By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEEKEND EDITION, MARCH 13-15, 2015) — THE PLANET‘s recent coverage of potential mayoral candidates has stirred up Campaign ’15 out of its sleep and into the slumber stage. The awakening will continued to May 1, when the alarm goes off signifying the true beginning of the season. That’s the day nominations papers come out.

We’ve already had one candidate take his name off The Big Board. As THE PLANET reported first, councilor-at-large Barry Clairmont announced he will not seek re-election. We followed up and asked him if a bid for the corner office was in the works, and he told us no. We also heard from other names on the list. They gave us information that shall remain as given, that is, off the record. THE PLANET can say this much: Already, the lines are beginning to take shape. With lame duck status, look to see if Clairmont turns up the heat in his criticisms of the present Administration.

In the weeks and months ahead, THE PLANET plans not only to be covering the campaign but also explaining and commenting upon it. No one will beat out coverage for “the inside baseball.” We will deliver the news straight and unblinking, owing nothing to no one. When a candidate comes forth with good ideas, we’ll pass them along. When we catch one in a lie, we shall pounce.

As far as we are concern, this election is nothing more than We The People interviewing those who have applied for jobs. THE PLANET shall retain our role as chief head hunter. It is not, as critics like to charge, to determine the outcomes of office, though it may in fact do that. Rather, it is to give citizens, taxpayers, the electorate, and voters more of the information they will need to make their own informed choices.

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JIV Talkin’

Jason “Jake” (JIV) McCandless, the boy wonder school superintendent that the Lee district couldn’t wait to get rid of, has proven to be most adept for the Pittsfield job. He has provided the school committee and The Suits with the most important quality needed in this $100 million-plus department and $157,000 a year position, which is to toe the company line above and beyond all else, including, of course, what’s best for the education of Pittsfield’s young people. That rarely enters the discussion.

A true reform superintendent would have taken the focus off the needless expense of building a new high school and brought it back to where teaching happens or doesn’t: the classroom. For example, where is a policy about technology and Smart phones that works? Not in Pittsfield. Where is the “get tough” on the dress code? Not in Pittsfield? Where is the get-away from the state’s failed approach to the politicization through standardized testing? Not in Pittsfield. Where is the actual care for students welfare? Not in Pittsfield.

Thus, it comes as no surprise how JIV tried to gild the steaming turd when he commented on the recent rejection of “the numbers” for the proposed new Taconic High School. The city and design consultants could not agree on its latest rounds of financials for the building project, those that will be sent to the state, delaying an expected vote to move the project along to its next phase. THE PLANET won’t bore you with the numbers.

And what jive did JIV lay on this deep embarrassment? He said that taxpayers should be happy, because it shows how carefully the everyone is taking this project.

Right.

And as our friend George Orwell pointed out, political lies attempt to make the wind solid and make murder acceptable.

When any company or household ignorant enough to actually take a look at the city as a future home, how do you think they react to this kind of “leadership?” Correct: When they don’t move here, you’ll know it’s them having made the decision to stay away.

JIV is just like his recent predecessors: He’s focused on the politics of education and not on learning outcomes. He only pretends he cares about the latter. What a shame and what a loss for The Children, parents, citizens, and everyone save the tiny cadre of Suits and Black Ops that hold Pittsfield hostage. Or haven’t you noticed the plummeting attendance in Pittsfield schools, the annual loss of $3 million or more to school choice, and the rising percentage of the remaining students who come from families classified as poor, indigent, unstable, needy, or in other ways worthy of a full or partial free ride? This leads directly into our next item.

ED. NOTE: According to Council Barry Clairmont and others, the state has not weighed in on the city’s “final” numbers for the school, as we initially reported here and on TV last night. Rather, the controversy over the numbers occurred between the School Building Needs Commission and the city’s project consultants. We thank Clairmont et. al. for the information. We are glad to present the more accurate set of facts.

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Who’d Want the Job?

One of commentators, Toutiere, recently listed a litany of facts pertaining to the perilous present state of the city of Pittsfield. He wrote:

It would be a disastrous task to take on the corner office. THINK about what they will inherit. A new multi million dollar School building Debt. A top heavy School Dept. An infrastructure that has been neglected for well over 20 years. The Highway Dept. Still needs a building to house their equipment (they are still renting space off Wahconah St. at over $76,000 a year) NEW fire trucks That are desperately needed. Multi million dollar upgrades to the Waste Water and Water dept. treatment plants. A dwindling school population. These are REAL issues that will need to be addressed sooner than later.

As expensive as it is, the list isn’t exhaustive. For example, one would add the nearly $400 million owed to city workers and retirees in Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB), a population that is both declining and aging, the spend-happy politicians who each year propose (Bumstead and JIV) and approve (the city council and the school committee) ballooning budgets, the shrinking tax base, and more.

We’ll stop there. Now to the question: Who would want to take on this losing position? Do we look any farther than the $95,000+bennies salary, guaranteed for four years?

Notice to all mayoral candidates: You will have to impress upon us that it’s “Not about the money.” You know, what Miami Marlin slugger Giancarlo Stanton said this off season when he signed his new deal. Price: $325 million.

Pittsfield handed out huge raises to all its managers and department heads, saying that if we did’t do it, we’d lose them to other communities or to the Dreaded Private Sector. First, many of them couldn’t make it in the DPS. Second, the only thing the big money guaranteed was gold diggers. The dough doesn’t necessarily rule out attracting qualified people but it will assure the presence of those looking for the bucks. The office of mayor is especially tempting, because it is not at all defined by the city charter. A mayor can work “full time” and not do a thing except collect paychecks.

Just what we need. Once again, they’re digging you, The Little Guys, an early financial grave. More potholes.

Have a great weekend everybody.

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“Every night, along about evening / whenever the sunlight’s beginning to fail / I sit by a smoldering fire / along the Navajo trail.” — Frankie Lane, “The Navajo Trail,” from the album “Hell Bent for Leather,” (1961).

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.