BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

BULLETIN! 4-20-16, 4:30 p.m. — Let THE PLANET break it here first. Something’s up at The Berkshire Eagle. Employees have been told to clean up their work areas and to report today for an 8:30 a.m. meeting with HR dressed up (coats and ties). At 9:15 a.m., the paper plans a formal press conference. Local press and big shots (politicians, morticians, etc.) have been invited. Sounds to us like The Boring Broadsheet has been sold. Will this mean better coverage for the area? Don’t count on it. That being said, our mind is open.

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY,  APRIL 21, 2016) — One of yesterday’s commentators (Gene) urged the School Building Needs Commission to directly address the three problem areas thus far unearthed, literally, at the building site of the new Taconic High School. Official information has been hard to come by, and after yesterday’s article, THE PLANET heard odd questions were asked of certain members of the construction crew, no doubt in an effort to uncover our sources. The effort was in vain, since as an experienced hand at this, we have covered our footprints – ingeniously, if we may be so bold as to say. THE PLANET can get information of this sort right under their noses.

Gene makes a great point. What exactly caused the sewer backup, and will taxpayers pay? How much of a problem is the ledge? Finally, what’s going in with PCBs? We obtained a small amount of new information that we pass along here. Also, know that THE PLANET only shares particulars that we judge to have a reasonable amount of credibility. We vet the information as best we can, and we dismiss far more that we use in stores such as this one.

Sewer Backup – This seems to have been an innocent mistake caused by operator error. It is not expected to add any cost due to the bonding of the company involved.

Ledge — It’s unknown how much of the rock crews have encountered, only to say much more than anticipated. How this affects construction and the budget is also at this point unknown.

PCBs — On-site sources tell THE PLANET that a couple of badly decomposed barrels were uncovered. Tests run on the material in and around the objects haven’t come back yet. The SBNC has confirmed the presence of  PCBs, as we reported yesterday, but other than a single, buried line item, the group has said nothing about this subject. Given the dirty business General Electric left behind in the city’s air, water, and soil, the SBNC has a fiduciary obligation as well as a moral duty to report on the extent of this issue ASAP. There must have been tests done on the site prior to groundbreaking. No committee would be so reckless of building before finding out the level of toxicity. What did the testing show? Does the uncovering of the “buried treasures” come as expected or unexpected? THE PLANET, on behalf of citizens, taxpayers, We The People, and Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski demand that the SBNC come clean. If the site is clean, say so, definitively. If there’s a pollution problem, identify its extent, specifically.

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More Budget Musings from the Mayor

Responding to a PLANET inquiry, Mayor Linda Tyer told us that the FY17 budget is moving along as planned. We asked her if she intended to cut funding for Downtown Pittsfield Inc., an idea long proposed but not acted upon.

“I cannot tell you, at this time, what I am going to do or not do with regard to Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. or parts of any other budget,” Tyer said. “Department heads are still in the process of preparing their proposed FY17 budgets.  Proposed budgets are due to me on April 29. Then, I will begin a review of all proposed budgets in the full context of how we best operate a municipal government.  It is premature for me to say what will be eliminated, cut, reduced, or reallocated.”

One thing THE PLANET likes is how Tyer has made the process more open: “I can tell you that the process of the internal budget deliberations will be a collaborative exercise rather than every department working inside of their own silos.  The idea is to seek opportunities for greater collaboration among departments and to look for strategic efficiencies.  Wish me luck!  If I may be philosophical for a moment,  believe a municipal budget is a policy document that establishes community priorities.  It is a fluid, dynamic document that will continue to be revised, reviewed, amended, and debated right up until the final vote of the city council.  I welcome your perspective and that of your readers as the budget process evolves.”

Finally, THE PLANET asked her about her “impossible” remark pertaining to cuts in the school department: “Regarding my use of the word ‘impossible’ –  the school department proposal that I was looking at eliminated a lot of positions.  I believe the negative impact of that particular proposal would be ‘impossible’ to absorb without affecting teaching and learning.”

This is a forthright response, although Tyer has again misread the school budget situation. She says she was “looking at a lot of eliminated positions.” She doesn’t say which ones, but the final line in the above quote gives the answer. The superintendent threatened to cut teachers, not administrators. Apparently, the mayor, no doubt with the “help” of the school committee, fell for the ruse.

Cut administrators in half, eliminate most of the paraprofessionals, and re-negotiate the health insurance split, and you can have your chalk and write with it, too. Taxpayers can save millions, and education will not suffer.

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“Can the ocean keep from rushing to the shore? It’s just impossible.” — Perry Como

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.