BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY JULY 20, 2020) — In The Weekend Edition, THE PLANET picked up the story of the sudden ouster of up to 80 homeless people from the former St. Joseph’s High School building on Maplewood Avenue in downtown Pittsfield. ServiceNet’s alarming move was done without notice to city councilors and apparently without notice to anyone. It’s not clear if the agency informed the mayor, the Office of Community Development, or anyone else.

Today, we continue the story, doing the follow-up that the Boring Broadsheet and the sad excuse for other local “news” outlets have ignored.

To bring you up to speed, we present background you probably haven’t heard or read.

First, Amanda Burke’s paint-by-numbers story in the Friday edition of The BB on the SJHS closing failed to asked the important questions or do any meaningful followup. It’s a great example of how the newspaper’s timid approach continues to rip-off the community. When the mayor responded to THE PLANET (she did not make herself available to The BB), she praised the current homeless shelter, Barton’s Crossing, on outer North Street, as well as ServiceNet. She implied that the release of that number of homeless would not pose a problem. We subsequently learned that because of the pandemic, there are currently no shelter beds available. THE PLANET also learned of the dilapidated, prison-like atmosphere of Barton’s along with numerous rumblings about the facility on the verge of closing for unspecified violations.

There’s a giant problem brewing, and the city’s “leaders” don’t want to touch it.

Late Friday, THE PLANET contacted each of the 11 city councilors. Our inquiry asked the following questions:

• 1. How many people were evicted. The numbers are all over the place, from 40 to 80. What’s the real number?
• 2. Where have they gone? Any track on this?
• 3. Were they COVID-clean? Is there certification to that effect?
• 4. The VP of ServiceNet talked of “money” problems? Was there theft? Embezzlement? The rumors are out there.
• 5. Who was keeping the books? Are the books available for inspection?
• 6. What was the extent of the city’s involvement in running the facility?
• 7. Do you intend to address this at a council meeting? Bring people in for questioning?
• 8. What has the city heard from the Diocese of Springfield?
• 9. Were any of you notified of the closing of the facility before it happened?
• 10. Who was the city’s liaison with ServiceNet?

As of today’s posting, we heard from six of them: council president Peter Marchetti, at-large Earl Persip, Ward 5 councilor Patrick Kavey, Peter White at large, Ward 4 councilor Chris Connell, and Kevin Morandi of Ward 2.

1. MARCHETTI: I spoke with [ServiceNet’s VP] Jay Sachetti. He told me there were about five without a place to go … PERSIP, same answer.
2. MARCHETTI: I don’t know. … PERSIP, same answer.
3. MARCHETTI: I don’t know. … PERSIP, same answer.
4. MARCHETTI: I’m not aware of any. PERSIP: “Rumors are Just that, rumors. I haven’t heard of this. Service Net is well run Organization and I assume they have protocols to show how money is spent. I also believe they have reporting requirements.”
5. MARCHETTI: I don’t know. … PERSIP: “That’s a question for service net. I don’t have an answer.”
6. MARCHETTI: It is my understanding that we cleaned up and made some repairs. The facility was run by service net. … PERSIP: “I was told the city was the one who did repairs to the building and cleaned up to be used. Service net ran the day to day.”
7. MARCHETTI: Still trying to get her information so not sure at the moment. The next meeting is 8/11. … PERSIP: “I was told the city was the one who did repairs to the building and cleaned up to be used. Service net ran the day to day.”
8. MARCHETTI: I was not made aware of any recent conversations with diocese. … PERSIP, same answer.
9. MARCHETTI: I was not made aware of closing … PERSIP: “Not that I was told.”
10. MARCHETTI: I am unaware. I would assume Health Dept and community Development office. … PERSIP, same answer.

PATRICK KAVEY

The sudden closing of the homeless shelter at St. Joe High School was just as much of a shock to the council as it was to the public. I was not informed by the city that the shelter would be closing. I also have heard nothing out of the Diocese of Springfield. My colleagues, I spoke with were also not informed. The information I have received about the closing of St. Joe has come directly from my local homelessness advocate contacts within the community.

The question of eviction is more complex than it should be. Since I am going off information from our local advocates, my numbers are all over the place as well. The official statement in the Eagle was that the numbers had fallen. The city has said that there are 71 homeless individuals in the county. That the number was as low as 18 individuals at St. Joe, when the facility was closed and that four were displaced without anywhere to go. However, the one of the local activists I spoke with had said she has been tracking upwards of 100 homeless in the city and has a list of names she has complied that include St. Joe, Soldier On and Bartons Crossing. She was able to track some of those who have been displaced to local parks, where they have been camping but since the population is a transient one, it is hard to track the whereabouts of most. 

I have no information at this time what the status of whether they were positive or not for COVID. I hopefully will gain more information on any contact tracing that has happened with our homeless members of our community, once I hear from the current administration. I also have no information on the financial aspects of ServiceNet or who was keeping the books. Any funding that came through the city from the federal government should be able to be tracked by our Director of Finance. 

It is my understanding that a lot of businesses were complaining about “unwanted individuals” in the downtown business district, which could have had an impact on the decision to close St. Joe. Right now, our short-term goal should be to give these folks immediate housing and give them the support to navigate that opportunity in a positive way, especially the ones that are unwell. Homelessness, mental health and addiction all collide. Not all of those folks are in that boat but some of them are and those are the folks that are the challenging ones but also the folks that need our help the most. Long term, we need to update and expand Bartons Crossing so that we can handle higher levels of homelessness that we may experience due to COVID and the onset of a global recession. 

United Methodist has been seen as an alternative solution. Many downtown businesses have opposed that move, siting it will hurt their businesses. According to a local advocate, the amount of beds would not be a significant improvement over our current situation. With that being said, I think we should be mindful of what this pandemic and the onset of this recession is already doing to our community and what it is going to do to our community in the future. This is not the time for less beds. With 15% of our population in poverty, our unemployment rate soaring and the spread of a deadly virus, it is important to ensure shelter and the space for proper sanitation for our homeless. This is the time for additional space and resources to be allocated towards the homeless. At this point in time, my main focus is gaining more information on the current situation. I have spoken with my colleagues about a petition that would request this information in our next council meeting. Until then, I plan on continuing to work with local activists to track the movements of our homeless population and try and get them the aid they need in these trying times. Once we have more information, then my colleagues and I can come up with a more complete plan on how to address the situation. 

Given Tyer’s sun-shiny answer, the responses of THE PLANET’s two Right Honorable Good Friends, and the silence of the other 10, it appears the city had no involvement or oversight on what was happening inside of SJHS. That’s problem enough, but when ServiceNet locked the doors like thieves in the night, you have a problem of magnitude.

THE PLANET: Kavey hits a perfect tone here with his reference to locking “the doors like thieves in the night” and with his realization that this is “a problem of magnitude.” He would make the perfect noise-maker on a council desperately in need of someone to rain thunder on this issue and others, especially given the callousness of the response from the Office of Community Development given below by Peter Lafayette.

PETER WHITE

From speaking with Jay Sachetti at ServiceNet about 4 or 5 people had no where to go when the shelter closed. In the weeks leading up to the closure numbers were declining and they had been getting 15-18 people per night.

As far as where they have gone I do not have that answer. Barton’s Crossing was offered to the most vulnerable but the offer was not taken.

I do not know of any Covid-19 testing before they left. If symptoms were reported they could have gone for testing if ordered by a physician.

I do not have any insight on the money issues beyond knowing from serving on the Human Services Advisory Council that Barton’s Crossing often operates on a deficit. I have no reason to believe anything illegal was going on.

Any “books” I would think ServiceNet operating the shelter would track numbers and then submit them for reimbursements. You would need to contact ServiceNet or Finance Director Kerwood in regards to any inspections request.

The extent of the City’s involvement was to clean the former high school and make repairs to allow it to act as a temporary shelter.

If answers do not come before the next scheduled meeting in August then requesting answers there could be an option. However I have rarely seen the need to put in a petition for answers that can be asked for and received. Homelessness is a problem in ours and many other regions. Under usually conditions any over flow shelters would have closed months ago.

I have heard nothing from the Diocese of Springfield, nor as a City Councilor am I involved in those conversations.

I was not made aware of the closing. I learned of the closings through the Berkshire Eagle article and Facebook postings.

I am not sure who the liaison was but I would expect it would be the Community Development Office following Board of Health/ Health Department guidelines.

CHRIS CONNELL

Thanks for the questions. Unfortunately I have few answers but the same questions that you have asked. 

———- ooo ———-

THE PLANET thanks the five councilors for talking directly to the people through this board. As for Moon (who has NEVER once responded to any of our press inquiries), Morandi, Caccamo, Lampiasi, Maffuccio, and Cohen, they must not care. Maybe they were all mask-less at Methuselah, social distancing at 12 inches.

At this point, THE PLANET gives you a relevant set of exchanges on Facebook involving Regina White; Rev. Ralph Howe of the First United Methodist Church; councilor Connell; Peter Lafayette, president of Downtown Pittsfield Inc.; and the city’s homeless advocate Edward Carmel.

REGINA WHITE POSTED:

From Rev. Ralph Howe of First United Methodist Church on Fenn Street in Pittsfield :
“Hello Berkshire County folks,
Our church has entered into a lease for a service agency with a long history of serving the needy to move its homeless shelter from a decrepit facility a mile out of town to a wing of our building. It can be accomplished with minimal costs.
It is good for the church and good for the community.
It will allow them to provide much more services during the day to those who are living with homelessness or housing insecurity.
While I went and talked with the local merchant’s group, Downtown Pittsfield Inc in February to let them know that we were making headway toward this project, they waited until a few days ago to send us a letter complaining about this project.
Our hearing is on Tuesday, July 21st at 6pm.
They oppose the location of the shelter on Pearl Street, a street with an industrial plant and a wholesale restaurant company.”

LAFAYETTE

The shelter did not close. With a lower census, it simply moved temporarily back to its original location at Barton Crossing on upper North Street. It has been looking for a new central location.

CONNELL

Peter, it seems no one was notified. During a national emergency with covid-19, steps should have been made to not only inform the public but to wait until this epidemic was completely under control. Based on world wide numbers, we should expect a second wave thereby increasing the need for facilities like this.

CARMEL

Peter u r wrong wrong wrong.If u have true information bring it if it’s false imfor don’t put it out there and b.s. anybody else. What census would that b with a full house at St Jos. This is unconstitutional to treat people like animals. The findings by the appropriate people will come out and u will see that our leaders not do not want to deal with the homeless. THIS WILL CHANGE.

———- ooo ———-

The objection that allowing a homeless facility on Fenn Street would spoil the commercial environment of the downtown and add to public concerns about safety can be dismissed out-of-hand. Pittsfield’s “leaders” decided both questions for Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski decades ago. They put Ad Lib downtown. They put Juvenile Court downtown. They put the meth clinic downtown. They allowed social-service agencies downtown and zoned away private businesses.

It would appear that a coverup is in the works. How else can one explain the incredible lack of knowledge (ignorance?) over this situation?

• There’s no agreement on the number without housing.
• The mayor says 40. Sachetti claims 5. A lawyer with familiarity on the local housing situation puts the number of homeless in the city “in excess of 120.”
• No one knows how many of the evicted or homeless have COVID-19 or have been tested.
• No one knows where they are.
• Off the record, we have heard of serious questions involving “the money” with respect to at least the SJHS situation. We have seen no hard evidence of this. That said, it’s hardly reassuring that when the VP of ServiceNet talks about funding for the homeless, he speaks of money “materializing then disappearing.” What money? Where? By whom? From whom?
• Who holds the books? Will they be made available for public inspection?

No one other than THE PLANET, Connell, and Kavey seems to be pressing to find  answers. The SJHS facility CLEARLY CLOSED, but Lafayette has the temerity to write: “The shelter did not close.” Kudos to Carmel for calling out Lafayette. It’s a lie, Carmel says. It would appear that he’s correct. Lafayette did not respond to Carmel’s accusation on Facebook.

We’ve known Peter Lafayette for a generation. He talks a good game and presents a comforting public figure. He’s clean, articulate, and wears the professorial scrub of a policy wonk. However, bounding from one public trough job after another, don’t you get the sense that this guy just couldn’t hack it in The Dreaded Private Sector? Come to think of it, isn’t that a great qualification for the offices of Downtown Inc.?

THE PLANET of course will be glad to publish any comment or clarification he wishes to send us.

When the phone doesn’t ring, we’ll know it’s Peter Lafayette not getting back to us.

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“Self realization has ceased to be looked upon as self-fortification” — Henry Burton Sharman.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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