GARBO TALKS! HOUDINI LIVES! JIV RESPONDS! … BUT LADY BOOTS ISN’T OFF THE HOOK
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, FEB. 2, 2016) — As you know, yesterday THE PLANET invited JAKE and KATHY and KRISTEN and JOE to appear on PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION and respond at this website to our criticisms. Guess what? The phone rang! It was JIV, getting back to us!
To refresh your noggins, THE PLANET sent this to JIV Sunday night:
——– 000 ——–
JAKE and KATHY and KRISTEN and JOE
I am issuing this invitation for all or any of you to:
1) appear as guests on my TV show and
2) comment on THE PLANET’s posting about the PSD.
You have been critical of my analyses, and I invite you to directly share your criticisms with my viewers and readers. I can get you on the show as early as this coming Thursday, Feb. 4, @ 7 p.m. If that is not convenient, I can do it on the first Thursday following that is convenient for you. This being the beginning of the budget season, the public would benefit from your appearances on the TV show and on the blog. You should be more than ready to defend past policies and current requests in the face of my questioning.
Let me know if you
A) Wish to be on the show and when and
B) Want to submit a comment or article for THE PLANET.
I look forward to the exchange,
DAN
——– 000 ——–
Supt. Jason “Jake” JIV McCandless answered our invitation this way:
“It’s just your Jiv talking, you’re telling me lies …” The Bee Gees had a hit with it. Pittsfield’s not doing so good.
Good Morning Mr. Valenti,
THE PLANET responded to our new pen pal:
JAKE
JIV in his previous gig as “The Old Skipper” in the Lee School District, seen here with friends.
I shall do as you say and not reserve space for you or your administrative team to be on my TV show. Of course, there’s no need to reserve space, since we keep a candle burning in the window for you or your team to appear any time you wish. That beats cursing the darkness any day. Feel free some Thursday night to just show up and surprise me.
LADY BOOTS
There is another forum, to which we invite the “Super”:
For charity, JIV and THE PLANET meet in the ring and go three two-minute rounds. It would raise a lot of money, and THE PLANET would have a chance to show off our skills in the squared circle. Full disclosure. When we taught at LeMoyne College, we shared a locker next to the LeMoyne athletic director Carmen Basilio. Yeah, that Carmen Basilio, former middleweight champion of the world, the ultimate pressure fighter. Basilio taught us some moves, and THE PLANET used to be a regular at his West Side Gym in Syracuse, NY, where we once sparred with Billy Backus, world welterweight champ.
What say, JIV?
Lady Boots Still on the Hook
LADY BOOTS makes a motion at a recent Pittsfield School Committee meeting.
One final thing. JIV’s response also covered junior superintendents Kristen Behnke and Joe Curtis (ED. NOTE, that trio pulls down $$369,500 in salary plus roughly 30% in bennies; that doesn’t include the assistant superintendent for vocational at $91,928).
His reply, though, did not get Kathy Yon off the hook. She owes We The People a response to this journalist’s inquiry.
We shall be sending Lady Boots another request.
It’s up to her. She can do it the easy way or the hard way. More on that to come!
———————————————————————————————-
“What we have here is a failure to communicate.” — Strother Martin as The Captain, a line from Cool Hand Luke, (1967)
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
The views expressed in the comment section or opinions published within the text other than those of PLANET VALENTI 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.
Yon has no respect for the citizens. She thinks she is captain of the school teachers cheering squad.
McCandless….maybe he’ll go on another softball show. He should really be ashamed of his deceptions.
Once again I urge posters to send him and Yon a respectful email and ask them to face the taxpayers r resign.
Correct Roberto. Wheras Jiv wants to get every cent he can for his department Lady B and her group should be representing citizens. The school board DOES NOT REPRESENT the PSD. It represents the interests of citizens adn taxpayers!!!
Jake & Kathy, come now be good little boys and girls and boys and put on your bg people pants and meet the planet.
Good comment. Very well thought out
I sense a story here
It seems to me that a responsible public official who felt comfortable in his or her boots would welcome the opportunity to come forward and shut down the criticism by answering public concerns. In the real world when the going gets tough the tough get going. In the Pittsfield school system when the going gets tough the people in charge run out the back door. No big surprise here though.
My tea leaves say people are running for their lives at the school department, battening down the hatches and telling everyone to keep their mouths shut and don’t go near the press under any circumstances.
CODE RED CODE RED!!!!!!!
Superintendent mccandless,yon,curtis and ellias will shortly be talking about how much they will need mccanless knows he only needs to convince Mrs yon he is being shortchanged and that is how this will go down…….it is all yon……this budget will be a thank you I don’t know how you do it budget….yon will send it to the council minus 2 million in principle requests….behNike and yon want to drug test cooks and bakers
The fat cats need their pay cut……in line with everyone else when the going gets tough.
What the hell are you talking about? Drug testing cafeteria staff? What have you been drinking?
They need to drug test the Mercer bldg.Everyone there would test positive for preparation H because they sit around on their fat rumps!
Critical has a negative connotation. Nice backpedal. and I am sure any administrative public servant wants another evening consumed with another engagement that tens of people may see, or in the case of the Tinfoil hat hour with the Water Whizzer, a few people.
Yah that must be why he is refusing.
You are obsessed Shakes, how does it feel to give away rent free space in your GOB head?
Good Irvin. That’s telling him.
Dan,
I always have the assistants of my assistants of the assistants who do all the actual work occasionally read your blog. They report back to me what you write but its usually second or third hand through a friend who knows a guy.
I am way too important to read your blog and too busy making sure all my assistants are doing my job for me.
It’s easy to appear before an adoring fan base. To field softball questions or to be allowed the latitude to skip over inconvenient truths is frankly, what we all desire.
But to face those who are non-believers, those who view the facts in an alternative manner – that shows real courage. That at least shows that you are a willing listener and want to include everyone in a solution to the problems you face.
You may not change your mind, an you may not change my mind – but you will earn my respect by listening to my grievances and in listening to them, you may in fact gain a new appreciation for why not everyone is as supportive as you think they should be.
Jake, re-think the invitation – even the off the record tete a tete with Dan. We posters think he represents a majority opinion.
We may overstate our numbers – but in fact, even if we are a minority, it is not a 10% minority – it the 49 of a 51-49 minority. What used to be a small minority has been steadily growing, and speaking with Dan or The Planet and engaging the growing minority may change some minds. And if it doesn’t change our minds, maybe it will build a bond of trust and respect that can come in handy when you need a little credit or goodwill.
Just thinking about why speaking with a person you may disagree with has value…
You will never get the bond of trust with the continual name calling. This appeals to the audience here but in most circles its considered juvinile. We can see the TV show now, ‘Lady Boots, take that chair, JIV, over there, Munster etc.’ Wouldn’t that be classy. Then finish it off with a fist fight,
They are public figures.Some of them command considerable salaries. The reason they get their nick names is their lack of accountability. They won’t confront any media unless they know the questions will be all muffins and marshmallows. Maybe they feel that we all should kiss their rings.
Well, we DID skip our mid-life crisis to head straight for our Second Childhood!
You would prefer Muffin Questions also?
They won’t change,this is about taxpayers recognizing how it works….principles do a wishlist,mccandless cuts the wishlist,yon OKs the cut wishlist and thanks them for all their hard work. …councilors mazzeo,simoenelli,Kool and yons mentor amuso talk about tough choices and spank the ignorant taxpayers and ok the budget. …..this is where tyer get rejected or not….her 1st budget will tell the story of the next 4 years
I still can’t believe principles get to wear high heels! I bet the John Vosburg at Taconic rocks in his!
Intersting Change and Vic. The nuns always told us that principle (as in school leader) was spelled principul.
What nuns taught you, Mr Moore? The Little Sisters of the Illiterate? School leader is a “principal.” He’s your “pal.” That’s how the sisters taught US.
It was a trend started by Simonelli
Staff room store and who counts the cash
Well Dan it is too bad that these people who are in charge and have the power after a while they believe that they owe no one a expiation for what they have done or are about to do. That why things will never see the light of day unless you or someone like you uncover what is going on.
Its difficult to expiate for something your about to do seeing as how you haven’t done it. If its something you’ve done and don’t feel; its bad there is no need to expiate.
Jake, mail a questionnaire to every family that choices out of Pittsfield. We need to find out why these families have no faith in Pittsfield public schools. Kathy Yon. Do you have the courage to do this? Jason “Jake” McCandless, what say you.
How about unless 20% of those who choice out come back, the school committee decides not to run for reelection?
Jake, how about you taking a 10% annual pay cut until family “choice in.” How can you justify your paycheck if people have no faith in you? If you were running a private school how long would you last if you lost as many students as Pittsfield has?
i know I would choice out if the superintendent felt he had things to hide. It would scare me.
What is this mail thing? Is that where I get my AOL CD’s?
It’s where you find your Pittsfeld Property Tax bill.
LOL…AOL CD’s! And it’s not even throwback Thursday!
The Berkshire Hills district did this a few years ago. It was very telling, and very helpful to the School Committee and administration in shaping policy and programs going forward. Excellent idea.
McCandless, saw his shadow this morning, so there will be six more weeks of whining about the budget!
Brilliant! Well put.
There appears to be a malady that is being spread in cities and towns in the region. The treatment is exorbitantly expensive. It is called “New School Fever”. Pittsfield has it, Mt. Greylock has it, and now Albany, N.Y. has it. It seems, as one school official in Albany put it, they have to keep up with the times and a new building will give our children a quality education. The retoric is the same wherever this fever is present. It appears the cure for this illness lies in the hands of the voters, the taxpaying public. I wonder how fast this will spread to other municipalities?
Dan Valenti should make Pittsfield politics’ public school financing as simple as possible by saying the following:
Every fiscal year, Pittsfield politics increases its municipal budget by about 5%. 4% goes to the public schools, 1% goes to the city side. It does not matter who is the Mayor, Superintendent, School Committee leaders, etc. It is all very simple and predictable!
Lee..First Buffis. Next McCandless. Wait and see.
I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull’s ass, but I’d rather take a butcher’s word for it.
Thanks Tommy boy.
Remember the schools always ask for a high budget and pretend they don’t get enough, when in realty they received more than enough….bait and switch.
Don’t shake it up there.
It doesn’t make sense when 70 out of 100 tax dollars goes to the schools? No wonder they connive and get their people elected.
Community school coordinator s,there are 4 and they are to work all summer 7 to 3 pm …75,000 apiece….the 1 guy only works 1 hour a day in the summer but he’s paid 1500 bucks a week…he is a no show city employee in the summer…no one is watching ,
Change, do the coordinators play musical chairs or are they actually in a specific area for assignment? Usually these type jobs are because lazy ADministrators don’t want to deal with student-parent problems.
Bill ,yes….they do what the principle should do,and the payoff is no one is watching so do what you want….no internal controls……Co ordinator gets 5 weeks vacation , beyond that nobody watching…..they are doing all the watching……..very well paid job,always next in line for principles job….crosby school needs to be led by a qualified minority ,not a knucklehead
Wasn’t Fred G Sanford a coordinator?