!!UPDATE!! KROL QUESTIONS MAZZEO COMMENTS ON FERRIN!! … DOG WALK TO BEGIN ‘PETER MOORE’ BENEFIT DAY … THE SURPRISING EVOLUTION OF THE PLANET AS A FORCE … plus …COUNCILORS’ INQUISITION OF JEFF FERRIN WAS WRONG: WE PRESENT IT EVERY WHICH WAY, INCLUDING LOOSE
By DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary
Add #1 (2:11 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17, 2012)
KROL DISPUTES ACCURACY OF MAZZEO’S COMMENTS ON JEFF FERRIN CASE
We break into our weekend for an update to acknowledge receiving communications from two city councilors on the Jeff Ferrin appointment battle, also know as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
In the following post, which we published yesterday, we quoted at-large councilor Melissa Mazzeo with her take on the Jeff Ferrin appointment. In her remarks, Mazzeo mentioned several of her council colleagues, including John Krol of Ward 6. Krol subsequently sent Mazzeo an e-mail, questioning the accuracy of THE PLANET’s inclusion of Mazzeo’s remarks. He wanted to know from Melissa if her remarks were accurately quoted by us. We believe they were.
THE PLANET knows about this e-mail since John copied us in on it. We thank our Right Honorable Good Friend for that. We are busier than a horse-trader’s mule this weekend, but we do want to acknowledge in this quick stolen moment Krol’s concern that his position on Jeff Ferrin has been misrepresented, either by Mazzeo or by us.
We have tripled checked our information, and we have quoted Mazzeo accurately. Krol’s dispute, then, should be taken up with her, as it has been. We will report, quickly, that Mazzeo has responded to Krol with her own e-mail, which THE PLANET received on Saturday.
On Monday, we shall post the e-mails of the dueling councilors. Stay tuned Gotta get back to work now. Be back Monday morning with another edition of THE PLANET that we can label “Can’t Miss.”
Now back to our regular programming.
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(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, FRIDAY, FEB. 17, 2012) — Each day brings Pittsfield closer to one of its rare, fine moments. Not coincidentally, this moment has nothing to do with Big Shots, GOBs, or other Self-Important gasbags and pompous puffballs. This moment is being organized by ordinary people for one of their own. We speak, of course, of the THE REAL PITTSFIELD BENEFIT FOR PETER MOORE. The event is scheduled for 12:30 to 5 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 26.
The Moore Benefit Is About Good People Forcing the Creeps to Stand Down!
Recently, a commentator to this site questioned the need for the benefit: Does Moore need one? The question, reasonable enough, has been answered and parried well by others. THE PLANET will add, though, that the benefit is not just about money, although Moore missed almost two months of work and can only handle part time duties now. There are also mountains of medical costs, not all of which will be covered by insurance.
There’s a big however in this, however.
The benefit isn’t about money. It’s about goodness. The Moore Family is not native to Pittsfield, and yet the city was in rightful danger of being judged by Peter’s family across the country by the actions of a callous hit-and-run driver whose alibis, upon further inspection, have unraveled faster than a wool sweater at a convention of moths.
And you know, folks, without the the rallying response of an entire community to this website’s coverage of the incident, the near-killing of Peter Moore would have disappeared. The Fix was in, and for more than a month, appeared to be holding. The reckless driver did the deed the evening of Dec. 8. Between then and early to mid-January, all you heard were background noises.
Had this incident involved most anyone else of the Ordinary Citizen variety and not Meredith Nilan, daughter of Cliffy Nilan, the Boring Broadsheet and others are all over it and in record time, the driver is charged, tried, and disposed. But her daddy had pull (note the past tense, for Cliffy’s days of Lording are over, though he might not know it yet). We got sketchy word 12 days after the collision. We made several inquiries, and strongly suspected by the lock-step response and the cast of characters that the Fix had been ordered and the Cover-Up had commenced.
Cyberspace is Changing the Rules of the Game in Favor of The Little Guy
Even when word got out, the fixers had the motives and the means to handle the courts … so they thought. They brought in a ringer magistrate from Westfield under cloak of darkness, and this “pantheon of justice” promptly scheduled a secret hearing, closed off the hearing to everyone but the accused, and rushed to judgment, finding that there wasn’t enough evidence to send this to trial.
Yeah, right, Nathan Byrnes.
And then THE PLANET got copies of the damaged vehicle. When people got a look at the sight of a horrific accident (head hole in windshield in front of the driver, hood badly dented, front grille ripped off, frozen blood and dog fur in the road) the lid blew off. No wonder why the Boring Broadsheet, which had access to the photos much sooner than we did, refused to publish them. The GOB ordered the pictures, radioactive as they were, could NOT be published. The management at the BB sheepishly complied.
THE PLANET, stymied officially, did not give up on obtaining copies of the photos. We burrowed and, finding an alternate route, we got the pictures.
Game over — at least (what by now is obvious) the blatant cover up. There is a new day dawning in Berkshire County and Pittsfield that, for the first time in a generation, offers We The People a realistic glimmer of political and communal hope. It’s called cyberspace. The same medium that brought down governments (Egpyt, Libya, etc.) and that can overnight organize great movements (Occupy) has come to town and grown up a bit.
From Simple Writing Experiment to a Communal, Social, and Political Force: THE PLANET’s Hegira
We began this website nearly 450 posts ago as the extension of a thought experiment. What if, we told ourselves, we had the assignment of writing a daily column of substantial length (averaging well over 2,000 words a day) that focused primarily on local events — and not dominated by the vapid, airy, cotton-candy stuff you get everywhere else in town that must produce on a daily basis — what we call the “on Sunday, the Rotary Club will have a Pancake Breakfast” journalism? Could we do it, amid all of our other responsibilities, which involves the use of words that we exchange for dollar bills?
The answer became yes. Over nearly 17 months, the website has evolved from a writing experiment to a writing exercise to a site now that has assumed its place of importance in setting the public agenda, especially in the city of Pittsfield. We did not plan it that way. We did not expect or look for this kind of influence. It found us, however.
The growth of the site since January has been steady in the viral way the web has of working: one shares with two, two tell four, four tell eight, and so on. The Peter Moore story became the catalyst in boosting our readership from modest and growing to explosively growing.
Assuming this type of power comes with a lot of responsibility, of course, and it’s not all fun and games. One needs the thickest skin in town yet with the sensitivities of a safecracker’s fingertips. We take more guff than any 10 local public figures combined. We have become, independent of our will, once again a lightning rod. It’s happened before in our earlier local lives as newspaper columnist and radio talk show host, which ultimately became one reason we walked away from those efforts after so many years.
Afflicting the Comforted and Comforting the Afflicted, or, If You’re Going to Piss Off and Support, Piss Off the ‘Right’ People and Support the Downtrodden
We derive not a cent from these efforts, nor do we need, seek, or want to. We have set up our enterprises so that our cost centers live elsewhere. We wish to remain unbought and unbossed. Should the time come for an offer We Cannot Refuse, well, we’ll deal with that if and when if arrives. We think we’ll refuse, by the way. For now, we are not for sale.
This might make the Cliff Nilans and Angelo Stracuzzis of the world nervous, but it’s striking a chord with the Mary Jane and Joe Kapanskis out there, who are more and more abandoning print and moving to the computer for their news. While other websites, and especially the BB, choose to paint the “Fairy Dust Flowers” picture of life in Pittsfield — where never is officially heard a discouraging word (unless it can harm a political for or crush The Little Guy — we will keep on keeping on.
To those who have a problem with THE PLANET and have tried to intimidate-to-mitigate what we do, we quote Paul Newman from The Hustler: “[We] don’t rattle, kid!”
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SWEET LITTLE TOBY MOORE INSPIRES A DOG WALK … AND A TOWN
Canine lovers of the world, unite! Prior to THE REAL PITTSFIELD BENEFIT FOR PETER MOORE AND FAMILY, a dog walk will be held to honor the heroic efforts of Toby Moore, the cute little guy who, unlike the driver of the vehicle that nearly killed his master, stayed with Peter Moore and tried, as best he could, to provide warmth and comfort while Peter lay unconscious in the frozen evening.
Here are the details, fresh from the organizer:
About one hour and six minutes into the most recent city council meeting (Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012), the Spanish Inquisition made a visit to the Pittsfield City Council, going by most accounts.
Jeff Ferrin‘s appointment to the ambulance commission created a ruckus among certain of our Right Honorable Good Friends the Tuesday night of Valentine’s Day. The red hearts turned to silvery daggers, and the daggers were implanted into the front and back of a nominee who has made many enemies among the GOBs and many friends among the poor folk. Jeff Ferrin is unlike the former and much like the latter.
THE PLANET did not attend the council meeting, having chosen the better part of amour to spend our night with MRS. P. We do not own a TV set, having assassinated ours into electronic Eden on Sept. 1, 2008 (but who’s counting?). We don’t live in Pittsfield, alas, and our cable system, in an act of mercy, does not broadcast from the Pittsfield chambers on the second floor City Hall. The video links from the PCTV broadcast could not be played on our system for some reason, despite it being the latest Mac. When we went to the PCTV website, the link at the site played deaf and dumb.
Bottom line is that we did not actually witness what happened. We did, however, receive several blow-by-blow accounts from several on both sides of the aisle and a few people watching either from the cheap seats or on the idiot box.
We took the two mainstream versions (Jeff Ferrin is a Monster and Jeff Ferrin is a Saint), divided by two, applied some common sense, and now have enough to offer a point of view. Let us empty the six shooter and bullet our points, remembering there isn’t a silencer out there that can muzzle a revolver.
The council’s actions stunk.
Take the Name of Jeff Ferrin Out of the Equation and What Do You Have? An 11-0 Appointment
If you peel the onion to its sweet, hot core, the Jeff Ferrin incident from the council meeting had little to do with Jeff Ferrin and lots to do with widening the political gulf that threatens to divide the city of Pittsfield again more than at any time since the Civic Authority. The Ferrin debate became the excuse for the Ruberto-Marchetti supporters to take it to the Bianchi camp.
If this is most any other name but “Jeff Ferrin,” the appointment goes through in a snooze, 11-0. Let’s get real, ladies and gentlemen: We’re talking the ambulance commission, not an appointment to the Supreme Court or lead negotiator of the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks. Be honest. Did you even know the city of Benigno Numine even HAD an ambulance commission. Technically, it’s the Ambulance Review Commission. The city’s website lists the members:
Ambulance Review Committee
Chris Pederson … Tom Hickey, Jr. … Lucy Britton … Michael Monti … Dr. Ron Hayden … Michael L.Ward, Councilor … Colleen Hunter … Robert Van Bramer … Marcus Welby … James Kildare … Ben Casey … Adolph Hitler … Charles Manson … Marshal Tito.
Actually, we added the last six names, to show that any of these gentlemen, had they come before the council, would not have been taken into the boards the way certain members took Ferrin on Tuesday night.
Ward 5 councilor Jonathan Lothrop launched the attack: “I do think that as an appointee to a committee, we do need to have consideration for people’s overall character.” Ward 1’s Christine Yon parroted the same remark, bringing up the “matter of character.” At large Barry Clairmont and Ward 3’s Paul Capitanio also went into the “character” aspect. It became clear that these four had set up a quadrangulated sniper’s nest, agreeing beforehand on the talking point of Ferrin’s “character” to slap Mayor Dan Bianchi in the face.
J-Lo, Yon, Dancing Barry, and Cappy: Truly, do you have the mastery of metaphysics to be able to read a person’s soul? And do you expect us to believe that you did not meet prior to this to plan the attack, in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Law?
Ferrin Had Come Clean Long Ago About His Civil Service Record, in fact, to an Admirable and even Heroic Degree
You’ll recall, ladies and gentlemen, that Ferrin ran against Capitanio in the last election and lost. There was no love lost between the two men. QUESTION: Why didn’t Cappy recuse himself from the the discussion? He could hardly be expected to offer an objective assessment of Ferrin’s ability to serve on the commission. Cappy woke up, we hear, just long enough to go back to sleep, letting the second, third, and fourth waves do their “thang.”
What’s the big deal? Ferrin, who ran for mayor in 2009, has been a regular at countless city meetings over the past few years, since he lost his job with the city. He was a side in the thorn of Mayor Jimmy Ruberto, Uncle Gerry Lee, and a host of other System types. During this period, Ferrin showed a trait that typically gets one branded as a heretic in GOB-land. He informed himself. He pursued knowledge and data. He read up on the law. Worst of all, he … asked questions and took his responsibilities as a citizen co-governor seriously!
Oh, Bartleby! Oh, the humanity!
They (you know who “they” are) didn’t like Jeff much. “They” proved it at the council meeting by digging up the file on Ferrin’s days as an employee of the city, in the highway department (official title: “highway craftsman” [we kid you not]), where he was hired in 2004. Beginning on April 11, 2006 and up to and including April 24, 2009, Ferrin received 14 disciplinary actions from the city.
As a tenured civil service employee, Ferrin exercised his right to appeal two of those actions: One a three-day suspension “for making an offensive comment over the City’s two-way radio system while on duty” on March 4, 2009, and the second a 2.5-day suspension “for leaving a city truck unlocked with the engine running and the emergency lights on while parked in a fire lane outside Berkshire Medical Center for approximately thirty (30) minutes.”
He filed what the Civil Service Commission calls “a timely appeal” to these cases on May 28 and May 29, 2009. In both cases, Civil Service Commission Chairman Christopher C. Bowman dismissed both appeals, ruling against Ferrin and in favor of the city. The commission voted 4-1 in each case.
Here are the two hot links to both cases, so you may read them for yourself:
Ferrin, Jeffrey v. City of Pittsfield 2 1/2 Day Suspension 12/10/09 
and
Ferrin, Jeffrey v. City of Pittsfield 3 Day Suspension 12/10/09
Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast the First Stone
The question becomes, then: Is this information relevant to Jeff Ferrin’s appointment to the ambulance commission? THE PLANET thinks “no.”
Our primary reason is that Ferrin has never tried to hide or deny his past record with the city. He didn’t run from it during his 2009 mayoral campaign or his bid for the Ward 3 job in 2011. He forthrightly answered every question THE PLANET had about his background in a manner that we found refreshing and all-too-rare among the altar boys and saints we have seen over the years soiling public office in the cesspool that is often Pittsfield politics.Think of the skunks and scallywags we have had and still do in certain public offices. Could they pass The Ferrin Litmus Test? No flippin’ way.
Our take on the Jeff Ferrin of 2012 is that he has matured tremendously, educated himself in an exemplary fashion, and takes his role as a citizen seriously. We cannot find fault with any of that. THE PLANET wishes the city of Pittsfield had 1,000 more with Ferrin’s self-claimed ownership of his government.
Self-government is not only the right of everyone among We The People but also their duty. Otherwise, we will see what has happened over a generation of degeneration in Pittsfield continuing: the setting up of a feudal system that rewards the Connected Few and punishes the rest (case in point: The Nilan-Moore Case) … that makes criminals into pillars of the community and drags decency into the mud … that gives us the likes of Cliffy Nilan, Angelo Stracuzzi, and other scuz and Chosen Ones … that creates a climate of fear and intimidation among good, ordinary citizens.
We won’t have it. Give us 1,000 more Jeff Ferrins.
The Important Aspect of Jeff Ferrin and a Tale of Two Cities
Sure, he made mistakes. He freely admits that. Who hasn’t? The important aspect of Jeff Ferrin is that he worked hard to improve himself, and yet …
… and yet, some vindictive councilors, seeing Ferrin as a convenient excuse to resurrect and tear wide open a political rift that has been holding this city back since at least the time of the Civic Authority debacle. This is the tale of two cities: One for the haves and the other for the have nots.
The pre-emptive strike against Jeff Ferrin was meant to be a shot across the bow to Dan Bianchi. There are people in positions of power, or who can control people in positions of power, who want to see that the new mayor has no chance to heal the division that, if not checked, will perpetually doom this once prosperous, model city.
Which of the councilors find comfort in that type of destruction? Who are they?
For example, ask yourself: Did Clifford Nilan act in such a straightforward manner when he was carrying water for his buddy, Angelo Stracuzzi, after predator “Tell ’em Angelo sent you” got criminally involved with two under-age teen age boys (13 and 15) in Biddeford, Maine? Has Nilan come clean about everything he knows regarding the running over and near killing of Peter Moore?
We toss out these rhetorical questions with a reference to the New Testament story we should all ponder. An angry mob has caught a woman in adultery. They wish to kill her by stoning her to death. Jesus stops the crowd by asking them: “Let the person who is without sin among you cast the first stone.”
If we are to begin to apply The Ferrin Test to all applicants to city boards and commissions, which councilors sitting on that dais, for example, could survive intact? THE PLANET agrees that certain appointees for positions must be vetted, but not in the manner that councilors took the wood to Jeff Ferrin on Valentine’s Day.
Mazzeo: ‘This is Going to Open a Pandora’s Box’
At-large councilor Melissa Mazzeo spoke to THE PLANET about the Ferrin matter: She said the council had sunk to an all-time low in what happened when Ferrin’s name came up for action.
“Jeff is an EMT and a good fir for this board,” Mazzeo said. “J-Lo objected to Ferrin based on Jeff’s civil service record and ‘character.’ He was followed with support from [Barry] Clairmont, [John] Krol, [Paul] Capitanio, and [Chris] Yon, who questioned his work ethic and character. Capitanio actually said [he was objecting to Ferrin because] he ran against him! I strongly encouraged them to be careful going after ‘character,’ since we have a few questionable people sitting on boards right now. I’m sure you can figure that out. This is going to open up a Pandora’s box. Everyone now is open to having their past looked into and their character debated.”
Based on what we have learned thus far, THE PLANET agrees with our Right Honorable Good Friend, MM, who herself knows full too well the bumps and bruises that can come when you dare question or rile the GOB. We should add that Ward 2’s Kevin Morandi also supported Ferrin and weighed in against character assassination.
The matter vanished when Ward 6 councilor John Krol notified tabling the appointment request would give everyone time to read the Civil Service findings on Ferrin … and, we hope, give our Right Honorable Good Friends time to seriously weigh: Do you REALLY want to go there? If so, THE PLANET guarantees, the gloves will come off on that dais, if they are not off already. Ward 7 rep Tony Simonelli and Ward 4’s Chris Connell agreed with Krol, with Connell making the motion to table.
Some observers got on council president Kevin Sherman for allowing the debate over Ferrin, saying he should have ruled it out of order or had the matter taken up in executive session. THE PLANET disagrees. Sherman was right in letting the fists fly. It is the right of We The People to see this type of action, so we can better judge who are working for them and who are carrying water for skunks.
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WEEKENDERS, DELIGHT. THOUGH THE CITY AND TOWN MAY BE ABLAZE AND THUNDER ROARS OVER LAND AND LAKE, THERE IS NO THREAT, YET, TO THE END OF MAN. WE SHALL NOT LEAN, NOR WILL WE STAND IN AWE, NOT EVEN BEFORE THE LION’S LOVELY CLAWS. ENJOY!
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
The dog walk event is a great idea! I’ve had dogs in our house my entire life, and they are truly man’s best friend, and Peter’s pup proved that. Loyalty thy name is Toby.
Remember when Jimmy Ruberto persecuted Susan Sperber for her love affair and removed her from her post with the Colonial Theater? Then, Jimmy Ruberto’s best friends Angelo Stracuzzi and Carmen Massimiano were both accused of being sexual deviants against male minors. It seems that Jimmy Ruberto has 2 rules or a double standard for his friends versus one for regular people. The Berkshire Eagle had an editorial about the Jeff Ferrin episode today criticizing those who advocated for Ferrin and defending those who judged him. The Eagle has a double standard problem, too. The Good Old Boys look out for themselves!
I agree with you but have a darker take on the double standard and different sets of rules to which you referred: the “special” rules were applied not so much because of friendships with roberto, but because the offending friends are in that peculiar, sub-human clique of homosexual pedophiles. Normal, adult hetero or homosexual relationships are fair game and subject to the other set of rules. It’s the predatory child rapists who are favored by the reigning class of deviants who allow them free rein in this city, to come and go as they please, strutting around with their old attitudes of superiority. Instead of being ostracized as the pariahs they are, they’re accepted back, one even running the campaign of the losing mayoral candidate and getting a VIP invitation to the winner’s inauguration, for Christ’s sake!! The fact that stacuzzi is not confronted, vilified and spit on, casts a pall of shame over everyone in this city, except him and his buddies, the ones who deserved to be shamed. Personally, I’d favor them being tarred and feathered, then castrated but I can be a bit “retro” when it comes to meting out justice. He should be registered as a sex offender, but we all know all about how that “fix” was put in and by whom. I’m just so tired of feeling dirty just from being in this city and I think that’s because I know in my heart of hearts that i should be out protesting each and every time these perverts show their faces in public. And what difference would one protester make, anyway?
I’m so glad that the Dog Walk has come together. Is there a rain date? I’m also curious as to whether a permit was required to hold the event in a city park? I hope that the media will be made aware of it and give it adequate coverage.
I’m glad that it came together as well. Was there a need to get a permit to do this? Who’s heading up this piece?
Well said, Diogenes! And I have to agree as well! I’m surprised that there’s not a lot of responses from the GOB’s though! Where are you all – nothing to say? Cat got your tongue? I know that I would be very interested to hear how you justify this stuff…
Nancy/Molly,
Thank you!
The problem is that don’t care what we think or want! They don’t feel that they need to justify anything to “us”, no matter what it is. Have they ever? Not that I can recall. It’s just another instance of how much contempt they have for us, the ‘Common People”. I would suggest not holding your breath waiting for them to explain themselves. And considering all the shameful activities that have just gone by the wayside, what kind of credence could we put in any of the self-serving pablum that’s been forcibly crammed down our throats for decades.
Ruberto is gone…..thank god
Your attack on the BB is admirable and well deserved. However, you should be taking on the radio stations as well. WBRK is as big a part of the GOB’s as is the Eagle. Bill Sturgeon, who has done so very much to aid every benifit of any kind refuses to as much as mention the one for PM. Two or three times today he encouraged his listeners to support a pasta dinner at St. Agnes School for the K of C and a lobster dinner at the Dalton Methodist Church. Yet, not a peep for this one. The Hodgkins, as good people as they are must have him totally muzzled.
I know one of the desk workers at WBRK. What you write, Mr. Ambrose, is true. They have muzzled Bill. Too bad. They have conniptions when Bill has Valenti on the air, but they know Dan is good for huge ratings and that trumps everything the good old fashioned $$$. Bill S is in a no-win situation.
We are making progress against the GOBs. Keep it up people!
Why not have the dog walk on Winsap Ave?
The handlers could wear shirts that say, “HIT ME”, with a big target/bullseye on the back!
Would they be on the sidewalk or in the road?
There are a lot worst things that have going on in the city yard . than what Jeff was discipline for.
O.K he may have come off racist and that should not be tolerated today by any means I’m not seeing it but I’m a 31 year old white male who works so I don’t get a say. (does that sound racist???-not implying only people who fit my description hold jobs.) But how many complaints can someone get before they are fired? Seems to me this guy should have been canned long ago.
Scott I agree with you. Why was Ferrin not canned long before? I have a good friend from Lee and He worked with Mr. Ferrin for the town and he says Ferrin was nothing but trouble! Jeff, Dickie says Hi.
@Scott, Jeff was disciplined, in the greatest part, because he had the balls to run against Squiggy ruberto for mayor of Pittsfield. He told people what went on at highway and ruberto didn’t like that, or any criticism, and told Deadwood to find a way to fire him. I worked for the city for 15 years and know what goes on in the inner workings. Another mark on his record was for taking a city truck to a doctor’s appointment. Waht about Tony Stracuzzi taking a city Parks truck t Foxwoods with his wife in it, for which McGrath fired him initially but ruberto reduced it to a week off. None of these self righteous city councilors such as Lothrop and Krol and Yon, who btw was seen by a friend of mine in a very inebriated state last night at a North End restaurant, or the buffoon Clairmont, seem to remember things like that, and it seems you don’t either. Sometime you have to take extenuating circumstances into account for things and this is one of those times.
Thanks Jim I couldent rember who it was that took a city truck to foxwoods.
One thing I can’t stand in an argument is when your trying to talk about someone and they point the finger at someone else s actions just because someone else is guilty of doing something wrong doesn’t make your wrongs excusable.
SCOTT
Yes. It’s the lamest excuse of all: “Well, someone else is doing it and worse.”
At Scott
All I can do in response to your comment is say thank you for your comment. But please be educated on the facts. The facts that I have in my possession that is not documented on the civil service reports. The facts that are not only in print but in color and video as well. So please take the time to reach out to learn those before making such a comment of my being racist or that I should have been fired after having so many complaints. look at those complaints in there entirety which includes the documents I hold and evidence that was not submitted in the printed report of those decisions. “THE FACTS” are very important if one is to judge someone. Remember there are two sides to every story. I am the least racist person I know and what is burning me is how quick folks are to jump to a conclusion that if it is written from the civil service commission it must be the gospel. I assure you sir that nobody other than a few councilors and the mayor who took the time to reach out to me have looked at the facts and supporting documents I have to show a pattern of intimidation and nothing more than building an infactual case for the sole purpose of firing me. Being a union worker requires a different set of rules and approach to terminating an employee and since we are an at will state that is what they were doing. WHY? Because I stood my ground and stood up for the little guy and what was right. So anyone including Mr. Steve Wade who continue to bash me without the truth can if they wish. It is after all there first amendment right. But if they wish to know facts and write with some level of intelegence on the history of my record in it’s entirety then please reach out and learn them. Otherwise the nay sayers are nothing more than part of the problem of being uneducated in the subject matter for which they write and speak. When I would go to the former mayor or the open Mike I always did so with facts. Facts that I could support and that is why it was that I was challenged so very little when I did so. Knowledge is power. Varification and validation of that knowledge is everything.
Gospel? That should be questioned as well! I’m not up to speed on the terms and conditions of your suspensions but I would imagine you would have at some point had to have taken responsibility and accepted them? Are you saying now you take that back?
Scott
Thanks for the comments. I am saying sir that I have documents that support that those I am guilty of I admitted to. Those that are fabricated are also supported by documents. I am a guy who admits when I was wrong and when I screwed up and will take my lumps for it. I teach my children to stand up for themselves and never let anyone push them around and tell them they are not good enough. I tell them that there are times in life when you can do everything you believe is right but that others will try to knock you down in order to get rid of you and boost themselves up, so stand up and fight and never let them beat you if it means losing your self respect or dignity. I had been accused of saying a derogatory remark about the president of the united states. Nothing racial in my book. I admitted to what I said and that was “Look who’s running this country” Now unless you were part of the conversation you would assume it was about the president. Even if it was how can that statement be a racist remark? If the president was white would this have even happened? It just so happened that the person who complained was a co- worker who happens to be African American who was home listening to his scanner when he was supposed to be at work. He was not present for the whole conversation. Nor were any of the bosses. the guy who was the only other witness gave different stories from his written statement to his actual testimony and they found him to be a credable witness. I worked for weeks on end with this guy who made the claim and we had no issues until this. So yes Scott I defended myself from that to other issues that just were not true and I accepted responsibility for those that I was guilty of.
The real question is Scott, would anyone else who may have the same record but was not one who put themselves out there in the public eye fightinmg for the little guy and standing up to the powers to be have been treated the same way at that council meeting? Would there employment records have been questioned? Lets be open about this. Would Cliffy Niland or Carmen Massimiano have been put through this? Was John Barrett scritized and prevented from getting paid whathe did even though he admitted to violating procurment laws after I brought that to the attention of the council? No was the current acting Commissioner of Public Services Mr. Bruno or Mr. Collingwood diciplined for also failing to follow procurement laws? NO But the little guy who does try to do the right thing goes thorugh this.
This whole blown up rendition of a badley written soap opera is nothing more than political payback for having exposed things that were supposed to be kept in the closet and out of you the publics eyes and ears. I have always said that if you tell the truth then you have nothing to fear. If you do the right thing in the best interest of the majority then you have nothing to fear. Even if you admit being wrong and accept the punishment given. If I had been in the wrong for the two suspensions and many other issues I assure you I would have never fought them and wasted my time, the city’s time and money my attorneys time.
So again Scott I extend to you the chance to look and read what I have to then allow yourself to be educated on the facts and not just the decision that “DOES NOT” provide the documented facts. It only provides for reading entertainment of the diciplines and parts of testimony. Nothing more and nothing less.
Jeff ferrin
Mr. Ferrin If your need to have complete shoulder replacement was caused by your job for the city, My question is what caused these shoulder injuries? Did you dig a hole to China with only a shovel?
yeah like how is Carmen fit to judge anyone on the liquor licensing board who votes those people in or are they appointed? I believe you Jeff I’ll admit i was too quick to cast judgement. One thing that’s always on my mind when trying to get involved with the community and different things is if my past criminal conviction for selling pot when I was 17 is gonna come back to haunt me even though for the past decade I’ve ran a successful business started a family and settled down here. Shit when I first got out Wal Mart would hire me. So I know what it’s like to be discriminated against for mistakes.
*Wouldn’t Wal Mart wouldn’t hire me.
@ Steve
No sir. My injuries were caused as a result of being required to use a power pole saw over my head for months on end. When I reported I was getting hurt to the super and commissioner and asked to use the new bucket truck I was cetified to use, to prevent any further problems and to be safer I was told no. when Iasked for help that could use the equipment I was told no. I will not detail the whole hx here. Again I have full supporting documentation from the start of the first written report to the very end of final approval from the state to annual reporting as required by law. This includes pictures and video of light duty violations that were denied being done by management to the reports and documentation from Adamo’s office to independant surgeons I was sent to by the commonwealth. 6 out of seven Dr’s agreed that my injuries could have been avoided and were caused by my job. They were very maticulous at looking at my past medical history from when I was a kid to present including my years as an EMT. So Steve all basis were covered I’s dotted and T’s crossed. All for the price of power. I lose parts of my body and the tax payer loses money on yet another unfunded liability. Worse of all nobody who caused this action has been held accountable from the management staff.
@ Scott
Thanks for the honesty and you now see why I have always maintained a document trail.
I’m wondering if people who comment here are deliberately being blocked by the eagle? I use my real name there and here so it’s not like I’m saying anything I wouldn’t say in real life. Most comment under the disguise of a fake identity. But just recently I got you “this site has blocked you…” message like a couple others mentioned here.
The BB doesn’t want free speech. They want to please the GOB their masters as if clear in their mishandling of the Nilan case
Wow! I can’t believe they blocked you! Welllll, not totally true as I can now believe anything dealing with the BB. But you don’t ever say anything really bad – you give your opinion and that’s it – you don’t go on and on being rude or calling people vulgar names like some of them. But I have seen you mention “planet valenti”, as have I and I think as has Heller and we all got blocked… Hmmmmmm
Yes, mention “planet valenti,” “Dan Valenti,” or anything close and the bb blocks you. Dans really got into their head and their circulation which continues to drop. Neighbor worls in ad sales there. Morale lousy. Circulation? 17,000 and falling.
DTR. Every day Dan hammers The Eagle so do you really think they will ever mention his name or blog in the paper?
I did call a couple people names in a heated gun debate but my civil liberties were on the table I’m passionate about it. But I really think it’s deeper because calling someone an idiot or a moron can easily be removed by the mediator. You’re right I did mention PV a few times I bet that’s why they’re blocking me. I’m currently working on a proxy server and IP change that will hide my identity so I can go back but I’m trying to figure out how they blocked me I think they did it through my ISP because just blocking the account doesn’t work as I stated here you can just create a new account so now they have their geeks on it I bet they read this site now come to think of it.
If all the City Councilors had done there homework and read the agenda online or in there mail box’s there would be no reason to table.Jeff Ferrin’s name was on that agenda for appointment.It is your job as Councilors to be informed and be opened minded.I find it hard to believe that nobody knew of Jeff’s past,seeing he was more than willing to come clean in his 2009 & 2011 campaigns.I think what makes Jeff a great appointment is the fact that he actual has a great deal of expertise in the field.U
Just watched Council meeting on subject with appointment of Mr. Ferrin. Jon Loopy are you kidding me, You are a creep, can not believe you would do this. Clar a bell the crown, who the hell are you to talk, Cappy sounds like sour grapes to me and a low shot. Yon (yawn) do you know what day it is. Think her husband told her what to do on this one. This was a low for these councilors. The only one that shined was Melissa and two new councilors. The Eagle on this subject was also a fool (as most their editorials)
Reminds of the Caine Mutiny movie where Fred McMurray’s character got a drink thrown in his face. Exactly what Tony Mazzeo should of done to the three cowards on last election night. You’ll go on and write a book and sell a million copies Dan.
who ate my strawberries?
some of these attackers of ferrin better hope he doesn’t dig into their background. these 4 councilors have been around too long, they should step down, they create problems for the city on petty stuff… ironic thing about their attack on ferrins character is that they showed what their character is all about. i feel for melissa, its got to really stink sitting near them.
One thing I like about dirt is when it’s in black and white there’s no denying it. I don’t know him personally but as a tax payer what should one feel after reading the facts of his two suspensions? Also if you ran a business how would you respond to these same actions by an employee?
Scott Good Point. Would Ms Mazzeo hire Ferrin to work at the restaurant with that kind of work record?
Ive known Jeff Ferrin for two years, just after he was let go by the city. I agree with everything Dan writes Jeff is a great guy, caring husband, and loyal friend to a fault. He’s the first to admit he made afew mistakes but no one can fault Jeff’s contributions to the city and his own personal life since then, married, setteled down with a good woman, and he would be a great person to have on the ambulance board. Councilors, we are mad. Next meeting you must take Jeff off the ‘table’ and vote him in, you creeps. Thank you Melissa and Kevin Mrandi and god bless the work you do for us .
Was I reading it wrong or were some of his offenses using a city vehicle for personal use and conducting other business while on the clock?? If anythings that’s ripping the city off.
I gess you are not aware of the city employee who took a city truck to fox wood and is still working for the city are you?
RICHARD
Send me the information, privately, if you please. thanks.
What about the guy who got paid “on call OT” while he was on vacation in Florida and kept the money? Is it true that Jeff Ferrin turned a lot of these things in and prompted the audit that showed ALL KINDS OF ILLEGAL things and lots of missing money from that department (or do I have this screwed up?) Is all of this in retaliation?
If you read the Civil Service case against Jeff Ferrin, he was cited almost daily with one thing after another. It sure looked like they were “after him” big time!! As for the truck being left running, it wasn’t brought up at this Civil Service meeting that employees are REQUIRED to leave the trucks running at all times, so that the GPS will work. To me that’s not quite an excuse, but still… As Dan said, he has admitted to some mistakes and has tried to make up for them.
How about Ferrins fake disability?
Now your getting to the heart of the matter. Jeff Ferrin was a whistleblower. He uncovered great corruption in the city water dept when no one else wanted to look even the city councilors. He found other bad stuff going on in DPW and his bosses wrote him up for everything and nothing!!
How does that justify what he did? Ok you got me they’re both wrong…
how long after (or during) the meeting do you think it took one of robertos bitches to give him a call or,( im sure these gals text,) to let him know job done…
Cliffy opened a can of worms…my guess is he regrets it. Lothrop opened one as well. Does he come from a perfect family? This guy wanted to be mayor…..we can make the sign of the cross and thank God that the GOB thought he was unelectable.
Dan,
I’ve got to weigh in on your attack on those you brand as the gob and your blind support of a malcontent like Jeff Ferrin.14, that’s
fourteen, as in XIV GD violations, Dan! If you had an assistant and maybe you do, don’t you think after about the 3rd or 4th violation you might begin to wonder if this person could be house-trained? Or, possibly you believed his bosses at City Yard were part of this grand conspiracy by the GOB’s.
Now, madam Mazzeo’s defense of JF ,was as self-serving and transparent as it was obvious. He, Nichols (before he went belly-up) Banchi and MM are thick as thieves. She was just protecting one of her loyal bum kissers.
Now, Dan please explain to me just when, where,and to whom did the noble JF come clean to the free world? The Mayor, the devine
MM and you were among the select few to tune in to that frequency. Or if you repeat it often enough, like most urban legends, you begin to believe it.
f
And you don’t see that Lothrop’s tactics, immediately followed by Clairmont’s, etc., were self serving and very transparent?
This appointment is to a non-paid position on an ambulance board, to which he is very well qualified. Stop with the pettiness and get over it!!
At silly hall, if one was a non-conformist, then ruberto’s puppet’s attacked. Clearly Jeff was a non-conformist. He saw blatant waste of taxpayers money and a whole lot of double standards going on, which most likely led to his malcontent. With out a doubt, of those 14, that’s fourteen, as in XIV gd, violations there are at least 14, that’s fourteen, as in XIV, conformists who have committed the same sins, quite possibly worse, but because they were part of ruberto’s puppet show, no disciplinary actions were brought against them. Some examples are the city yard truck being used to transport an employee and his wife to Foxwoods for a day of fun. The purchasing agent baby-sitting her grandchild on Friday’s. The treasurer working both as treasurer and accountant, not once but twice, a direct violation of Mass General Law that states the “accountant shall hold no other office involving the receipt or disbursement of money”. Just to name a few.
Jeff did come clean with his past sins when he openly and honestly discussed them publicly while running for government offices. I heard it. Maybe it is route66 who is tuned into a different frequency, maybe gob frequency? No urban legend here route66, just plain, old honesty for past deeds that may or may not be all that horrendous, especially when we look at deeds done by others in positions of power and city committees.
Keep up the good work Dan Valenti and Melissa Mazzeo. Dan, for your work for the honest guy via cyberspace and Melissa, for your dedicated work as councilwoman with some very childish fellow council people.
Another sycophant of the GOB’s spouting misinformation again. Why not move to Florida with Squiggy, or is this the Squigmeister herself? You exemplify all that’s bad in the Pitts and hopefully the election of Dan Bianchi and appointments of people like Jeff Ferrin will begin to change the bad into good.
Dan
Thanks for the kind words and for the support from you and many of your readers. I will look at the negative responses as just folks that are uninformed.
To Mr. Wade. I would be happy to show you my file from Lee and assure you that the four years I worked seasonally for the Highway there and my 18 yrs with the ambulance that my file is empty of anything you say. So I would encourage you and Dicky to provide support to your comments. Otherwise I see your comments as they always are. Hot air.
This is what I posted for iBerkshires at Joe’s request for comment and thought I would share here.
I want to make it clear to those who believe the Civil Service decisions are complete,truthful and accurate are wrong. Much is left out and the information provided for past disciplinary action does “NOT” provide any facts or supporting documents, so that means that all anyone is reading is what is in those two documents. Not the facts of each issue.
I again offer to those who question the validity of what I am saying to please feel free to see for yourselves my documentation, photo’s videos etc.
Joe
First off thanks for reaching out to ask my side. I will say that I am amazed that this is even happening. Especially since I have made this information available ever since I ran against Mayor Bianchi in his first bid to be mayor. The mayor took the time to discuss these matters with me then and even before the appointment. So if he was willing to take the time to look at these issues and found that they were not an issue I am hopeful that the councilors will as well.
I will say that I was a little but not totally surprised that Jonathan Lothrup would do what he did that is how he operates. I would be more encouraged if this councilor took the time to see all the evidence and not just what was published I however do encourage all the councilors to look at my civil service decisions and from that compose questions. From there my hopes would be that they then take a look at my complete document trail that supports that much of what was mentioned by the councilor were fabricated issues. Such as the conducting union business on city time. In one case I was off the clock and it was 4:15 PM and I was by myself. The second is when I was not even working that day and it was at 7:20 AM and I was speaking to one individual before his day started at 7:30. I have documents to support both. These are jut two examples Joe. The disciplinary mentions in the civil service decisions does not in any way explain both sides of an issue as mentioned. Councilor Lothrup mentioned having someone with character on that board and he was not sure I had the character needed as it is a very important board. He however did not at any time ask me any questions nor did he see the documents I have. Councilor Mazzeo was the only councilor to reach out to me prior to last nights meeting to ask questions. I have been an open book as an employee of the city and as a citizen who has stood before the council. I have always supported my remarks with facts. For example: One not mentioned in the civil service informational section is a 3 day suspension I had been given by Mr. Collingwood that was over turned when he had learned that the foremen whom he spoke to had lied to him and that I had been truthful. That cost the tax payer 3 days pay to me with no work performed as a result of that lie. It also does not show that no action was taken against that foremen for having lied. I have the documents from Mr. Collingwood to support it.
Joe what I am hoping will happen here is that these councilors who are questioning my character will see that it took character to bring forward the illegal obtaining of public funds by the former water superintendent that was brought to the commissioners attention and the former mayors attention who never acted on the information provided. This man is no longer employed as a result. It took character to show and prove the violation of ethics laws and some other things by the former superintendent of highway who was demoted as a result of these things and others that he did including altering legal documents regarding my work related injury. This is very same man who submitted these disciplinary actions with the support of the commissioner in which he was never provided proof of any derogatory actions by me before disciplinary action was taken. It also is incorrect and a serious conflict of interest to have the very person who hands out disciplinary action also be the hearings officer. As is the case with Bruce Collingwood doing both. The character Jonathan speaks of does not mention how I pointed out the illegal transfer of $143,000 from the Peda fund to Berkshire Economic Development who went defunct shortly after being given the money for marketing of Peda. This character does not reflect how I was prepared to testify at trial against a former foremen who assaulted a fellow employee because it was the right thing to do. It does not reflect the fact that I was able to get the current acting Department of Public Services director and John Barrett to admit before the council that they had failed to follow procurement laws when seeking to purchase the asphalt recycler.
The character Jonathan referred to my not having does not mention how I stood before the ambulance committee on several occasions to discuss my reasoning’s based on my experiences as a professional and a resident as to why it was important to share the 911 contract and how it provided for better EMS coverage for the residence of Pittsfield when they call 911 for the service. How it would prevent the stacking of calls when the providing service is unavailable beause they are tied up with other calls and transfers and we are unable to get a volunteer service to come in because they are unable to get a crew together. It does not reflect how I had talked about how that would be a chance to create jobs and a tax base that the former mayor was looking for. It does not reflect how I had spoken with the owner of Action prior to the 911 contract awarding and encouraged him to speak with Peda and the mayor about taking advantage of any TIFS and other incntives by putting up a permanent structure on the William Stanley Business Park when he asked me abut finding rentals on the East side of the city to which none were available. I explained that if he was serious about locating to Pittsfield this would show the commitment on his part. Peda has signed a tentative agreement to have Action build on that site..
I agree that I have been outspoken regarding many issues in the city and will continue to do so. However lets look at my back ground regarding my EMS experiences. I started at the age of 16 in 1984 when I became a junior volunteer FF. It was then that I was introduced to EMS as a first responder. In 1986 I took my first EMT class after returning from Fort Jackson S.C. from basic training and AIT as an Army Reservist. I was not successful as I failed the written test by 1 point and did not know then that I could retake the test again. So in 1993 I finally re-took the course and became certified as an EMT. I served as a volunteer in a local service for 18 yrs never once being disciplined, reprimanded or suspended. During that time period I received 9 certificates for the saving of a life. In 2008 I took an Intermediate course and became cetified at the Intermediate level. I have never had any issues with following protocols set forth by OEMS and the Massachusetts Department of Health. I have in my career done well over 3,000 volunteer calls for help just as an EMT and continue to work as a part time and volunteer EMT-I. I served 14 yrs as a volunteer FF, I am 911 and telecommunications certified. I was certified as an Intermittent police officer through the Agawam Police Academy in 1997. I served in the Army Reserves from 1985 when I joined until 1997 when I was Honorably discharged at the rank of E-4 Specialist.
So if those are character flaws then I am guilty as charged. If defending ones self against wrongful accusations because I live my live with morals and refuse to do illegal things as well as standing up for my fellow man is wrong then I am guilty. If there is one thing I learned in my career as a soldier, EMT, police officer and 911 dispatcher is that you document things and you document well because you never know when that documentation will get you through a court case and the onslaught of a defense attorneys questioning should a case go to court. Well I made it a point to carry that experience of documenting over to my job as a city employee and that is why I am able to lay my head down at night with a clean conscience. If one does not lie, hide or misguide the truth then when the time comes for questions they are better truthfully answered. I would encourage you or any other news outlet who may also have questions to also ask me to look at my documented path as an employee of the city and determine for yourselves who was the wolf in sheep’s clothing.. This is the reason I not only documented my daily life in the highway department, but also took pictures and videos along the way.
Civil service decisions are not always providing complete testimony. For example. on the one regarding a derogatory remark made about the President Of The United states did not reflect how a written statement from one of the employees completely contradicted his in person testimony and was proven to have lied. It does not state that I actually made a statement about the president only that I allegedly stated look who’s running this country. The other decision does not reflect how we were ordered to keep the trucks running at all times so that the GPS trackers would remain on. Nor does it mention how I tried to contact my foremen by radio but the radio was not working. The foremen stated that the radio was working not knowing I had a copy of the write up of it not working. It did not reflect how I had asked repeatedly for my work orders in writing and was refused therefore leaving the door open for such interpretations of what was or was not to be the job given and whom ordered it. It also makes no mention of how during the hearing officers visit to BMC I was able to prove the head of security lied during his testimony regarding locations of bathrooms he said did not exist. It also does not reflect the fact that when he testified regarding the 5 pictures provided that they were hand picked by the highway superintendent from a 30 minute video that just happened to be erased after the pictures were chosen and printed. The head of security testified he watched an hr of video with the superintendent and the superintendent stated he watched 33 minutes with the head of security. None of that was mentioned in the report..
Joe I am not sure if this helps at all. I do ask that you set this up as you see fit but also that you do not print anything I did not say unless you ask me first. I am a man of transparency. If you have any questions or would like to see any documentation I have please feel free to ask and I will do my best to comply.
I do hope to serve on this committee as I am more than qualified to do so. I just hope that the councilors will respond back and educate themselves with what is being offered to them as proof documentation. If they do not then I know that they were never interested in the truth to begin with. I am however confident that most will respond. Those who do not want the truth will not.
Jeffrey Ferrin
Do you think it possible that what happened at the City Council and also the almost daily violations against you, were in retaliation for bringing forth the information about illegally obtaining public funds on the part of the water superintendent, etc.?
So the Councilors are going to read the Civil Service “charges”
Have they been given your response to them? Who physically gave it to them? And do they ALL have your response?
At Nancy
I was called By Barry Clairmont and Chris Yon who had recieved my email offering them to see the documents I have. I am meeting with them on Monday morning. They agreed in there was no evidence offered other than the words of civil service saying what the disciplines were and not the documents that supported the charges.
I have also spoken with Chris Connell, Tony Siminelli, Kevin Mirandi, and Kevin Sherman. They to are interested in learning more of the other side of the story. Melissa already has seen the information and that is why she spoke the way she did. Not because i was kissing her as as another post suggested. Melissa is a free thinker and as i stated was the only councilor to reach out and ask questions regardless of friendship. She dd the job she was elected to do.
I do not expect to hear from Lothrup. Especially after I left him a voice mail expressing my discust in the way he presented this as well as for failing to be educated on the facts beyond what he read which had no facts to support what was read attached.
Each councilor was also called by me with messages left if they were not home. So not one councilor can use the excuse they were never notified or contacted by me with the offer to see the facts.
So yes this is clearly political and payback for my having run against Paul Capitanio. He did state he could not support me because i ran against him. Now who can argue against that logic. Well said Cappy. Also because I had been outspoken against Ruberto policy and the mangaement staff in highway. After all two supers have been adversley effected as a result. One demoted and one terminated. But I reached out to offer him the same information and am quite sure he will not take me up on my offer.
As for the retaliation. that started when I became the shop steward for the union members in our shop. I fought for the members and addressed safety issues as well as managerial problems. At one point all shop union members signed a letter of no confidence in the superintendant because of the disciplinary actions being taken against employees that were not justified. That very letter asked for a meeting with the mayor which was denied. Some of the reprimands involved many of those employees at the same time so it is important to know that as many as 7 at a time for the same reasons were given reprimands.
It would be so much easier to show you than to try and explain since I am usually long winded when I write.
You may contact me at jjtyrpd26@aol.com if you feel inclined to do so.
Thank you
Jeff Ferrin
I wounded how many people will want to volunteer to help out the city after what is happening to you.
Jeff – are you out on a disability from the City of Pittsfield? If so, that shouldn’t matter at all for an appointment to a volunteer board (unless you are picking up and carrying stretchers, etc. as Stevie Wade says…). Good luck to you with this — I hope it works out for you. I’m glad to see at least some of our Councilors going to bat for you and hopefully the other ones will come around, too. This kind of pettiness really does need to stop! I give Melissa Mazzeo a lot of credit for what she has said thus far!
Nancy
First off Nancy I want to thank you for asking questions and wanting to be educated on the facts.You are the only Blogger here to do so.
I am picking up stretchers on a part time basis. (BUT NOT ALONE AS STEVE WOULD WANT ALL TO BELIEVE) Always two on the end when loading and unloading a patient.
My disability retirement has been a proven case to the Commonwealth. I have a clearence to do so from the surgeon who performed the shoulder replacement. I am however unable to do the job on a daily basis and am unable to do the daily tasks required of the job in which I held. The states retirment system is aware of what I do and has approved same as long as it is part time as I am not required to work alone, lift alone and lift all day long. My yearly retirement is $25,000 and I am able to earn up to $14,000 a year above that. So As you can see I am making less than when I was working.
As I have said so often, understanding and knowing facts are key. As I also stated I have to be evaluated every year for the first 3 yrs by the retirement system as well as my two physicians with reports placed on record with them. Then I am reevaluated every three yrs. They then evaluate all reports and make a decision on any violations or disqualifications if any. I have a letter here as I write this that is dated January 11th explaining this. I have another stating I have met the requirements as set forth under the law. So yes I am working as a part time EMT. I do mostly volunteering on Monday nights where we have a crew of 5 at any given time. We work as a team and “NOBODY” lifts a stretcher or a patient alone. I believe in using proper body mechanics and also working as a team. It prevents injuries to ones self, his/her partner and the patient.I have never been inured in my 20 plus years as an EMT while performing the job for just those reasons.
I will not be able to do this for to many more years as I will have to have my lft shoulder replaced as well. I am just trying to hold onto what I have left in my EMS carreer since the injuries I sustained while working for the city did not allow for me to work smarter because of the powers to be preventing me from having the tools that were needed and available for me to use. I have never lied about what has gone on and despite Steves being uneducated on the facts I will not start now. Nancy I have said all along I have nothing to hide and challenge anyone who writes here or sits on the council who do not ask questions or know facts to be as open and transparent as I have been. My guess is that we would all be shocked to learn of the past and skeletons theses folks have.
Jeff Ferrin
JEFF
Thanks for your forthrightness. THE PLANET holds you up as a role model of transparency, integrity, openness, and determination in your desire to improve. It’s clear you were the victim of harassment from superiors after you began to blow the whistle on some of the corruption you uncovered (starting with the Water Department theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars). The GOB wants to make sure than anyone else who wants to report what’s actually going on in the trenches of some departments will be deterred from doing so, based on their treatment of you. You shall always have a friend on THE PLANET.
Jeff I never implied that you picked up a stretcher by your self. I know that is impossible. I just think if your disabled you should not be lifting heavy stretchers,because if you are How disabled can you be?
IF this is all true isn’t there a federal law called whistle blower protection or something protecting people like you from this type of injustice? Or is it a possibility you were all doing wrong and now that you’re out you’re telling on everyone else? I will say this if you’re going to take a position in the city that is non paying that says a lot about your person and that you really do care about where you live.
SCOTT
It’s hard to determine with finality, but based on all I’ve been shown and told, Jeff was a whistleblower who became a target. Yeah, their are laws, so-called, but they don’t work.
Thanks, Jeff for such a detailed explanation. And as you say, of “facts”. I, for one, am thanking you for turning in those people! That took a lot of guts and it’s pretty obvious that those GOB’s are making you pay for that. Please don’t back down! And I sure hope Bianchi doesn’t back down, either…
aka Molly…
I strongly suspect that it was Cappy who made the document available to his GOB cohorts on the council. He said he didn’t make an issue of it when Jeff ran against him last Fall. He may not have brought it up in a public forum…but he did do it on an individual basis. I know of several residents in ward 3 who had the document left on their property during the campaign…and of several other people who were told by Cappy to google Jeff Ferrin’s name to view his work record.
Mr. Ferrin I hope you don’t pick up stretchers with your bum shoulder. Can we say pension fraud if you do?
i always wondered why capatonoio kept his mouth shut, now i know. its better to keep mouth shut and be thought a fool then to open mouth and relieve all doubt.
Scott: If they didn’t want to vote for him thats fine. But Loopy didn’t have to bring up any background ( its old news) issues. This was for a no pay job, to give service to Pittsfield. This four should be ashamed of themselves. But they don’t have any shame. No skeletons in their closets, yea right. I could give you some, but I’m not that low. Great start for Clarabell the crown.
@CONCERNED Agree with you,and hopefully they will give Jeff a chance.There is no reason not to let someone who is more than qualified to serve his City.(FOR FREE)
I’m lost
No kidding, dude.
Would you tolerate this type of behavior from an employee?
Were with you, Jeff, also thanks to Joe Durwin of iBerkshire and Dan VAlenti of the Planet for opening up sunlight on this which the bb has totally ignored, shame on the four — JLo, Clairmony, Yon, and Sour Grapes.
DV – I just watched the City Council meeting of Feb. 14th (that went about 4 hours!!!) When Clairmont finally shut up asking about 1,000+ questions regarding PEDA that were mostly meaningless and let some other Councilors ask questions, it got interesting! Melissa Mazzeo’s questions were SPOT ON! GE paid 15 million dollars to the city for such things as readying these building sites at the WSBP and we have 1.2 million dollars left. She brought that out. And asked where that money went to and where are we going to get the funding to do those things that will need to be done? Corydon had no answers. Those are IMPORTANT questions! And there’s NO marketing plan and never has been? What?
The meeting was SO long that many of these very important things got totally overlooked.
Dog Walk: I am so very happy to hear that the dog walk, prior to the benefit for Peter Moore, will happen!! Toby was absolutely amazing and if some donations to the animal shelter can be made in his name, that is awesome!
these 4 fools are only proving to me that we have too many councilors sitting at that Dias,,, how about 4 at large reps and a tie breaker being the mayor…….we save a bunch of money , fewer people to worry about becoming puppets for the gobs…there is enough committees to prove 7 of them are not needed…. think about it ..no kroll…no lothrup no capitanio ,no yawn…..and whats up with the way she talks…… i think it might be time to shrink city goverment to 4 at large…..to many petty personalities up there and its not getting any better… we really dont need all of them ,they are a waste of tax payers money.
pittsfield’s Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, we need to come together
FYI on the Democratic ballot for the Primary being held on March 6th, guess who two of the names are that are running for the Democratic Ward 3 Committee? You are right if you said Cliff Nilan and Meredith Nilan! There are nine slots and they are in 2 of them.
And Jeff Ferrin’s nomination gets tabled. Only in Pittsfield.
WOW! Where are you seeing that?
who would vote for them after all that is going on they have a lot of gall.
You guys are wrong about Jonathan Lothrop etc. Jonathan is the shining star of that council, well informed, articulate, indepndent. Now what about your hero, Mr. Valenti? Know where he is today? Hes at the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme MI. Acme, Mich.!! Must be on vacation.
[REMAINDER OF MESSAGE REDACTED … WEBMASTER REMINS THE CORRESPONDENT TO STAY ON MESSAGE AND CONTRIBUTE TO RELEVANT DISCUSSION]
he takes off and here I am cleaning up after his string of polo ponies.
meep meep
lothrup is so popular in his ward that they wanted his geek ass out, and almost voted him out….. next time he will be out…..
Thank you Jonathan, Barry Clairmont, Christine Yon, and Paul Capitanio for doing your job and preventing an awful appointment (Mr. Ferin). You four are the one doing the word for the people.
One Pittsfield….Wasn’t that Marchetti’s campaign slogan?
Again, another GOB sycophant kissing up to the useless. Go to FLA with Squiggy and kiss his ass some more.
i think you mean the work of the DEVIL(roberto). a,k,a, squiggy…the toad…… ethel merman…….jack ass.
I thank the council for enlightening me and probably ninety-nine percent of the rest of the population. I never knew there was an ambulance review board. Were it not for the huge issue over Jeff Ferrin, I still wouldn’t know. Louie Costi was appointed to something, I don’t remember what and he lives in Cheshire.
Ok, Mr. Webmaster. Lets try it this way. Mitt Romney and Michigan Gov Tim Pawlenty are campaigning in Acme, Michgan today. Please compare with my previous note earlier. Connect the dots.
isn’t that where Willey Coyote get all his stuff?
gets
LOL — Isn’t it Michigan Governor Rick Snyder?? You really need to get your facts straight before you open your mouth…
Can it, Opie. Trying to knock this conversation off track with all that ridiculous Valenti-Romney stuff. The four clowncilors , Loopy, Cappy, Ethel Merman, and Jackass, had their marching orders. Their real target? Not Jeff Ferrin. Real target: Mayor Bianchi. They will do everything they can to disrupt all progress and make sure Pittsfield stays divided and split. Citizens are watching this real close like.
WB…
I agree. The GOB’s don’t like it when they aren’t in control of the corner office. They didn’t control it when Sara Hathaway was mayor and remember how disfunctional and out of control the city council was then. The same type of things that happened during her 2 years, are already happening. The difference is that with this site, people are becoming informed…and involved.
Wonder which day this next week Lothrop will be on the propaganda hour, KA Good Morning Pittsfield, with John (how low can you go) Krawl? They will kis each others’ bums and say how misunderstood they are, I can see it now.
Jim If you think Krol is a jerk, then why do you listen?
I believe you are correct Dog Whisperer that One Pittsfield was the campaign of Mr. Marchetti’s campaign.
That will never happen until some of these people get rid of their ego’s, and realize that they were elected by the people for the people.
They were elected by the people for the people.
There is also a bigger world out there than Pittsfield. Pittsfield is just one city in this big country of ours. Let’s not loose sight of that. As my social studies teacher used to say..:”Get out of the Valley” once in awhile.
Does the b.s. never stop in The Pitts.? The councilors treatment of mr. Ferrin was shameful. How hypocritical of the four. Btw, can’t wait for the benefit for Peter Moore. I work with him. No finer man youd want to meet. Please support this event on Feb. 26 12:30 to 5 p.m.
it should be called Good Mourning Pittsfield
It is truly the propaganda hour in name as well as practice.
To: ONE PITTSFIELD
Gov. Tim Pawlenty was never the Governor of Michigan. He was the Governor of Minnesota.
Nancy,
I saw the names for the Democratic Ward 3 Committe on a Democratic ballot for Ward 3 for the Primary. Lynne Nilan is also on it as well as Cappy and his wife, the DelGallo’s, J. Tyer, and J DiSimoni…you can vote for them separately or as a group of the nine. Don’t forget the other 2 are Cliff and Meredith Nilan.
SANDY
Where is this list available? Can you direct us?
Should be available from Galvin’s office or from Linda Tyer
OMG – that is absolutely unnnnbelievable!!!!!! If they get elected, I will just throw my hands up and know that there is no hope for this city…
Still waiting for the answer. Who brought Nathan from Westfield to hear the MS Nilan showcase hearing????? It had to be Judge Rutberg, No work Speranzo, close friends of Cliffy David Kearns or Linda Barry. Must be a public record somewhere ummmm
CONCERNED
It’s funny. No one seems to know who did this. All of sudden, everyone who should has knowledge of this is Sgt. Schultz: “I know nothing … NOTHING!”
This is wha should have happend: “Applications for complaint that involve court personnel, their close family members or domestic partners, or persons having personal or business relationships with court personnel must be brought to the attention of the Regional Administrative Judge for possible transfer to another division or in order to have a magistrate from another division determine the application.
When an application is filed against a police officer employed within that court’s territory, or against a local municipal employee or other individual who has close personal or business ties with that division, strong consideration should be given to asking the Regional Administrative Justice either to transfer the matter to another division or to assign a magistrate from another division to determine the application.
Amazing, a public court with all this secrecy??????
Impressed with your bravery Jeff. Keep digging DV. Much to be found.
come on dan, post them now.. krol has himself in a ringer and i would like to see how hes going to try to sleazeball his around it… the problem here is i think melissa despises the way all these fools act and she is going to take them to task . once elected and you watch the games being played , i think id be a little disgusted with the system also. one thing is for sure that those meetings are better than prime time comedies… we get to see, live, people(we elected) make complete asses out of themselves.
One would think someone in Lothrops family would ask him to chill on the negative limelight. He is embarrassing them as well as himself and the city. Perhaps his desire to be in the inner circle of the GOB is so rabid that he is blinded to how much an ass he is making of himself.
but he is not the only one up there selling his soul for that reason
Lothrop changed somewhere during the Ruberto administration, to bad, I use to like him, and this doesn’t have anything to do with the Ferrin issue.
J Lo did change during the Ruberto administration. He won the ward 5 seat on the council, in 2003, by being the voice of the people on 2 hot button issues in that ward, at the time. He was a lead spokesperson for the group fighting the airport expansion, and was also heavily involved in the fight against the proposed transfer station on Industrial Drive, off South St. With Ruberto in the corner office, Lothrop got a couple of concessions from him on the airport project…one being…the not closing off of So. Mountain Rd. He became…not only indebted to Ruberto…but he got to enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling of being in his pocket. He soon forgot what got him elected…and became a GOB. My hope is that some day he runs for a citywide office…so I’ll have the opportunity to NOT vote for him, as a near majority of the voters in ward 5 did last fall.
If I drop off of the face of the earth tomorrow, I will be able to say that the most ridiculous thing that I’ve ever seen and heard, was the parking discussion around CIty Hall,at the Public Buildings and Maitenance Committee. Are you serious?
Were there any decisions made?
Thanks you Jeff F. for being the watchdog the city needs more of. Thank you Dan Valenti for providing this forum so the people finally have a place they can discuss ideas without being shut out (like the bb does) or intimidated. Thank you Molly, joe Pinhed, Dusty, and many many of the other contributors here. I think this is the ray of hope we need, they can’t control cyberspace.
Agree
dog whisp. you can have that opportunity if on a voters referendum, the voters change the make up of the council to 4 at large seats…. over the years this issue has come up, with a declining population , a do nothing council, and as we have seen in the past a petty, vindictive council. there are to many councilors for this citys size, and quite frankly they keep tripping over their own tongues. years ago they would hide the fact that they were doing the gobs work, now as you have seen with ferrin they arent even hiding anymore, they are coming out of the closet for all to see. we could save close to 100k a year by eliminating those unneeded councilors. the only problem i see is where are we going to find 3 more mazzeos.
DV,
I saw all of the names for the Ward 3 Democratic Committee on an absentee ballot for Ward 3. You should be able to see one at City Hall in the Registrar’s Office. I believe ballots are usually available for people to view before an election.
Sandy