PPDC A GONER, TOO … FOR SABIC IT’S BUSINESS; FOR PITTSFIELD, IT’S POLITICS
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
EDITOR’S NOTE: Tomorrow evening at the school committee meeting, supercitizen and PLANET VALENTI TV guest host Terry Kinnas will invite any candidates for that board — incumbents and challengers — to join him on PVTV. The show begins at 7 p.m. Thursday and runs for the hour. Candidates should be at the studio no later than 6:45 p.m. As you have guessed, Terry will be guesting for THE PLANET once more before we return to the saddle on Oct. 22. Candidates be forewarned: If you skip this invitation, We The People shall consider it a snub. And who knows? If might be the unveiling of cult hero Irwin Moiseff.
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(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 14, 2015) — From this point to Nov. 3, everything that happens in official Pittsfield will be political. Case in point: Sabic’s announced departure for Houston, Texas. Mayor Dan Bianchi called the move a corporate decision beyond the city’s control. Mayoral challenger Linda Tyer issued a bland statement saying she is “more than eager to get started on a serious economic development plan.”
Meanwhile, the mayor is calling in favors from his pal Steve Grossman and talking about the “silver lining,” which from THE PLANET ‘s perspective looks like a rag, a bone, and a hank of gossamer. In short, he’s trying to put the best spin the worst news. If that’s not politics, Tyer’s not running. But she is. Her tempered statement hit the right tone, but meanwhile, in another part of Gotham City, her backers have assigned blame and responsibility to the corner office. One even said, “Sabic just gave Linda the job [of mayor].”
The mayor played a bad hand as good as one could have expected. He called a press conference, where he was joined by Heather Boulger of the Berkshire County Regional Employment Board, a mid-level functionary considered the lightweight’s lightweight. The wise guys say she was put in the job to provide a pleasant face to an ugly employment picture. If there was ever a time for Boulger to prove the critics wrong, it’s now.
Bianchi offered assurance to Sabic employees and citizens, saying that “we are working to help those folks transition and identify opportunities. We will have the rapid response team available to go on the property of SABIC and start working with those employees. It is really imperative that we start today to really understand who will be affected, who will be transitioned, who will remain and what those skills sets are,” Bianchi said.
Cold, Cruel Business … and the PPDC is Next to Go
THE PLANET won’t get into the economic implications of Sabic’s move. There’s no need. What would be the point except to run the equivalent of a slasher film of Pittsfield’s evisceration. Politically, because it happened on Bianchi’s watch, the mayor loses the most from this development, although his office would have needed the pull of the tides, Jimmy Ruberto’s Rolodex (to say nothing of his Rolex), and the help of the greatest salesmen who ever sailed to have influenced Sabic’s decision.
Fact is, Sabic’s move is not anyone’s failure. There’s no need for angst. It’s business. Sabic produces engineering thermoplastics in a market that favors commodity resins. The company is in that transition, and the re-location to its Houston complex will facilitate the re-branding and re-purposing of its product line among sister facilities that do not share the Pittsfield plant’s orphaned status.
For the record, Sabic says it is still evaluating what to do about its Polymer Processing Development Center. Off the record, company sources tell THE PLANET that the PPDC is a goner, too. Word on that is expected “before June [2016].”
Pittsfield’s toast just got toastier.
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“If I may trust the flattering news of sleep, my dreams presage some joyful news at hand.” — William Shakespeare, from Romeo and Juliet, Act V, Scene I, (1597).
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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Polymers are going the way of styrofoam containers. Rinaldo Del Gallo and the Linda Tyer/Clairmont city council coalition struck doom for evil carry out containers. No greater or urgent issues for this political”collaboration”apparently.This will be a great economic engine for the city and small restauranteurs. UFB.
I think a lot of people in the city need the “rapid response team” to find them jobs.
Where was Bianchis rapid response team when he said he would appoint a permanent police chief?
How about rapid information instead of telling everyone to keep things under wraps?
How about rapid snow removal or rapid pothole repair?
I guess those words are only used out of desperation at election time huh?
bull stools
Bianchi’s looking for your rapid response on Election Day, dusty.
Counting down the days.
When Mr. Monteroso was removed from his job under allegations of sexual harrassment, Bianch did call in the rapid response team. They gave Monterroso $150,000.00 of taxpayer money. That’s equivilent to approximately 9 years pay at minimum wage. Not bad for only 3 months on the job. But that’s a private matter.
Do you think Bianchi will do the same for each and every Sabic employee who lost their job? 300 X $150,000.00 = only $45 Million dollars.
The only differences are that Sabic employees were on the job more than 3 months and none of them are under allegations of sexual harrassment.
Will the rabid response team work with SABIC employees to find them part time, seasonal, minimum wage jobs at HON? Or maybe at Aldi where they can’t use charge cards but if they get an EBT card they are all set?
And yes, I spelled rapid with a d on purpose.
I WILL FIX EVERYHTING WITH MY MAGIC WAND AND YOU WILL REALIZE THAT YOU LIVE IN A BAD DREAM WITH THE PRESS VILLIANIZING ME.
My cards work just fine at Aldi, which is known for providing good, affordable products. It is literally a no-frills Trader Joe’s
Aldi’s is nothing like Trader Joe’s. I checked it out once and it’s just a bunch of cheap crap and I will never go back. And you cannot use charge cards there, only debit.
Comparing Aldi’s to Trader Joe’s is an insult to Trader Joe’s.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/12/02/aldi_grocery_store_best_in_america_related_to_trader_joe_s.html
They are owned by the same “family”.
SHH, 2 brothers with 2 entirely different concepts for their stores. Trader Joe’s = good qualify, healthy food at decent prices. Aldi’s = cheap crap at cheap prices for low income/welfare demographic.
Not even close to Trader Joe’s.
You didn’t read the article. and you are clueless about nutrition. The colorful packaging leads you to believe that trader joes is better, but most of it is still highly processed fat, sugar, and salt. Aldi offers many great options for minimally processed foods and the produce is alright. It is affordable The point of the article is that both concepts offer off-brand packaging as a way to deliver a better value. It may be a slightly different in delivery, but it isn’t as far off as you are making it out to be. Holy Carp. I can’t believe how elitist this argument is.
No, you are clueless about nutrition. Yes, some Trader Joe’s products are still processed foods but they offer alot of very healthy alternatives, much more so than the average grocery store. I know because I read nutrition labels and ingredient lists and know what I am buying. And that article you reference is from some garbage blog and has no credence whatsoever – don’t you recognize an advertisement written under the guise of an article??
I don’t a reasonable person would classify Slate a garbage Blog and I follow a fairly paleo diet. Wake up the sunny side of the bed tomorrow.
How much do they pay members of the rapid response team? Maybe Sabic employees can all get jobs on the rapid response team. They can fight for truth, justice and the American way.
Have to agree. Its all politics. But I’d like to know what the candidates really feel about the future of this economy. Tyer can’t wait to begin working on her plan. What plan?
Pittsfield politics is in a 4 decade long downward spiral! Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in Pittsfield since 1975. Once good jobs are lost, they ain’t comin’ back, Jack (Welch)! Thousands of people have fled Pittsfield. What has Pittsfield politics done in response to the economic crisis? They implemented a one (Democratic) party political system split into 2 (Remo Del Gallo/Jimmy Ruberto’s the lovely Linda Tyer vs. Anne E. Wojtkowski/Dan Bianchi) political factions that always raises taxes and increases its huge debts each and every year. In fact, when the financing for the new Taconic High School kicks in, municipal taxes in Pittsfield will reach a record all time high!
Experts estimated that about 500 local Pittsfield workers will lose their full time, living wage jobs next year of 2016. What will be left? Part time, $12 per hour jobs for young adults between 18 to 25 years old. Welfare benefits. Homelessness.
When people invest in a community, they need good jobs! good public schools! good public safety!
Pittsfield has seen the opposite of all three indicators. Pittsfield has seen job and population loss; poorly performing public schools with over 650 students choicing out per year; and violent crime with multiple murders this year of 2015 alone.
I feel sympathy for the little guy living, working, and playing in Pittsfield that Dan Valenti is defending in his weekday blog. How much bad news can one person take?
I will make this simple.
The lower Pittsfield’s depressed local economy goes, the more power the Good Old Boy’s have over Pittsfield politics.
While the working families lose in Pittsfield, the G.O.B.’s like Carmen Massimiano and Jimmy Ruberto gain more and more power in Pittsfield.
FLO doesn’t have a plan, when the city goes into receivership 3-5 Barry can help her with the math. Sabic to Houston we have a problem. Consent decree was passed over by the Numb Apathetic Voter as well as our Consent Team.
Don’t dispare it’s an election year and Melissa is going to reopen the Consent Decree. She really means it this time.
Nice one Henry!! That’s a touche (two shay)
Clarence Fanto and the Berkshire Eagle Editors are the propaganda machine behind the fraudulent Consent Decree that has left my native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, polluted with cancer causing chemicals called PCBs. If anyone took on all of the powerful interests, including GE and the EPA, who are allowing local residents for decades past, present, and future to suffer from and die of, Clarence Fanto and the Eagle Editors would persecute or silence them. Clarence Fanto and the Eagle Editors are UNCONSCIONABLE!
I love Aldi’s Supermarket. You have to shop around in there. I was not too happy with some of their produce, but many of their other items are really good yummy quality and just as good as some of Guidos stuff in my opinion.
They have nitrate free bacon sometimes at like $4 a pound.
Election day is less than a month away and I still do not know what the candidates stand for in this election. Is there a difference between Tyer and Bianchi? Who is running for an at-large seat and what are their thoughts on the school issues, the budget and our economic plight? In the ward races I have heard some “peeps” but nothing substantial that makes someone say “I will vote for this person because of X,Y and Z”. What I think this election should be called is either the season of apathy or shock and doom!
Doesn’t matter what they say they stand for. They are politicians and talk out of both sides of their mouths. They can say anything they think you want to hear but always seem to do what benefits themselves personally.
For instance Bianchi speaking in favor of the pipeline when almost everyone else was wanting more information. He is in the energy business ya know.
Let Gaetani build another water treatment plant and revise the economy.