By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

ADD 1 APRIL 24, 2012

The e-mail sent yesterday to THE PLANET under the name “Mark Mancari” of Greylock Federal Credit Union has turned out to be bogus. THE PLANET contracted the real Mark Mancari today, and he confirmed information that we had received earlier by way of a tip, namely, that the person using his name was not genuine.

The phony e-mail claimed  Greylock had not paid anything to Angelo Stracuzzi as part of Stracuzzi’s resignation. Simply put, we know nothing of what terms, if any, Greylock afforded Stracuzzi as part of his departure from the company in 2010, which the same as we “knew” before.

To the sender of the phony e-mail — You should know that every piece of mail we receive gets “stamped” with an internal tracking number that allows us to trace information sent to us as a comment. The ID will produce all e-mails sent by the same person, regardless of the name they use or phony addresses. Our webmaster has tracked the phony e-mails, and they were sent by the same person posting using other names here. We shall be taking appropriate action.

THE PLANET regrets publishing the misinformation. We apologized to the real Mark Mancari about any inconvenience this has caused him. He was gracious about our mistake and referred future phone calls to Greylock HQ.

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(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012) — Interesting (though not surprising) that no one took a crack at THE PLANET’s cipher from yesterday. Here’s something, though, that’s not so inscrutable: The Pittsfield School Department turns its back on an eminently qualified person for a key administrative post. And by the way, before we forget, don’t you just love the way school officials can use: “It’s a personnel matter and we can’t comment on it” as an excuse to hide all sorts of crud?

For example, how else do you think Scott Muir, an employee of the Berkshire Regional School District charged this month with two counts of multiple child rapes, escaped the attention of parents in the district in 2004, when Muir’s name first came to the attention of authorities. Allow a digression to bring you a few of the details that seem to have escaped the Boring Broadsheet but are discussed in an excellent story by reporter Jim Russell in the April 20-26 edition of The Berkshire Record.

This ‘Digression’ Shows You How Public School Departments Screw Taxpayers and Parents … or … Another Botched Job by DA David Capeless

In 2004, the same year police caught Angelo Stracuzzi  fiddlin’ and diddlin’ in Biddeford, Maine, the Berkshire Hills district investigated claims about child molestation against Muir. The district found the claims were without substance. The office of Berkshire County DA David Capeless also probed the allegations against Muir in 2004.

Capeless did not file charges.

Quoting from Russell’s piece: “Explaining why no charges were filed in 2004, Capeless said, ‘the information obtained at the time did not warrant the filing of criminal charges against Muir, but a recent investigation has obtained further information about those matters as well as incidents regarding other students. That investigation has resulted in Muir’s arrest and multiple charges, and is ongoing.”

Does this statement trouble you, especially in light of the four counts of child rape filed against Muir on April 4? What does that mean,  “further information?” How come the DA’s office missed this the first time around?

The charges against Muir accuse him of having “sexual intercourse or unnatural acts with a child under 16 … by force” from September 2003 to May 2005. A reasonable reading of the statement by Capeless to reporter Russell can be that the DA’s probe in 2004 whiffed. They blew it again.

Consider:

* Capeless’ office said nothing, to the best of our knowledge, about Stracuzzi’s convictions in Maine or about the way he and his buddy Clifford Nilan thumbed their noses in the face of the York County Superior Court. Doesn’t the DA represent We The People? Should the DA have stepped in and launched a probe if not a prosecution? At minimum, should the DA have at least shared an opinion on whether justice was served in that case.

* Capeless whiffed on Muir in 2004.

* The DA’s office, not under Capeless at the time, sent Bernie Baran up the river with evidence so flimsy that it had to be fabricated.

* Under Capeless’ watch, a witness in the infamous triple murder case was offed.

* Capeless had to recuse himself in the Nilan-Moore Case.

Using ‘Personnel Matter’ as an Excuse to Stiff Parents and the Paying Public

You also have to love the statement to Russell by Stephen Bannon, chairman of the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee. Bannon told Russell that the Muir matter was not discussed by the school committee because, “This is a personnel matter and not available for public comment, [and] that is why it was not discussed at a public meeting.”

THE PLANET replies: “Bullspit!”

It damned well IS a matter for public comment when a man is moving about children, freely, and accused of raping them. [THE PLANET adds here that, of course, Muir is afforded the presumption of innocence and at this point, the charges against him are unproven allegations]. Do you think you would want to know this if you were a parent of a child going to the school where Muir was on the loose? Muir worked as a “student support center coordinator.” That’s a fancy way of saying that when a child acted up, they sent the kid to Muir. Beautiful.

In a case as serious as this, taxpayers and parents have the right to know there is an accused child molester in their midst. As it turns out, the 2004 complaints had merit as evidenced by the charges filed this month against Muir, and the school department, the school committee, the DA’s office, and the state department of social services ALL missed it. That’s pathetic performance, any way you cut it.

Pittsfield Schools to Qualified Applicant for Principal’s Job: A Form E-Mail

Now, returning to the matter at hand, which is the inept performance of the Pittsfield School District. There is a principal’s opening at two elementary schools in the city: Capeless and Crosby. A candidate, who asked that his name not be used, applied for the job. This candidate, a man we shall call Mr. Miacca, has:

* Worked in education for 20 years.

*Has spent 13 of those years as an assistant principal and principal in schools outside Pittsfield but in Berkshire County.

* Has lived in Pittsfield all his life.

This man of vast experience and wizened youth (still in his 40s) applied to the Pittsfield schools. Here, in his own words, is the result:

“I wanted to share my disgust in receiving an automated e-mail from the school department notifying me I would not be considered for [either] position or even [receive] an interview,” Mr. Miacca said. “I cannot [adequately] express my disappointment in not even receiving an interview. I have lived in Pittsfield all my life and both my children went through the school system.

“As a citizen of the city who wants to work in the school system and has been turned away, only to be overlooked in favor of young, inexperienced, unqualified educators who — if we’re lucky — last only two to three years — I am completely frustrated. To compound the issue, several of the new principals hired over the past 10 years don’t even live within the district. I truly feel this lack of experience and revolving door of administrators has lead to poor student achievement and needs to be addressed. I can tell you that I will never apply to the PPS ever again.”

There you have it, in microcosm, ladies and gentlemen: Proof positive that the Pittsfield pubic school system is about three things, and three things only, namely, politics, politics, and more politics. Here, we have a qualified applicant, and he rates only a form e-mail sent out by a machine. Yet in far too many other cases, the PPS hires unqualified hacks who happen to know the right people. They do this all in the name of Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, the bedraggled taxpayers.

This observation leads us, of course, to the “Nationwide search” for the new superintendent of schools in the city. What do you think? Does the school department, the teachers’ union, the politicians, and the school committee want a True Reformer who will turn the tables of the money changers who are cashing in on an $89 million joke, or will they turn to a “safe” candidate — someone not qualified and therefore sure to “play ball” when the GOB masters issues their orders, particularly, “Don’t reveal where the skeletons are buried.” And do you think that candidate has already been chosen, despite the dog-and-pony show of a “search”?

“GD phony bastards,” as The G-Man would say,

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FORE SCORE AND SEVEN SECONDS AGO

In the interest of furthering the information flow from Campaign ’12, Presidential Division, we present this bit of [PICK ONE] (  ) propaganda       (  ) truth  from Mitt Romney. THE PLANET received this from Zac Moffat, the digital director of Romney: Believe in America (address http://twitter.com/ZacMoffatt).

Moffat writes:

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There are a lot of numbers on the rise under President Obama: government spending, home foreclosures, gas prices, and national debt.

Another figure ticked upward this last week: holes golfed by President Obama.

Between his “official” and “nonpolitical” visits to swing states, the President found time to play another 18 holes this weekend. As millions of Americans continue to struggle to find work, President Obama has now played a total of 1,710 holes since taking office. That’s 95 rounds of golf.

A lot of Americans have had to make sacrifices these last four years. We would expect our President to do the same.

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What are we to make of this, my good friends? Is this a legitimate issue, or does the Romney campaign show its pettiness by presenting a triviality as an “issue?” As always, your thoughts are appreciated and will be greatly valued.

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COMING TOMORROW: LENOXOLOGY!! WHILE WE GEAR UP SUFFICIENTLY FOR THAT IDIOCY, WE LEAVE YOU URGE YOU, STAND UP TODAY, DEAR KNIGHT, STILL ARMED, FARMED, AND CHARMED.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.