BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION FEB. 16-18, 2018) — As an uninterested observer might expect, city council president Peter Marchetti came up small Tuesday night when the problematic water-sewer upgrade came before the august body of Our Right Honorable Good Friends.

There are plenty of uninterested observers in Pittsfield. Most come from the neighborhoods and streets, homeowners and shop owners who through apathy have let the skunks run roughshod over representative government. Fortunately, Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski had a few councilors come up big, losing Marchetti in the shadows, namely Chris Connell, Melissa Mazzeo, and Donna Todd Rivers. Connell raised a charter objection, successfully preventing a ram-rodding. This came after an attempt by Mazzeo to table the discussion that failed 4-7. That failure illustrates the bizarre rush-rush-rush the mayor and cronies have put on this issue. The issue now gets put off until the next meeting (Feb. 20).

THE PLANET dares question why this move is necessary, something The Tyer Administration seems afraid to do. In fact — BOMBSHELL ALERT!! — informed sources tell THE PLANET that the bullying letter from the EPA to Marchetti dated Feb. 12 came at the behest of Linda Tyer herself! You read that right. Sources say the EPA didn’t send the threatening letter of their own concern. Instead, the mayor urged the agency’s Boston office to send the shake-down letter to the city she professes to love and serve.

Why would a patriotic and loyal mayor, one who took a constitutionally binding oath, perform an action so evidently back-stabbing? Could it be to fabricate a document pretending to justify approval of an $80 million upgrade that under EPA fiduciary protocol might not be necessary. THE PLANET wonders if Tyer has committed an action to justify a recall petition or the equivalent of impeachment.

Councilors are now duty-bound at their next meeting to bring the mayor’s undermining letter to the glow of the Klein lights. Why did she contact the EPA? How did she do it (phone, e-mail, in-person, other)? Exactly what did she ask? Where are the records of this potentially treasonous action? Tyer must be called to the docket to explain.

Speaking of the shadowy darkness — where Marchetti and the mayor do most of their business except for the latter’s photo-ops with garbage cans and the former’s attendance at drag-queen balls  — that’s where you find the “untouchable” Important Players leaning heavily on Marchetti, John Krol, Helen Moon, Pete White, Nick Caccamo, Ensign Persip, Linda Tyer, and others who have the power to enforce a dubious administrative order from the EPA releasing $80 million of taxpayer money to buy more caviar and champagne for the Special Interests (SI).

Caviar and champagne? The SI deserve caveats and shame-pain. They may get it, assuming the vote to add another $80 million in borrowing to Pittsfield’s already unsustainable debt load requires a supermajority to be approved. That would mean just three negative votes sinks this baby in the bath water … or sewer water, if you will?

ooo ——— ooo

At the federal level, the EPA is scrambling. President Trump sees the agency as overstaffed, overbudgeted, and underserving. It has become, in the President’s view, a case-in-point of Big Government Overreach into cities and towns.

Would the city have a case in appealing the agency’s 2015 order? The court threw out Pittsfield’s previous appeal and not even in summary. It appears the city’s initial presentation was so sloppy that it did not receive judgment on the merits. Interestingly, the council spent 90 minutes in executive session Tuesday night discussing that. Moreover, THE PLANET‘s flies on that wall tell us Marchetti fought against Connell’s charter maneuver, something he continued in open session.

Kudos to city attorney Rich Dohoney, who slapped Marchetti’s attempt to stifle legal procedure, ruling Connell’s objection proper. In the secret session (don’t tell anyone, because you’re not supposed to know), councilors pushing for the $80 million borrowing turned ashen (fitting enough, the night before Ash Wednesday). The prevailing legal opinion is that, yes, Pittsfield would have a STRONG case appealing this once more. The appeals process does not exhaust itself.

Marchetti, Tyer and company are growing more nervous by the hour. Eighty million isn’t what it used to be, but Certain People will still get mad when they lose it. THE PLANET would remind one and all that the 80 million clams belong to taxpayers. No one else. That’s why they need representation on an issue that, if passed, will almost certainly hasten the financial demise of a once-great city.

Ironically, Krol provided one of the strongest reasons for an appeal. He called the EPA order an “unfunded mandate.” Of course it is. And that’s precisely President Trump’s view. However, Krol is too compromised by partisan politics to back an appeal. Why? Because he knows there’s a good chance the appeal would work. What then of the $80 million?

Oh what a tangled web. Ah, but it’s all water under the Lyman Street bridge.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

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“He’s all sail and no anchor” — Fred Allen.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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