WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORT: PITTSFIELD, THE INCREDIBLE, SHRINKING CITY
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, DATE, 2021) — While the dynamic, inclusive, diverse vibrancy of Pittsfield continues to dazzle your senses and the B.S. continues like sausage-making from the Tyer Administration about the wonder of it all, THE PLANET thought you might be interested in a more objective, third-party view.
In this case, that 3rd party is America’s finest newspaper not named the Christian Science Monitor. We speak of the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal this week ran a story of 25 cities in America that have lost the most population between the years 2010 and 2019, the years of the most recent U.S. census. The WSJ examined data for the country’s 19,495 incorporated cities, towns, and villages (interesting, 14,781 have populations below 5,000) and 384 metropolitan statistical areas. Pittsfield made the list, coming at 369th. From July 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019, the city lost 4.8% of its population. That’s 6,330 souls who had the good sense to high-tail it elsewhere.
Pittsfield was the only city in the entire six-state New England to make this dubious list. Median household income is well below the national average, as is employment. In short, Pittsfield, according to the WSJ, is the fastest shrinking city in all of New England. Best guesstimate on the current population? about 36,000, maybe a little more.
———- ooo ———-
Here’s the entry lifted from the Journal‘s web site:
15. Pittsfield, MA
> 2010-2019 pop. change: -4.8% (-6,330)
> 2019 unemployment: 3.7% — 169th highest out of 383 MSAs
> 2010-2019 employment change: 1.9% — 315th highest out of 383 MSAs
> 2019 median household income: $58,895 — 10.4% below national median
The Pittsfield metro area is the only part of Massachusetts, or even the broader New England region, to rank among the fastest shrinking places in America. From 2010 to 2019, the Pittsfield area population fell by over 6,300, or 4.8%.
The Pittsfield area stands out among other places with rapidly declining populations because it has many positive economic indicators. Each year throughout the 2010s, the area’s unemployment rate has been lower than the U.S. rate, and its 2019 poverty rate of 10.8% is below the U.S. rate of 12.3%. Pittsfield’s median household income also increased more than the U.S. increase during that decade, yet the typical household still earns under $59,000 a year, well below the U.S. median of $65,712.
“The streetscape project will redesign Tyler Street to increase safety for all modes of transportation, whether it be by automobile, bus, bicycle, or on foot, while improving the safety and traffic flow at the intersection of Tyler Street, Woodlawn and Dalton avenues with the construction of a roundabout. Additionally, the project will improve pedestrian safety through the installation of visible crossings and curb extensions; create dedicated bicycle lanes; provide dedicated bus stops; and preserve on-street parking.”
Egad! A roundabout? And the dreaded “bike lanes” so that young Mr. Russo can enjoy his favorite pastime, the hell with everyone else?
Are you convinced?
THE PLANET wonders how much further this new program will sink the city deeper into the morass of civic quagmire.
God save us from good intentions.
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“All things are so very uncertain, and that’s what makes me so reassured” — Writer Tove Jansson.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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I’m predicting that there will be many problems with the new bike lnes,and on Hancock Rd. there will be a major accident. It’s Ineveitble,that road is just to narrow.
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
I have explained my theory about Pittsfield’s bottomless downward spiral many times over. I believe that Pittsfield politics wants people to be poor and stuck in the proverbial ditch by design. The reason for my theory is that Pittsfield makes more money off of its ever growing underclass because Pittsfield receives millions of dollars in state administered federal funds in the form of social services and public education funding. To Pittsfield, the underclass is yet another revenue source for Matt Kerwood to shuffle around his city accounts – along with all of the other tax dollars he takes from the proverbial Kapanski family – to build upon his +$10 million slush fund. It is called “Creative Accounting”, whereby Matt Kerwood “cooks the books” for Mayor Linda Tyer to spend on the vested and special interests who only care about filling their own coffers with public dollars. In a well publicly managed municipality, the Mayor and her top financial bureaucrat would invest in the people – the proverbial Kapanski family – by lowering taxes, fees, debts and other liabilities, and actually attracting and retaining living wage jobs with a skilled-based workforce. I liken it to the Christmas classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, where George Bailey invests in the common people, while Henry Potter exploits them for his own financial gain. Bedford Falls is a community where the working class live in nice homes and care about each other, while Pottersville is a community where the working class live in Potter’s slum apartments and are hostile to each other. Pittsfield is one of the most economically unequal communities in the state and nation because there are scarce living wage jobs there. The lovely Linda Tyer and her millionaire Accountant husband Barry Clairmont live in a wealthy gated community near the Hancock border, while Pittsfield’s underclass live in a ring of poverty around North Street, which is sarcastically called “Social Services Alley”. Pittsfield’s inner-city public schools are rated Level 5, which is the worst rating by the state government. Yet, Pittsfield politics keeps raising municipal taxes, fees, debts and other liabilities to record unsustainable levels for “Level 5 public services”. Pittsfield is ran by a China-like one political party system that answers to the big wheels in Boston’s corrupt Democratic Party. The average citizen in Pittsfield only faces retribution when they speak or write about Pittsfield politics mismanagement and creative accounting scams. In closing, Mayor Linda Tyer has failed Pittsfield – as have all of the other recent Mayors!
Best wishes,
Jonathan Melle
Jon, Every article the same thing.
Can you mix it up a little, because reading your copy/paste every article is awful.
And while we’re here can you get a different umbrella? Lol……just sayin
My power is out tonight.
That darn wind power!
So the asshats in city hall plan on screwing up traffic on Tyler st too?
I think they like the roundabout idea cause it reminds them of chasing their tails.
That intersection should be fixed becaust all the oldfarts in the area love to voice how much they hate change.Itstead of a beautiful baseball field downtown you have a drugstore.Even Stockbridge is going to puut in a round about in the towns 1 intersection.
You know the brainwashing is real, when white people protest against white people, for being white people.
If they just eliminated one of the 3 stop signs they would not need a stupid roundabout. A 3 way stop sign is stupider than a 4 way.
There is a roundabout in Adams, MA and it is the most annoying and senseless thing. Every time we go around it, we say this thing is so stupid. It’s also dangerous for bikers because drivers are looking to their left when entering the roundabout and may miss bikers or pedestrians coming in from the right.
It works.Trumpers are not used to winning.
Or running around in circles
And it is also the hottest housing market in the country.I for one remember that the worst part of Pittsfield past was the 10 poison smoke stacks that only burned after midnight.Tyler street was dirty as was many parts of the downtown.The silver lake area between lakewood through Fenn all the way to 1st street running along the south side of Tyler was much the same as it looks today.Pittsfield must Consolidate.Tyler North South and Wahconah are far more attractive than they were in the 1960s and 70s.I see a clean Pittsfield recovering from the corporate moves to 3rd world counries where pollution was ok.It was Republicans that built Chinas economy….CPAC is the Republicans look at the future and it was a Fox/Trump/disaster as Trump will offer a country in 2024 to 2028 that will take you back to 2016.Lots of empty seats in the small venue.
I grew up a stone’s throw from Tyler St. I don’t remember it being dirty. I remember it being busy with shops/businesses along the street. The Berkshire Athenaeum had a branch there that my friends and I would go to after school and on Saturdays. GE was still in operation. Many of my friends parents who worked for GE would walk to work and would patronize the businesses after their shift. No, I don’t remember it being dirty.
Litter everywhere on Tyler with bar rooms everywhere.Filthy smokestacks poisoning everywhere the wind would take that poison.Dalton took the brunt of the west to east wind.Pittsfield got steady employment in exchange for desease.GE lied about their poison.GE lied about cleaning up their poison.
Pittsfield.ma has had a corporate trauma of being left for dead and many old men spit on our grave but facts get in the way as we in Pittsfield are alive and well with cheap realestate in a beautiful city of great neighborhoods in a pristine Taconic range of mountains with two gorgeous lakes a stateforest second to none a ski resort seen from the downtown.Hiking and biking walking running right out your front door.Sidewalks everywhere.
Leadership is terrible in Pittsfield.We have very few people who understand budgets inside our residential homes.SS retirements suck and should be raised by 25% Ronald Reagan tried to destroy ss and that has been the goal of conservatives for 40 years.Conservatism is a deadend for the working man.Retirement,healthcare,safe public education is really all that Americans ever wanted.All the rest is a distraction.
Fox is ruining American lives.They report and you repeat.All bad all the time on a loop untill you repeat it with others like a choir in a cult.Trump gone and Limbaugh hate gone and the batton has been handed to Sean Hannity the 50 million dollar hater along with his little brother TUCKER….i want my skn to be just like Tucker Carlson said not 1 person.
I like your kool aid…. where do we buy it
It’s homemade brew, potent! Still is along Silver lake where he draws the water for the Kool Aid.
Fox propaganda the Qanon network of Russian republicans
So the Pitt has a shrinking population? During her first term Mayor Tired tried bringing in Syrian refugees to fill the city, until President Trump put an end to that dangerous and ill-advised policy. With Barack Obiden in the WH, will Tired try it again? Will she reach out for unscreened covid/disease-infected migrants from Central America? Stay alert Pittsfielders!
https://www.breitbart.com/education/2021/02/28/trump-biden-keeps-america-closed-americans-opens-us-refugees/
Refugees are even being given education classes on the border while American children can’t go to school.
My guess is ….yes she will!
It won’t be long until they’re dancing in the park.
Great comment and you can bet that Tyer will welcome all these migrants to her Dynamic and Vibrant hell/pot hole of a City. With the population shrinking how else is she going to get all her famous grant money? Look at all the housing being built on Tyler Street, with shrinking population who else is going to be moving into these apartments? North Street and Fenn Street are already called Social Service Blvd., Tyler Street will be called Migrant Blvd. Country Buffet Bouvier will get these folks licenses and all the freebees that us hardworking taxpayers are not privy to. These folks that will have great access to the now world renown Pot Campus and also the Methadone Clinic. Both of these locations that hardworking taxpayers were totally against in their neighborhood but Mayor Tyer refused to speak to or even listen to. She would not even speak or listen to the present ward councilor who during the Mayor’s ZOOM meetings she very visibly shows that she can’t stand him and has no use for his input. No wonder he is not seeking re-election, he can’t represent his constituents. He is not one of her hand picked puppets. Of course her latest greatest puppet, Stupid Bike Lane Russo has been hand picked by her to replace this hardworking councilor.
Careful or she will start posting a patrol out front of city hall like China Joe, San Fran Ho, bat wing crazy Nancy mobster boss Pelosi, sleazy Schumer and schitzy
I watch Fox viewer
FYI I am to busy to watch TV…I would suggest you cancel your cable to and start enjoying life by going outside and interacting with other people!! You would be surprised and how much better your life would be….but please keep your social distance
You sound Limbaughless
If that grinds your gears, you will love to hear how Cafua LLC (dunkin here locally) bought a house on Bartlett to pack in their import Visa folks who staff the dunkins here locally. Ya know, that’s the type of skilled workers we need in this country 😉
Where does it say……
Bring me hostile, freeloading criminals, waving their own flags?
One lump or two.
In the defund the police program literature
I watch Fox viewer statement
Tyler street/Dalton ave has long been one of the few routes to cross the city or go through the city to points north like Williamstown, Adams or Vermont, or east to Dalton or Windsor or rte 9 to North Hampton etc.
This whole redesign with the on road parking, bicyles lanes and added pedestrian traffic would seem to intentionally or otherwise, slow traffic way down and cause frustration and alternate route seeking. I read that the road would be made narrower. How many new crosswalks will be added with all the new (marketplace) haa haa, housing? A ride from Coltsville to the hospital or points west might add another 5-7 minutes for every car every day. Will Crane avenue now get another 1000 cars per day? Will East street/Merrill road get a ton of added traffic?
And I am not talking about the construction period but rather from the finished product. My question is, “was this whole do-over mainly the result of an intention to improve traffic flow or to creativley divide up a large source of taxpyer money like so many other white elephants in Pittsfield?”
Roundabouts are annoying as hell. They are not progressive improvements. This City needs to address streets that have been patched and patched and patched some more. The East side has many down in Lakewood. We have a counselor who doesn’t give a damn and doesn’t respond to anything either. Goodbye Farewell.
Councilor
We are one of the most far left progressive cities in the country and we are losing population. What does that tell us? Something isn’t working here. The progressive policies are a failure for job creation and for creating a thriving city. We used to be very successful and a model city, but we are now only attracting people who want to escape the big cities, but they are sadly bringing their far left progressive politics with them.
Exactly Pat,
I don’t know why these people bother fleeing certain area’s for others while bringing the same ideals with them that causes the same thing to happen all over.
Unfortunately the people who voted for this mess are moving to the states that are prospering like Florida…I am hoping they don’t ruin those areas
Pat,you are the victim of progress….Blue states subsidize Fox /Trump red states.You guys want blue states to be red states….amazing
I watch way too much Fox viewer statement
Does this really surprise anyone? Not me. I read the article in the paper yesterday about what our local “leaders” priorities are at the state house:
Hinds: promote outdoor recreation, getting clean energy sources into law, and creating a racial equity office.
Country-Buffet: driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, paying tip based employees minimum wage ($15 an hour, even thought tip based jobs, generally far exceed minimum wage), allow foster parents to unionize (why?), taxing wealthy people (no amount given).
Notice not one of the two even mention job growth? It doesn’t surprise me. These two, especially Country-Buffet, have done nothing to help the citizens, only themselves. How does a bill that allows people who shouldn’t even be here in the first place, driver’s licenses, help her constituents (the people who pay her salary) any help during this pandemic?
But hey, Pittsfield’s vibrant, dynamic, and now inclusive. We welcome everyone*. Just please don’t be a white male (Helen Moon will blame every problem on you) or gainfully employed.
Country-Buffet: driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, paying tip based employees minimum wage ($15 an hour, even thought tip based jobs, generally far exceed minimum wage), allow foster parents to unionize (why?), taxing wealthy people (no amount given).
What we have lost in our reps is the desire to serve their local constituents and focus on their next step up the government ladder. Not one of those things helps taxpaying citizens in the Berkshires, but just echoes the national talking points. So you ask, why are citizens not standing up and demanding change and a focus on solutions for our community? Because doing so puts you at risk of losing your job or being called a racist. Serving your community through council or other elected office used to be something you did because you wanted to make a positive impact, not work your way up the government ladder.
Also, if you bump to $15 an hour for tipped employees you might as well just close the restaurants now. Restaurants cannot do that and servers will make less.
The people who drive the agenda and vote are the “progressives.” They’re not the people who need to worry about crime in Pittsfield.They are the party activists. The sooner we neutralize their influence the better for the Kopanskis.
Crime has skyrocketed in Pittsfield between 2001 and 2018 under failed policies of the so called hardliners. According to crime statistics overall crime was down in the city of Pittsfield in 2019 and 2020.
We have tread this path many times. Linda Tyer: 2016 to present. Most of the responsibility lies with her. The rest, funding, local and state programs and economic conditions are the responsibilities of you know who. Policies of the criminal justice system are at the bottom of this sh*t pile.
What hardliners? All Democrats, as a matter of when was the last ta republican was a mayor? And no there haven’t been any in my life so Mr Melle don’t give me a list
Republicans dont have ideas.They dont attract very many people.Most inteligent people do not want to be associated with Trump Hannity and Limbaugh.All three are stooges of Oligarchs and Corporations.Wake up …No Seanate,No House,No Presidency.Red states are being saved from themselves by Blue states again…..Fear and hate are losing to intelligence and compassion. Conservatives need to keep their hate in their church. Dont bring that into the pubic places.If you want to win find a good smart Conservative who focuses on budgets ,retirement,min wage,and great public schools.
Stop policing due to war on cops, and crime rate will drop. Shootings will eventually rise as will other violent crime, when cops take a FUKITOL tablet, thanks to war on cops.
Crime is “down” because they stopped recording the crimes. Unless it’s a violent crime, and even then not always, they will send a car out at some point.
And just about everything these activists want that has negative effects on the whole of population is just dandy with them, as long as it isn’t in their neighborhoods just like windmills, dumps, cell towers, drug clinic’s etc..
Exactly, J2. Watch where they put the pot shops in Lenox. Right on the Pitt or Lee lines, not in their precious millionaire’s neighborhood.
Spot on, Markus.
Hinds is also initiating a crackdown on “hate crimes.”
Ben Downing was obsessed with securing special rights for transgenders.
What a cast of useless politicians!
Packing my bags for Florida!
I wish Hinds would also push for a crackdown on a punishment for those who report Hate crimes that turn out to be hoaxes. Doubt it though!
Good point, but you’d need a DA to enforce that hoax, law-breaker. If I think long and hard, I believe we have one here in the Berkshires.
Simon Rock had a black female report a hoax. The troopers assigned to Wrong-Way had this figured out probably the first few minutes of seeing the “crime scene.” A “kidnapping” in the woods with dirt and leaves everywhere, but no drag marks? C’mon man, it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that mystery. Hell, John Holmes could have figured it out in the latter days of his life and he was a wreck.
But did Wrong-Way punish that felon? Nope. But a white guy burns hay, with no property and/or human life, ever in jeopardy of being harmed. No. But I remember reading Country-Buffet saying when she heard the news, she shed tears on her way home from Boston. My spies at her local dry cleaner, reported a mixture of bbq sauce, chocolate, and mustard, on her white shirt. This being the reason she was crying. Her $200 shirt was ruined.
I’ll give him credit, Melle is correct. Raise your hand if you got a generous raise during this pandemic? I sure didn’t. Country Buffet, Hinds, and the rest of the Berkshire delegation sure can. What do they show for their efforts?
Foster parents to unionize? Why, to shake the tax-payer down for more loot Trish. Fostering children is a noble effort. Not a way to get rich. Unreal.
Excellent comments, MARK. The two cases and their respective treatment by the D.A. tell us much (probably everything) about that office’s approach to “justice.”
Not only the DAs office but our government also, as you say, the silence is deafening
Harrington also wants to charge the local guys who were in the Capitol with hate crimes, they fake victims and hoaxes to just taking political prisoners
Hit nail on the thumb
Andy Mckeevers brother Fran was feeding hay bale burner drinks and encouragement, and a dark explorer or escape seen near bales just prior to fire. Dalton police noted suspect lost his gas can,when it feel out of truck.
A bit of exculpatory evidence that suspect was framed,to provide a narrative to help politicians.
We should find that teenager bring them back and have a public witch trial? would that make you feel better.
Perhaps have the false hate crime perpetrator, wash police cruisers and fire trucks every spare moment. Wearing a shirt proclaiming her crime.
Until she understands the effects of her hoax.
No, but how about a criminal trial, like she should have faced. The guy in Dalton is facing a criminal trial and he burned hay.
See, the hypocrisy Helen?
Happiness is Pittsfield in the rear view mirror.
Former President Trump can make a very informative speech off the top of his head for almost 90 minutes. Yet Sleepy Joe messes up a 10 minute speech and that is while holding white cue cards. Wow, and wonder why the country is falling apart by the day. Come on man, are we ever in trouble.
Wait until Joe has to give his SOTU address. They will have to knock down a wall to get in a Jumbotron for him to read from. I’m sure the powers to be are working to change up the venue so Joe can somehow look and sound coherent.
We should have a contest on how long Dimentia Joe will remain as President before his party has him replaced by Commie-la.
I’ll give him another 4 weeks!
Regardless of how long, we’ll take it… to sit back and watch how triggered y’all get will be so great!
One things stands out, with each day getting more noticeable: Not Pelosi’s shakes or Harris’ ambition, but the fact that Syracuse Joe has yet to give one open, unfettered, on-your-feet press conference.
DV, fair. On the other hand, I’ll take no PC, for now, over the train wrecks we had to deal with the past year.
Trump hid for 2plus years Dan with no spokesperson allowed for 9 months ….You guys had no expectations of out Treasonist Trump
The excuses are piling up for the lack of solo presses. The one they aren’t using is his cognitive decline.
https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2021/03/02/jen-psaki-gets-another-question-on-when-biden-will-hold-first-solo-presser-her-answer-just-makes-
no-sense-n335741
I’m going with when Joe has a slip and fall while going down some stairs and the VP is the first one there to report what happened.
Didn’t you see ancient Nancy the other day shaking her hand but not in sync with her speech? Shakes?
I did see her shake and it was like after a vehicle hitting a huge pothole and needing an alignment type shake.
With her high heels stuck in his back
On march 5 you wackos think Trump is going to be President according to Qanon republican party of Fox/ Trump propaganda…you want America to be the confederate states.
Council Grades :
Persip F
White F
Caccamo A
Guiel F
Marchetti D
Morandi C
Connell A
Cohen F
Maffucio A
Kavey F
Moon D-
Caccamo never fixed a sidewalk
He gets an A for leaving I guess?
TDS please take your medicine you are becoming as unhinged as Andrew next door
Voted stupid out.
Minimum fritz. And if anyone sees Cuomo tell him to keep it in his pants. What a pig.
Just doing the dem thing
taxes up,medical up,sewer rates up, Gasoline Up,school budget up,state pay,up.
Kufflinks talks don’t say much. All Kufflinks wants to hear is these sick words every year from the Scqnlons. We have a great bond rating.
Council member Kavey is having a bad couple weeks as a councilor in my opinion. One,he was the lone vote for outdoor pot,he wants to givie a white collar city worker a big raise., this after he voted no on a mayoral raise?
But the biggest guffaw was he was on recently on pctv Stooge Show.
Yes. “Happy Days Are Here Again!!!”
You know it’s a slow month when the only thing on the mayors agenda is to give out raises.
But pants down
Energy up.Markets up.Real estate up.Kids in school ,vaccines up,terrorism up,white supremacist up,Qanon up,compassion up,
Massive white collar increases proposals. Maffuccio only one against it. This is most definitely worst City Council in history. And worst Mayoral administration.
They are thinking just like our local contingent that represents us in Boston. Zoom raises.
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, send it in.
Speech was written and after one hour he knew it sucked so the went off script and went back to his lies he used to become the Traitor he is.
Dan, any chance you can give TSC a “warning?” Reading the endless non-sense about Donald Trump is getting old. TSC, Trump is no longer President, MOVE ON!!
The MSM misses him as much as TSC .Without Trump they have no one to blame and shame for everything. And there’s no way they will even consider calling this administration out for anything.
He’ll be back
Did you miss him?
The 2022 election cycle,will be a red tidal wave.
He learned a valuable lesson, don’t trust anyone. The Rats exposed themselves, Cheney, McConnell, Romney and several others ended thier political careers.
America first agenda, gained the union and woman vote. Biden radical agenda will rebound badly.
The Qanon wish of 1/6/2021
Genus will you stop saying that. He had almost eight million voters hot all Q.
Trump should of had rally a day earlier
Only thing he’s guilty of is poor timing.
The month off and lack of Twitter had good effects on him.
Successful people tend to be impatient, seems he learned some.
1/6/2021
Must ask why Pelosi refused to have extra guards…very curious isn’t it TDS
Now if only you went off your TDS script for a change your posts might make some sense of things.
If you go down North street at 6am you would see many cars parked there. My guess is that the redesign had more to do with providing on street parking for condo owners rather than public convenience. And just how many condos are there right now on North street and how many more are in the works? Could the mayor please address this in a honest manner? Is North street becoming a high rent district for condos since it has been virtually destroyed as a business district?
Interesting thoughts. This condo deal is how they live in east village ny.
Pittsfield.ma is the hottest realestate in America. This must kill you Trumpers1/6/2021
Yeah,we sell, real estate broker takes a piece, and we move to another community at gunpoint, either pay the taxes and the fees or leave so the exodus from n y can live here because they can afford it with us being kicked out of an unaffordable community that are forefathers built.
No, it’s killing those who had dreams of owning a home, but can’t afford the increases of the market values.Those getting bye or just getting bye aren’t driving the market. It is a great market for those who want to unload and move away.
Don’t you hate it when a higher assessment credit,goes to the city and never ever the homeowner. The market? I have a nice home because i take care of it and I live in it. And that doesn’t mean a big assessment is benefitting me,I would like to stay!
It is for the wealthy, but not anybody else. That should kill you far leftists who are supposedly so worried about the poor and middle class and shouldn’t be gloating about the rich scooping up Pittsfield houses.
Re: My web letter to candidate for Governor of Massachusetts Ben Downing
My dad, Bob Melle, is a former Berkshire County Commissioner (1997 – mid-2000). We went to Beacon Hill and spoke to legislative committees about Berkshire County not having real representation in Boston. My dad said that the multibillion dollar cost overruns in Boston’s “Big Dig” could cover Berkshire County Government for over 5,000 years. I told Boston lawmakers that they were wrong to target Berkshire County Government for inefficiencies when Boston’s “Big Dig” costs many billions of dollars, leaks millions of gallons of water everyday, and later claimed the lives of innocent people. Then State Representative Marty Walsh, now Boston’s outgoing Mayor, looked at me with annoyed eyes, and said to me that I would say that about Boston’s “Big Dig”. Marty Walsh told me that I already shared my thoughts with him when I emailed the entire Massachusetts State Legislature last summer (1998). Marty Walsh then proclaimed that Boston’s “Big Dig” is an engineering marvel. After Boston abolished Berkshire County Government, they put Pontoosuc Lake in a state accounting agency for two whole years from July 1, 2000 – June 30, 2002. When lake residents and business complained about the weed infested and neglected lake, the state government said that accountants do not take care of lakes. In closing, my story serves as an example of how Boston does not care about the rest of Massachusetts, while they take our tax dollars for pork barrel boondoggles like Boston’s “Big Dig”.
– Jonathan Melle
Ben Downing for Massachusetts (ngpvan.com)
Jon Ben is a connected Democrat who you just lambasted. How do you reconcile your thoughts and actions
Guess my earlier reply didn’t make it pass the censors so I am trying again. You live in a Republican state. You complain about how corrupt Massachusetts is with the Democrats in charge…why are you supporting a Democrat?
So who beat up Willard Romney?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/03/mitt-romney-black-eye-stitches-fall-weekend-knocked-unconscious/
fritz,Maybe,…..ready?………….He slipped on a banana peel? Just sayin……
Willard probably ran into a disgruntled constituent, or his Son lumped him.
Either way he earned it, backstabbing Rat.