I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE, A MAYOR AS LOVELY AS A TREE
By DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary
EPISODE 7 of Planet Valenti Television was our most ambitious yet. It is available on the PCTV website and will be up on YouTube sometime soon. The YouTube link for all out shows is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjP38gC2WQcYx71Cz0tjwoQ/feed
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(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2014) — With crime running rampant, with the population and tax base shrinking, with another historic building being torn down for donuts, with the municipal budget hemorrhaging money with little to show for it except more grease for those aboard The Gravy Train — with all that and much more, you would think the mayor of a city like Pittsfield would be hard at work finding solutions.
You would think.
But no, this is Pittsfield.
Instead, The Empty Suit made the portentous announcement that Pittsfield has been named a “Tree City” by the Arbor Day Foundation.
THE PLANET kids you not. This is actual news.
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“Trees are an integral part of any city,” TES intoned to a sea of breathless reporters … not. Actually, this fateful announcement came in another of those meaningless press releases the mayor loves to issue, this one supposedly written by the mayor’s Lady Gaga, Julie Berkowitz Sabourin. “Not only do they provide beauty, but they play an environmental role in reducing pollution.”
No spit, Dogweed. And Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, who struggle each month to stay afloat financially, are paying you $87,500 a year+bennies for you to tell us this? Trees are nice to look at and are good for the environment. What’s that, a third-grade level of rhetoric?
“Both city employees and tremendously generous volunteer organizations are crucial in our urban forest management,” TES said. “I am proud to recognize all the hard work that goes into maintaining our tree population.”
What, is Pummelin’ Pam Malumphy helping Lady Gaga write this knotty pine? THE PLANET can attest the city is doing a better job maintaining its tree population than its people population.
Everybody (and Every City) Gets a Trophy
To win this Arbor Day award, a city faces daunting odds, rather like the fifth grader trying out for the soccer team at a time when everyone makes the team, everyone plays regardless of ability, and everyone gets a trophy for participating.
Pittsfield had to meet five demanding criteria to earn a set of honors that’s almost impossible not to receive:
- It has to have a tree board (get it? Tree? Board, as in wood). You will be interested to know that the tree commission has five members: Dave Frazier, Gene Nadeau, Susan Lester, Colin Caffrey, and Dan Wojtkowski.
- It has to have a tree-care ordinance.
- It must devote at least $2 per capita to community forestry ($80K)
- It must issue an Arbor Day proclamation.
- It must have carved into at least one sugar maple, “TES Loves TOM.” (We made that last one up)——– 000 ——–
THE PLANET has nothing against trees. Some of our best friends are trees, with a few saps thrown in there. We fondly recall the Tree of Life from Genesis, the family tree, Tree Rollins, tree forts, and other assorted limby arms. Our point: Why oh why is the city’s part-time mayor, derelict in his duty as he is, bothering about this type of nonsense when so much serious work needs to be done, simply to stop the municipal bleeding?
Is he that wooden? Hasn’t he put down roots yet in this city he professes to love? Won’t he branch out into actual service for We The People? These questions stump us.
Q: What did the tree wear to the pool party?
A: Swimming trunks!
Q: What did the beaver say to the tree?
A: It’s been nice gnawing you!
Q: Why did the leaf go to the doctor?
A: It was feeling green!
Q: What is a tree’s least favorite month?
A: Sep-timber!
Q: What kind of tree can fit into your hand?
A: A palm tree!
Q: How do trees get on the internet?
A: They log in.
Q: How can you tell that a tree is a dogwood tree?
A: By its bark!
Q: Why did the pine tree get into trouble?
A: Because it was being knotty
Q: What did the tree do when the bank closed?
A: It started a new branch
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No wonder the willow is weeping.
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A question asked by a commision member to Ms. Wade involved something Ms. Wade said about required funding for minority businesses. Didn’t Ms.Mulumphy work at some time for the small business division for the state, wouldn’t she already know that answer? If so, why wouldn’t she COMENT on that question from the other member. Wade for Mayor!
One of the members (don ‘t know the name) dressed Ms. wade down for pontificating? When said member continually repeated comment…’I’m running as fast as I can’ Your’re pontificating commissioner. nd at least show Ms. Wade a name plate in front do each commision member, it’s very confusing!
Wade sorry, no disrespect.
This is not the only human rights made against the mayor.
The hiring practices which discriminated against an employee in the city solicitor’s office, an age discrimination complaint brought by a member of the Berkshireworks staff, a sexual harassment complaint brought a member of the same staff or was it two complaints.. whatever.
There is a clear and evident pattern of discrimination and favoritism in hiring and promotion in the City of PIttsfield. How long will it be until a complaint is brought to the EEOC at the state or federal level.
The cumulative liability of the city of Pittsfield is substantial. Each incident is trivialized, but in the aggregate may pose a financial and legal burden to the city and it’s administration.
“I am proud to recognize all the hard work that goes into maintaining our tree population.” Really? What the hell does that mean? Proud to recognize? wtf
Is anyone proud to recognize that the people population in Pittsfield is dropping like the elms with Ash Borer disease? Maybe Miss Saborin should start counting people instead of trees because they are the ones paying her bloated salary.
(what the hell is he talking about anyway)
TOM is a treehugger ! Simply raising funds for the city’s $80K contribution to the city community forestry fund.
Maybe TOM is going to break into a few trees? I would guard the citys pines (soft wood) and not the hardwoods.
Are the trees sucking up PCBs into their roots?
Is anyone testing for this?
How many Elm trees are left on Elm Street?
Should the Mayor form a comittee to count them all?
If the Mayor makes the city fall flat on its face and nobody stops him, does it make a sound?
How many lawsuits does the city settle every year for fallen branches doing damage to people’s property from trees on city property?
Does this Mayor have more respect for trees than the people?
How many times have gang members evaded the police using trees as cover?
In Genesis there were two trees written about.
The tree of knowledge of good and evil – this one Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat from.
The tree of life – which they never got to eat from because they were expelled from the garden.
Why don’t they plant fruit trees along the streets everywhere?
It would bear free food at no cost to taxpayers.
Apples, pears, peaches.
I remember walnut and chestnut trees growing in Pittsfield – as a yoot, we used to eat from them.
I’d like to see fruit trees as well. All the area the city maintains gives nothing back. All our parks could have raspberries and bluberries among other fruit bearing bushes too!
My gut feeling tells me that when this fiasco finally ends, Doreen Wade will walk away with thousands of taxpayers hard earned money.
She will head off to some other city and play her race card there and we will never hear from her again. Disgusting!
I’m with you on that one, Spider. But she won’t get a dime and she knows it.
I believe the formal complaints are a form of extortion. Give me a job, (or better just money) or I’ll go public.
Do you suppose she’s hoping for a settlement? Hope she doesn’t plan to hold her breath.
Pack the car kids, we are going to the “Best of the Berkshires” kid’s venue.. ..Bisque Beads and Beyond! !! I know you wouldn’t rather go to Jiminy Peak with the alpine slide and ropes course and more or the water slides at Bousquet and especially the place at the mall with all those bounce houses. If you want to read more of this ballot stuffing nonsense cough up $2 for today’s BB.
I’ll save you the two bucks.
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Entertainment/ci_25987740/Best-of-the-Berkshires:-Shopping
Pittsfield’s population loss is in the thousands (approximately 3,453) since the year 2000 or for the past 14 years and 5 months. Pittsfield’s job loss is in the hundreds, too. Pittsfield is a textbook case study of how not to manage economic development.
Pittsfield’s taxes have increased above the rate of inflation every single year. Senior Citizens on fixed income have to choose between shelter and food. Pittsfield’s youth have either moved away, have low-income jobs, are on welfare, or are in jail.
Pittsfield’s politicians are corrupt. The names may change, but the corruption stays the same.
Gerry Doyle bankrupted Pittsfield with millions of dollars still unaccounted for. Gerry Doyle also signed the corrupt Consent Decree along with GE’s Jack Welch. I call it “the Doyle debacle”.
Jimmy Ruberto is another Good Old Boy like Gerry Doyle. Jimmy Ruberto spent tens of millions of dollars on revitalizing North Street. Jimmy Ruberto even spent a couple of million dollars from GE’s economic development fund on downtown revitalization. During the Ruberto regime, thousands of people fled Pittsield, hundreds of jobs were lost in Pittsfield, and taxes went sky high in Pittsfield.
Dan Bianchi is spending a record amount of money on Pittsfield. The municipal government in Pittsfield is nearing financial insolvency and is at risk of going bankrupt like its counterpart North Adams. Dan Bianchi is not changing Pittsfield for the better. I call it “the Bianchi bust”.
I believe it would take a miracle worker to change Pittsfield for the better. Someone like Bill Gates would have to relocate Microsoft to Pittsfield for anything good to happen in Pittsfield.
The mayor should make like a tree and leave! Good puns this was an enjoyable read on not so enjoyable issues.
Dan,
Continually mocking municipal employees in such adolescent fashion is petty. As is your obvious obsession with all things Bianchi. Your otherwise legitimate criticisms are lost in your sea of snark.
Moreover, why do you not disclose to your readers that the taxpayers have paid you over $100,000 over the years to serve as an adjunct professor at BCC?
I suggest that your readers go to the Massachusetts Open Checkbook website to verify how rife the state higher education system is with pork or which you’re all too happy to ingest.
That your new name now? David Sampson? Really?
“DAVID”
Thanks you for your input, however far fetched and off-target. Alright, you got me. I confess. I make $119,887 for every course I teach at the college — the same amount the mayor wants for the pay raise he’s pushing for himself. Just another one of those Pittsfield coincidences.
NEWS ARTICLE*
*(Indirect reference to Dan Valenti’s blog)
“13 apply for BerkshireWorks’ executive director job”
By Tony Dobrowolski, Berkshire Eagle Staff, 6/18/2014
PITTSFIELD — Thirteen people have applied to become the next executive director of the BerkshireWorks Career Center, according to Pittsfield’s personnel director, John D’Angelo.
The job application deadline was Tuesday. The position had been advertised for about a week, D’Angelo said.
All but two applicants have ties to Berkshire County. The others hail from eastern Massachusetts and the Albany, N.Y., area, he said.
Although the position had only been posted for a short time, D’Angelo said he thought the position would have received more interest. The annual salary is listed as being between $86,000 and $94,000, according to the job description.
One local official whose name has been rumored on a local blog for the position is City Councilor Nicholas Caccamo. On Wednesday, Caccamo referred to rumors of his interest in the position as “fictitious.”
“I can assure you that I have never submitted an application for that position or been approached by anybody in the city about that,” said Caccamo.
Plans call for the hiring committee to select four or five of the 13 candidates for interviews by the hiring committee. From there, the committee is expected to recommend two or three names to Mayor Daniel L. Bianchi for review.
The hiring committee will be comprised of different members than the board that recommended the former executive director, William Monterosso, D’Angelo said.
“I have no idea when they’ll make a decision,” said D’Angelo, adding that he has yet to speak with Bianchi about the executive director’s position.
BerkshireWorks is a quasi public agency. The executive director is employed by Berkshire Training and Employment, but the mayor of Pittsfield is the appointed hiring authority by virtue of being the highest elected official of the Berkshire’s largest municipality.
Monterosso, who was hired in January, resigned in May after the city had placed him on paid administrative leave in April. He resigned following an investigation by city officials that Bianchi acknowledged, but has declined to comment on it because it was a personnel matter.
According to the job description, the minimum requirements for the executive director’s position include a bachelor’s degree in either business administration, communication or business management, with a master’s degree preferred.
At least five years experience as a senior manager in employment and training/workforce development “is desirable.” Candidates must have a “working knowledge” of employment and training programs as well as state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to grant management, managed information systems, data collection requirements and procedures. They must also possess knowledge of the regulatory procurement policy of grants.
A Pittsfield native, Monterosso had 15 years of previous experience in workforce development, and had headed agencies in both Kentucky and West Virginia.
D’Angelo declined to comment on the type of candidate that officials were looking for this time around. Instead of hiring from within the current BerkshireWorks staff, D’Angelo said officials decided to look outside the agency for candidates again because it’s standard procedure.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve always opened up positions to the outside,” D’Angelo said. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t do it with this particular position.”
To reach Tony Dobrowolski:
TDobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com,
or (413) 496-6224.
On Twitter: @TonyDobrow
Link:
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_25988771/13-apply-berkshireworks-executive-director-job
Maybe being a Golf
Maybe being a Golf Pro is in the future? Good luck to him in his search for work anyway.
Get this:
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve always opened up positions to the outside,” D’Angelo said. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t do it with this particular position.”
Translation:
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve always done what the mayor has ordered me to do, especially when it comes to hiring his buddies and/or suck-ups.”
And can you guess what site is meant by the phrase “a local blog.” The The BB to give attribution is like asking Dracula to eat a garlic sandwich!
Wait until fall when all those leaves need to be raked up and see how happy everyone is then. The mayor gave Wade way to much ammo for the up coming lawsuit. As it is these days, asking for a hot coffee and then spilling it on yourself will fetch a bunch of $.
Yes Johnny the mayor left himself that is the city wide open for the sure to come suit. And I don’t mean the empty suit. Im talking a full LAWsuit.
This mayor = a small-time person = a big time disaster
And meanwhile, I pine for the trees that must have at one time lined Dalton Ave…so much of our city is just sunbaked this time of year due to lack of foliage cover/ lack of trees. Looking at some neighborhoods you can tell there used to be shade trees there. Makes a difference in a how place is perceived.
FYI: TES is gonna read us a story on Saturday!!! Another fairy tale would be my guess!
Another “Mother Goose” tale, where he gooses taxpayers?
Why isn’t the question asked as to why the Executive Director job was posted for one week. Is a $94,000/year job worth only 7 days of recruitment? (including a weekend).. The job was actually posted for fewer than 5 days.. What’s the rush? There wasn’t time to look outside city hall let alone do a broad search for a highly qualified candidate? What is wrong with this city that it tolerates such blatant cronyism? Have expectations of this administration sunk so low that such a patent manipulation is seen as business as usual?
The DeAngelo, the city’s personnel director, has the gall to say he was surprised they didn’t get more applicants. To answer you final question, DENISE, the answer about expectations is “Yes.”
A what is the over under Planet of an incident at the party tonight?
Watching the Planet last night on PCTV with the great Chuck G. The Planet (tongue in cheek) says be safe on the streets. Sometime after the show, you got, another incident.
I saw Planet with Chuck Garivaltis. Chuck should be the mayor, the grand marshal of the 4th parade, and the head of Berkshire Works. Great man great public servant.
Foxy Lady I agree.
To Nota, Foxy Lady and DowagerHat. Thank you for your kind words. I enjoyed the show with Dan. He is a top notch pro proven by the fact of holding an audience by himself and basically without notes. Who else could do this for an hour? I am glad you enjoyed it and thought my small part of it was okay. Again, thank you.