By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015) — It’s in the can. No, not that way. And while we’re at it, leave Biddeford, Maine out of it. The granddad of a dear personal friend of THE PLANET‘s was born there. “In the can” is film talk for when a production wraps up and all is left is the post-production work. That’s where we are our second movie.

The first epic — In-CITY-ous: Pittsfield’s Crisis of Confidence — received a toasty  welcome by the discerning public, so we channeled our Stanley Kubrick to go at it again. THE PLANET banged out a treatment, consulted with our crew, and on Tuesday and Wednesday, we went on location and filmed. Our new production is called Kentucky Fried Pittsfield … or … Where Have You Gone, Col. Sanders?

Show, Don’t Tell

From the title, you can probably guess one (possibly two) of the locations. And this time, we also filmed outside Pittsfield, especially for the opening. You think the mayor of Pittsfield is all wet? You ain’t seen nothing yet. The theme for Kentucky Fried Pittsfield builds off of our first movie, presenting specific ways in which Pittsfield city government headed by the mayor has failed citizens and taxpayers.

Tonight, PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION presents the second showing of In-CITY-ous for those who missed it the first time and those who want to see it again. It begins at 7 p.m. and runs the hour on Time Warner Access Pittsfield Ch. 16.

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Basement Pictures Run Contrary to Mayor’s Claims

THE PLANET has obtained exclusive photos of the ruined city hall basement. We obtained these photos through Neptune, a network of informants who also happen to be city employees.  The pictures are significant on two accounts: They show some of the damage to the basement caused by flooding resulting from shoddy work when fiberoptic cable was laid between 70 Allen St. to the new, unnecessary City Hall offices at 100 North St. That’s approximately $500,000, taxpayers, down the drain (pun intended) + $100,000 for work on the city hall foundation + remediation costs of the bad cable work. It’s your money, but neither you nor THE PLANET can tell you which account(s) the mayor raided to finance 100Gate. He’s not saying.

Water logged: Part of the damaged basement at city hall.

The first slide please, doctor:

Here we see a portion of the city hall basement that’s undergone obvious damage. In the upper right corner, you can see a cable coming out of a black, painted square on a piece of plywood. That’s the fiberoptic cable running to 100 North St. That’s what caused the damage. It appears as if the breached area is located in an area loaded with electricals. Fire hazard, anyone?

City sources tell THE PLANET the contractor didn’t use the right kind of fill in the street. During the recent heavy rains, the water ate through the gravel and ultimately worked its way through the opening around the cable. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but when you’re inside the room, you can tell the leak still isn’t properly sealed. Amazing. Beneath the cable you can see a drain pipe going out to the street. Notice the crumbling wall area to the left and right of the gray storage bin at lower right. From the photo, you can see the damage appears far greater than what the mayor’s office indicated in public comments. Also note the shoddy, amateurish nature of the “repair” work. You tax dollars, hard at work.

Photo #2

The mayor’s office stated record damage was minimal. Our sources say otherwise.

Waterlogged II — Great filing system, eh?

The mayor’s office reassured the public that  city records were being stored on pallets to keep them off the floor and away from the water. Take a look at Photo #2. The files are not on pallets. They rest directly on the floor. On closer inspection, you can see water stains on the bottom of the boxes. To the bottom right, you can see what appears to be a wet-vac, ready to be worked again for the next round. The stained carpeting looks like its still soaking-to-damp. One final point about this photo: Ask yourself. Does this appear to be a neat, orderly filing system? Perhaps these boxes and filed are in a temporary displacement. Perhaps not. Who knows what important stuff might be contained in there? Old menus from The Highland, ticket stubs from the 2004 World Series, a cancelled check for $100,000 made out to with Spectrum Health Services. The mind boggles.

THE PLANET thanks our Neptune network. No doubt the mayor will be turning the building upside down trying to find out who ate the missing strawberries, but he’ll never find out.

We’re operating right under his nose, and he doesn’t know it.

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“Is it so frightening to have me at your shoulder. Thunder and lightning couldn’t be bolder. I’ll write on your tombstone, ‘I thank you for dinner.’ These games that we animals play, they’re a winner.” — Jethro Tull, “Bungle in the Jungle,” from the Warchild album, (1974).

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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