DOWNTOWN PARKING IS NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE BRAIN SURGERY OR ROCKET SCIENCE, BUT IN PITTSFIELD, IT IS AND HAS BEEN SO FOR DECADES
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION AUG. 12-14, 2016) — Going back to our days in talk radio, three topics always light up the lines: trash collection, cable TV service, and parking. Our column yesterday on Pittsfield’s latest attempt to address parking drew an unusually large number of hits. Based on this unscientific poll, Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski as well as North Street business owners are opposed to fee-based parking.
THE PLANET made the point that Pittsfield has enough spaces but lacks a unifying vision for parking that adequately balances the complementing needs of motorists, shop owners, downtown workers, the handicapped, and more. We proposed two solutions: first, fix the budget imbalance where the Pittsfield School Department hogs 75 cents of every municipal dollar. A more equitable split would send at least $10 million to the city-side operational budget. This would allow maintenance of parking garages and facilities devoted to public parking. Second, we proposed all-free parking for everyone. The problem of downtown workers parking in the best spaces could be easily solved with a sticker system.
Two of the best reactions to our column came from one of the principals mentioned in THE PLANET‘s story. One of this website’s most articulate readers and posters authored the second.
JESSE COOK-DUBIN, PRESIDENT, DOWNTOWN PITTSFIELD INC.
‘PLENTY OF ROOM FOR DEBATE’
I’m glad you are interested in downtown parking and raising awareness of what’s coming. I disagree with you on the merits of the parking plan – though I see plenty of room for debate in a number of aspects of it – but I agree with you that the public does not know this plan is in the works even though it is, as you say, more or less a done deal. (In my view that is not because of a conspiracy to make decisions without public input. Most people do not pay attention to what is going on at City Hall until it shows up on your blog or, sometimes, the front page of the Eagle. There have been years of public meetings, surveys, and City Council votes about the parking plan, many of them reported in the media, and none of them paid attention to by the public.)
I’d be glad to talk about this or any other downtown-related issue if you’re ever interested.
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THE PLANET RESPONDS: We never claim to have The Answers. Actually, we have the questions. We then offer commentary with the hope of stimulating a discussion. THE PLANET has no other agenda or “dog in the fight” but to see the city move forward, though many people have a hard time believing this. We spent our first 18 years in Pittsfield. When we moved back to The Berkshires in 1980, we set up shop (literally) in the downtown, first at Crawford Square (then the Elglo Mall) for four years followed by 24 years in the Shipton Building at 150 North. That’s 28 years of property taxes and more than 70 employees who spent a lot of money in downtown businesses. So you see, we DO have a love for Pittsfield.
——– 000 ——–
The second commentary came from Southeast, a regular PLANET contributor.
SMALL EXPECTATIONS
I understand the basic economics. Parking is a scarce resource. In fact, many spaces are occupied – and the parking Nazis – much as I hate them are there to mostly move along employees of downtown businesses who fail to buy the permits allowing them to park all day in a lot or garage.
But with that charge, I expect a few things in return:
1. A robust selection of businesses located in downtown to draw my business. Now the City is only marginally responsible for this and can only help by making downtown safe, convenient, etc.
2. I expect a well-lit, well-patrolled, and well-maintained downtown. I do not want to be harassed by pan handlers or kids on skateboards or bikes forcing me off the sidewalk.
3. In the winter, I expect snow cleared from the banks after every storm. Storm basins shoveled out so water will drain from the curbs, and well cleared and treated sidewalks.
4. I expect parking garages that are also safe, clean, well lit, patrolled, free from graffiti, drug activity, and prostitution activity. I expect the garage stairwells and elevators that don’t smell like urine.
If I could get that, I might not be happy – but I would see where my money went. Until I get that, I don’t see myself finding a spot, fighting wind and treacherous walking in the winter to go to a kiosk, wander back to my car, then go to my destination during the nearly six months of winter. And if I don’t need to go during those six months, it’s easy to avoid during the rest of the year, too, I suppose.
THE PLANET RESPONDS: Keen observations, SE. We also want to share a point made on Thursday’s PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION by Chris Connell. We asked CC if the city had the in-house resources to figure out parking. Connell answered with a point-blank “No.” THE PLANET finds that telling.
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THE PLANET thanks Cook-Dubin, Southeast, and all who contributed to this discussion. Another opportunity comes now. The Comment Line is open. Keep the discussions lively, sharp, and intelligent. Avoid ignorance, name calling, and that ilk.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
————————————————————————————————
“For I love you, O Eternity” — Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
“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.
This
If we had to hire a consultant to figure out how to park cars (after years and years of failed efforts) and then pay $500,000 for parking “kiosks” I don’t even want to think about the nightmare fixing the garbage problem we now have.
We already pay dearly through our property taxes and are probably going to ADD TO THAT by paying for bags. And anything you can’t fit into a bag will probably need to be taken to a transfer station with another hefty fee.
This city simply does not seem to have any home grown talent that can solve problems of any magnitude. No cognitive thinkers here on the city payroll. That is what nepotism does to a city. But I guess if you have any serious talent you are smart enough to stay away from Pittsfield government or the city altogether.
Perception is everything,when you drive through Stockbridge do you ever wonder why there are so many people walking around and there is nothing to see.
Even though Stockbridge has bottleneck traffic it is generally much easier to traverse than most any major road in Pittsfield during the day. Pittsfield is addicted to traffic lights but does not enforce the thousands of violations each and every single day. Does anyone know how many of the vehicle accidents in Pittsfield happen at traffic lights because they have become basically meaningless?
Stockbridge doesn’t have a one, not a one, traffic light! It has an iconic downtown immoratalized in the Rockwell painting. Lots of cool shops. Great food and drink. Brand new library. World-class atmosphere. Tanglewood. Gee wonder why it’s popular compared to downtown Pitts?
I do love Stockbridge, but it is a much wealthier area obviously than Pittsfield. Still, if you are downwind of Pittsfield on any given day, you could be receiving lots of contaminated material from the Taconic project.
I am planning a trip to Stockbridge to visit the new library. I love libraries in general, but new ones are especially fun to visit. With the interlibrary loan program, you can even borrow books from that library on the day of your visit and return them to the library in your city.
One reason Downtown Stockbridge is so busy is the post office. There is NO home delivery.
Really?
Has anyone heard the result of Gaetani’s Taconic lawsuit? Wasn’t that in court Wednesday?
thrown out. in today’s BE.
Yes the GOB’s are congratulating themselves in another victory over we the people after Gaetani’s defeat. As Taconic sits in a rubble pile of contamination and debris, they are partying down because we the people lost in our power struggle against our local government. As the schoolchildren head back to Taconic where piles of PCB contaminated material and GOD knows what else are thinly covered with tarp so that no doubt the whole mess is wind blown, as the schoolchildren face this mess, not a PEEP from the people in charge of pushing this project.
Call Erin Brockovich
is there proof that there is PCB? until then it seems like there is an agenda to discredit. If there is proof, show it and let’s move forward to what is the next step.
There is proof. It was even mentioned in an iberkshires article.
Gaetani should have known the GOB’s have the law in their pockets since we live in a banana republic city. They have done nothing but try to bring Gaetani down after he dared to challenge them on anything. Nothing has changed in this city. Just as Jonathan Melle writes in his blog of what what done to him many years ago in this city, they are doing the same to Gaetani many years later. We all need to face the fact that there are just some really nasty people in charge in this city. I’m not saying this is Linda Tyer, but I am saying that it is the people behind the scenes pulling the strings who are the nasty ones.
Are you really serious??? That Gaetani lawsuit may have been the most ridiculous thing seen in a court of law since the McDonalds hot coffee lawsuit.
His intention was certainly in the right place which was to right a wrong against the citizens of this city. I personally think he should have made his suit about the citizens being denied a vote on the project. I think this might have had a better chance in the courts.
Thank you, Pat, with citing my writings in my blog about what was done to me many years ago in this city of Pittsfield (politics). I never wanted to be a target of political persecution. I live in southern NH now. I survived it. My family is doing well, too. I believe in forgiveness and seek forgiveness for those who wronged me and those whom I wronged in my life. I wish I never was born and grew up in Pittsfield, but my native hometown community is a big part of my life. I agree with what you are writing about. Indeed, there are some really nasty people in charge of Pittsfield politics. There are people behind the scenes pulling the strings who are the nasty ones!
I saw Connell on Dan’s show say that when the bonds for THS come due Pittsfield will have a problem. Then why the FLICK did he vote for it?
The unfortunate problem Pat is that lawsuits need to have a base in law. Gaetani’s suit had no basis or grounding in any law whatsoever. Unfortunately, everything that’s been done on the THS project has been done by the law as it existed. While there may have been powers aligned against him, he did not lose, or more realistically, get tossed our on his ear, because of any secret GOB network. His case had no grounds.
So far the powers that be have protected themselves as they always do, but people should complain LOUDLY about kids being exposed to all of the released contaminants in that area when they go to school in just a few weeks. They will try to sugar coat that issue and may be able to get away with it as the health effects from exposure to those contaminants may not show up for years.
The more lights and stop signs the city installs the worse the traffic problems are. For some reason the city creates problems where there are none. Trying to get around this city is ridiculous.
I always get upset when I hear Pittsfield politicians or GOB’s say that these talks on whatever issue have been in the works for years. Why didn’t citizens raise their objections then? First of all, would the politicians and GOB’s even care what the citizens want even if we attended meetings and raised objections? Just as with the Taconic project, the public raised a firestorm of objections months before the final vote, but we were ignored.
Secondly, in case the politicians haven’t noticed, this is a poor city with many people working around the clock to make ends meet. I think politicians do realize how overworked the citizens in this city are (the ones who can find work that is) and they take full advantage of that fact. They know we don’t have the leisure time to attend these meetings. Unlike the GOB’s in the city who have nothing but free time and if they don’t have it they make it. This is what self important people do. They get involved in politics usually to help themselves since they have a lot of free time (school employees for example), they take time off for golf on any nice day they feel like it, the school unions give them lots of perks out of taxpayer money, you get the picture.
Just as with the Taconic vote, they dared us in the middle of a frigid winter to stand outside supermarkets and collect signatures to overturn the decision to build a new Taconic. They knew they had the citizens against the project in a corner. They denied us a vote and they knew it would be an uphill battle to overturn their decision. We need government, local and federal, back in the hands of the people. That is my number one concern. If we get back the power, we can again be in charge of making the decisions.
Really?
Pat, now you are just making stuff up. The only place there was opposition to the Taconic project was on this site. I went to many meetings and only people in support showed up. If you were active in the community instead of just here, maybe your voice would have been heard.
This idea of no one would listen is just cover for people not getting their lazy asses off the couch and making their opinions heard.
Did I like Taconic, no! But I wrote the councilors and Mayor and told them.
There was a process to over turn the project. No one tried.
This winter was pretty mild. If you objected so strongly, you should have worked it. It happened with the Civic Authority, so it can and was done.
Fact is, we all were either too lazy, or didn’t care that much. Anything else is pure bull.
So not true. Many on this board didn’t just write about it, we took action. Pretty mild winter that year? Not at all. Myself and many others not just on this board bombarded our ward reps letting them know our STRONG opposition to the project. No, there were just too many school personnel in favor of the project. That was the problem. Now the city has a real mess on its hands and we are only hearing the tip of the iceberg of the problems thanks to Dan V.
My wife and I can’t go to the endless meetings about all the crap that goes on. However, we do contact our councilman and voice our opinion as how we would like our vote to go. This process is useless!!! We voiced our opinion that Stanley does not deserve a tax break, we voiced our opinion that we did NOT want a new high school, we filled out a survey about parking, we begged for road improvement. I am sick of city government, to much corruption, thats why my street is plowed with a half ton pick up truck when the city contract specifies three quarter ton trucks are the minimum requirements.
Don’t call to complain as the answering machine is full.
This is why voting is so important. Most of us may not be able to attend the endless meetings, but showing up to vote is easy to do for people who want to make decisions on the issues, but first this city has to give us the opportunity to vote. That’s the problem because as with the Taconic issue, they didn’t allow us that opportunity. We can read what was said at the meetings or listen to it on television. People are just too busy nowadays to attend all of these meetings.
Really?
Who decides what issues go to a vote and which ones don’t? How often do we hold these elections? How much notice is given before each election?
Most importantly, how much do these elections cost? We all know that no one on this site wants to pay for them, including me. Paying for them would be a whole new bitch. Since the city is out of money every new election would require an existing service to be dropped. I know, take it from the schools.
We elect the Mayor and the council to make these decisions for us. If you don’t like their decisions run for office yourself. You don’t have time you say? really? Most of the complainers have plenty of time to spend on this site bitching. Put your time to better use.
Wrong again. We can do this from work. Traveling to the meetings all of the time is not an option for most people.
Sounds like you’re Councilor is Tell Lies Tully
It aim’t gonna happen, pay your taxes and shush up. Mayor’s got a four year deal and voters will oblige the current Cipouncil with the perception they do a good job.
BREAKING NEWS
If you have not read today’s Eagle you missed the story about a rubber duck that was missing and is now found. Also, next years Boston Celtics schedule is there.
Pittsfield had 2 high schools for the babyboom …there were 3300 kids at phs and enen then there was opposition to a new taconic.Now we have 1600 kids in high school……We need to get rid of Allendale….crosby….Phs now that Amuso Yon Pat Bouvier and Masimiano Mazzeo want a new Taconic
We should all be on board for a new school that houses the students from both high schools. I can’t understand the logic in keeping both running unless it would somehow be a funding loss from the state and a net loss for the city.
Does Mazzeo have kids in the Pittsfield schools
Do any councilors have children or grand children in Pittsfield schools? Will any of them send their kids to the new Taconic that they praised so highly?
Where does Mr Krol sends his kids?
pre school age
Miss Hall’s is in Pittsfield
Really?
Mazzeo and Morandi send their kids elsewhere. That is what really burns my back side.
The only two councilors with kids of school age and they both ship them out. Is that supposed inspire confidence in the rest of us?
And most of the teachers and other school connected employees send their kids away from what they know to be a messy, inefficient school system.
Why? Because they love them and do not want to handicap them with a Pittsfield school system education or lack there of. Would they lie and tell you a different story? Oh yeah.
The way TFB did. She and her supporters gush over building a new unnecessary high school on land polluted with insutrial toxins but when it came time she sent her kids to Lenox for schools. What a hypocrite.
Solution for PITTSfield
Two Neutron Bombs. One for the GE/PEDA site the other for North Street and City Hall (with all elected officials).
Start fresh. No more asslicking politicians and vaporize the PCBs
Whoops! Lenox how are you with nuking woods pond too?
A high school education at a Pittsfield school is equal to a 6th grade education elsewhere.
The only kids that excel in Pittsfield are the ones that can educate themselves.
How about free parking from 8am to 5pm with limits of 45min , 1hr or 90min. so shop owners can compete with other shopping areas. Dedicate spaces for businesses to purchase for their employees and use the Kiosks from 5pm on when the nightlife and theatre goers hit downtown Pittsfield.
Did the city pay for the kiosks out of taxpayer money or borrow it to be paid down the road with interest? Did the half million bucks cover the installation? Are these WIFI or do we need to dig up the road and sidewalks again to wire them? Can Snidely the teenage hacker hack them? Will they be high enough not to get covered with plowed snow? Is all this in the consultants report if there even was one?
They are solar
Awesome. So is parking free on cloudy days?
Is it true that all the premium parking is going to be in front of the Beacon theater because of the fancy new seats?
Not having your children in pittsfield schools means you should resign.The hypocrisy in this town is overwhelming.
Free Parking from 8 to 5 then lock the entire City,…..gate it.. until 6 a m
Have armed guards stationed at South and West Housy and North at Wahconah.
Lol…to keep people out…or keep them from escaping?
I like it H.
The city leaders of the 60’s and 70’s started the demise of North St when they started to plan sprawl…to get the congestion away from the center of the city. This is when the shopping plazas off of North St started to pop up. Parking should be charged during the day and then free at night. Maybe the stores then could be open noon to 9 so the working class could shop there and it would keep the workers of North St parking in the parking lots.
I can’t name one store on North Street that attracts shoppers.
Except Carr Hardware, of course.!!!
I disagree with people saying the people did not speak. Remember it took the school needs committee over 10 years to present the Taconic project because the powers to be knew the people were against it. They had to figure a way they could get it pushed through without a vote from the citizenry.
Pittsfield Citizens overwhelmingly voted for a Mall on North Street ……. and the Politicians in power sent Pittsfield packing……..to this day…..the total destruction of democracy in Pittsfield.
Amuso was the main culprit with the schools and Farley was close behind, there were others.
August 12, 2016
Re: Francis Spina is pro death penalty
The Berkshire Eagle’s news articles today on retiring Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Judge Francis Spina left out the biggest piece of information. When the late Paul Cellucci ran for Governor in 1998, one of his positions was to bring back the death penalty to Massachusetts courts. Judge Francis Spina was pro death penalty. Gov. Cellucci appointed Judge Spina to the SJC for his pro death penalty stance in criminal justice law.
How could the Eagle omit this important point?
I am sure Francis Spina was an excellent Judge and his legal career is admirable.
– Jonathan Melle
Fight the good fights!
That’s a big ten fo Jon.
REEECEEEVED.
I started to watch Bill Sturgeon at 11 PM but I had to shut it off when I saw that his guest was that hack Bouvier. Mr. Sturgeon, do you have to have low quality hacks like this on your show?
I agree. I wouldn’t listen to it on the radio when it aired the other day. I know all I need to know about TFB and how she hasn’t done anything for this area.
Its not so much he has them on his show, its that with guests like Farley B he is too scared of his position with the establishment to ask any meaningful Qs. His fawning is embarrassing.
The school committee would like to thank Joe Curtis and Kristen Behnke and Kathy Yon in our efforts to get PCBs in all our schools by 2020….Joe Curtis was looking for a project and this is great for him.
Patty Bouvier has already lost and she knows it as she desperately driving around ward 4….she like Mazzeo sent her kids to be educated in other places.She like Mazzeo does not believe in the very thing you believe in …..I will not give her another vote….I will not give Mazzeo another vote….WHEN was a failed effort to elect women who dont believe in Pittsfield….Patty wants to follow Hillary…let her go.
Bouvier and Hinds in landslides.
You are obviously a Pittsfield school employee. Only Pittsfield school employees are big fans of TFB since all she ever did was push more and more money toward the school system.
Really?
I was just calling the elections, not endorsing.
I don’t like TFB and Hinds is just politicall connected.
So, you won’t be voting for anyone?
Really?
I’ll probably vote for TFB and Harrington.
While I don’t like TFB and she hasn’t brought back any money, she is better than Bloomberg and Connell.
You would think that a group of parents who have children attending Taconic next year would put together a citizen’s petition asking the board of health to go on record saying the conditions at the construction will not pose a danger to the incoming students.They have no problem saying second hand smoke is bad, how about inhaling what is in those piles? It would be telling if they danced around the issue.
For one thing unless they read this site they may not realize how bad it is. There was one article in iberkshires about the problem. The Berkshire Eagle isn’t going out of its way to warn the public since they have their own agenda and its not protecting poor children from dangerous industrial toxins. Many of the kids attending the school are from poor families since all the people with some money send their kids out of the Pittsfield School System to get them a superior education. The kids attending the school do not have politically active parents who are used to standing up to the powers that be.
I agree this situation seems a lot more important than second hand smoke. The Health Department should be all over this. Shows how they pick and choose the issues they will promote.
I drove by there Thursday and it was pretty dusty. I shut off my ac because I didn’t want to get it into the car.
I drive by there all the time. It looks bad, it looks dangerous. Is the lack of concern because it will be poor school children who will be put into this dangerous situation with industrial toxins? Why isn’t the Board of Health all over this story? This is even worse than second hand smoke. It just shows how they pick and choose the issues they will promote.
The Berkshire Eagle was all over the circus animal abuse story, but they choose to bury a serious issue of school children who will be attending a school in a few weeks with industrial toxins all over the place thinly covered by tarp.
And the Eagle was all over the lost rubber duck story as well. Great story, great coverage, great news paper. Ya can’t take it away from em this time.
TFB/PCB
There is no doubt that the mess uncovered at THS is a hazard to all, and yet we don’t hear a word of concern from any elected officials, teacher’s union, SD, parents of THS students, the Eagle….not a soul! And forget the BOH….they are useless!
I feel like I am watching a horror movie!
First time comment for me.
Someone referred to Mr. Valenti’s article on the toxins. I find it shocking but not as shocking as the failure of officials, whom I know read this site, to comment of acknowledge.
Mayor Tyer, any School Committee member, and Council member: Please express your concern. Let us know what is going on at Taconic High School. I have a daughter entering this year.
This is my second time trying to contact the mayor, Ms. Yon of SC, and Mr. Marchetti of council. Heard nothing back.
All school personnel are still vacationing either at Cape Cod or some other area only they can afford. They are not on top of this story and could care less. Their children will not be attending Taconic or any Pittsfield school for that matter.
This City is without a doubt in a big need of intervention. There is absolutely no-one…Not One…. who is capable of making the right decisions… and getting it done. As I have said, we have paid taxes for years and years, and have Nothing to show for it. There is zero success here. It is criminal.
I understand the the mayor not wanting to stir the pot of Taconic toxins any more than they have already been. But she might want to come out with a statement since she did run for and get elected mayor.
And since we are going to have a new school and the old team name is Braves which offends the politically correct folk let us now have a contest to come up with a new name.
And I will go with the Taconic Toxins as it has a catchy ring. The mascot could dress as a barrel with the letters PCBs on it.
Pittsdield New Moniker. Barreels of Fun.
Can A FOIA request be filed about the toxins at THS?
The first question one has to ask is why was Taconic chosen as the site? Could it have been chosen as a method to skirt the law? There is some wiggle room in the methodology. 603 CMR 38.00:
School Construction Is clear in both its scope and definitions. If one was to exam 38.04: Site Standards: Capital Construction one could read the subsection denoted as (6) Included here for your reading and contemplating pleasure.
(6) Any proposed site not currently in use for educational purposes shall undergo an environmental site assessment conforming to ASTM Phase I standards. This study shall also assess environmental conditions in the immediate vicinity of the proposed site which could impact the health and safety of students and school staff. A Phase II assessment shall also be completed if needed, based on the results of the Phase I assessment. The applicant shall make the results of such assessments available for public review, and shall provide a reasonable opportunity for public comment thereon. The applicant shall submit the results of such assessments, and a summary of the public comments, to the Department prior to the Commissioner’s preliminary determination pursuant to 603 CMR 38.10(4).
Does anyone recall an ASTM Phase 1 study being completed? Or was the SBNC of the ilk one need not be performed since the site could be considered a site currently used for educational purposes?
Or was one performed and we could find it included with the construction documents? There must be a remediation and site monitoring plan submitted as well then School Committee can we have a look?
Take a read at the link provided for more information
http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr38.html?section=all
Just sayin
All this legal Mumbo Jumbo and fancy rules and laws. Of course they picked a site with a school to avoid running the project through MEPA.
The School Committee told pittsfield that Taconic is the new economic engine for the berkshires..as soon as we broke ground Walmart wanted to Super Walmart the hood.
PEDA’s successful and productive full time executive director, Corey Thurston is suing Verizon for half a mil $ as president and owner of North Adams Tower Corp. Which job is really full time ?
This guy has been flying under the radar too long.
John Kroll knows Allendale school sits on not near but on top of GEs toxic swamp now known as Allendale school.He like Tricia Bouvier Mazzeo Yon and Amuso Taylor Behnke Curtis Mccandless also no about Allendale kids sitting and breathing at this site 35 hours a week.The union president Sheran also knows that his Teachers union members work there 45 hours a week .
The school system in Pittsfied needs qualified people to take charge.They deny everything.The natural bowl surrounding Allendale was described as Love canal like so similar that the mother who started her very own love canal investigation said as she walked that neighborhood.
45 hours a week? Not!
Vote against the Community Preservation Tax. There is a whole article about it in iberkshires. It’s just another TAX. All the theater people are for it as it could help the arts. Just more taxes for we the citizens. It will do nothing to help most of us. Just the price of a pizza they say in the article. Did we ever get rid of the meals tax which they promised was just temporary? No, they raised it. We are being taxed to death by these progressives and we have NOTHING to show for it. It just gives more power to government.
We are gearing up to shoot down a tax override. Why would we vote for another tax of any kind. NO to all taxes new and old. If and when, city officials make an effort to cut wasteful spending and handouts I will consider voting for another tax. But the people in charge are collectively clueless on how to manage a budget. I do not even see a serious effort. I see a bunch of smiley faced officials who have neither the will nor the desire to take any load off the taxpayers.
In the meantime, whether it is a good cause or not, my answer is no. Actually it is HELL NO!
But will all of the school employees feel the same? They make up the majority of voters in this city, they and their friends and relatives. Tax increases are nothing to them since they earn so much money thanks to we taxpayers.
I am against TOTALLY AGAINST this Community preservation tax. NO MORE TAXES. This might make the difference in my being able to pay my mortgage ($924 a month) or losing my home.
Mayor Tyer, Council members, please please hear me. I am literally down to the penny at the end of the month trying to stay afloat in Pittsfield. Do not inact this tax. I beg you.
I think they have selective hearing. If you were a circus animal you might get their full attention. But you, unfortunately, are at the bottom of the food chain, a taxpayer.
NO SOUP FOR YOU!!
You could work more instead of whining. If you aren’t responsible enough to pay your taxes, maybe you shouldn’t own a home.
Sorry Shakes…did not mean to wake you up. Are you having any luck with the new and improved Recti-cream? Try it for a few more days and if things aren’t better back there you may have to go for the surgery after all.
I don’t know what your Creepy fascination is with my hind parts. I don’t know whether to be frightened or flattered.
Can’t be done. I work two jobs as it is. So does my husband. Then taking care of the kids, making meals. Your judgement of me says everything about you.
You tell us. Since your head is up there you have the best view.
If you and your husband both work more than full time I imagine there is more to the story than needs discussion on this blog. however, I choose not to own a home, and I also work as much as 90 hours a week wheel raising children. I apologize for my flippant response.
Thank you for your apology. It means a lot.
Tyer taught everyone who has no spare change a good lession….those with the means will vote for more taxes.
The reps can be anybody because no matter who they are they have not brought 1 job to this area.Pittsfield is how you get elected and that is all….Bouvier s entire self worth is in politics…shes hooked send her packing …it just does not mattet…I thought Mazzeo would matter…nope….Tyer would matter…nope….Kroll would matter …nope….We are drowning and they dont care.
Pittsfield = poverty and poison.Bouvier Tyer Mazzeo see poverty and poison but have means.
I will not vote for people who wont fully participate in what taxpayer pay for.I want to hear candidates declare where their children and grandchildren go to school.I also believe Marchetti and White should tell people publicly that they no longer live in the drug store called Tyler street.These guys know Tyer street hood is a lost cause but want you to shop there.They dont want their kids to go to Allendale school…..That neighborhood has nice homes for cheap because who wants to live there if you have half a brain you dont want children spending 6 years on top of the dump.
Pittsfield is stuck with PCBs but we are not stuck keeping Allendale school open .This should never open again as a safe enviroment for learning….Mr mccandless should have Joe Curtis move his office there…they know better.Word is Joe spent alot of taxpayer cash for new tvs in his office…word is about 50k
R EC E I V E D T A N F O. R E C E I V E. T A N F O
REEECEEEEEVED. I lol