuel taxation. Very Progressive Macron wants to get rid of fuel and diesel for global warming and green reasons. Just as in this country, it’s the we-know-better-than-you big city wealthy who are behind this trend. It is pitting the rural people against the urbanites. Rural people depend on gasoline for everything while the rich city dwellers don’t even own cars in many cases. They can take expensive taxis and high prices for fuel doesn’t even bother them. Just as in this country, the rich left leaning elites are worried about their cause more than the people they serve.
Macron used teargas and water canons on protesters.
“Many talked of desperation at trying to make ends meet. As they passed the designer stores off the Champs Élysées, their complaints over inequality appeared to strike a chord: TV pundits spoke of an “insurrection of the people against the elites”.
Just as in this country, the rich wealthy Dems hate President Trump. These are the Manhattan urbanites sipping their $20 lattes and on their 4th face lift types. We know who they are. Wealthy women hate President Trump. Rural women LOVE President Trump. Rich urban Progressive women don’t worry about fuel prices, jobs or taxation. These are all things President Trump is working on for rural women and their families.
Blah blah blah pat. Did you read the part about Trump possibly being in cahoots with the killing of the journalist in Turkey?? uh oh…
When Donnie decided to look the other way it caused people to look closer at the situation and lo and behold it turns out this guy said something bad about Mt Trump and he did not like it one bit.
You won’t hear about it on Fox news but you will be hearing about it.
Trump was behind all the bad calls in the NFL today.
The French have gut Pat and the people run the show there.They rise up and tell their President what to do if hes fn up.
You are right School Committee. Many people in this country are so brainwashed by the Progressives that they don’t realize that if Hillary had been elected, there would need to be an uprising in this country since Hillary had no interest in helping those she deemed to be the “deplorables”. No, to Hillary and her far left supporters, rural people worried about paying their bills were all a bunch of racists if they didn’t support her.
Pat,Puttin is afraid of progressives,so are the rich and so are the powerful corporations,so are North Korea…Hillary is a friend of the rich and the corporations as she’s an old school lib republican….she does support women’s rights as do all normal Americans,she is for mainstream gay rights like marriage like most normal americans….just so you know many gay people go into business and marriage is a business arrangement.Pat if your for any people rights your a progressive,Living under a progressive is great.Does anyone you know have AS as that needs to be doubled.
Yeah I saw how afraid Putin was when Obama was president. So afraid that he was invading countries right and left and trying to interfere in our elections. He was really shaking in his boots!!!
The Progressive philosophy isn’t great. Maybe for people who want to live off of government. Everybody else isn’t impressed.
Pat, you and the Wizzy would be great over at topix.
Topix is made up of a lot of swearing and name calling. Not much logic there.
Honduran Are you throwing stones at the Gman? You idiot he is trying to help everyone in pittsfield and you are throwing stones at him You better pray that he is successful because the first ones who will have to leave town are idiots like you. I doubt any one feels as you do regarding the wiz. What the hell did he do to you for you to have such hate. Its too bad we can’t find out who you are so that when the wiz saves the city a fortune we can make sure you dont benefit from the Gman’s efforts. You plain and simple are an idiot.
its too bad we can’t find out who you are.
Who I am is not important. What’s important is that the Gman is trying to save the city a fortune like he did in the 80s. Those that disparage him have a nut loose like you Moore. Some like you are jealous of the Gman. I doubt you know him. The reason not too many take on the city administration like the wizard because of people like you. Like I said several times in the past. That if I were the Gman I would tell all of your types to kiss my ass. You probably will benefit from the Wiz’s efforts and at the same time throw stones at him. Where the hell do some of you half wits come from????
I saw the Gman walking on water. I think he was ice fishing.
Crane out to get Wizzies project.
Some citizens just dont get it. Numb to the core.
As of jan3rd trump for the first time in his life will have a microscope on his every move. There are 14 subcommittees in the house and each will be headed up by a democratic chairman. This is what trump dreaded but it will become reality on jan3rd. In effect he becomes a lame duck on this date. It is said the dems have 64 subpoenas ready to go. I believe the Mueller probe will cone before Xmas and I think the result to trump and his clan will be defeating. I think that to avoid impeachment he will resign in disgrace. The co conspirator case with Cohen will get him indicted and he will be found guilty. I dont know if a sitting president who is found guilty can remain in office. Perhaps some of are legal minds on the planet can answer this question. In any event trump is in real trouble and not being able to accomplish anything will drive trump batty and soon after he will be gone. The Washington Post Fact checker says in addition to the 6500 confirmed lies 5rump may have double that number of unconfirmed lies. They might keep track of non lies as it will be easier because the numbers will be so low. The Greatest liar on the planet earth days of deceit and lias and mumbo jumbo will come to an end soon. I can’t wait. He is the most dispicable human being alive today. He has turned into a dictator and he will end up like all other dictators in history. On the heep.
Thanks for that delusion. It was far out man.
Essex Read it carefully its full of facts that you haven’t heard because you get your news from fox and breitbart. Trump has had his way for two years but his time of going off half baked is over. Because this is a fact the country will be able to return to normalcy quickly. Those dems in the house have scumps number. Look for all the trumps to be living in a federal pen soon they are all a disgrace to this country. Their days of breaking one law or another are over. Down with scump
It is full of something. Very full.
Very full of it.
On Sunday, November 25th, 2018, I viewed online images and read news stories of U.S. Border Agents use of tear gas to envelop brown colored immigrant women and children, who were screaming and coughing in pain.
Over the past year, I heard of stories of young immigrant children being taken out of their mother’s arms and put in cages you wouldn’t put your family dog in.
Our country is committing Crimes Against Humanity under the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump! Please stop Trump from harming immigrant families!
– Jonathan Melle
Any sane individual would agree whole heartedly with your post.But the key word here is sane. That changes everything.
That’s how you deal with a lawless mob
There are 700 million people in Latin America, brown skin is not special
Pray for death.
This CED guru ruffis is full of crap,as are the clowns wanting to purchase the beaCON. It has become the big dig. The new kids on the block said all the right things,they ate at restaurants whilw staying here,how many restaurants? Every city has restaurants. They also said it needs to be cleaned and polished up a little bit. Uffer and McDonald are always the biggest of all the bull- shitters and when they show their mugs at the C E D, they are kibitzing for the Sharks.
Money hasnktbeen used directly from the City, but these tifs aren’t going to the common joe either, who doesn’t leach from these benefits. Who does pay these Barnums, and is she saying the City never subsidizes any Gobsigs. Right. Well time to get a nice glass of Scotch and smoke a good Cuban before I retire to my chambers.
As far as the G Man goes, we should all thank him for his hard work the last three years. The Berskshire Eagle is definitely bias, for some reason. Never been in the BeaCON and don’t buy the Eagle.
Stan.ey the Stiff has puked all over the Citizens of Pittsdield. This is not the taxpayers problem. It is a private business. As Mr.Gaetani states, In the Private Sector……You Bury a Dead Horse….. So it has been said, and shall be written.
Every bank in the city is owed by the BeaCon, Of course the mayor and certain officials want debt forgiveness.
Ruffer made a bad deal for the City to begin with. Zero Fail Safe. The City should not be involved any further with this Big Dig. The frontage was the attraction to begin with, at least you’ll have a beautiful frontage. These wanna be buyers are not impressive at all,and look like they’re on a feeding frenzies.
The proposed scammers that want the Beacon said the carpets were dirty, is that true?
One of the reasons he likes the area is because of the Restaurants….lame reason.
Remember the Silver Screen Restaurant? maybe the beacon could actually have a restaurant inside the Beacon,pretty good idea, right? The Beacon Theatre and the Round. There, I even give you the name for the restaurant. Also, if they haven’t already get a Barrington type outfit in there as well.
Seems th only business failing with the Beacon as the Anchor…is the Beacon….just sayin.
We love th facade,but not the taxpayer money bailout.iThey made a deal and the taxpayer signed on reluctantly,fix it yourself Mr. Stanley and Banks.