Organizers of the scheduled 4th Berkshire District debate bent over backwards to accommodate William “Smitty” Pignatelli, to no avail. Clearly, Pignatelli has no intention, and HAD no intention, of meeting opponent Scott Laugenour on equal ground. He chose instead to play the arrogant incumbent role, backing in to re-election on a slime trail by not confronting the opposition. Thus, we have another walking agrument for mandatory term limits.

Pignatelli failed to show at the Oct. 18 event at BCC cosponsored by The Pittsfield Gazette and Pittsfield Community Television, claiming a “miscommunication” about the date. Uh, right.

Taking Pignatelli at his word, which appears to be a mighty taking, event organizers repeatedly offered him the opportunity to meet challenger Scott Laugenour on Oct. 25, the date Smitty said he had cleared on his schedule. Laugenour had cleared the second date, but Pignatelli did not respond by the cutoff date. In short, debate organizers called Smitty’s bluff, and the longtime career politican got caught with his pants down. It was not an impressive site. It has observers scrambling for their microscopes.

Event organizers notified Laugenour of Pignatelli’s non-response. This means that the Gazette and PCTV will revert to their original schedule for Oct. 25 consisting
of a 6 p.m. 2nd Berkshire state representative debate and a 7 p.m.
auditor debate. Yours Truly will be moderating the auditor’s affair.

Meanwhile, Chris Speranzo avoids returning calls and is acting like a petulant wimp in hiding. We realize we have just insulted every petulant wimp out there. The Planet has learned that both Mayor Jimmy Ruberto and Pignatelli (oh, the irony!) advised Speranzo to meet Mark Miller at BCC on the 18th. Spurs declined. In doing so, he has given Miller’s campaign an enormous boost. Speranzo has been revealed and found out. He’s a fake. A three dollar bill. A fallacious argument. A phony. If turnout is halfway decent on Nov. 2, Speranzo will be toast.

Miller made an interesting comment to The Planet, suggesting that the two — Smitty and Spurs — have been in cahoots. He said, “It’s also … hard to believe Chris and Smitty weren’t in contact with each other about [the joint no-shows], though I have no idea what their relationship is like. I think Scott Laugenour is rattling Smitty — he’s working very hard and started fairly early, about February. Both of the incumbents should have shown up, mopped the floor with us neophytes, and gotten on to the next thing.”

Ah, but that’s just it. They didn’t. They were afraid. Smitty and Spurs are playing the most cynical political game possible. They are relying on, counting on, and hoping for low voter turnout. See, that’s the corrupt game being played these days in Berkshire County politics. The skunks stink up the joint, screw The Little Guy, and drive The Little Guy away from participating in the government he owns. The ensuing disgust registers as apathy. This drive voter turnout to anorexic lows, enabling incumbents and their masters to activate their bases, i.e., the special interests, to rig elections.

The Planet will be moderating three debates for the Vox network (flagship WBEC), with Clarence Fanto serving as guest panelist and Larry Kratka directing and producing. These will be for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th district rep seats. They are scheduled for 11 a.m. to noon, M-Tue-Wed, Oct. 25, 26, and 27. The debates will be live. Candidates will not be allowed to bring in notes.

Paul Mark and Mike Case have accepted in the 2nd on Monday. For the 3rd, Miller has accepted. Speranzo, still sucking on his undersized wally, hasn’t had the decency of a reply. In the 4th, Laugenour has accepted. Smitty hasn’t responded. Wethinks there’s a “miscommunication.”