By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

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PROGRAM NOTE: Tune in tomorrow, 7 p.m., Channel 16, Access Pittsfield, as PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION presents to world premiere of the film, Kentucky Fried Pittsfield … or … Where Have You Gone, Col. Sanders. The hour-long film shows Pittsfield as you’ve never seen it before. It’s “can’t miss” viewing.

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(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2015) — Citizen Dan Bianchi campaigned in 2009 promising enhanced public safety. He knocked Mayor Jimmy Ruberto for his record on crime and pledged he would be a law-and-order mayor. Several murders, countless shootings and stabbings, ponderous numbers of beatings and muggings, and one $400-a-night Hotel On North later, you know how that promise turned out.

This mayor has done his utmost to neuter the city’s two most important public safety offices. He has

Pittsfield Fire Engine 2 / T2 sits in the front center bay at the Columbus Avenue HQ with a nice, new “R” (rejection) sticker. When the PFD told the corner office, sources say, the mayor refused to allow the department to get the vehicle repaired. Doesn’t that put lives in jeopardy? (PHOTO FOR THE PLANET BY DAVE BUBRISKI). Double-click on photo for enlargement.

understaffed the police department and repeatedly stiffed the fire department. Case in point on the jakes: The Strange Case of the Rejected Engine. 

We all know about “economic engines,” those ploys to rob the public by pouring their money into the ventures of “connected” private businesses and having taxpayers assume the risk. Well, this is no “economic” engine. This is a “fire” engine. Fasten your seatbelts, because this story is hard to believe.

‘R’ is for ‘Rejection’

Acting on a tip from THE PLANET‘s Secret Squadron, our operatives visited the Pittsfield Fire Department‘s central station and HQ on Columbus Avenue. There, in the front middle bay, is “Pittsfield Fire and Rescue” 2. On the front, white lettering reads “T2.”  Just above and left of the lettering, one sees an inspection sticker. So far so good.

There’s a “however,” however.

The sticker displays a big, black “R“. The engine did not pass inspection.

Informed sources say when the department advised the corner office, the mayor “forced them to use the engine, despite the failed sticker. Bianchi is refusing to fix the truck. If the truck gets stopped out on the road, it’s the driver [fireman] that gets the ticket and his personal insurance goes up. The mayor is banking on them not getting stopped by the police.”

Here we go again. We have the 7-4M, with one murder and four people shot. The mayor responds by hiding. Now we have a fire truck that has failed inspection. Why, we don’t know, but this puts lives in danger.

Apparently, the lives of Pittsfield citizens mean little to this mayor. The working conditions of fire fighters mean less. The job of fire fighter is tough enough without a witless mayor sabotaging their equipment.

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Public Access? Bianchi: ‘Let “The Little Guy” Go F— Himself”

“Massachusetts has one of the worst public records laws in the country.” So says Robert Bertsche, partner in the Boston law firm Prince Lobel Tyre, where he specializes in media law.

It’s not just Bertsche sounding the alarm over transparency in government. The State Integrity Investigation, a national alliance of clean government organizations and the press, gives Massachusetts an “F” for “public access to information.”

From The Boston Globe, Jan. 23, 2015, article by David Sharfenberg: “Ask any reporter, activist, or political operative who’s filed enough public records requests, and you’ll hear a tale of an $8,000 or $10,000 bill. That sort of tab, advocates say, is a substantial deterrent — especially in an age of shrinking media budgets.”

Finally, Beacon Hill lawmakers want to strengthen the access law. The bill making its way through the Legislature “appear[s] to finally have enough support to pass this year,” writes The Globe‘s Todd Wallack. This has set off alarm bells in city hall. Wallack reports that last week, “The Massachusetts Municpial Association (MMA) sent out an e-mail blast … urging local officials to bombard Beacon Hill with objections to the bill.” Some mayors don’t want The Owners of Goverment, Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, butting noses into their business.

Fetching Water for Gunga Din

Apparently, Dan Bianchi is among the maddest of the mad bombers. City hall sources tell THE PLANET the mayor has complied with the advice of the MMA. When it comes to keeping The Little Guy shut out of government, Bianchi will gladly fetch water for Gunga Din. Sources say the mayor has urged lawmakers to leave the present law untouched, in effect telling them that citizen requests are a burden to government and that politicians know best. The man ran in 2011 on public safety (as we discussed above) and transparency. You know how both those promises turned out.

THE PLANET has contacted the mayor seeking his comment on the report. We have yet to hear. When the phone doesn’t ring, we know it’s The Amazing Transparent Mayor not getting back to us.

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“The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake.” — Meister Eckhart, German philosopher.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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