WANT TO ADDRESS BIANCHI, TYER, OR ANY OTHER CANDIDATE D-I-R-E-C-T-L-Y? HERE’S YOUR CHANCE!
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, SEPT. 24, 2015) — Welcome to autumn. Today, THE PLANET begins with one of the best questions that can be asked at this point, a couple days after the preliminary election and nearly six weeks before Election Day in November.
Romaniel’s question goes to the heart of Pittsfield’s political problem. Slowly, by gradation and not delineations, for The Ordinary Citizen (TOC) city government has gone from participatory to prohibitive. TOC feels shut out of the process. TOC doesn’t feel as if he or she matters to The Suits. TOC feels ignored and used, an object of relevance every couple of years, good for tribute and tax money but otherwise an object of exclusion.
Woe be the candidate who doesn’t begin to realize that in a democracy, The Private Citizen is the boss. Woe be The Private Citizen who doesn’t act as if he or she is in command. This is the predicate of representative government: Involvement. To be honest, THE PLANET wonders if this type of government is even on life support in the city of Pittsfield. If you need evidence, look at the mortally low turnout percentage in Tuesday’s election. Roughly 5,000 citizens voted. About 23,000 didn’t bother.
Do we have to draw you a map?
With that preamble, let’s get to the question at hand. Read it carefully. Give it plenty of thought.
Romaniel asks:
I can’t help but ask the Planet (no, Dan, not you but your members) how do we unite against them Good Ol’ Boys and Girls? How to fight apathy and ignorance when even here, the largest and strongest bastion against them, there lacks cohesion and transparency? So many of you speak in a sort of code with each other. You bicker. You know what you don’t want but have bare language to speak of what you do. You are – forgive me – your own sort of GOBs. You seek a leader but can any of you say where you want that leader to take you?
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Does anyone care to respond, let alone answer? THE PLANET challenges you to give this question serious consideration and then share your best advice. Do you have ideas? What are they? Want to propose solutions? We’re ready. What do you want city government to be and do? What do you want in a leader? Where do you want that leader to take you?
Can you specify this?
What hasn’t been done or isn’t being done now that should be done?
What do you see as the main problem in the city?
What changes do you want to see?
Where would you suggest trimming the fat?
Can you specify a set of reasonable goals for the city that you would like to see achieved? If it’s jobs, what’s the plan? If it’s better education, how? If it’s improved public safety, what are the strategies? If it’s cuts, what specifically should go first, then second, then …
One And Counting
We already received one reply that’s worth nothing, from eye in the sky, who writes:
Simply stated, I would like city government to exist for all citizens and not an employment agency for a bloated inefficient government. If this were to come to fruition small businesses might be attracted to Pittsfield.
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This is a good beginning. Keep in mind that this column is being read not only by many citizens but also by nearly every person connected with city government. In that sense, you will be talking directly to Dan Bianchi and Linda Tyer, to all the council and school committee candidates.
What do you want to tell them?
What do you want them to know?
As Chuck Vincelette wrote yesterday, politicians and office holders need to be told what you want. Don’t assume they know. Bug them. Pepper them. Address them. That’s how this political experiment is supposed to work. It’s hasn’t been working well of late, going back a generation. If that doesn’t change soon, you can kiss it goodbye.
Think of your response today as the first baby step in a long reclamation project.
The views expressed in any comment section are not those of PLANET VALENTI or endorsed in any way by PLANET VALENTI; this website reserves the right to remove any comment which violates its Rules of Conduct, and it is not liable for the consequences of any posted comment as provided in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and PLANET VALENTI’s terms of service.
I want Pittsfield politics to change for the better by being a democracy instead of an oligarchy ran by the Good Old Boys to serve only the vested interests. Pittsfield politics is a one party political system – just like China! Dan Bianchi and Linda Tyer are both Democrats split into 2 political camps that go back generations. I want Pittsfield to have diverse candidates who will represent real change. I want Pittsfield to experience growth in areas other than poverty, crime, and population loss. I want Pittsfield to have a sound financial management plan that will lead the city away from future insolvency and ultimately bankruptcy. It will never happen in my lifetime. Pittsfield politics is corrupt!
Stop spending on not needed stuff like moving city hall to 100 North St…raises for dept. heads…out of control school budget…we now have PAID bus monitors on every bus…really…remember that EVERY move you make involving money is directly scraped off of the taxpayer’s back
I’m in favor of paying ONE competent DPW Commissioner, who can get the job done, adequately and responsibly. Incompetence should not be rewarded with a salary increase,and hiring an additional Commissioner to bail your ass out. He and the Mayor need to go.
I want to see all redundancy removed from the city budget. Two maintenance budgets, two personnel departments, two finance departments and it goes on and on. School side and city side redundancy offers a lot of ways to combine and save money.
I also agree with the recent hire in DPW. This makes no sense and was not explained at all to taxpayers why this is necessary. Eliminating one of those jobs can easily happen with no loss of service.
Finally a good hard look needs to be taken at school administration bloat and school dept. personnel excess.
Linda Tyer, if you are to become the next mayor, you need to address some of this.
No more raises for school department personnel or administrators. They have received raises even during the worst of economic times. Every time we turn around they are receiving more money on top of salaries that are already more than generous for this area. We have people living in extreme poverty here in Pittsfield while school personnel are continually demanding more money. Money should go toward the students and improving the schools so that we don’t need huge budget increases each year. Just because school personnel have unions doesn’t mean they can continue to demand more and more money from taxpayers. This has to end and its my number one complaint.
Poverty in the city of Pittsfield is my second largest complaint. Do city leaders have a plan for helping people out of poverty? Pittsfield people are overtaxed without any good paying jobs to lift them out of poverty.
Crime is my third priority. I like Linda’s idea of hiring more police and I still think police walking in some of the worst neighborhoods would send a message against crime. We need less drugs in the city. I’m not for legalizing pot as that is just another drug that numbs the population even more and I think it does encourage other drug use as well.
DV
These are loaded questions.
First, when Citizens elect officials, they pay them to manage every department, and work hard to produce tangible results. Results that can be seen. When their is a lack of transparency and results….their is distrust. This is the foundation. When you have a Mayor who orders all department communication to go through him….you have a public distrust.
This absolutely has to change. The Police Department chaos is a huge issue. Internal affects external.
The School Department Budget absolutely needs to be controlled. It is Administration top heavy. There needs to be responsible fiscal spending and adjusting. We need leadership that is Strong, fair, and intelligent,willing to make hard choices and overhaul changes.
Public Safety should be exactly that. Money should be a priority to get Officers on the street in the neighborhoods that have heavy drug houses and gangs. Presence that says you are not welcome here. Citizens should not second guess taking a toddler to Tyler Street for an ice cream cone, or to the Common to play on the playground, like I do.I question myself, if perhaps it’s not a good idea.
Citizens have a right to question why DPW issues go on and on, but yet get no answers. Get shut down. Go away…This is unacceptable.
Watching the City Council, rubber stamp, instead of standing up, and tightening the fiscal belt responsibly. Watching the Mayor and the City Solicitor perform with their snide sickers. Unacceptable. Councilors who do nothing for their Ward because they have given in and become part of the problem. Unacceptable.
I would like to see the City Charter ammended. I would like to see Pittsfield move toward a town manager…searched and vetted.
What tangible actions or steps will you take to create opportunity and success- including allocating city funds or government funds to local civic and social entrepreneurs who have high-growth enterprises that could scale, train and Employ Residents- to lower Pittsfield’s poverty rate?
I like your idea about training and employing local people who need work. We need to take money from school salaries and put them toward helping the poor. We need to spread around what little wealth there is in this city. This is a progressive philosophy I do believe of spreading around the wealth. Well, for a progressive area I see little evidence of this happening. We need to make our limited resources include everyone in the city not just those at the top!!!!
Secure jobs are tied to place. Not just adding tourists. Creating an environment attractive to business takes tremendous collaborative intrests. Business wants places where social and professional networks can foster that collaboration and innovation.
Pittsfield is in a tail spin. Close minded, and not willing to break the cycle. There Wil not be change unless we are fortunate enough to find that “Promising Star” willing to take it on.
The Citizens of Pittsfield like any other vibrant community deserve and must have a seat at the table for all decisions. We deserve to be told the pros and the cons of each major project. We need to have open honest dialog about the projects.
Example Rice silk mill project, new high school the list goes on. I don’t want to hear just the rosy scenarios about jobs and economic development I want to see some hard evidence. If school construction spending was the panacea for economic development then where are the jobs we were told would be brought from the last round of school reconstruction? That too was sold as we need it, to draw in top rate companies with all sorts of jobs remember? Well where are the jobs? What of the crushing debt load etc.?
Before we rushed head long into the new school do we not deserve an open honest conversation regarding the reconstruction of the schools? What went right? What went wrong? Did it draw employers? If so how many? In what areas? High tech? Medical? We could use that info to help shape the growth path and future?
Housing projects what are the impacts on the schools? IE services counciling free lunches after school programs the total impact on the community. What are the requirements needed to secure the funding sources? Are the properties removed from the tax roles? What’s that impact? Are property taxes collected but earmarked for the bonded indebtedness? What’s the total cost and impacts?
Our demographic is changing are we shaping our community in a way to meet those changes? We are an aging population and having fewer children at no time in memory has school enrollment been lower. Are we situated correctly for the enrolment? So many parents are opting out of the schools why? We only hear that all is well at the schools? Am I supposed to believe those parents that opt out want less than the best for their children? I think not I think they want the best for their children and will do whatever it takes to get that for them. School choice has been around for a while now, long enough to see how are the children of those who opted out doing against those that didn’t? A contrast of sorts. What is it that the receiving schools are doing that parents want for their children?
Participatory budgeting is another program that needs to be looked at please look it up on the web for more information. See what it has done in Cities like Vallejo Ca.
Neighborhood development, lets target specific areas that we as a community define as areas we want residential development and go after them wisely. For example let’s say we want the area for 2 square blocks around 1313 Mockingbird lane redeveloped into a thriving neighborhood, we can target first time homebuyers or any other demographic so defined by the community with a program to help develop the area. Example right now if Sam and Sally buy a house for $100,000 and spend another $50,000 plus sweat fixing it up to help develop an area how does the City thank them? By upping the taxes to the new value of $200,000 . Why not as a community decide what we want that area to be and if Sam and Sally buy in that area and fix up the place ease them into the new value over a 5-10 year period? They are now living, shopping and spending in that area or as I like to say invested in that area and would most likely be the type of citizen we need and desire.
There are a ton more ways to grab the easy low hanging fruit I wont ramble on at this point but will share more at a later time. Besides I just typed a novel on a phone, crazy but an awesome thought when you think about it. Imagine if you will a phone, I bet Lily Tomlin never dreamt that as an operator.
Great comments Joe
Really good comments especially the part about including citizens in what is going on in the community and not shutting them out like we’re too stupid to understand economics. I don’t think the majority of the politicians in this area understand economics or we wouldn’t be in our current situation.
Joe I hope ALL candidates for office read this great post. I don’t know who you are but I sure wish you were running for office.
My first concern is a school dept. thats out of control with their spending. Second is crime. We need to crack down on the low lives that destroy our quality of life. The police know who they are so lets make their stay in Pittsfield miserable.
First, while people on this site do bitch and moan a bit excessively, they are mostly already talking about specific, tangible things; transparency in government operations, cutting a bloated, administrator-heavy school budget, DPW and department head salaries being excessive, etc. All these items get regular airing here. However, my second reason for posting is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately; economic development.
Pittsfield seems to be divided into several camps on this, and I don’t believe ANY of the camps’ ideas are executeable or sustainable in either the short or lont term; doomed to failure every one.
Camp 1: Bring Back a Large Manufacturing Base/Large Employer. GE is not coming back. No other fortune 500 companies are looking to locate a large plant/facility in Pittsfield, nor anywhere else in MA. Taxes, energy and labor costs are way too high, and trying to pursue this option is like banking on winning the lottery as a viable future financial plan,
Camp 2: The Arts as Economic Engine. The underlying theme behind this plan is, if we have lots of attractions, the wealthy will come, stay and spend their money here. Sounds like trickle down economics ultimately, and that doesn’t work either. Tourism dollars are great, as an augmentation to some other industry. Places like Aspen have ALWAYS been tourist areas, so they can rely on that because that’s their bedrock foundation. Not so for Pittsfield, Adams or North Adams. Although more so for Lenox, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, etc. The smaller, less populous town can more easily rely on those dollars. Cities cannot, especially those based on old-style manufacturing economies.
Camp 3: PEDA. This is an interesting idea, but ultimately one that I believe is unsustainable as well. Grow innovative industries from within, fueling their need for qualified workers with a technical high school and a specifically focused community college. I think the intentions here are really good…but ultimately there is no engine to drive it, this sort of thing is becoming successful in the capital district area because of RPI, routinely graduating hundreds of highly technical engineering entrepreneurs every year who now have a reason to stay in the area, and SUNY Albany’s concurrent HUGE investment in Nanotechnology labs and training. Drive by that structure just off 90 on Western Avenue, then look at what is proposed for Pittsfield. The difference is pretty stark.
Conclusion: Pittsfield can no longer sustain as an island. There needs to be a LOT more cooperation, and a LOT more regional planning; not just city planning. The entire Berkshire County needs to get involved in COUNTY wide economic planning (and education and shared services, etc.) and development. Beyond that, we also need to reach out beyond the county, to the West, and find ways to work with and leverage what is going on in the Capitol region of NY state. Malta, Troy, East Greenbush; we need to work with the people and businesses already in place and growing there. We have a LoT to offer them too! The politician that takes off the blinders and starts thinking regionally will get my vote.
Great comments Mr. G
I completely agree with Mr. G8811 comments. The only way to get politicians to listen is to contact them and give them our ideas. If they don’t do what we want, they get voted out in the next election.
Over 200 brown nosers packed Berkshire Hills Country Club this morning to look at Ben Downing.
Was old Benny doing a dance routine or a stand-up act of some sort? Otherwise, why?
Sheriff Golf tournament today. Nuff said
Sheriff’s gold tournament? Oh boy, drivers stay off the roads later after the 19th hole that’s all i can say.
And one final thing, as if I didn’t say enough already! Rather than placing hopes on pie in the sky, with lottery-winning odds of them happening, we should look at what we already have, and expand from there. Plastics and polymer fabrication? Build research and development opportunities around expanding there. Target those industries very specifically and go after them, take-no-prisoners sales style. Medical (BMC/BHS)? Try to attract oncology, or better, geriatric researchers and treatment facilities of that type. Take stock of what we have and use that as the foundation for growth.
Joe Pinhead & MrG8811, Great posts…you both should be running!
MrG, You nailed it when you said “…we should look at what we already have, and expand from there. Plastics and polymer fabrication? Build research and development opportunities around expanding there. Target those industries very specifically and go after them, take-no-prisoners sales style. Medical (BMC/BHS)? Try to attract oncology, or better, geriatric researchers and treatment facilities of that type. Take stock of what we have and use that as the foundation for growth.” YES, YES, YES!!!
The monies appropriated for schools to children in classrooms is upside down,add the top heavy administrative costs and you have a bloated school budget which has already percolated out of control. But keep electing those money grabbing Democrat Progressive types, all the rest of us better hold on to your wallets.
Which job would you suggest eliminating? You seem to be very up on what’s going on in the school department.
I would start at the Administrations Office on First Street.
http://www.pittsfield.net/home
There is so much waste there, we do not need two budget offices for the size of Pittsfield. I would like to see City of Pittsfield and School budget offices combined.
How many of the school jobs are the result of unfunded mandates from state and federal government? Boston says to do some program but leaves it up to cities and towns to pay for it.
Where is the waste? Please be specific? Not just one office.
I’d love to see the ratio of school department employees to students when the population of Pittsfield was at it’s peak and see how it differs from the present. I’ll take a wild guess that we have half as many students and more than double the number of school department employees.
Let’s see the ratio of school department employees to students when the population of Pittsfield was at it’s peak and see how it differs from the present. I’ll take a wild guess that we have half as many students and more than double the number of school department employees.
Nobody is saying to eliminate jobs. Just don’t keep raising salaries especially for teachers and top administrators in the school system. Office people in the school system are probably underpaid, but everybody else is paid extremely well and do not need further increases. In this way money would go where it is most needed which is toward an underperforming school system. We don’t need any more of the Kathleen Amuso types who are cheerleaders for more and more money for the schools. We need people who advocate for the school system to work within a budget and who are cheerleaders for the average taxpayer.
I’m say eliminate jobs. Specifics. Start with the asst. supt. for business and finance. Then asst supt career education… Then deputy supt. … then confidential secretary to deputy supt (let confidential secretary to supt do that job too). Cut these 4 positions save half million $$ a year. Classroom will not suffer one bit.
Promising star? Get real. Threee quarters of the budget goes to schools. What the city needs is a mayor who leads with what we have in place and less increase in taxes each year. It’s called cutting back.
When you have a divided Mayor and Council, Lack of leadership , not by and for the people, you need a Promising Star willing to take it on, bringing a cooperative leadership to go to work, take the hard stand,and get it done. Yes, making the cuts and righting the ship. I believe in a Town Manager. He’s accountable to the people and can be let go if he doesn’t deliver.
Or She
You want them to listen to you? Get on the list of $$$$$ donors….$1000.00 from you, your spouse and each of your kids.
As an entrepreneur all good questions particularly Cat, short and sweet. How can the office of Mayor remediate issues of jobs and poverty?
By upholding the oath he takes to govern by and for the people, and not self interests. Together, in a cooperative effort you can break down the barriers that take the $$$ money grab. When the City is managed correctly, the $$$ start going where they belong.
Tyer and Bianchi will do one thing, keep the school budget juggernaut afloat. Or they won’t get re elected.
The people who are against the school system taking more and more money each year have to become even more vocal than the greedy school people. It’s the only way. They will call us negative and all the other names they have for people who don’t give them what they want, but we have to ignore their voices and keep up the fight. Right now the local politicians are taking their marching orders from the school people. They need to have new masters. That would be us the beaten down taxpayers who have found their voice.
I’d love to see the ratio of school department employees to students when the population of Pittsfield was at it’s peak and see how it differs from the present. I’ll take a wild guess that we have half as many students and more than double the number of school department employees.
Do the math spa…Tyer – Bianchi = we are screwed.
Here’s a thought most folks on the planet have the same concerns as Mr. Gaetani. He would be an excellent moderator who would allow no soft shoe dancing by the candidates. He could do it right on his show.
I couldn’t agree more. Gaetani would make an excellent moderator. He does know all the issues and I think that would avoid any softball questions
Here’s a thought most folks on the planet have the same concerns as Mr. Gaetani. He would be an excellent moderator who would allow no soft shoe dancing by the candidates. He could do it right on his show.
I triple that motion, ain’t gonna happen.
Stop using “personnel employee issues” as a way to cover up employee misdeeds. This is often used to cover up a cronies bad behavior. If city employees are being paid by the taxpayer we have a right to know what the hell is going on. They are not ambassadors to a foreign country and should not be protected as such.
Mr Gaetani moderator? No…….no. One thousand times NO!
How about you Mr. V? I didn’t see your name as a contributor to either candidate. Would you moderate?
To take Pittsfield’s Story and try to size it up, dismantle, and correct it, would take honesty, integrity, a hard line, and a team that works for the Citizens, not themselves. That was our ancestors.
Here are my choices for the Mayoral Debates in order;
1) Dan Planet Valenti
2) The Pope
3) Not Bill Sturgeon
Dan Valenti All Day.
Long Time reader of the Planet, first time poster……This looks like fun….time to join the fray.
NORM
Welcome aboard!! Always great to welcome a first time commentator.
the P E D A situation is a joke also. watch the meetings on P C T V it’s like a morgue. the head over there looks clueless, well is clueless. Take some Dramamine for c sakes before you fall asleep. innovation center is a joke as is the Pittsfield promise. can anyone relate to the new high school and the innovation center as a job source, pig in a polk! Pie in the sky. fire that gentleman immediately or disconue his contract, where the hell did he come from?
And for Gesus sakes Lindy, don’t let LOw in on any of your campaign rounds or you Won’t get elected. See Your man weekends until after the election, it doesn’t make good press. you got this one, don’t fumble the ball.
Maybe he will take Collingwoods place. I still think he gave up councilor for something more flashy.
Dan like the look tonight ( beard length). How sweet it is!
Thanks, AW.
Gaetani is back. The guy doesn’t give up. Write in candidate and debate participant, How will the voters react ?
I’ll be writing in Dr. Wong.
I’ll be writing in Charlie Chan before Gaetani. Had his chance and blew it.
He was kinda tied up Hack.
Rumor has it that there was a huge fundraiser for DiSantis at the the home of Gerry Doyle on West St,……..So much for the new kid on the block being a fresh face…….Put him in the column with the GOB$
Gerry Doyle is with Bianchi,
Please let this not be true Juan. Really hope this didn’t happen.
I’ll double check to make certain it’s true
There was something big going on there when I drove by involving Distantis
LOw isn’t going anywhere, propbably makes upwards to 80g over at c and f.