OFF KEY, DEEP SEATED, AND ‘NO EXTRA COST’: A WEEKEND REVERIE
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION, JAN. 12-14, 2018) — Have cities lost their mind, or is it just that satire is no longer possible?
OFF KEY — Topping the list is The Tyer’s Administration‘s latest thrust into public art. The Artscape program plans to place pianos throughout the city. Sheep dip gave way to baseball gloves to painted utility boxes. Now it will be pianos. Artscape boasts the ivories will serve as “visual art” and “hands-on” for citizens to make music. How many of the city’s many drunks, dope addicts, gang members, and welfare cheats do you think can play Rachmaninov‘s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” by ear? The city is open to suggestions for where to place the pianos. THE PLANET thinks one should go under one of the windows of the mayor’s office, where a mechanical roller will play an endless loop of “Chopsticks.”
DEEP SEATED — You missed it, but our spies were there. When the mayor, John Krol, and other factotums attended the most ridiculous ribbon-cuttin since Tyler Street Trashcans, this at the Beacon Cinema for the new Lay-Z-Person seats, they brought the flick house’s former manager out of the broom closet. He told the choir, “Eight years ago when we opened, everyone raved about our seats, but things change.” Krol made like the Keebler parrot: “Times change, the market changes.” All this to justify the taxpayers’ footing of the private company’s cost for the new fat-bottoms loungers. The mayor (stop us if you’ve heard this one before) spun a tale about the Beacon’s “massive impact” on downtown, claiming preposterously that the Beacon caused market-rate housing, such that “People are living here now.” There hasn’t been this much fuss over chairs since Sing Sing electrified its throne. When one considers the many deep-seated problems affecting the city right now, to hear it’s ” leadership” waste its time on minutiae makes one long for the good old days of … Dan Bianchi.
FREE WITH COST — As THE PLANET reported earlier, the new city tax bills, reformatted so they could squeeze in all the extra numerals, were mailed the last week in December. Don’t you love how the crooks wait until well after November before they send you your condemnation? When finance director Matt “Kufflinks” Kerwood gave his briefing at city hall, he claimed that the updates were done at no extra cost to taxpayers. He said they were part of the city’s contract with the vendor that oversees the tax bills. Do you see the disconnect here? Look at Kufflinks’ statement: 1.) The new design brought on no “extra charges.” 2.) The statements are handled under contract “with a vendor.” 3.) The admission that the city farms out at least the processing charges generated by the bills. Kufflinks must have been out buying bow ties the day they taught logic at school. By definition, there CAN BE NO EXTRA CHARGES if costs are built into an existing vendor pact. It’s more fancy time-stepping by the abacus master. And you wonder why there’s a tendency to doubt statements coming from the treasurer’s office or the corner office.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
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“We still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every crevice and corner” — Thomas Paine.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
The Usual Disclaimer.
I think funding should be immediately revoked for Artscape. Dan you are right on target with Kufflinks – “figures lie & liars figure.” I wish our city councilors would grow spines & stop giving our taxpayer dollars to private business ventures like the Beacon.
Who’s idea was this art stuff on cans and boxes?
Economic Growth in Pittsfield?:
A: The Underclass, welfare caseloads, teen pregnancies, unemployment, low-income jobs, a dead Berkshire Mall, a dangerous downtown, a polluted, empty PEDA, political hacks, vested and special interests, etc.
At least Linda is lovely!
Our “shop until you drop” QVC mayor must stay up nights looking through catalogs looking for things to spend tax payer money on. I actually know people who have uncontrollable urges to spend money. It is a real thing. They are in the category of hoarders and it is almost impossible to change their habits. I think what Pittsfield needs a a visit from Dr. Phil.
CALLING DR PHIL……DR PHIL
Doctor Phil has no credibility, he cheated on his wife.
Really he cheated on his wife? And so that disqualifies him from this situation why?
Nepotism?
That would disqualify a lot of people, and by default their mistresses too. We need to refill half of city hall and the entire police force from the top down
ummmm…anyone else in City Hall cheat on their spouse ?
From iBerkshires this unbelievable story. The principal is trying to figure out how to use the new $121 Million Taconic High School when it opens this fall. That cafeteria is too small, so there will have to be at least one extra lunch period, which means revamping the academics schedule. They still don’t know if the pods will be populated by subject or grades. Same thing for the faculty meeting rooms. Does that really matter? Will they use their break time to talk shop or look at their phones? Plus they still are picking out furniture!
http://www.iberkshires.com/story/56396/Taconic-Principal-Plotting-Use-Scheduling-of-New-High-School.html
“It is tricky to accommodate a large number of students with the number of various programs we offer,” he said.
Why weren’t all of these concerns brought up during the design phase?
On the plus side… “School Committee member Cynthia Taylor said it is already an exciting time. She said every Taconic staff member she’s spoken to has raved about moving to the new school.” Why wouldn’t they be? Ridiculous.
I think we should rename Taconic as Lenox North, then maybe all the students who opted out will return and we can build another new school. We could also change the controversial mascot from The Braves to The 121 Millionaires!
Doctor (MD) Taylor’s wife is well healed and out of touch with reality, This is especially the case with the average tax payer who
is bearing the financial brunt of her La-La land fantasies.
How can this be with geniuses like Bouvier, Dews and Amuso on the building needs committee?
wide seats narrow selection
What’s going on over at the Springside Pond hole?
Tyer and Marchetti should resign.
But without the lovely Linda Tyer and her sidekick Peter Marchetti, Pittsfield politics wouldn’t be as fun to read about!
Plus, who would or could replace the lovely Linda?
There is a ton of flooding around today, where are the emergency response phone calls?
Horrible flooding on my street that they finally stopped after several hours, but not before I took the rest of the afternoon off from work because I wasn’t sure I would be able to get back on my street later in the day.
damn progressive rain
Lovely Linda is really Jim Ruberto in drag….he still calls the shots.
Jimmy Ruberto lives in Naples, Florida. I never understood why he was the mayor for 8 long years when he really lived in Naples, FL.
Do you remember when Nuciforo swore in Jimmy Ruberto 10 years ago? Those were the Good Old Boys.
Trump should be taken out out the white house and sent to florida to conduct his agenda from there with a confederate flag.
Trump is a businessman first School Committee and a politician second. This is why he was elected. People are SICK of politicians. Politicians who say pretty things but do nothing. I have worked around a lot of businessmen and businesswomen. Believe me, the language isn’t for the faint of heart. So, if you are referring to Trump’s comment which, by the way, he thought was behind closed doors, it is right in keeping with the way many business people speak.
Youcould not be more wrong Pat. “I haveworked around a lot of businessmen?” Really?!? Language cancertainlg get salty, but the President of the United States should never denigrate entire continents by calling them shitholes. That is irresponsible and shows, once and forall, that we have a real, live racist in thewhite house. His venom and bile isalwaysracially motivated and has beensince his father got caught not renting to minorities back in the 70s and he backed the policy.
Liberals always have to go for the labels of racist or misogynist when describing their enemies. President Trump was obviously referring to the policies of these countries that create horrible living conditions for their citizens so much so that people only want to leave those countries. The people are generally very uneducated when they come here and need lots of public assistance because their countries are such terrible places to live. The term sh**hole was obviously not referring to race, but to countries that do NOT take care of their own people which is why there is a mass exodus of people from such countries. Liberals know this but prefer to take every opportunity to Trump bash.
I am ready from your comment Pat that Haiti should really get it together after huge weather devastation. What is wrong with these stupid people. Trump is a racist. It’s just that simple. Pretty sure that his core is racist too.
Do I hafta explain racism to you Pat? Racism is, among lots of other things, making broad generalizations about people…and places…based on race. People from “those countries” are not necessarily uneducated. Ever talk to a NYC cab driver, holding down 3 jobs usually, who was a doctor in Haiti? Or Nigeria? I am not calling his statement racist, although it is, I am calling the man a racist because he has an ongoing pattern over decades of saying and doing racist things.
Honestly Pat, I feel bad for people who want Conservative policies…policies you can debate, civilly, all day long. Trump has put you in the position of defending really the indefensible.
Look it’s everyones favorite thief posting as Mr G. We all know
Due to the President Trump tax plan, Walmart has increased hourly wages and many companies are giving generous bonuses to their employees. The stock market is booming, but the major liberal biased media prefers to spend the majority of its time putting down Trump for something he said during a closed meeting. Little mention of the good things that are happening. Even Hillary had to get in a jab at Trump because she just loves it when the liberal media goes after him.
Wal Mart just announced a Major layoff Pat.
That’s normal after the holiday season for any retail, but the employees who remain will earn more. It’s a start.
This is why Trump was elected. He is a businessman first and with the dire economic times this country is experiencing, we need a businessman instead of a politician. Just look at Berkshire County which has never seen worse times in many years. Stores and businesses leaving. Soon to be a ghost town. It all started during the Obama years and even before as soon as Progressives took over the area.
The Berkshire County economy is one of the most economically unequal areas of the country! If you live in Pittsfield, you are either loaded or on the dole. If you have a living wage job, you are connected to the Good Old Boys network.
Thousands of people have moved away from Pittsfield over the past decade. Many jobs and companies have been lost, too.
PEDA is turning 20 years old this summer with 0 private tenants!
And Pat I agree with you that all this stuff on the news about Trump and porn star Stormy Daniels is just locker room talk. He is too nice a guy to cheat on his wife with a porn star less than a year after marrying her. Fake news again. Betcha is was Hillary that banged the porn star. Or that other guy who was president.
Hillary has enough on her own plate to worry about. If Hillary was elected, the liberal media would have had a love fest and we would have heard nothing negative about her. Anything bad would have been buried just like they did during the campaign, but if elected it would have been just like the Obama years. “We have a woman as president and she can do no wrong because she is a woman” would have been the rallying cry from the liberal media. If you dare to criticize her it’s only because you obviously hate all women.
Donald Trump was elected President Not dopey business guy of the month,Walmart 20 year employess got 1k ….meaning managers….Walmart announced the closing of Sam club store after throwing a buck at the employees…PR
Over on topix, someone posted that I am close to crossing the line with my affirming comments towards Mayor Linda Tyer. To be clear, I support the lovely Linda in government. She is intelligent and I believe she fights the good fights for Pittsfield. I don’t agree with all of her decisions as Mayor of Pittsfield. I am not in love with the lovely Linda. I know she has a boyfriend named Barry Clairmont.
– Jonathan Melle
Fight the good fight, that’s a good one, if you’re fighting for something. What does housing,trash cans and bad lighting have in common? Answer; Tyler Street.
At least she is not part of the G.O.B.’s inbred, interrelated, multigenerational political hacks that drove Pittsfield into the proverbial ditch!
You are. Is informed, look at her entourage,
Shes Rubertos guy Jonathan
I dislike Jimmy Ruberto because he is a Good Old Boy political hack. Prior to be anointed Mayor for 8 years, Jimmy Ruberto said he was going to change Pittsfield politics from its insider and provincial mentality. He bald-faced lied! Jimmy Ruberto was the King of the G.O.B.! It was Pittsfield politics at is old worst. Ruberto spent over $2 million from GE’s economic fund on downtown Pittsfield projects. No new living wage jobs were created! He bet it all on North Street, and he lost big! During the Ruberto regime, thousands of people moved away and many jobs were lost. He hiked taxes and debts to unsustainable levels. The weirdest part of the Ruberto regime was his so-called “rolodex” of business contacts. What a whopper! The day I grew up was when my eyes were opened by Jimmy Ruberto’s failures and lies. Oh yeah, let us not forget his letter to the Eagle supporting the sale of the Berkshire Museum’s 40 art pieces!
North street is a big success,you can go back to Maggie Mailor and there were empty storefronts everywhere.Pittsfield Is very attractive from Country club right past BMC.Its a great looking city.I would now concentrate on 1st street with the common looking fantastic and cumberland farms with a big bright inviting retail location.I would light up that street from there to tyler.Trim the Trees ,new sidewalks,new lights.Need a parking garage on Melvil street.
Where are the jobs?the hell with cumby’s.
North street looks nice and very well should with a half billion dollars poured into it. Unfortunately the roads in most of the rest of the city are going to hell in a hand basket. And this is what happens when special interests dictate where taxpayer money is spent. And special interests do not generally care about roads unless it is their own or they are the ones getting paid to pave them.
How many city vehicles do we have now bumping and banging along the porous roadways eating up maintenance time and money?
Can anybody spell c l u e l e s s ?
All city vehicles are suvs at 65k ,Downtown looks fantastic to Wahconah .The state invest Billions into Boston and cleaning up mainstreets is nothing compared to what Boston gets.
Taxfield is a city of haves and have nots.The haves are the Mayor and councilors,School committee and schools.
The haves spend and the have nots will pay taxes for Taxfield.The haves send their children to Wahconah,and Lenox to play sports because they are not good enough to make teams in Pittsfield.The have nots are more competitive and athletic.Dalton is one ugly town and Lenox is like Peyton Place soap opera with lazy ass school teachers in the high school.
Anyone know what restaurant will be taking the place of Old Country Buffet??
http://www.iberkshires.com/story/56402/Old-Country-Buffet-Expected-To-Be-Razed-To-Make-Way-For-New-Restaurant.html
The Bouvier Buffet will open soon but the prices were given a 40% raise.
Here’s a great summary of the Fusion GPS hoax. The only fact I would add is that the fake dossier was handed off to the FBI by an associate of corrupt John McCain. McCain needs to retire.
https://howiecarrshow.com/2018/01/12/clintons-dodgy-dossier-is-way-worse-than-watergate/
Wow. That explains really clearly what was going on and I agree it’s worse than Watergate.
Heck yah…Howie Carr would not make stuff up. He is like a stable genius for Gods sake.
New country buffet.
The liberal media trying to find some way to blame Trump for the false balistic missile alarm in Hawaii. Never mind that the Hawaiian people in charge admit they hit the wrong button. It won’t happen again they kept repeating. Thank God they didn’t have their fingers near a nuclear launch button. Millions of people were terrified. How many people had heart attacks from fear or suffered all kinds of panic attacks? A really tragic situation since it took so long to notify people that it was a false alarm. Don’t worry the liberal medial will find a way to blame Trump instead of getting to the bottom of what really happened.
you could start a blog all your own
I heard a progressive dressed up with a Hillary mask and a pair of Obamas shoes pushed a button and caused all the chaos.
The Artscape Piano Program might work in other cities but when Pittsfield can’t take care of it’s public murals the piano’s will get trashed here…Will the piano’s be lighted at night ? Waste of money
Bud lite owes me royalties dilly dilly commercials. pats win big.
Titans have zero offense tonight.
Pianos in the summer months only I ass – ume? This idea originally invented ? In England somewhere because some tenant couldn’t get it (the piano) into his/her apartment. Play it again,Sam.
The only city that does well in Ma. Is Boston and that will never change .We are a 1 horse state.Boston has no idea who Rep Bouvier and Pignatali are .These two could sit down and tell us heres whats coming your way betkshires as if we dont know. So sick of reps reporting to us that GE left 25 years ago.Now when Amazon chooses Boston I want to know how much of that 50billion investment Bouvier and Pignitali brought to Pittsfield Ma, or are they just reporter of our failure to lure business.Amazon is looking for 500 k of office space in south boston
Well it odd that a book came out and stated the President is unfit for office in in less than 7 days nobody is talking about it…..Fox news is 24/7agenda to say the FBIis corrupt
Why is the fake Trump news but not fake sports news.How come theres no fake Fox news.Does Fox news consider themselve part of the journalistic media or are the a propaganda station with our FCC liscense to abuse .
Brainwash news cannot be Fake News by definition. Fox news is what Pat wants to believe therefore it is true. True to her even though all basic logic says otherwise. Best to just let some people exist in their alternative world with their alternative facts. Some people have to learn the hard way and let’s hope the hard way is not the nuclear way.
Cable news is not licensed by the FCC genius.
“The stock market is booming, but the major liberal biased media prefers to spend the majority of its time putting down Trump for something he said during a closed meeting. Little mention of the good things that are happening.” This is a quote from Pat on the day of the great flood (on her street). What Pat doesn’t realize is the most people, unlike herself, don’t own stock. Pat is a wealthy woman who sits in the boardroom with businessmen who curse and swear and speak in a way that is not for “the feint of heart.”
Thomas,
Pat’s quote is right on target. The stock market is setting new records and the economy is growing, unemployment is down and 92% of wage-earning citizens will see a reduction on their taxes thanks to the Republican tax cut bill. The media prefers to focus on Trump’s use of a bad word he used to describe third world countries. What’s your beef? All facts.
I am focusing on Trump being a stable genius. I mean how many other presidents have we had that are stable genius s? Trump is the only one in the few years I bet. And he has the best words.
According to Gallup, 52 percent of U.S. adults owned stock in 2016.Mar 1, 2017
Democrats bailed out the marke ts 9 years ago
How?
Here you go Hoyt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009
I can’t in good conscience call anyone “racist” cuz I don’t pretend I can know anyone else that way except for blatant action. I don’t agree with the president,s statements on the “s——” countries but I won’t call him racist. by the way I voted for Hillary. I think trump is way off base on most things but have to give him credit for his handling of the economy ( biggest issue for me) and especially. North Korea.
What good is the jobs report and stock market doing if you live around here. Our State representatives need to get on Board with the G E and Amazon direction, we could get some fall- out from that investment, we do have Tanglewood Skiing, Lakes,, Mass Moca, a Museum with NO Art,soon et al.
All that is wonderful but if your politicians are giving the wealthy folk breaks on their taxes and then making the lower income people make up the difference that really is discouraging. It just exacerbates the income equality problem and creates a class of people who are on their yachts all day and another class that struggles trying to save enough money to buy a home or to send a child to college.
I guess that is why rich folk buy politicians though.
You see that, the Planet sees it,Terry sees it, everyone,but the ones that count….the VOTERS.
Iberkshires is reporting that PPSD wants to change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. What a farce! What’s next – will they change Christmas Day to Festivus Day? Give me a break. Perhaps the Supt. & school committee should spend their time focusing on improving their level four schools!
Yup, ridiculous! Lets rewrite history so we can all feel better. I think the holiday celebrating Indigenous People is called Thanksgiving!
The article also states the School Department has considered changing the name of the Taconic Braves. Really? Being called “Brave” or a “Brave Warrior” is insulting?
So what will the new school be named?
Economic Injun is the perfect team mascot
Columbus was a thug and he used flat earth maps. Columbus day should be changed to Shithole day …unless Trump has a patent on that one.
lol @ Dusty!
Pittsfield police reporting “high-risk situation” at the EconoLodge. No details being given – police have been on-scene since 9 am.
beroshire Eagle should be shaking off their hangovers and getting ready to broadcast the poor souls name soon. I’m surprised the Pittsfield SS didn’t shoot another one
Who owns the mayor’s house. She’s been in it for over a year but the former owners are still listed as current owners. Games being played?