BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY MAY 20, 2020) — Scott Graves and Paul Morin yesterday evening sent THE PLANET their rebuttal to Mayor Linda Tyer’s defense of the city of its treatment of the Rusty Anchor owners with respect to the Anchor and the proposal to develop the former Morningside fore station.
THE PLANET presents that rebuttal here. Again, we have edited only for house style and mechanics. We feel this has been an important issue to fully air because it related so intimately to economic development, arguably the most important problem facing Pittsfield, especially in like of the COVID-19 virus.
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PAULA MORIN AND SCOTT GRAVES
First, we would like to thank Mayor Tyer for her quick response to many of our concerns. It’s refreshing to hear the Tyer Team is impressed with our accomplishments and respects us.
We would like to express that all the issues that we listed in our original article are fact. We cannot sugar coat it. It has been a real struggle. We would like to add, the constant pressure has been somewhat relieved due to the City of Pittsfield no longer employing these individuals. We currently have a good relationship with many of the new and some existing employees within multiple departments. We work tirelessly to establish positive working relationships with them. Communication is key to any successful project or business.
We would like to address Mayor Tyer and the fact the City of Pittsfield owns the parking lot in front of the Rusty Anchor. This is a true statement. We do have a parking waiver and plan with the city to use this lot for our members. However, we maintain that parking lot, 100% We plow in the winter, we have invested in expensive landscaping, clean the parking lot of all the trash and debris on a weekly basis, and we have patched pot holes and paint the parking stripes per the established city ordnance. We also have installed street lights that light the entire lot to deter criminal activity. The Rusty Anchor pays this additional lighting bill. We are extremely appreciative of the city allowing us use of the parking lot. We currently have an open permit to enhance the city’s property even more. This project will allow easier access and better managed parking on the south side of the lot, again at no expense to the city.
To address the snow plowing on Pecks Road where our business is located, perhaps our point was missed. Although it was surprising to us that after owning this property for two years and in this time frame the city plowed the sidewalk, we suddenly received a letter from the Board of Health stating we were responsible to maintain our sidewalks. This letter came directly after a city employee damaged our personal property and neglected to report it to his superiors. The accident was witnessed, and we notified the Pittsfield Police Department. The Pittsfield PD responded within 20 minutes and contacted the city yard, where the employee admitted he did damage our property. We requested restitution for the repairs. We have never heard anything from the city on the restitution or the action they should be taking. As far as plowing our sidewalk, we have no issue with this. We have the equipment available to maintain it ourselves and are happy to do so. The issue is the negligence on the part of the city for personal property damage and not taking any action on restitution.
As for the Tyler Street Fire Station, Our issue with is the lack of response to our bid per outlined in the City of Pittsfeild’s RFP#20-023. The bids were due on March 5 by 2 p.m. We met this deadline. Per the RFP, it states in Section VI, Rule for Award, line 2: “The contract will be awarded within thirty (30) days after the bid opening. The time for award may be extended for up to 30 additional days by mutual agreement between the City and the apparent lowest responsive and responsible bidder.”
We were the only bidders. We recognize COVID-19 pandemics impact on the “normal operations” of the city’s departments. However, an RFP is a legal and binding document. There is no room for assumptions. The deadline was missed for the city to respond. We were only looking for acknowledgement of receipt and a request for both parties to agree on an extension.
As an employee of the Commonwealth of MA working in finance and purchasing [MORIN], I deal with contracts such as this on a daily basis. When I put in writing that a response is due to the bidders by an exact date, I am legally bound to respond. I did in fact respond to my bidders on open RFP’s. I did request several extensions due to the pandemic. This allowed the bidder to know they were not being ignored and simply forgotten. There are no assumptions when dealing with legal documents.
Once again we would like to thank Mayor Tyer for her response. We as active business owners in the City of Pittsfield only request the same respect that others receive. We feel this has not been the case in the past.
We do not change our opinion that the City of Pittsfield in the past has imposed unnecessary restrictions that unfortunately created exorbitant costs to us. We have appealed and proven each instance was unfounded. Unfortunately, this has always ended with a financial burden a small, seasonal business cannot absorb.
Going forward we would like to work with all City of Pittsfield Departments. Our intentions are to improve the City of Pittsfield wherever and whenever we can. We welcome the city to work with us and make Pittsfield the best place to live in Berkshire County.
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We thank Graves and Morin for the information. As always, should the city wish to respond, it will have the space here to do that. For that matter, anyone with an issue or who wishes to write a guest column need only do so and submit it. THE PLANET will review and publish those articles meeting our criteria of solid information, facts and views based on facts, real names, the ordinary standards applied to published prose.
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“Nature expresses its emotion in clouds” — Kenneth Clark.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
The views and opinions expressed in the comment section or in the text other than those of PLANET VALENTI are not necessarily endorsed by the operators of this website. PLANET VALENTI assumes no responsibility for such views and opinions, and it reserves the right to remove or edit any comment, including but not limited to those that violate the website’s Rules of Conduct and its editorial policies. PLANET VALENTI shall not be held responsible for the consequences that may result from any posted comment or outside opinion or commentary as provided in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and this website’s terms of service. All users of this website — including readers, commentators, contributors, or anyone else making use of its information, hereby agree to these conditions by virtue of this notice. When PLANET VALENTI ends with the words “The Usual Disclaimer,” that phrase shall be understood to refer to the full text of this disclaimer. Copyright (c) 2020 by Dan Valenti.
Has anyone else heard the rumor that Melissa Mazzeo is moving to Dalton?
Didn’t she promise to be a watchdog? Not a peep out of her in over 4 months and now she is leaving town?
What happened to going to court?
Maybe Dan can get to the bottom of this.
God bless her. Pretty much everyone I know would move out of Pittsfield, Ma if they could. Please list all the good things about Pittsfield that would make anyone not connected to the mayor want to stay.
I think the Democratic Party Oligarchs have been displeased by her ruffling of feathers. It’s ok to pretend to be an opponent but don’t try seriously.
Jobs
Haven’t heard that, but if i could, I’d beat feet outta da pitts too. Can’t blame em to move to Lenox either, like Jimmy Ruberto.
Yeah, what happened to her being a wash dog, I’m sorry – watchdog, for Pittsfield? All the commotion just to move to Dalton? Good riddance!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz,
This is a straight forward response by Scott Graves and well written. It appears to me that he has jumped through hoops, and has come up shortchanged by the City of Pittsfield.
Mr. Stanley did not get short changed and neither will those lucky folks on her Santa Claus list.
Follow the Money.
President tweety bird will always lead by fear.Tweety was scared to have a minority president.The president 3 policy decisions were 1-Tax cut for powerful and wealthy 2-Destroy Obamas Affordable Care Act for people who work with no Healthcare. 3-Build a wall to keep minorities out of our country.
Apart from sounding like a third-rate salesman with a head injury, I think TDS is the main issue for you.
Blah, blah. Blah.
Sounds like a damn god platform to me pal.
It was pal.
Tax cuts, repeal obama care, build a wall! Right on man.
Pittsfield finally has its JB3 in Tyer. Congratulations to all who voted for her and the local political machine.
Truth,
Why did the voters in NA keep voting JB3 in. I think I read he was one of the longest serving mayor’s at one time?
Am I reading this right. Legislators are discussing a bill that would give drug users a safe place to juice up? Hope not,talk about insane government. Who’s giving these people psyche people advice,Freud?
Until Alcombright came along, there never was a strong candidate. He’ll also be in the legislature until he decides to retire. While he can be a dick, he does care about the people he represents. I don’t think that’s the case with Tyer.
The ads on this fucking blog are out of control. They are covering up the text of the article in some places.
They keep the lights on. Yeah?
It is true. It’s too hard to tell what is Dan’s text and what is not. But I know ya gotta pay the bills!
It’s what keep this effort in the black. We went almost nine years gratis, all the way. In November last year, we upgraded the platform, the firewalls, the data captures, everything. We had a policy of NO local advertising, so we made a deal with Google, based on the traffic we were generating. Best of both worlds. That said, JERRY, our book career has come a calling. We shall make an announcement when and if the time is right for it.
What a lot of you don’t get is Mayor McMeatFlaps is using city resources to harass a business. She’s wasting money and employee time getting her roast beef curtains in an uproar.
The pandemic is some sort of blanket fucking excuse by government and schools for not doing their jobs.
It’s actually easier to do your fucking job when you work in local government during a pandemic. You answer your emails, you answer your phone, there is zero foot traffic. Teachers normally would be in school 7-8 hours a day, now they only teach maybe an hour a day and it’s not new material it’s just enrichment.
Not fucking hard. Put out an RFP, answer. Part of your fucking job Mayor Crayola is to answer bids.
You’re more angry than Merry & Bright, are you related? Take a chill pill. While I agree with much of what you said minus the angry stuff I’d like to correct one thing. It is the purchasing departments job to answer the RFP, not the Mayor. One cannot expect the Mayor to do or monitor everyone’s job. Not enough hours in a day. Lets hope now that she is aware of the situation she will do something about it.
Yes, the anger is at the case-study level.
I think it’s the F bombs that have infected RN as of late. Without those, his posts and insults would be much more tolerable. Obviously not a catholic school boy like you and I Dan.
Geez, I enjoy fucking invective just as fucking much as the next fucking guy RN, but why the fuck do you need to fucking throw the word “fucking” into every fucking sentence? And are meat flaps and roast beef curtains some sort of pejorative appellation of a vagina? Is that where you’ve taken this discussion? To the point where women are characterized and despised solely because of what’s between their legs? That’s pretty deplorable.
Point made!
I’m curios a it roast beef curtains too. Perhaps RN will effing enlighten us.
Gee Dan, your robot-censor is okay with multiple f-bombs, yet my comments get “held” for hours?
Thank you anyway for clarifying the meat flaps meaning.
Must be a term learned in medical text
LENNY
Robots, like people, aren’t perfect. In yet another sign of the deterioration of the English Language, the f-bomb is no longer seen as a cross-the-line word but just another expletive.
W T F…it’s the modern era.
Dan,just went to Tahiti Takeout something you put me onto back in the day. Never tasted better. Egg Foo Yung best best inberkshire,thanx!
One of our best and most loyal sponsors of THE DAN VALENTI SHOW on WBRK, when it was still a radio station people listened to.
I always looked forward to our interviews “back in the day” on WBRK. You grilled me many times!!!
Just another expletive? Maybe in your world.
Not in MY world, but in THE world. I am not the arbiter of the English language, although I would love to be. I, like many before me, have done our best to keep English out of the gutter, let alone at a lofty level. Suggested reading: Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language.” Written post-WWII and prophetic. He could see the language in decline then and outlined the trend that has continued to this day, sent into warp speed by computers and social media. Can the English language be saved? My answer is the same as Orwell’s: “Yes.” “But …” Ah, the “but.” It won’t be; social and political forces have combined to suppress intelligence and awareness. Once those go, the culture goes, with language the canary in the cage.
The word fuck is used more than any other word in the dictionary except “the”. Some second graders (sadly) can reel off a string of fucks that would make a sailor blush.
If H 4723 passes you can expect BHS to seek to create a program here. They already have the location picked out and plan to claim ADA exemptions. Just like MRI is trying to do in Great Barrington.
there’s big money in medically assisted heroin use. $500 or more a day. Big problem is any state that does it will lose funding.
Thank you for the heads up. No doubt the dynamic and disasterous trio- Tyer, Harrington, and Farley, are all for it.
What say we raise the level of palaver in here and stay away from the Anglo-Saxon words for a while?
As in, what the copulation is a goin’ on all up in this maternal copulator??!!!
With all the bovine scatology and stercorary detritus flying around in here, one would have to be a moiety of feces to appreciate such pejorative discourse.
And I see no reason at all for the verbiage relating to vaginal labia, regardless of intent and no matter how metaphorical.
Such nomenclature only exposes the user as a spelunculavivens troglodyte.
Have a felicitous diurnal.
It will never be as bad as topix,relax it’ll pass. It’s the topix pukes that do this Dan. They were total all out vile on topix.
Is Lebanon valley closed this summer?. And close those silly camps and home day cares. Very infectious in my opinion. Don’t forget we will still have problems with skeet’s and ticks.
Open every damn thing. Today.
Voltaire has nothing on you Ed.
Trumps go to work 1st and whip off their mask
Trump doesn’t where a mask but bet he wears a jacket.
What?
Blah. Blah. Blah.
Before we all assume what these terms mean, let’s here from RN himself. He never said what they referred to.
The jobless rate in Pittsfield is estimated at 30.3 percent. The state average for unemployment in Massachusetts is estimated at 25 percent. The state will release its official April unemployment numbers on Friday, May 22nd, 2020.
Mayor Linda Tyer should address the coronavirus pandemic unemployment crisis in Pittsfield. What is her post-pandemic plan to bring jobs back to hard hit Pittsield’s distressed local economy?
Florida and Georgia have been found to be lying about their virus cases and deaths so that they could justify opening up. I hope that does not happen locally because I do believe it will backfire and body slam locations that pretend everything is hunky dory. I hope the people inside the hospital will speak up loudly if hospitalizations start to spike.
Also, why is New York testing minimum of 5000 people a day but Pittsfield has only tested 2500 in four months? They say it is because no one is asking but people I know just gave up because they kept getting refused a test.
I would add that Mass. had more deaths yesterday than New York. Do not become complacent.
Negatives do not make the statement untrue. Look it up.
Ummm Berkshire county has been doing the same. BeHinds and TFB has been pushing the open because of numbers for months. BHS has been lying about the numbers because they want to open to hit revenue numbers so management can get bonuses.
Ask BHS about executive bonuses, ask them how much they get in bonuses.
Are you effing serious Mr. Melle? A. There were hardly any good ones to begin with, unless you’re a connected GOBSIG, you above all others should know that. B. She doesn’t have a plan. Come on man!
Oak Hill and Partridge roads are on the mill and pave list. That will be a drag strip just like Hancock rd. On Hancock to Churchill rd there is zero room for trucks. There ‘Will’ be a serious accident one of these days of both of those roads,it’s inevitable. People actually walk in those roads. Hancock is no place to walk in the road. Wait until the boats congestion this summer at the lake. The Mayor has a problem at the causeway also, the city or state has barriers up with people crossing the road left and right. About a month ago two women walking dogs almost lost their pets when they jumped after a car into traffic,if the driver hadn’t swerved they (dogs)would have been hit. You can’t fix stupid.
TL,
And most of the good ones are taken by those connected. Imagine being blackballed on top of it and trying to get a decent job?
I think the unemployment is possibly higher. I have met many competent young people who were really under employed before this crisis – $15 and hour and no bennies. I don’t believe that all the companies that claim to have apprenticeships can’t train these 20-35 year olds to do them. Maybe a lack of interest. Everyone at the schools is a Gobsig connection which explains why the schools are garbage.
Linda and her gang know how to spend money – they don’t know how to make money, unless it’s by taking your money. Maybe I can turn my house into a shooting gallery or whatever the legal term the govt has for it.
The far left wants to get rid of private vehicles and use the Green New Deal to do it. Can anyone imagine having to ride on public transportation during this pandemic? That’s how COVID-19 spread so quickly in New York City because so many people in that city use public transportation. Americans need to stand up against a Green New Deal because if the far left is ever in power again, God help us, they will push for this Green New Deal.
You keep saying “the far left”. Is that like a tic or sumptin?
Pat uses it to shame Democrats.
The far left includes most Democrats unfortunately, although some moderate Dems do still exist. The far left includes the likes of AOC and her followers and they are pulling Joe Biden into their nest of craziness. These younger women like AOC and Pressley have become the face of the Democratic party and they are very far left with ideas that just do not pass the common sense test.
Some woman on the far right love Donald Trump despite his despicable way of treating woman. Many therapists attribute it to a daddy issue thingy. But whatever the malady is called it is a sad reflection on woman standing up for o ne another.
What about hair sniffing and Terra?
He treats women great. His daughter adores him as does his wife. Even his ex-wives still love him.
Well Dan, is there a plan or not for Hess Forest and parking lot at old fire station? Tyer denied “drawings”, not plan
You mean Carver does not have a blueprint for something for that plot?
So they have been out the past two weeks fillling otholes at Partridge and Oak Hill,a hefty cost knowing all along it will soon be mill and paved?
Trump doesn’t have a blueprint. Economy is down the drain.
There’s always been a plan Dottie’s II
What’s the plan at Dottie’s?
Tyers on her fifth year of her first comment on Hess blight. The old fire house on Tyler is going on its fortieth year of plans for that.
If you fudge your numbers enough even the COVID death capital of the USA looks promising.
New York City could start reopening from its coronavirus-induced shutdown as early as June 1, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.
“All roads are leading to the first half of June,” de Blasio said during his daily coronavirus press briefing, explaining that the Big Apple is expected to meet its own targets involving hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and the amount of those testing positive for the bug, as well as the state’s seven COVID-related benchmarks by that time.
The president of America and the president of Brazil seem to be in a sick contest to see who can kill of the most people through blatant ignorance and indifference. Trump says he wears his high numbers like ” a badge of honor.” That is one sick deranged puppy right there folks.
Who the hell does Trump thinks he is! In Michigan at a meeting with mostly African Americans he isn’t wearing a mask. Michigan Governor told him to wear a mask for future visits or don’t come back.
He did wear a mask at the places he needed to wear a mask. He was just tested this morning so he isn’t shedding virus, but he is in danger from others so for that reason I wish he would wear a mask, but it’s his choice. He wore it where he had to that’s what matter.
The president wont wear a mask because he thinks its good politics.
What a joke that a poll showed that Biden is more trusted on corona virus than President Trump. Americans truly are not that smart. Biden wanted to not close the borders at all because he thinks it’s racist. Yes, just let the infected pour in was Biden’s way of dealing with the virus if he had been president. The same stupid idea they had in Italy which led to disaster for that country. Biden, who has in the past lied about so many things is to be trusted? Biden is really challenged in the trust department.
Don’t go to these mom and pop stores and cumbies.didnt see anyone wearing a mask in or out of one store..enforce the law. Store owners should have mandatory no purchase unless you are wearing. Every dirt bag in the city was out tonight. Pittsfield is in deep shit. Gangs are here,seen at least two this past couple days.
Kripalu dropped a bomb. All Smitty can say is the State has to do better? Smitty you are part of this. You are a STATE Rep. YOU HAVE TO DO BETTER!!!
The United States of Unemployment. Way to go Dingleberry. Worst President in History. Need Stats?
Kripalu closed until 2021? That’s crazy. Maybe all the staff wants a long vacation.
[REDACTED]
Criticism, when cloaked in irrational invective, crosses over into bile. That we won’t allow. We do thank the poster for her participation, however.