By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015) — Last year, our right Honorable Good Friends on the city council engaged in some strategic thinking. They played “what if.”

“What if,” they posited, “we should one day elect a mayor dedicated to the proposition of fiscal sanity? And what if that mayor should unilaterally demand accountability of the most wasteful department in the city, the Pittsfield School Department? And what if that mayor should demand the PSD reduce it’s bottom line by 5% or 10%? What would we do then?”

In awe of this question, certain members realized that they had better take away this power from the mayor, not because of Bianchi — that corrupted and corruptible miscreant now occupying the corner office who has given the schools every unearned dollar asked for and then some — but because of a true St. George who might confront the dragon on behalf of taxpayers.

A Legislative Emasculation

Thus, they proposed and voted 7-4 to give themselves the power to override the mayor’s recommended school budget. Pittsfield is the only state in the Commonwealth to do this.

Proponents touted the supermajority provision as a legislative control, but in Pittsfield, supermajorities are flatlined by political monotheism: You have to be a tax-n-spender with Democrat loyalties or you’re out.

While the local mainstream press ignored the story behind the story, THE PLANET probed and got inside of this legislative hog-do. Our sources insisted on anonymity for fear of political reprisal. Their story goes like this:

Councilors John Krol and Jonathan Lothrop recruited invisible man Churchill Cotton to front the petition. The gentlemanly Cotton would not object to being used so blatantly by his colleagues and thus made the perfect set-up guy. He’s also black, making him politically unassailable.

With Krol and J-Lo pulling the strings, Cotton submitted his petition, calling it “a safeguard for the educational system.” He meant it’s “a safeguard” against getting a mayor who wants to level the playing field a tiny bit toward citizens and taxpayers.

Sources say Krol gave it away when he told Andy McKeever of iBerkshires, “I felt like our school budget ought to have been a higher number last year” — higher than the $101 million given to schools in FY15. Clearly, he was pitching for The Suits. This was confirmed by a Mercer Building source, who told THE PLANET the superintendent first approached Krol on this matter, in secret. We won’t even get into the Open Meeting Law aspects of this, if true.

Source: ‘A Plot from JIV to JK to Church’ … Krol Issues Denial

According to our Mercer source, McCandless got nervous when he found out that in Pittsfield, the mayor had full power to propose a bottom line for the schools.

“It’s funny,” the source said, “but Jake didn’t know the mayor could do this. After last year [the current FY15 budget ] passed, he felt as if [the PSD] dodged a bullet. He then started talking about ways to get around this. That’s when he went to Krol.”

THE PLANET contracted Krol, who denied the story.

“No, that version of the story is not true at all,” Krol told THE PLANET.  “I had been a supporter of this since the budget process of calendar 2012 and I had hoped it would have come before the council earlier. Dr. McCandless never approached me on this topic.

“I had encouraged this move publicly and in informal conversations with school committee members and fellow councilors after realizing (in 2012) that the school committee actually had no leverage in the budget conversation and essentially was powerless if a mayor (any mayor) proposed draconian cuts to the school budget.

“I never spoke to Church about putting the petition forward. However, I am very glad he did.  This petition brought balance back to the conversation. I was in favor of it back then. Passing it was the right thing to do and I am glad we allowed our elected school leaders the opportunity to have more say on the budget they actually put forth to the council for approval.”

Was Morandi Muscled?

THE PLANET wonders if there is any truth to another story that’s floating around. This one has Morandi being leaned upon heavily by “pro-school advocates” prior to the $120.8 million bonding vote for a new THS. According to the story, these “advocates” muscled Morandi into guaranteeing he “wouldn’t betray them again.” In other words, if this story is true, if you dare show any independence regarding the PSD budget, “They” get all Tony Soprano on you.

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It would be one thing if $100-plus million were producing scholars. Perhaps then the spending would be justified. Reality tells us, however, that the PSD is producing a lot of angry, hormonal, and ignorant young people (a piquant phrase from a FB poster). Indeed, for every added dollar we throw into the PSD sinkhole, our students are getting that much more dumb, dumber, and dumberer.

The key to reversing the inevitable financial plunge is for Pittsfield citizens and taxpayers to elect a majority on the school committee that will introduce the tough but necessary cuts to a department run amok.

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“Everyday I see the mornin’ come on in the same old way. / I tell myself tomorrow brings me things I would not dream today.” — Jethro Tull, “Song for Jeffrey,” (1968).

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.