THE ONLY ANSWER TO GANGS, POVERTY, & RACE: PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, NOT MORE GOVT. PROGRAMS
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
Third of Three Parts
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, Wednesday, March 23, 2016) — War. What is it good for?
If you’re a taxpayer, absolutely nothing. If you’re a liberal politician, however, it’s good for a sinecure and a lifetime of the high life.
LBJ had the War on Poverty and end up with more poor people.
Nixon declared the War on Drugs. Today, drugs are destroying America.
Bush Lite and Obama declared and perpetuated the War on Terrorism. How did that turn out for the United States of Amnesia? Paris, France meet Brussels, Belgium.
Each of these three wars have been failures, except for the countless thousands of offices created for the bureaucracy and the jobs required to fill them. Why, if poverty, drugs, and terrorism were to go away, what would all these people do for work?
In perpetuation of this folly, Pittsfield has applied for a $95,000 Shannon Grant to fight gang activity. Yes, the city has declared the War on Gangs. Care to lay odds on which direction gang numbers will be going? To quote Superman, “Up, up, and away!”
‘Go Home, Now’
In its application to the state, as THE PLANET has made clear in this series, Pittsfield officials have admitted the dire truth about the state of poverty, drugs, and gang activity. All the while, they hide this truth from citizens. They feed the Mainstream Media (MM) with ribbons and rainbows, and in them, all is great. Business is booming, the Pittsfield Public School system needs more millions for the great job its doing, and the arts will keep the downtown “renaissance” going. Nothing to see at the scene of the latest stabbing, murder, or home break-in. Go home now.
As a great political sage once said, “The goddamn phony bastards.”
In its application, which you would never see except for the work of Terry Kinnas and THE PLANET, Pittsfield defined its “target population” for the grant “as those youths between the ages of 10 and 20 years of age who demonstrate more than one of the following characteristics of being high risk of gang involvement: (1) they live in areas where gang violence is prevalent … (2) they are involved in the court system due to criminal activity, (3) family members that are known gang members, (4) school resource officers report they demonstrate actions that could be interpreted as demonstrating gang affiliation [ED NOTE: Who writes such prosaic crap?], (5) parents, siblings, or friends are involved in criminal activity, (6) the individuals themselves indicate gang involvement.
Truly, Sherlock? Embarrassing as this juvenile articulation is, THE PLANET wonders if the originators of such cliches gave one sincere thought about their role in all this. Are they the enablers? With their “resources” to force social engineering (which can never work), don’t they perpetrate the very problem they claim to address? Truth is, officials do not want to see these problems go away. The problems lead to programs. The programs lead to positions. The positions lead to partaking from the public trough. The feeding provides votes for politicians.
Common Sense Is Not So Common
Unaware of the irony it engenders through their pleas for taxpayers’ funds from Big Brother State, city officials apparently never stop to use common sense. Let’s see. The city has been receiving these grants for years. Look at the results:
- The problem of gangs, violence, criminal activity, and youth at risk have increased.
- Therefore, we conclude that the Shannon grants and other such programs, their their past ineffectiveness, are doomed to more failure.
No public monies, laws, or programs can change the human heart, nor can they force immature people who want to play the race card, minority card, poverty card, “I was born with the odds against me” card, or any other such card in the stacked deck to grow up. The answer to the problem of gangs in Pittsfield is accountability. If people cannot muster the inherent maturity to take ownership of their lives, loves, and actions, then they must be allowed to feel the consequences.
Turn them out in the streets. Let them waste away on drugs. Ship them out, first class.
Shannon grant writers, your programs do not work. Family, school, and social environments can only be improved by people making individual choices NOT to be defined by their circumstances. Any disadvantages member of society who genuinely wants to expend to effort to escape the limitations of their lives can go for it. Most will succeed.
Go for it, kids. Success waits for you. Get involved. Seize the moment. Live your life. Become a contributor, not a drainer. Be an asset, not a liability. Start with communication skills: Writing, reading, and speaking. Yesterday, THE PLANET provided examples of individuals who refused to let their grim, atrocious circumstances define them. You can do it too.
Screw the “Programs.”
We show them the way, but we cannot do the walking for them. Our hearts will not bleed.
The choice is all theirs.
————————————————————————————————————–
“Busted in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train, feeling as faded as my jeans.” — Kris Kristofferson, “Me and Bobby McGee.”
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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And I’ve just got to wonder what my daddy would’ve done
If he’d seen the way they turned this dream around
I’ve got to go by what he told me, try to tell the truth
And stand your ground
Don’t let the bastards get you down
Kris Kristofferson
Personally I feel Pilgrim #33 rings more true for Pittsfield:
See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans
Wearin’ yesterday’s misfortunes like a smile
Once he had a future full of money, love, and dreams
Which he spent like they was goin’ outta style
And he keeps right on a-changin’ for the better or the worse
Searchin’ for a shrine, he’s never found
Never knowin’ if believin’ is a blessin’ or a curse
Or if the goin’ up was worth the comin’ down
He’s a poet and he’s a picker, he’s a prophet and he’s a pusher
He’s a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he’s stoned
He’s a walkin’ contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction
Takin’ every wrong direction on his lonely way back home
He has tasted good and evil in your bedrooms and your bars
And he’s traded in tomorrow for today
Runnin’ from his devils, Lord, and reachin’ for the stars
And losin’ all he’s loved along the way
But if this world keeps right on turnin’ for the better or the worse
And all he ever gets is older and around
From the rockin’ of the cradle to the rollin’ of the hearse
The goin’ up was worth the comin’ down
He’s a poet and he’s a picker, he’s a prophet, he’s a pusher
He’s a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he’s stoned
He’s a walkin’ contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction
Takin’ every wrong direction on his lonely way back home
There’s a lotta wrong directions on that lonely way back home
Sounds like “tough love” to me and I think it would work with everything except terrorism. Europe is feeling most of the heat of terrorism right now and as far as I know they never had a war against drugs, crime, etc. They just stupidly allowed “bad” people into their countries.
I agree about the role of government, however, in just creating more work for itself and in so doing it gets bigger and bigger and feeds and grows on the helplessness of people. This is what progressives want. People to be incapable of caring and taking responsibility for themselves so Big Daddy government can step in and make it all better. This is how they grow government and eventually we become helpless people dependent on government and without the freedom to make our own choices to fail or succeed. The housing crisis and hence our economy tanking was brought about by government stepping in to make sure everybody had a house even if they couldn’t afford it. The examples are endless.
The city auditor Thomas Scanlon told the city council yesterday that if they continue to wildly spend money as they have been they will either have to make significant cuts to the budget or pass a proposition 2 1/2 override as the city is approaching the tax levy ceiling. This news prompted Lisa Tully to speak up for what I believe is the first time I have heard her speak. Kerwood said the city would reduce spending where needed. Golly I wonder if that includes cutting spending to the school department? Somehow I doubt it.
What does it say that it took an outsider to address the issue?
Was Scanlon looking directly at McCandless when he spoke? Bianchi was supposedly a finance guy and the issue went way over his head. Roberto just did not care as long as the money was carelessly spent in the right direction.
My guess is this warning will go at least 10 feet over Mayor Tyers head even with Barry at her side. There are people who backed her who might be expected some bones thrown their way.
\
Oh I know, we can raise the taxes 10 percent instead of 5 this year and next year. Problem solved.
They’ll just fraudulently assess properties higher like they have been for years. Of course the high-end homes will continue to be under-taxed, and other connected millionaires will get deals to pay reduced or no tax for years
You know, for his entire term on the Council, Barry Clairmont kept asking Mr. Scanlon these questions – and each year, the answer was to wait, the City was financially healthy, and we are in great shape.
Now, the truth comes out. Barry was the first person I ever heard who brought the OPEB out as a real issue to be reckoned with. Notice the auditor even suggested a PAYGO system for current liability while making a debt at the accumulated one. another reason to cut bodies and privatize whatever we can – now.
I miss Barry, not only as a poster to this site, but at Council meetings. I would imagine that he doesn’t post much any more because after LT was elected several posters seemed to want him to be a proxy for her – and that is probably just annoying.
I agree on all counts Southeast. I, too miss Barry Clairmont. He was the Spice needed on that complacent Council. He could make Dan Bianchi red in the face. LOVED it.
spa!! where have you been?
Good post. Actually, DV was the first public figure to address OPEB and that was years ago on the radio. Dan has kept on that theme so often that the sharpest politician, Mr. Clairmont, got on board.
I too miss Mr Clairmont.
Kerwood said he’s putting the budget together with the mayor and said they’re looking for cuts where they can without sacrificing service. Cuts, Matt? SCHOOL DEPARTMENT. Top loaded. Wasteful. and failing. Look no further than that.
Think they will?
Sacrificing service? What the hell does that mean? Try looking for rampant waste. Make some hard cuts. Take charge for gods sake. Do your job and stop pampering the pantywaist crowd.
The Nazi party was in essense just a gang that made it very very big. A gang that was started by just two men (Adolf Hitler and Rudolf Hess). It took over 21 million people and the resources of entire nations to bring an end to that gang.
A $95,000.00 grant will do nothing to combat gangs in Pittsfield.
A mere bag of shells. Pissing in the wind.
Put the $95,000 in a bag in the middle of the common. Then bring in the gangs and let them fight over it. No holds barred. May not be a total cure but should cut their numbers somewhat.
the fight would be just as good if $10K in the bag.
If we had a realistic assessment of housing property values in Pittsfield, not just the automatic 2-3% increase in valuation, we may already be much closer to the levy limit.
Truth…a harsh judge.
I also agree with Dan’s assessment. His review on all the government’s “War on…” is correct. The more that government gets involved and spends, the bigger the problem. No government program ever ends. It is just not in the government bureaucrat mindset to look at ways to save money. In some cases, the systems government sets up makes it impossible to do things that could make cost savings.
Thanks Dan (and Terry) for these excellent articles and information.
The valuations in Pittsfield are a mess because housing is overvalued compared to the cost of materials. The lack of new housing starts drives up cost for new construction and the other end of the market, the low-entry level is decimated by dilapidated comparable and artificial values from high section 8 rental rates. Yes, you could buy a house in Pittsfield with college debt if you had two incomes, but you probably wouldn’t want to live there and the house would need likely a lot of work.
The Joy of Smearing Gibberish on a Whiteboard is a pretty awful show. Bob Ross, that guy ain’t.
troll
Personal responsibility helps to solve social problems, but so does people caring about each other instead of everyone being out for themselves. If we want to truly help people in need of social services then we should care about them and their community. Many poor people are children or lonely senior citizens. Jesus Christ cared about everybody. We need to be compassionate, love our neighbors, and care about the poor.
By the way, I do not believe for one moment that Pittsfield politics cares about its underclass. Rather, I see them using people as numbers and statistics to receive state government funding and grants to fill their municipal government and non-profits’ coffers.
We are on the cusped to financial oblivion, so what was the order of the day at the Council Chamber? An Accountant with a lame Foot, the need for a grant for gangs, but the major question last night was what Klewless Louie and the Great One ‘ were talking about?
Nota, my guess is that Klewless Lew was was telling him that there is no GOBSIG thing going on in Pittsfield…..Don’t worry be happy
THE Wizard was sharpening his claws on Clueless- Lew- Markham- The Clown- Coach- at CC meeting last night.
It was good to see Klewless Lew come out of mothballs and make an appearance as Boo Hoo Loo. He claimed that hiring a consultant to ferret out waste in the school department was a waste. My guess is that some GOBSIG friend of his revived him from his coma and talked him into making his little speech for truth, justice and the GOBSIG way. It’s curious that No Klew wasn’t motivated to talk about Behnke’s raise or the ridiculous raises given in the teachers contract. It’s only when the GOBSIG way looks like it’s in trouble that a GOBSIG like Markham comes to life.
I thought it was McCandless job to ferret out waste. Someone must have forgotten to tell him about that part of his job description….not to throw taxpayer money away When is his contract up? Can we buy him out?
His contract was actually extended. They love him in the school system because he is such a money grabber.
Clueless Lew
spoke in the public session criticizing item #25 which was a petition
on the agenda submitted by guess who?? the Wizard– The Wiz wanted a
consultant hired to evaluate every position in the school dept.to see
if they are necessary or not and clueless lew was against the Wiz’s
petition. BYE BYE CLUELESS LEW. ALSO CL WAS ALL FOR NOT ALLOWING
PEOPLE MORE TIME TO SPEAK IN THE PUBLIC SESSION. We need not spend any
more time talking about this idiot- other than to say –he is the
ultimate politician boot licker,AND HOST OF THE WORST SHOW ON PCTV.
Sturgeon had a good comment reminding people that there is a ceremony
for Viet – Vets Saturday at Park Square at 10am.We should all try to
go to this event to show our Viet-Vets that we truly appreciate there
service to AMERICA
I was told that the Clueless Lew has deliberately conspired with his political allies, especially Council President Marchetti to ; As it was stated, ” put Gaetani in his place” and I noticed Marchetti now starts the public comment session admonishing that name calling and individual attacks will not be tolerated.
It looks like the Wiz is indeed getting the message, but the political collusion is sophmoric and undermines the dignity of the Council.
Political collusion is not more sophomoric than the constant insults and bullying from the Whizzer.
troll
trollup
Has-been never- was political hack reduced to carrying water for the GOB. Desperate for any pat on the back no matter where it comes from.
I don’t understand why some kids take the road they do. My father had everything going against him. His mother died when he was 2 years old and his father was a alcoholic so his grandmother raised him. His grandmother was a believer in corporal punishment to say the least yet he raised his family and was a loving father and never took a drink. A finer man then he I have never met. He had every excuse to turn out bad but made a conscious decision to be better. I think sometimes it just something in the person that makes them go one way or the other. I have such sorrow for these kids that are in bad homes they don’t seam to have a chance.
Some people, like your father, according to you are tremendous, some people are not. In the end we are all human and none of us infallible.
Kids join gangs out of sense of belonging to a group. They view it as cool. Progressive liberals have made it so all the jobs have shipped out of this country. Obamacare has made part-time jobs the order of the day. Kids see part-time retail jobs at Dunkin Donuts, Walmart and Home Depot; minimum wage with no benefits, as undesireable.
Good jobs with a nice standard of living would go far in reducing gangs. Donald Trump would do just that. Making America great again would get everyone working a top priority.
Providing employment should not be the governments reponsibility at all. However, they messed it up, they need to fix it.
Gangs and gang violence are a direct result and manifestation of a poor economy, poor education and poor management of government. To continue the policies and the path we are on will only end in financial collapse and third world status. Greed and corruption have overtaken our government to levels never before seen in our rich history.
“Progressive” liberals are just conservative democrats that saw free trade and banking deregulation as peace offerings to the GOP once the Dem’s lost control of Congress. The progress was to line their own pockets. That said, GE left Pittsfield because the technology they manufactured here was obsolete and the industry tainted the land so severely that they wouldn’t want to reinvest in their own toxic slop.
There are other choices besides gangs. Join a sports team or the scouts for instance. We are always blaming outside influences for our children’s bad behavior, when in fact it is the influences of parents and home life that influences them the most.
my Dad worked us to death. He’s been dead nearly 20 years and I miss him every day. We worked every day, and he our mom knew exactly where we were. And when we were not where we were supposed to be, I had a size 12 up my ass!
None of were ever arrested, we all held jobs, and raised our kids to do the same. That work ethic was modeled and we watched, and when we needed persuasion it was firmly applied.,
Nice post painter. It’s easy to make excuses for bad behavior. People like your father prove that we all have free will and can make good choices if we want to.
Let’s not forget the Shannon Grant was the brain child of the Bianchi/Mazzeo administration. In one breath both of them bragged about how well it was for our city youths in there campaign materials. Then in the next breath both exclaimed there was no problems with gangs in the city. We were smart enough to get rid of Bianchi; hopping we do the same with Mazzeo.
I’m with you Henry!
Billions went into the DARE program. Well intention ed but missed its mark.
Nancy Reagan’s body is barely cold and you are mocking her signature accomplishment?
Sorry, I should have done a temperature check before I mouthed off.
She IS still dead though, right? Just makin sure!
Gaetani was right that the city has to follow a 7/28% plan and the auditor that briefed the council substantiated this at the council meeting. It’s evident that the city is in dire financial shape and that we either have to raise taxes through the roof or cut the budget substantially. What do you think the council and mayor will ? Prepare to leave town soon, but don’t count on getting a good price for your home.
I was happy to hear him say that he’s a week or two away from getting his petition done. I can’t wait to cast my vote against the new THS and the school building needs committee. And while I’m on the subject why are there people on the SBNC who don’t live in Pittsfield. How the hell does someone from Hinsdale or Williamstown get to spend Pittsfield taxpayers money?
All you fools that hate Pittsfield so much, move to hell out, take TK, DV and CG with you all. Make me sick the way you all complain. Stop at the Boys Club or YMCA, see the great programs the kids enjoy. Never seen any-of you there.
Does your friend Red still work there?
KL, those places do great work. But there is non denying that the current of the underclass and the turned back of the schools on doing their job is demoralizing.
I am moving this year, not because the town where I may be buying is free of problems, but because the Town leaders in that town are doing their best to not let the backwards slide occur.
By the way, the taxes will be more, the services fewer, and I will again have a mortgage – but in the end, I will know that the schools are concentrating on the kids and despite the waste the services I receive will be better.
Congratulations! I envy those who can enact their escape plan.
Those are significant community assets. Pittsfield and the Berkshires are blessed to have them
If only they were smart enough to real realize what a big voting block they could be. Second only to the most dangerous gang of all-the schoolies
RE: Scanlon. Geez, let’s see, move to 100 north=1/2 million, ongoing contracts to stay there=another 1/2 mil, school budget up 2 million, that’s 3 million right there and halfway to our debt ceiling. Not lets see our proprieties values go down (which lowers the debt ceiling) plus post employment benny’s. Yeah, we re in trouble.
Lest we not forget the $150,000.00 gift to Mr. Monteroso or the needless $100,000.00 gift for a methadone clinic, 3 million dollars to pave the airport runway, 200 million for a new high school we don’t need.
The city on its knees begging the state for $95,000.00 when they wasted far more than that.
Did Mr Scanlon mention anything about giving tax breaks to millionaires who were going to build their business to Pittsfield anyway? Did he think maybe that was beyond STUPID?
It could me me, but why do I get the sense that the Mayor has no clue and that Kerwood,with the help of the former Councilman,will be crafting this one?
and if it is a good budget, showing cuts where appropriate, and keeps the tax burden stable or short of what it is this year – does in really matter who crafts it or how?
Perhaps they should let Mr Scanlon craft it. He may be the only one in town who knows a budget from a widget.
Wut’s appropriate?
Well, I would start with some basic cuts that affected the administration before direct staff, so Mercer before the
schools and City Hall before the guys doing the work. I would cut any position which was not there in admin 10 years ago – since the City likes using 10 year old data (as is evidenced by decisions related to the new THS).
I woulkd refuse to negotiate new contracts that did not:
1. Cap the City’s share of health insurance to 70% of the lowest cost plan offered.
2. Work weeks for all admin staff at City Hall and Mercer would be 40 hours and all employees hourly rates would be adjusted to reflect the same pay for the increased hours. Non-union jobs would ber adjusted automatically to this schedule.
3. GPS in all City owned vehicles – monitored by a paid third party to notify superiors when vehicles either idle more than a pre-set time or travel oputside of areas pre-set as routine. Flkags would also be set up for areas within 250′ of employee’s home address.
4. I would encourage the State to take over the schools. This would allow contracts to be ripperd up and processes to be examined by outside parties.
5. I would not agree to any new contract that did not take employees younger than 45 years old and who have been employed less than 11 years out of the retirement system and put them into a 403-B and Social Security/Medicare. In the private sector it’s called a cash balance conversion and it saves tremendous amounts.
6. I would not hire any new staff. Tasks would be privatized (eliminating long term costs). As folks retired the remaining staff would be retained in newly modeled jobs trhat perforemed core functions only. That means we’d be out of the bus company business, the snow plowing business, and maybe even the pot hole filling business.
7. If the FBO contract is not located, i would consider we are operasting without one and re-bid it. The new contract would be a flat fee paid to the City with the FBO able to collect all revenue, and also make any improvements required. If the City needed to apply for federal monies, they could do that, but the FVBO would pay what is nowe the “city” share. if no one bid, i’d close the place down.
that will surely attract the brightest candidates.
the folks on the job now are not always the best – but a 40 hour work week is pretty standard and the benefits I would offer are better than many private employers.
I suppose instead, we could just cut 12% of the staff – it would achieve the same thing. I’d rather work an extra hour a day for the same pay. if you drive down Fenn St at 4 PM, you have the same sensation as you do going by PHS in the afternoon – a rush of City Hall employees clamoring to get out. The traffic jam coming out of Mercer is similar to that as well.
Starting at 8 and staying til 4:30 would not kill one person that works for the City.
that time doesn’t benefit the working class that need city services. focus on fixing the city’s abysmal website and streamlining waste. fewer paper pushers. accept online payments and subsidize the processing costs with reduced hours.
I support this idea without reservation.
It doesn’t matter how much is saved or cut, the Schools always get theirs !
Cashmiano is a great choice to keep the needs intact.
Good Southeast that’s a start. here are a couple.Close one school ( elementary ) one fire station, pay per throw garbage and re-do the insurance split for employees.
Mi….They should close Allendale School just on principal. Against the Fire Cuts though. The Insurance idea Intriguing, don’t know, and the garbage, it would probably not work. We need to get out of the School Bus business though?
Get rid of RSVP and the Vet’s agent. Can’t they just contract that with soldier on?
Soldier On is a little shady to say the least……
Perhaps with the county shrinking the veterans agent could cover several towns but I don’t know how busy they are.
Do you even know what RSVP is? Their organization has nothing to do with veteran services
Don’t know about glorifying former Councilor Clairmont, who got waxed by Kristen Behnke, not once but twice. And now the Mayor is trying to match wits’ with the master, Kristen will have none of it. Clairmonts one percent gaffe, a correction by the outgoing Treasure to him on a figure during an interrogation of her,his being chastised by then Councilor Mazzeo and the quorum A G threat. Y Maz.
This years fuel costs wasn’t a savings per say, that was an act of God, concerning a statement tonight by Mrs. Behnke.
Everythiing has gone down at the S C Meeting tonight, yet they want a couple more mil?
I read all of the news articles about Scanlon’s audit of last fiscal year’s books for Pittsfield politics. It looks like the municipal government in Pittsfield is already at its levy ceiling, but for some reason the city can raise its future budgets by about $6 million due to excess capacity. Matt Kerwood is working on a budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2017, which begins on July 1st, 2016 and ends on June 30, 2017. If state aid keeps up with inflation, then Matt Kerwood knows how much money is needed for the new budget that begins in a little over 3 months from now. If he raises municipal taxes, the city will build cash reserves, but will have less excess capacity under Proposition 2 1/2. If he level funds, the city will have to cut services and spending. It is a Catch 22! Pittsfield politics finances are unsustainable and even wealthy communities could not keep up with Pittsfield politics financial management.
I must say, Lady Boots looked stunning tonight.
Yeah wrinkles are in fashion this year.
How about legislation to remove be the fuel tax to local units of government?