POETRY WEEKEND: CHRISTIAN CENTER NEEDS WINTER ITEMS … ONE REASON WHY SOUTH COUNTY IS SUPERIOR TO PITTSFIELD & THEN A POEM … plus … YOUR INVITATION TO COMMENT ON ANY TOPIC UNDER THE SUN
By DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, OCT. 24-26, 2014) — It’s Poetry Weekend on THE PLANET, when we step back from the mysteries and madness of the street and into the world of language used at its highest power.
We do allow an observation or two prior, and today we ask a question. First let us invite you to comment on ANY issue that’s on your mind. As part of Poetry Weekend, THE PLANET rules no comment off topic. Just remember to keep it clean and intelligent. Start or advance a discussion. Don’t derail the debate. Be responsible.
Second, THE PLANET passes along this announcement from The Christian Center:
Blankets, Coats, Winter Gear Needed
It’s that time of year again that some of us get our bedrooms ready for winter, adding blankets and new comforters. If some of you out there find you have extras in that area and are looking to do something good for those in need, The Christian Center could really use donations of such things. People are starting to come in requesting them already. Coats, boots, hats and mittens are also much needed.
The Christian Center is even willing to pick up your donations. If you have such items, contact the Christian Center at 413-443-2828. Ask for Lisa. The Christian Center is located at 193 Robbins Avenue in Pittsfield. Remember, The Christian Center doesn’t sell these things. “We give them to people in need,” Lisa says, “and believe me when I say we have A LOT of needy people in our town. Inbox me or call me at the Center. Thank you so much!”
THE PLANET is glad to pass that announcement along, and we urge everyone to do what they can. Here’s something you probably don’t know about The CC. The city of Pittsfield contributes not one red cent to this great place. The CC gets along on a $300,000 annual budget scraped together from various grants and donations. To put that in perspective, the mayor of Pittsfield recently gave a $150,000 golden parachute to his pal, the disgraced former head of Berkshire Works. He then committed the city to nearly $500,000 in needless expense in the shady move of city offices to 100 North St. That money could have kept The Christian Center running for well more than two years.
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South County, Where The Ballot — Not The Suits — Will Decide
In South County, a tiny cadre of public school apologists are looking to force a gratuitous $50 million overhaul of Monument Mountain High School. As you are no doubt aware, Pittsfield is doing something similar with its smoke-and-mirror polemics pushing funding for a $100 million+ school building project at Taconic High School.
There is one huge difference between the two initiatives, however. In South County, we at least have the measure on the ballot so We The People may have a say. THE PLANET shall not get into the machinations of the pro-renovation side’s dishonest campaign. The point is that folks will have a chance to cast a vote up or down. THE PLANET can live with that result.
In Pittsfield, where corruption rules, The Vested Interests and Suits did not trust citizen voters. Actually, The Suits have been scared to death of democracy. The last thing they want is for Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, the ordinary taxpayers who will have to pay for the unwanted load, to weigh in on the measure. “They” engineered it so people would be left out of the process.
Proof of underhandedness can be found in just two (of many) examples:
(1) The School Building Needs Commission voting 16-1 to move forward. The lone vote against came from the redoubtable Chuck “The Man from Mensa” Vincelette, who prophetically spelled out why the move, literally, doesn’t add up.
(2) The continual cost fudging. It went from $130 million to its present $115 million estimate. Led by The Boring Broadsheet, every time the consultant comes in with a lower number, The BB and The Suits proudly crow how taxpayers have been “saved” millions of dollars. There are no savings, only decades of ruinous debt load.
Here’s to South County, where We the People are still somewhat in control.
With that, let’s clear the air with a poem:
——– 000 ——–
FIRE, FLAME, AND CANDLELIGHT
BY DAN VALENTI
— 0 —
Fire.
Combustion born from a start
assumes the form of intent
of the one who first lights the spark.
Good or bad? We must ask:
On what is the energy spent?
Flame.
Flame can be fire, tamed,
trained to hug the wick of the candle.
It will not be shy or shamed
by the glow of the driver’s handle.
Candlelight.
Candlelight covers the darkness in a room
and fairly flickers its golden rays of hope
in a manner than dispels gloom
with a silence that helps madmen cope.
With this we live
wide with purpose,
narrow in scope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHI9BTpGkp8
Awesome Silence…that’s going to be tough to beat..hope everyone checks it out
What the hell is the matter with Chuck Vincellette? Doesn’t he care about the kids? Doesn’t he want them to get edumacated? He and this Barry Clairmont fella are going to drag this city back to the stone age. They need to learn how to get along with people for gods sake. Vote the way your supposed to vote or get the hell out of dodge.
Most other communities put it to a vote before they impose a school levy or other capital expense.
Not Pittsfield.
I bet if the people had a say they would vote the new high school down. Bianchi will pull out all stops and let nothing get in his way to accomplish this done deal. The city council will rubber stamp it too.
Everytime they lower the costs, if you notice the costs per square foot increases. Watch before its over how the costs overruns will escalate. This the holy grail. Tons of money to be made here for very few connected people.
Isn’t it amazing that they cannot maintain the two high schools they already have but they can build anew? This project will lock the taxpayers into high taxes permanently.
I bet the final costs including all hidden costs they are not disclosing at this time (demolition, storage, moving, etc) will be more than twice what they are projecting.
What will never happen in Pittsfield politics?
1. Democracy. The Good Old Boy network will always suppress the voices of the people in Pittsfield politics. The entire Berkshire delegation (including Ben Downing, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, “Smitty” Pignatelli) is running unopposed this year 2014.
2. A Fortune 500 corporation. Since GE left Pittsfield, there will never be another Fortune 500 corporation in Pittsfield.
3. Increased population and jobs. Over the past 3 decades, thousands of people and jobs have left Pittsfield.
4. Lower taxes. Every year, Pittsfield politics raises taxes above the rate of inflation.
5. A healthy environment. Pittsfield is filled with toxic waste cancer causing chemical called PCBs, which were left behind by then GE CEO Jack Welch. Thousands of people have suffered and died from cancer in Pittsfield.
6. Honest politicians. Pittsfield politics is totally corrupt. The Vested Interests keep Pittsfield down for their own benefit.
7. A bypass road. For about 6 decades, Pittsfield needed a bypass road to foster a healthy business climate. Pittsfield’s roads are not business friendly.
8. Lower per capita welfare caseloads. There are more people on welfare than work private sector jobs in Pittsfield. Teen pregnancies double the statwide average in Pittsfield.
9. High quality performing public schools. Pittsfield’s public school system is ranked among the worst performing district in the state. Hundreds of students choice out of Pittsfield public schools.
10. A destination downtown. North Street is known as “Social Services Alley” by day, and crime-ridden with violence, drugs, and gangs by night. Most people still avoid downtown Pittsfield, unless they are on welfare, in trouble, or are breaking the law.
11. A first-rate daily newspaper that reports the truth about Pittsfield politics. The Berkshire Eagle is a third-rate rag without a conscience that reports propaganda that supports the Good Old Boys’ domination over the people.
12. Change. Pittsfield operates on the premise of “perverse incentives”. The more social problems in Pittsfield, the more federal welfare dollars, public school dollars, public safety and jail dollars, and the like, in Pittsfield. Over the past several decades, good people wanted to change Pittsfield for the better, but Pittsfield keeps going in the opposite direction of a never-ending downward spiral. To illustrate, if I had a daughter who got a scholorship to Harvard University, I would be seen as an elitist in Pittsfield. But if my daughter got pregnant at 16 and went on welfare, she would fit right in in Pittsfield.
Does anyone have the scoop on Monterosso’s farewell gift of $150,000? What was the money for?
He was there only 3 months….charges of harassment were made and he left.
Now if the charges were legit, why was he awarded a going away gift of any amount. Was this a legal decision handed down by our very incompetent Degnan?
I think we taxpayers deserve a full explanation.
.
That information is on “Lockdown”.
Its been deemed a personal matter.
No councilor would dare touch it.
The answer to your questions is: Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr.
Nuciforo is William Monterosso’s Attorney. Nuciforo ensured his client got a 6 figure severance package from the taxpayers of Pittsfield. Nuciforo must have received a nice cut of his client’s settlement.
There is a rumor that Bianchi will be donating $63.95 to the Christian center this year.
Can anyone get their hands on the mayors expense account for the last few years?
I would like to see a full independent forensic audit of every city dept starting with the mayor, who has proven to be the most anti-people person ever to occupy the corner office. I would fully support a recall effort.
Does anyone care about the theft of Kitty Lichtenstein’s grave
stone ? It was erected last year at the site where her ashes were
enshrined and it was stolen several months ago. Does the Mayor’s
Office care ? Do the citizens of the City of Pittsfield care ?
Kitty Lichtenstein was a loving woman who gave millions of dollars
to establish a center for the Arts in Pittsfield and instructed her
family to have her ashes enshrined at the Arts Center Building she
built for the citizens of Pittsfield and then when her head stone is
stolen….nobody seems to care…not the Mayor…not the City Council
or the citizens of the City she loved so much….a very sad state of
affairs….Nobody cares.
I know. This sad. Nobody seems to care about anything anymore.
The economy, the emerging police state, ebola, the mayor’s spending spree……
Something in the water?
People seem to have given up on life for the most part.
True, the mood you speak of in the city or Pittsfield reflects poor leadership; that encompasses the council president Melissa Mazzeo and mayor Bianchi.
So Valenti, you must be the guy against whom the aging Leftist Alan Chartock is railing lately in his BB columns in re the upcoming vote in South County about spending money South County doesn’t have on school construction South County doesn’t need.
Please also note that summer residents, who still don’t get to vote on how local politicos spend summer res’ tax dollars, will as usual be the suckers who bear the cost (at least the bulk of it) for all this gold-plated excess.
In case I did not make it clear, WAMC’s ‘not-for-profit-for-you-but-big-profit-for-Alan’ WAMC boss is strongly in favor of the mega-millions school project.
With all these revelations regarding Hizzoner the Mayor, along with the hilarious antics of his loyal entourage who perform in the Palookaville City Council Circus — those clowns whose main purpose is to carry water for Hizzoner — please take a moment on Election Day to remember the name of the political party to which each of these paragons of public service pays allegiance.
When we name call – Luciforo- TES- Hizzoner and all the others I see around, we take a conversation to its basest level. It creates a spiteful and mean tone in what I imagine we all want to be a constructive conversation about our ideas on how to make Pittsfield a better place to live.
This isn’t my blog, but I read it with regularity. I try to be constructive. I’m not saying we don’t argue about our differences, or even straight out bitch about the insanity that is City Hall these days, and I certainly don’t want you to think I’m telling you what to do.
I don’t read TOPIX because the name calling is so pervasive and nasty, and the comments section here is headed down a dark path.
My two cents.
I respect your comments, but if you only knew how mean-spirited Pittsfield politicians like Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr. are to people like me, then you would understand why he is derisively called “Luciforo”. I invite you to read my true story of what Nuciforo/Luciforo did to me and my family.
http://jonathanmelleonpolitics.blogspot.com/2008/05/andrea-nuciforo-jonathan-melle-month-of.html
Nuciforo/Luciforo represents Pittsfield politics at “its basest level”!
Here, here Ms. Lloyd. Even saw the word “retard” used from a poster. This forum does some good work but it does it badly. My two cents.
Hold on now folks…please remember that this forum is editorial content provided by one person who intends it to be at least 30% entertainment value. TES is funny, as are many of the other little pet names Dan concocts for everyone. I mean, “Golf Game” Caccamo, Sheffield Shuffler for a guy whose job it is to move paper around? C’monnn, there’s nothing offensive about most any of the names, and Hizzoner is an age-old, newspaper accepted appellation for ANY mayor. it’s not derogatory at all, simply a contraction of His Honor which is the customary title for a mayor. There is precious little trolling on this site.
DV’s blog is a model of civility as far as online commentators go. He regularly reminds us to keep the tone even. With that he uses his “nicknames” (TES , the sheffield shuffler) apropriately and only backed by logic, reason, debate and discussion. They are funny -satiric- rather than mean.
My two cents. Thats six cents in all.
And the reference to the “half retarded” poster who uses his real name from a poster that doesn’t?
Mr. Shepardson……Do you have the same concern for our mayor (fondly referred to as TES on this blog) calling one of our elected councilors a “scumbag”?
And the same question could be asked of Kathy Lloyd.
I think it’s shameful behaviour. To call his outbursts unprofessional seems to be glossing over it. You may think I’m being prudish- anyone who know me knows I swear like a truck driver, but the name calling to me on any side lowers an argument from useful and logical to emotional and unhelpful.
I do but there is a difference, The mayor, if he did call someone a scumbag, did not do it anonymously and can be held accountable, by the voters, if by no one else.
The sad reality is that Pittsfield politics is an insider’s game that benefits the Good Old Boy network at the expense of the people and common good of the community. Everything has gone wrong in Pittsfield over the years. Thousands of people have fled Pittsfield. Thousands of jobs have been lost in Pittsfield. Thousands of people receive welfare assistance in Pittsfield. Pittsfield politics is totally corrupt!
Mr. Melle…there are some that can’t see the truth..even when they are going under water. It’s just the way it is. You are right on all counts.
Nice poem DV. Definitely literature.
I read a news story on the Berkshire Eagle online about Pittsfield receiving state funds for temporary housing for homeless this winter of 2014 – 2015. What was missing from the news article is the money non-Veteran Jack Downing pays GE Lobbyist Peter Larkin every year. Jack Downing pays Lobbyist Larkin many thousands of dollars from his non-profit Veterans homeless shelter. I find it corrupt that Jack Downing, who never served in the military, gives money out of his agency’s budget for homeless Veterans to his friend, GE Lobbyist Peter Larkin.
Mr. Melle,
You might want to log-in to Guidestar.org and do a search for the IRS Form 990 filed by Mr. Downing’s ‘non-profit’ Veterans’ homeless shelter.
Form 990’s disclose a lot of information including, for example, the amount of salary Downing is receiving plus any perks like an expense account.
If you want to get wealthy in Berkshire County, start a “not-for-profit”.