TYER SAYS ‘NO MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS’ IN SUSPENSION OF DPW SUPERINTENDENT
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JUNE 7-9, 2019) — In THE PLANET‘s column on the dry hydrants contributing to a destructive house fire on Tyler Street, we raised a number of questions regarding the strange doings at the Department of Public Works:
- Numerous and unexplained resignations.
- Supt. Dan Ostrander suspended without explanation.
- The announced “resignation” of department head David Turocy, effective in October.
THE PLANET has talked to numerous sources in the department, administration, council, and in other city offices. The clear picture of what is actually happening is being handled as a secret more guarded than the recipe for Coca-Cola and Col. Sanders’ combination of herbs and spices. Here are various and related snippets of our conversations:
SOURCE A: “Nothing concrete except for some rumors. The first thing I’ve heard was that [mayor Linda] Tyer is upset about the snow and ice OT running $2.1 million over budget. It certainly will be a source of debate during the election. That’s what you get with running a hands-off approach to management. You can’t know everything about all departments, but you have to know something about them otherwise you can’t effectively manage. I can’t seem to find out why Ostrander was put on leave.” This source went on to express frustration with Tyer’s “habit” of not getting back on calls and e-mails. “Is it related?” The source said he/she was told by two sources that “Turocy is retiring because he doesn’t like the politics. Well, that’s part of the job in municipal government.”
True that, but DPW sources say Tyer’s “people” have been putting more pressure on Turocy because he was a Dan Bianchi hire: “Dave started in August 2015 and then came the campaign [for mayor]. When [Tyer] got elected, she knew she couldn’t get rid of him that quickly, and so waited. For the past year or so she and others, [Fire Department chief Robert] Czerwinski especially, have worked to get him out.”
This comment, if true, would make the Tyler Street hydrant debacle all the more interesting. Was this life-threatening incident the result of an internal battle that echoed the political fallout from Tyer’s win over Bianchi in November 2015? will soon be on display, That battle continues. The War of the Machines — DelGallo/Ruberto v. Wojtkowski/Bianchi — is still being fought today, with the latest installment the current mayoral race between the incumbent and Bianchi lieutenant, councilor-at-large Melissa Mazzeo.
SOURCE B: “I only know about [the DPW unrest] from reading it. Somebody obviously leaked it out to. There has not been any communication out of the Mayor’s office to the city council regarding this. We received an email from the mayor about three weeks ago informing us that Mr. Turocy was retiring in October. With the condition the city streets are in with potholes and with the snow and ice deficit of 2 million dollars with a relatively mild winter we just had, there certainly needs to be some serious scrutiny of the Public Services Department. … I intend to keep the pressure on the Commissioner to make sure that the services that the taxpayers of Pittsfield are paying for are getting delivered and to ask the hard questions when needed to. I will stay on top of this.”
MAYOR TYER, speaking on the record: “Mr. Ostrander has been placed on paid administrative leave. This is a personnel matter. Unfortunately, I am unable to release any specifics related to his suspension. There have been some staff departures and Commissioner Turocy is retiring in October after a long and successful career in municipal public works.
“Please let me make on thing very clear: There has been NO misappropriation of funds. In addition, the figure you have been given for the snow and ice deficits is inaccurate. Specifically, the line item for sand is over by $1,409,549 and the snow and ice overtime is over by $186,911. Deficits in these line items are legal and have been a part of Pittsfield’s municipal operating budget for a very long time – long before I became mayor. It happens because it is nearly impossible when you’re building a budget in March to anticipate what the next winter season will require for keeping roads clear and safe for traveling public. Those deficits will be covered by year end balances that exist across all municipal departments. I have been keeping on eye on this pattern of deficits and, if you wish, would be happy to share a ten-year history of these accounts with you and readers.”
From this, it’s clear that Turocy read the writing on the wall. He’s going, going … and by October he will be gone. It also suggests a widespread belief that Tyer will win a second term. Wouldn’t Turocy tough it out until November if he believed Mazzeo would win. Another theory is that there’s a spitstorm coming for DPW, Turocy sees it coming, and wants out while he can.
And what of Ostrander? All parties are staying quiet. A source close to the administration told THE PLANETI that there have been “acquisitions of wrongdoing concerning other personnel.” This source said an investigation is under way and that no decisions have been made regarding firing Ostrander, who will “be given a chance to defend himself as part of the investigation.” The source said that investigation is being conducted by the director of personnel, who “will handle it in a professional and proper manner.” We heard from someone in the DPW who said the suspension was related to Ostrander’s management style. Others speculated with tales — fanciful or not, unsupported as they are but possibly true — that we will not pass along.
To city officials, THE PLANET can only say we get that it’s a “personnel matter,” but the longer you let Ostrander hanging (with pay or not) the worse it is for him, the administration, and citizens. Best practice here: Deal with it then tell us why.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
————————————————————————————————————————-
“Just when I tell you to go, you leave me” — Groucho Marx
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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I cannot believe no one knows on here knows why O has been put on A L .but no one in the thick of it, like you Dan,really doesn’t know either?
The GAME is played from two sides. There are the haves and the have nots. Those who know and those who have no clue. The greater the risk, the greater the reward.
“Fixing a hole in the ocean, trying to make a dovetail joint yeah. Lookin through a glass onion”
– Beatles
If you want to buy a textbook on how NOT to run a municipality, please look up “Pittsfield politics”!
Read all about it:
Population and job loss, a shrinking tax base, warring political factions, Good Old Boys, career political hacks, unsustainable financial mismanagement, 21 years of PEDA failures, potholes, worn out and defective infrastructure, a dangerous downtown, an empty nearby mall, economic inequality, low voter turnout, an overpriced and underperforming public school system with over 650 students per year choicing out to neighboring public school districts, and a post-industrial dystopian nightmare that only goes from bad to worse each passing year!
No rational middle class family or small business would look at Pittsfield as a place to live and do business. The only growth in Pittsfield is in its underclass!
– Jonathan Melle
You are spot on Jonathan. In every single sad, corrupt aspect of Pittsfield Government. What a dirty little town. Brought down single handedly by two warring factions and 100% greed.
Pittsfield has become so crooked that I can’t pick carrots from my garden anymore. Now i have to unscrew them.
I agree. The Tyer administration is so much like the Trump administration. If the city had a legitimate newspaper it would be a whole new world in Pittsfield.
Get out if you care about your family because all signs are pointing to it getting much much worse. Drugs, gangs, bad schools, out of control city hall spending, escalating taxes and a self serving political stronghold. Nice parks are prioritized over decent roads. (why?) Garbage all over the city. (why?) A city hall that guards information like it is worried about something,
Tyer like Trump? In your dreams.
Great points Johnny. Mark Twain once said, ” if you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything” seems fitting for the debacle we call city hall. In regards to the trash situation; I find it interesting that tenants living in apartments leave a months worth of trash on the lawn when they move out and no one is held accountable for this mess, including the landlords. So the idea of floating trash bins for residents sounds good, but let’s get that mess squared away first. Accountability is a wonderful concept when acted upon.
I agree with disgusting local news rag, The Left Winged Parrot.
Mr Rutburg might have had good intentions, but BSE is below the bottom of Woods Pond /Silver Lake now. Not fit for PCB infested fish to crap on it.
when you are not truthful about how much money Department Head McCandless spends as he steals money that we truthfully need in maintenance of our city.While all pols in Pittsfield have always been disrespectful of public works and use it as a whipping boy department and grll them to death not a word is said to McCandless demanding all 4 extra million from the state which is for taxpayer relief .Our reputation is national as high crime and lousy schools continues without any leadership.
today we could consolidate schools and go after crime but ours schools suck us dry of cash.We are the reason jobs dont come to the berkshires.Education is killing the Berkshires.
From North to South the biggest problem are schools.
and the carpetbaggers who manipulate the budgets
San Francisco is in terrible shape with homeless tents all over the city and very dirty with diseases running rampant. Far left California has serous problems in many of its big cities. Pittsfield used to be very clean and family friendly until it was taken over by Progressives.
It was not nearly that bad until Trump became president. Look for more of his cities to become that way. And since out of spite he will not discuss an infrastructure bill look for roads and bridges to fall further into shambles. If he gets another four years the country will look like Syria. MAGA
We all know that “blame it on Trump” will not work in cities where Trump has little influence like far left California.
it’s still family friendly and the city looks fantastic but it hides the problem of the drug business in the tyler street neighborghood.The new police station should be built on the PEDA property just off woodlawn.Close Crosby school.Make Stearns a SPED school.The real scandle I’m told is in the cost of IT in the scools.Watch what Cutus spends on IT.He has wasted millions
The city does NOT look fantastic. Potholes everywhere. Grass that badly needs mowing in many public areas.
Pittsfield was dirty in the GE years and as Dan could tell you the smell of poison was always in the air.You would get sick with the heavy smell of GE oils in the housatontic.It was really awlful.Litter blowing in the streets
Section 8 “families” friendly, not ANYBODY who works, and looks great compared to liberal SF, where there is “public restrooms” on the sidewalks/streets.
That’s Fancy Nansy Pelouseys district TSC. Spokeswoman for the liberals/progressives/ Neo- Commies like AOC.
Those liberal public “restrooms” are coming via liberal policy TSC. Give it a year or two.
Go to TSC and buy some muck boots, before they sell out/get $$$expensive.
Oh’ and> 1 million new criminal immigrants the liberals keep importing. YOU pay for them too!!!
Clarification :
TSC can be the liberal wench who posts here.
Or the TSC farm store in Coltsdale, the Pitt.
I think most can tell the reference/inference.
P.S. mASS RMV I went to renew my Ma license. I need documents and many,!!!
CRIMINAL ALIENS? Just say; No hablo ingles? Neccesito pronto!
Gracias !!!
I agree. American citizens are put through a maze of documents needed for drivers licenses while illegals don’t need anything. My mother-in-law had to go back twice because she was missing some documents the first time. Totally disgusting!!!
Mucas Garcia.
I watch Fox news too,Pelosi is responsible for homeless people.Most homeless mental illness and have drug addictions. Trump was going to help with this problem but found out it cost money.
Stooge says Roberto had a vision,four times in less than twenty seconds.
The only Ruberto had was bad breath.
I still smell a rat on that Museum Art-sale,a Big Rat.
Dan, I don’t understand how some of the shows on P C T V are allowed to do advertisement,isn’t that illegal? The women who does the cooking show says Guidos at every turn and just heard her promoting a book?
PTV and PRadio had been corrupt for for years now, ask Chartock.
But wait, Alan never told a lie, when he was asleep….
Source B = Chris Connell . He is running for his life now that he has competition.
Lets not turn the plowing budget into a big conspiracy, they have always shorted this budget line item for years. Right or wrong it’s the way it’s always been done to this is no smoking gun.
He needs to get some of his streets paved pronto. Alfred st and others in that area are ridiculous. They should be getting huge tax discounts for having such shitty roads. Does he know or care if he knows?
His opponent is a lunatic liberal. Just what we need another pete white or helen moon shot.
Mazzeo is adding money to budgets so who cares if she runs.
Thanks DV for at least finding out this much on a troubling situation. I have family member who works in DPW. Going to be an explosion soon that is if they don’t succeed in covering it up.
Wondering why we even have a City Council representing us as taxpayers. They have done nothing for us. Why did they even waste time having budget meetings? The only item Budget they really questioned was RSVP, the only agency that really helps the retired citizens of Pittsfield. Why did none of them question some of the issues in the City?
The road around the Tyler Street hydrant is still leaking water. Why?
The potholes are still terrible throughout the City. Why?
The streets are filthy dirty. Why?
City grass is not mowed, saw a 9 yr. old boy trying to cross College Drive, the grass was taller than him? Why?
Traffic laws are being broken left and right, yet nothing was budgeted for Traffic Equipment. Why?
Do we even have a Traffic Bureau like the Mayor claims?
City is decorated with orange barrels and cones, street signs are knocked down and not replaced. Why?
Traffic signals don’t even face the right direction for months. Why?
Meter maids blocking traffic on North Street all day, yet Finance can’t tell the taxpayer how much money is being taken in. Why?
City is using a Lenox Fire Truck. Why?
How many City workers are on paid leave. Why can’t they answer this?
Hired and paid to train 3 new fireman that were recently fired. Why?
Just fired a new police officer that taxpayers paid to train. Is this another law suit waiting to happen?
Burnt buildings are allowed to remain. Why? Aren’t they a safety hazard? Go by White Terrace and homeless are passed out on the window ledges. Cops just drive by. Why?
I could go on and on, but bottom line we have a Mayor and a City Council that are completely useless. Yet it is election time so they walk around promising the world for signature. Who would want to move to Pittsfield? Most people are trying to get out. Best thing they could do is stop televising meetings, then these jackbutts would not be able to grandstand and repeat the same broken promises over and over. Sad and Pathetic!!!!!
Merry you have certainly touched on some of the mayor key failings. The fired officer was guilty of “concerning behavior”. Jeekers, some officials would have used different terminology, at least for an ordinary citizen.
Has anyone seen the list of business s getting tax breaks while seniors on fixed incomes pay full boat? NO? Oh, Don’t know why I thought the mayor was going to release this info. Did the Eagle file a FOIA or were they not that interested in such mundane citizen curiosity?
Why was there a big ass hurry to tear down the building at Dalton Ave and Tyler after a fire but the burned building of the fire bug on Appleton is still there? It looks like it could collapse
D and T fire covered by insurance probably connected owners. Shut up and collect $$$$
Appleton fire still in court as to if “fire bug” is wacky or not. No insurance $$$ to demolish. Besides, the city roaches and spiders need a place to crash/do dope.
Barry Clairmont , what sayest thou?
And yet they all think they are doing a great job! Bold, arrogant and just continue to write their own story.
Where is College Drive?
Street that goes from Columbus Ave by Fire Station to West Street by Salvation Army. Lots of residents, especially children walk it every day, there are no side walks so they are either in the road or grass area.
The three firemen were chopped because they did not live in Pittsfield, a requirement for the department. They lied on the application documents, which apparently were not vetted by the city. We heard someone in the know, who knew about the situation, dropped a dime and notified “the proper authorities.”
Makes me wonder how many city/school employees live out side of Pittsfield and how much property tax money goes to other towns.
How much comitment can you hve to a city you don’t live in?
Merry, you mustn’t have got the memo- Tyer declared Pittsfield is a city on the move – vibrant and dynamic. And TSC says city looks fantastic.
Where’s Dennis Guyer?
Why did so much salt &material get lost ?
Very reminiscent of tire town scandal under mayor Ann Wojtkowski, millions vanished into her campaign fund.
Paul escaped to Ireland to live in terniey built home.
The Bowler investigation turned up nothing, irs caught it.
Always the same GOB connected criminals.
Dahoney steering this fraudulent investigation ?
Either ms Harrington is dumb or corrupt, if missy doesn’t raise questions about this , she is just a token mayoral candidate like knight in da race
Marchetti and the council are the reason Tyler street is the number one drug neighborhood in New England.Just so everyone knows McCandless believes they are doing great work at the schools,the entire 1st street building thinks they are doing great and they can’t believe how great they are.
This past winter I saw the snowplow out in full force for 1 inch of slush. Sometimes I think a manager does this to say screw you, don’t tell me what to do. Also there are city sewer lines that get blocked much too often. The same ones over and over.
Gov. Baker just authorized $7.6 M in roadwork funding for the Berkshires.
Now there should be no excuse for this city to provide the proper repairs to our deteriorating roads. And I don’t mean the shoddy repairs we are used to.
We shall see!
Hopefully it will not be diverted to more important things like pickle ball or zucchini tennis. Graft and mismanagement occurs in other cities, so I hear. And sometimes a consultant will suck up a large part of the funding trying to decide how much asphalt there is in a ton of asphalt.
Great job President Trump on the deal with Mexico. No tariffs for Mexico in exchange for Mexico stopping the flow of immigrants into our country!!!! Another win for President Trump.
The City forgot to get a Certificate of Occupancy for the new multi-million dollar Taconic High School. Another one of Vibrant Dynamic Tyer’s administrative departments screwing up. Just wondering if this is the real reason Taconic’s graduation has to be held in the hot old gym at the Boy’s/Girls Club? Was this another one of Vibrant/Dynamic Tyer and McCanass lies to the hard working taxpayers of Pittsfield. When is it going to stop?
In the end this mess is Marchetti and White Rivers Moon Caccamo ,please don’t vote for any councilor
These councilors don’t give a crap about running a city.Marchetti must go back to loaning money.He knows nothing about money.The school punks are never going to be removed .Herberg school is a complete disaster.Most of the punks are from Tyler street area.Its a drug infested neighborhood.Mccandless thinks he’s fighting that war and he really believes they are not failing.Get your kid out of the Pittsfield School s
Out indeed. Is it true that almost all city employees send their much loved children out of Pittsfield? Which ones do and do not?
On 5 different storms they were out before the storms.Whe n I notice how co me the mayor doesn’t know.Where is she?
I would vote to use the Community Preservation money for a total, thorough, intense deep dive audit of all city finances for the last 15 years. If you really want to preserve the community let us find out what works, how it works or if it works and if not why not.
The question really becomes, what services have been neglected. The primary single one starts with their roads..Grade F
And the last thing we want to do is preserve the way things have worked.
These councilors seem really disinterested in how our money is spent.They don’t have any questions to as the schools department head.Honestly this crew on 1st street knows they get 2 questions from each councilor and they have pulled it off for 1 more year,no 5 year plan,no mayor asking questions.After budget night the council never considers the cash again.Schools are hiring 25 more people for 2 million bucks….no one knows what they are doing.They had 2 SWAT teams at Taconic this year for riots related to drugs on Tyler street cartel.Cops spend alot of time removing criminals from our schools.Herberg is damaged forever and dont forget that many guns are in the schools.It is an outrage with no leaders in our joke.Caccamo is about garbage.The date is going to take over the schools.So who thinks McCandless does good?Everyone does.The kids are in charge.Bring back St Joe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQT99a1rFxw
This is pretty funny because Adam loves watching the little kids go by, Lamb’s bakery closed, and French sold her former Catholic Church to Muslims.
They all milked the system pretty good.
Allah Hu Akbar!
A day in Pittsfield….I took a morning swim in Silver Lake. I ate lunch at Teo’s hot dogs. I walked around North Street and marveled at the World’s #1 cultural mecca. I toured the business magnet named PEDA. I read The Berkshire Eagle and Pittsfield Gazette newspapers. I jumped in the puddles in the many potholes dotting the streets. I went to a movie at Beacon Cinema. I went to bed at Hotel on North.
Did ya het a hummer by one of the ladies of the evening?
Do you get a free cup of coffee from Cumbies with each hummer?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf4LlWLn6OI
This guy’s a very colorful Pittsfield character.
If re elected Mayor Tyer has pledged to create the following vi rant dynamic and collaborative positions.
1 superintendent of syringes
2 superintendent of cigarette butts & nip bottles
3 director of dog poop
4 overseer of tattoos
5 minister of potholes
6 director of useless feel good programs
7 commissioner of canabis
8 commissioner of pickel ball and pocket pool
9 supervisor of discarded scratch tickets
10 superintendent of vagrant smoking on north street
Sounds good, GOOD, but I’m concerned about #8. Pickleball and Pocket Pool should have separate commissioners. PP, as you know, was invented in Park Square in 1791.
Fair point Dan. But we need to control spending.
For a thousand points:
What employee of what school district allegedly hacked the school’s email system and read over 50,000 emails of staff, parents, and students?
Marchetti signed off on late street sweeping ,line painting and School employment. There are not 25 new layoffs there are 25 brand new employees.A 50 employee turnaround.Tyer has no idea who or what the 25 new positions are doing.Marchetti is so messed up on budgets he pretends to be cool about budgets even if they are SEVEN MILLION MORE THAN LADT YEAR
Mr Banker Marchetti you are spending 7 million more dollars ,do you know why?
What bank has Marchetti adding numbers? get your cash out of that bank.
And his name is ProxyDate!
June 9, 2019
Dear Clarence Fanto,
In your most recent column in the Eagle, you point out that Berkshire County, like neighboring Vermont, has a problem with population loss, especially with young families who have school age children.
The reason why people are moving away from the Berkshires is the scarcity of living wage jobs. The Good Old Boys, who are a small group on interrelated families who run state and local politics, controls the local economy. If you speak out against the G.O.B., you will be thrown into the oblivion of the distressed local economy. In other words, you better play ball or it is your ass on the line. The G.O.B. is run like a Mafia! Of course, you, Clarence Fanto, are part of the G.O.B. along with the rest of the staff at The Berkshire Eagle.
Massachusetts politics is worse than Communist countries! Berkshire County politics is run by a one political party system of career politicians who all compete for the title of biggest political hack. Voter turnout is always very low. Citizen apathy and non-competitive so-called “elections” are recurring themes. To illustrate, Speaker Bob DeLeo has a long list of unanimous votes in the state House of Representatives on Beacon Hill. The first votes of each legislative session are for the “Speaker for Life” and their own legislative pay raises.
The Berkshires is one of the most economically unequal regions in the state and nation. If you are not rich, you are on welfare and/or dependent on social services. A majority of public school students receive free school lunches. To illustrate, the Boston Federal Reserve Bank gave Pittsfield a grant to find ways to address its inner-city neighborhoods with severe intergenerational poverty.
When dealing with socioeconomic issues in state and local politics, whatever happened to “investing in people”? Why not give every person and family a fair shot by having living wage jobs, educational opportunities, safe streets, affordable housing, and a community that cares about all of its neighbors?
Berkshire County shouldn’t be about the G.O.B.’s! Instead, people should have a voice in state and local politics without fear of G.O.B. retaliations. I lived in the Berkshires for many years during the days of my youth and 20’s, and I experienced being an outsider against the fix of G.O.B. control. Like thousands of former Berkshire residents, I am glad I moved away!
– Jonathan Melle
cfanto@yahoo.com
June 9, 2019
Re: My former criminal record has been annulled!
I no longer have a criminal record. The State of New Hampshire recently granted me annulments. I am grateful to be a law-abiding citizen in good standing again.
– Jonathan Melle
I’ll right away clutch your rss feed as I can not find your e-mail subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me recognize so that I could subscribe. Thanks.