IDIOT DPW COMMISH IS AT IT AGAIN: ON TAP FOR BITCHFIELD, NARROWER ROADS, SPEED BUMPS, WIDER SIDEWALKS, MORE BIKE LANES
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION APRIL 5-7, 2024) — According to the Highway Safety Association (HSA), pedestrian traffic deaths rose from 4,600 in 2007, to 6,721 in 2020, to 7,485 in 2021. That number is expected to hit 10,000 this year.
What gives?
Many factors explain this precipitous rise. They include:
- Bigger, heavier, and faster vehicles, so monstrous that the slightest impact can cause severe injury or worse.
- High riders, with many pickups and SUVs more than 50 inches from the ground.
- Roadways not built to handle volumes of traffic.
- Poor road maintenance.
- Confusing signage.
Beyond these, though, the greatest single factor for the increase is distracted driving (DD) caused primarily by the ubiquitous presence of cell phones and texting. Obviously, texting and driving form a lousy pair, not exactly Pesky to Doerr.
By almost every metric available, DD is up … way up. Data from 2022 shows that 58% of drivers use their phones while driving. Among those 35 and under, it rises to more than 80%. Two years later, those numbers are only higher. DD not only causes massive loss of life and property, it’s also driven car insurance rates sky high.
The sad part? DD is easily fixed. Solution: Put your @#*&#! phone down and off when you’re piloting a 4,000-pound hunk of metal, glass, and plastic down the roads at any speed, let alone exceeding the speed limit.
————— ooo —————
THE PLANET finds another causal link to these somber realities: The policies of woke administrations that inject politics into roadway administration and every other aspect of sociocultural life.
C’mon down, City of Bitchfield! C’mon down, Maypo Administration! C’mon down, DPW commissioner Ricky Rumpus!
In the April issue of “The Works,” the, uh, “Official Newsletter of the Department ion Public Services and Utilities of the City of Pittsfield,” Rumpus has penned a prose-poem titled “Walk Massachusetts Report on Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in 2023.”
Rumpus writes that “three pedestrian fatalities [occurred] within our community, with two occurring on West Street.” This has prompted government to stick its big nose into the situation, producing more dumbass policies ostensibly “to protect vulnerable road users and to make communities walkable and safe for everyone.”
As if that’s the answer.
It’s not. The only thing that will makes roads safer is people paying attention to what they’re doing. We need no new laws or policies for that. If you’re walking, be on high alert. If your driving, make that activity your sole focus. That’s it. Do that, and the Bitchfield fatality count reduces to z-e-r-o without tearing up our roads and making them EVEN LESS SAFE.
Because that’s what Rumpus wants to do.
———- ooo ———-
Look at his plan for the redesign of West Street:
The Rumpus Plan for West Street: Muddled Confusion in a Blender … or … Stanley Kubrick’s plan for the maze in “The Shining.” Both will result in death.
Simple to follow, eh?
He then lists his 5-point plan:
1. Chief among his remedies is the “narrowing of streets.” Rumpus writes: “By reducing lane widths, we aim to naturally slow traffic, making the environment safer for pedestrians and cyclists.” Can’t leave the Bike Mafia out, right?
FACT: Narrowing roads heightens danger.
2. “Increased pedestrian and cyclist space: We’re expanding sidewalks and adding bike lanes to give more room to those outside cars.”
FACT: Bike lanes are so unused in Bitchfield that they are the only ones in the state known to require cleaning for cobwebs. Wider sidewalks create tighter fits for vehicles. A proven killer.
3. “Raised crosswalks: These will be installed to slow traffic at key crossing points, making pedestrians more visible to drivers.”
FACT: Adding what are speed bumps will make vehicles harder to control. Plus, the raising and lowering of vehicle front ends makes pedestrians HARDER to see.
4. “Enhanced signage.”
FACT: Stop right there. Look what this dumbass commish has done with existing signage. Any questions?
5. “Improving the intersection of West and West.”
FACT: You read that right. It’s not a typo. Rumpus thinks that West Street intersects itself!!!
This box-checked idiot tells us that “[t]hese steps are part of our broader commitment to creating a safer, MORE INCLUSIVE Pittsfield [THE PLANET’s emphasis].
There it is. Rumpus’ signed confession that this is all about woke politics.
Lord, save us from those who want to keep us “safe.”
Have a great weekend, everybody.
——————————————————————-
“You don’t get old by being no fool. I know lotta ‘wise’ young guys. They’s deader than a muthafuckah” — Richard Pryor.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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Please read this news article:
https://www.iberkshires.com/story/74942/Marchetti-Defends-Pittsfield-Tax-Rates-in-Advance-of-FY25-Budget.html
Pittsfield’s tax plan consists on taxing fixed income senior citizens somewhere around $5,000 per fiscal year.
Mayor Peter Marchetti defends this SCAM by saying that saying that the city’s tax bill ranks 10th out of the 32 municipalities in Berkshire County. He should understand that Pittsfield has a large population of low- to moderate-income and fixed income Senior Citizen residents, while some of the other Berkshire communities have more higher income residents than Pittsfield.
Predictable Pittsfield politics always increases its annual operating budget spending by at least 5 percent. Lately, it has been in the 5 to 10 percent annual operating budget spending increases range. This is nothing new since the early-1980’s after the misguided Proposition 2.5 state law went into effect.
The city has to play financial shell games with the inequitable state government, which means that the fictional Kapanski working-class family pays taxes while the career politicians raise taxes and Cook the Books. I wish the common people understood that it is all a financial game in City Hall and the Boston Statehouse, but it goes over most of their heads.
Jon Melle
Yes. But compared to other cities how much is their current DEBT compared to Bitchfield?
April 5, 2024
The city’s current debt plus OPEB unfunded liabilities are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. But it does not matter so long as Pittsfield is able to play financial shell games with the inequitable state government in Boston.
Predictable Pittsfield politics always increases its spending in its annual operating budget by between 5 percent to 10 percent since the early-1980’s. It is NOT based in economic reality. Rather, it is based on the city government cooking its books for the inequitable state government’s accounting bureaucracy.
So much of the financial, corporate and ruling elites’ financial management is NOT based on economics. Rather, most of it is playing games with numbers.
Most of the money in our nation and around the world only exists on computer screens. It is not real. If the U.S. Government didn’t print well over $10 trillion out of thin air over the past 3-plus years, then it would not be able to compete with its foreign competitors around the world, which do the same thing. (Even Napoleon ran the printing pressed in France a long time ago, but unlike over 2 centuries ago, so far in the 2020’s, K Street corporate lobbyist firms in the Swamp boast record earnings).
Beacon Hill lawmakers have grown the state government’s annual budget by record levels, while they give away billions of dollars per fiscal year in state tax breaks to the wealthy elites who contribute large campaign donations to the likes of (misguided) Maura Healey, Karen Spilka, and Ronny Mariano, who are lifers in government. In return, they give us financial fools regressive taxation disguised as lottery tickets and the like to fuel their inequitable fiscal policies, which fills greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley’s coffers.
It has become so blatantly obvious in the Swamp, Boston, and beyond, that the elites do not care anymore!
Pittsfield politics receives tens of millions of dollars per fiscal year from state administered federal funds for its municipal and public educational services. The Mayor, City Council and School Committee in Pittsfield (Mass.) have to raise local taxes to ensure they are in compliance with the state to receive the state and federal funding.
I have a Master of Public Administration degree. I have studied all of these policies, as well as followed them for decades of my over 48.5-year adult life. I am a native of Pittsfield. Its budget season is a Bait and Switch SCAM.
All of it goes over most people’s heads. Please do NOT be fooled when they raise your taxes in fiscal year 2025. They only want your money. They do NOT represent you in the government. They are Financial SCAM ARTISTS! We are their Financial FOOLS!
Jon Melle
excellent. More of this, Jon.
Let me get this right. They want to narrow roads and then make bike lanes? How is crowding cars and bikes into a reduced width road making it safer? Can anyone explain that?
Case in point; northbound Elm St. just south of East St – lane narrowed to accommodate a bumpout for bike lane. Traffic gets backed up on Elm because there is no longer room in the road for those wishing to make a left off of Elm. Motorists face this surprise backup while rounding the curve in the road.
Rumpus should be axed for this “improvement” as well as the North St. mess and proposed “fix” for West St.!
He should also be dismissed for ineffective snow removal efforts and inability to manage his dept.’s budget.
I’ve seen large trucks unable to make that turn, except if opposing lane backs up to allow room. That “improvement” has greatly increased danger for everyone using the road.
It’s even funner trying to get out of the Greylock parking lot too now!
Also great fun to try to turn onto Reed street from South street now without hitting the bumpout.
I’ve been by there many times. So have many of our elected officials. Are they blind or does Morales have them hypnotized? It’s a mess.
Another factor is pedestrians using their phones while crossing the road, etc. enforce the law, make using phone while driving arrestable, just like drunk driving. Studies show even hands free cell useage is as dangerous as drunk driving, so outlaw that too. And finally, remove all bike lanes, and bums from intersections. They are a distraction for sure.
A little traffic control might help.
I find it quite interesting that Roundabout Ricky isn’t putting one where West intersects West….wonder why?? Could it be the Mayors tend to ride that trek into the center of Bitchfield?? And why isn’t the city out giving tickets to people who didn’t remove the snow from the sidewalk in front of their house? It would have multiple positive effects if they did, people could walk on the sidewalks instead of the road, cars wouldn’t be traveling close to pedestrians and the city would bring in some needed revenue without doing anything other than sending the ticket lady out from the garage and North St to the streets of the bitches!
What drivers pay most attention are police. Plant a cruiser on both sides West St for a week and traffic will calm down free of charge (pun!).
And as soon as those cruisers are gone, normal idiocy will return in about a week. That never works. Of course we could add two extra police officers and have a permanent duty at that area….BUT then you would complain that it costs us two officers x $100 an hour each x 365 days a year….. which would be more costly than a traffic control roundabout… Funny how roundabouts work in just about every other place in the world except Pittsfield and Pittsfieldians will use any excuse to avoid them being put in.
My opinion is that the complete absence of cruisers, especially those with blinking blue lights stopping someone, sends a strong message to everyone that ‘it just doesn’t matter.” There is no enforcement. I don’t see it as an expense. The police labor is fixed.
It seems that the roundabouts in the Albany area aren’t compressed into a small area. If the Tyler/ Dalton Ave one took more land around it it would work better but no one wanted that.
Though curiously, and conveniently, a building burned down just in time giving the needed room to make a roundabout. How cool was that?
Can we still get the archives of The Shopper’s Guide Classifieds? Did FR keep it on, for the record? It’s about evidence of undying love for Peet.
Dan, the sad part of this plan is the fact that the funds for all of these projects will be taken away from resurfacing of streets. The only option to maintain a certain level of street rebuilds and these projects is to borrow more funds. Chapter 90 funds are normally fairly consistent. Thanks
Thanks, CC. Always a pleasure to hear from one of the favorites at this address.
Chris we truly miss you in Ward 4. A do-nothing benchwarmer (who falls asleep during meetings) took your seat. You fought for the taxpayers and your voice of reason is missed!
Maybe you ward 4 people could get slumbering Jim a Dunkin gift card
Chris: Finance Com thinks it’s a prudent idea to spend $650K from the Enterprise Reserve fund to extend sewer line on Holmes. Expanding infrastructure sounds like a good use of municipal money, but do you believe that expansion should be funded by reserves?
My view is that reserves are held to guard against revenue shortfall and emergency work. To spend it on local development (benefits a few people) results in higher rates for everyone. That means that the project itself is incorrectly budgeted.
Chaz, either way it’s going to cost the taxpayers. The amount could be borrowed but I’m more than concerned about the long-term debt that has been accumulating due to mismanagement. If it comes out of the Enterprise Reserve fund, it’s going to have to be replaced within the year in order to have a reasonable reserve fund.
Arrowhead should apply for CPA funding to fix septic. Don’t forget waste processing is likewise expensive.
The councilors confuse the question saying Holmes Rd residents benefit from city sewer. They already have septic. Why assume they would hop on board the City’s e expensive sewer plan?
“, it’s going to have to be replaced within the year in order to have a reasonable reserve fund.”
It’ll be prominent in the Fall water rate hike hearing. It’ll be presented without a whiff of irony.
The City must get something in return. Bousquet got a million dollar extension. Pittsfield should get a 2 Dollar surcharge on every lift ticket . 10 Dollars for every season pass. Also 10 dollars for every membership at the health spa. Ever ticket at Wahconah Park should have a surcharge too. Not to mention the Movie theater and Hot Plate Brew pub , Johns Hardware and so forth. Time to recoup my money.
Agree. But how many trips can a person ake to Arrowhead?
I see ratepayer abuse.
Every tax payer should get proportional shares of stock every time they subsidize a private business. This is bullshit and I cannot believe this crap happens in such a poor, elderly community with high inflation. Not to mention taxpayers having to feed, house and pay for schooling and medical for a burgeoning immigrant population. Where is the goddamn limit Petes? I know neither of you are not personally suffering or needing to cut back in your own lives but many of us do and I see no place where you seem to show any compassion.
Would love to see both Petes stand before the council during a televised meeting detailing all the business s getting tax breaks and explain to the ones paying their fair share why this is good for them. But they can’t and won’t because such folly is embarrassing beyond belief. Not explainable. Looks shady as hell.
Get out if you can!
John’s hardware was an exception. The city built a bike path on land they had been using for decades effectively forcing them to relocate. The TIFF compensated them for that project. So to deny the TIFF, the City should have restored the property.
Why would the city spend $650K for Arrowhead sewer hookup, which as Charles has correctly stated only benefits a few? If Arrowhead wants to become a wedding venue, let them raise the funds for a sewer hookup. For their tourist biz, let them use porta potties. Sports teams which use Kirvin have to utilize porta potties. Arrowhead isn’t exactly a booming enterprise.
Divers in The PITT, often have to use the oncoming lane, to avoid damaging their vehicles, by the neglected cratered decaying pavement/moonscape in their own lane. The blame sits squarely with the Sellected officials and their incompetent appointments, who wait until roads are goat paths before fixing them. Regular upkeep is unheard of.
Pedestrians are at fault too. They are glued onto their dumbass “smart phones”, looking down instead of left and right, while crossing the streets. They ASSume traffic will halt/stop on a dime for them if they are using a crosswalk, even if it’s a bus or semi- with no time to slow down.
The imported bums infesting the roadway medians, are exercising free speech/1st amendment rights. Safety be dammed!
What ever happened to the City Ordinance prohibiting people from standing in the middle of the road. This is a public safety issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Stop stalling, do your jobs!
mASSbackwards liberal state courts said it was a 1st amendment issue , NOT a safety issue.
Dan, near top of your opening statement you mention Pesky to Doerr. For sure many folks reading this won’t have the slightest idea who these two are or what you meant by these 2 names. I remember listening to the radio in the 1946 world series rooting for the Red Sox in their final game loss to the Cardinals. Poor Johnny Pesky. He held the ball too long, and Enos Slaughter scored from first base on a single.
Awesome memory, CHUCK!
How about that? I started out with 3 Minuses and now it is 4 pluses. Readers here are sure paying attention and understanding issues involved.
I found an article that offer a differing opinion on widening roads to “calm traffic conditions.” In the first link I posted, it talks about street signage being key to keeping the driving public safe.
The first article lists several factors of narrow roads being safer, but extremely difficult to build. Those last four words, ‘extremely difficult to build,” plus a street plan designed by Ricky “roundabout” Rumpus, spells disaster.
To remind everyone of the quality of a Ricky Rumpus road project, take a look at the second link I provided. It’s from The Planet, dated 1/24/2023. It details the difficulty, with video, of the Rumpus plan on snowplows.
And while Mayor Maypole is having difficulty finding ways to cut city spending and save the taxpayers some money, let’s not forget the $7,500,000 of taxpayer money the Barry “Flat” Tyer administration wasted with the full backing of Clowncil Prez Maypole, for “bumpouts.”
I think the last sentence of my second paragraph sums up the Ricky Rumpus, DEI (Didn’t Earn It) experiment hire, in a nutshell: a disaster.
https://ssti.us/2024/01/29/narrow-lanes-are-safer-but-they-can-be-extremely-difficult-to-build/
https://planetvalenti.com/2023/01/snow-and-fire-damning-plow-guy-video-puts-citys-failure-in-proper-perspective-tomorrow-night-rumpus-flat-try-to-pull-the-wool-over-city-council/
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/central_berkshires/pittsfield-city-council-free-cash-pedestrian-safety-roadway-improvements/article_b455d4e2-d8d5-11ed-9527-9f3f130acce3.html
Very simple Dan. Narrow roads do one thing, narrow the margin of error. You knew Maypo was serious when he hired all these retreads.
The same with the “rumble strips” ground into brand new pavement on state highways. If you need to avoid something in your own lane, you must traverse the strip.
The strips also provide cavities for water and ice to accumulate; just like a tooth with a cavity promoting rapid decay.
The Harrowing of West Street?
Running a (agricultural) harrow over some PITT roadways might smooth them out!
Ivanka Trumps 2 billion dollars recieved from the Saudi family of Arabia needs to be investigated as does her 17 patents from Chiner during her special advisor job at the White House.The most criminal administration in American history ending in an attempted Coup to overthrow the election of President Biden
Be glad you don’t have to pay rent to the Trump’s from your monthly government assistance check. The Trump’s live rent free in your alcohol-soaked brain.
Explain to me TSC how the Summer of Love, which destroyed property in the billions of dollars and caused harm to many police officers nationwide (Defund the Police), was deemed a “peaceful protest,” by democRATS.
But an “insurrection” of a federal building by alleged MAGA members who were armed with their CELLPHONES and let in the uniformed police and plain clothes feds, who: (1) tore down the physical barriers preventing entrance, (2) held the doors and greeted people entering the Capitol, and (3) took selfies who the “unarmed insurrectionists,” has been deemed, “A threat to democracy.”
To help you out, I provided a link about J6. I copied a paragraph from this TSC.
Make it make sense to us. If you can’t how, about shutting the F**K UP about J6. It’s been debunked. Enough already.
“The former J6 Select Committee apparently withheld Mr. Ornato’s critical witness testimony from the American people because it contradicted their pre-determined narrative,” said Chairman Loudermilk. “Mr. Ornato’s testimony proves what Mr. Meadows has said all along, President Trump did in fact offer 10,000 National Guard troops to secure the U.S. Capitol, which was turned down.
https://cha.house.gov/2024/3/chairman-loudermilk-publishes-never-before-released-anthony-ornato-transcribed-interview
A sucker born every minute for sure.
Trump Media recently disclosed losing $58 million last year on very light revenue of just $4.1 million. The financial results underscore concerns raised by some experts that the company is being vastly overvalued by Wall Street.
Barry Diller, the billionaire chairman of Expedia and People Magazine owner IAC, told CNBC on Thursday that Trump Media is a “scam” and people buying the stock are “dopes.”
“I mean, it’s ridiculous,” Diller said on CNBC. “The company has no revenue.”
My god Snark, because some liberal shill stated this on CNBC, it’s fact. End of discussion.
Other “facts” discussed on CNBC in the past: Steele Dossier, Afghanistan withdrawal under Xiden was Trump’s fault, Xiden ending EO “remain in MX” that Trump initiated and now the border is under invasion is Trump’s fault, Xiden’s crushing inflation, gas averaging $4 a gallon (Trump it was $2) is Trump’s fault, stopping untracked pallets of cash to Ukraine (luckily) is Trump’s fault.
How about naming a few positives Xiden has done for the American people without TDS.
In case you’re unaware, Xiden has been “Prez” for over 3 years now.
So, have you, like many other Trump cult members, taken your life savings and invested it Trumps media company? Cuz lots of his dupes have and while he will soon sell off his own shares, they will lose their life savings. (and he knew this would happen) (but he could care less about his dupes ya know)
Oh yah….it is true….and if you listen to right wing radio media they are also hawking useless bogus crap all day because they know there is that “dupe group” out there that will believe and buy anything they put in front of them. Cannot believe you cannot see this.
And it is pretty weak to change the subject to Biden EVERY time a Trump folly is pointed out. Is that because you have no real defense to his lunacy? Yah, it is.
And Bidens biggest “positive” is ….. HE IS NOT TRUMP!
MIC DROP!!!
BOOM!!!!
“If you can’t how, about shutting the F**K UP about J6. It’s been debunked.”
TSC got it right. Your reality on this issue is confabulated wishful thinking and contrary to fact. We all watched January 6 on live tv that day and saw the facts unfold without political blinders on. Trump and the mob wanted to interrupt and change the electoral results because they lost the election fair & square. It is you MAGA folks who are willing dupees and are blind to the facts.
Now that’s some heuristic thinking. Model dissertation material.
For those who wonder what this stuff between this prof and me is about, ‘heuristic’ is a term that is popular in graduate programs and means an argument that frames a complex idea in a novel manner and wets the appetite for further exploration. The dissertation student aims to produce a ‘heuristic’ dissertation which others will want to explore further and expand upon. It’s a needlessly fancy word for a simple thing: “it’s interesting and useful”
Your comment here exemplifies the reason the Right and Left metaphor is anti-heuristic. You here cleave the wide range of thinking, observations, and evidence regarding the still evolving question of the 2020 election into a highly reduced concentration of ‘MAGA” vs “We (you, that is)”. Stop right there! Many on the ‘left’ agree that election was manipulated.
If you want to claim no blinders, watch the raw material. Hearings are live in Georgia. You will hear Statist lawyers argue that Clark considered an act, talked it over with Trump, and they decided against it. Yet that lawyer argues the very fact that Clark considered it is grounds for disbarment.
You will also hear arguments that since Dominion forbade review of its source code, the use of their tech violated election law as the State must be able to review all aspects of an election.
Do that, then talk.
In reference to :
“We all watched January 6 on live tv that day and saw the facts unfold without political blinders on…. It is you MAGA folks who are willing dupees and are blind to the facts.”
NutJack-aka, Snark, what you watched on J6, was nothing more than democRAT propaganda on J6.
Trump requested 10,000 National Guard troops for J6 BUT WAS TURNED DOWN.
Snark, that means Trump wanted the troops at the Capitol, but the democRATS (Muriel Bowser, DC Mayor) TURNED TRUMP DOWN!
“The former J6 Select Committee apparently withheld Mr. Ornato’s critical witness testimony from the American people because it contradicted their pre-determined narrative,” said Chairman Loudermilk. “Mr. Ornato’s testimony proves what Mr. Meadows has said all along, President Trump did in fact offer 10,000 National Guard troops to secure the U.S. Capitol, which was turned down.
Have you welcomed any illegal aliens into your home yet Snark? If not, why not?
Holy Christ man! Are you a blood relative of Tucker Carlson or sumptin?
Trump has not only taken over your brain, he seems to have full operating control of it. Scary stuff right there man.
Ya know, psychotropic drugs can do wonders if used properly with a certified physicians oversight. But bad things can happen to your brain if you start upping the dose on your own. Please be careful out there big fella.
The only people more stupid and demented than Biden, are the “81 million” who supposedly voted for him.
The elections of 2020 and 2022 revealed America’s Sellections are more corrupt than a banana republic. Nothing has been done to ensure the integrity of the ballots, and the crooks are building on past nefarious and illegal “success” with little chance of repercussions from the judicial system, which itself is thouroughly corrupt.
Capitol Police are hiring “tour guides”, er officers, for more guided tours of the Capitol Building; Nuttier D-Jackarse You should apply.
Trump wanted a states review of the ballots which was his right granted by the US Constitution. J6 was staged to avoid that possibility.
Let’s get this right you still haven’t figured out that Pelosi was behind January 6 debacle? Why after almost 5 decades in government would she hire a camera crew to see the electors certify the election??? That has never happened before…and why were there over 100 government employees egging on citizens to go into the Capitol with the employees holding the door open??? Why isn’t Ray Epps in prison when they have him on January 5th stating let’s storm the Capitol? Why did the secret service when notified they were next to a suspicious item at the DNC(and why was Kamala there to begin with) allowed students to walk by it and not inspect it for over 30 minutes?? You really can’t be that brainwashed. Everything the press has told you is inaccurate at best. BTW why is the Democrat party against same day voting with a voter ID??? What are they hiding
The Bidens are not for sale, China already bought them years ago.
Everything has a price.
And that means that if you want to purchase Biden, you must make Xi a big offer.
Wait a few and he’ll be on discount.
Xi will soon drop Biden(s) like a smelly turd as he/they will no longer be useful idiots.
Discount presidents. Black Friday sale?
Black Fridays Matter.
That same month, May of 2018, amid tense trade negotiations between China and the United States, China approved seven Ivanka trademarks, according to Alexander’s book, White House, Inc.
Alexander’s book also details how “after Ivanka met with the prime minister of Japan, his country approved three trademarks for her business, in less than one third of the time it had previously taken, according to an analysis of data from the World Intellectual Property Organization,” and that Canada registered three trademarks following Ivanka’s sit-down with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Have You seen details of Hunter’s laptop the FIB hid for 3 years? Has some juicy tidbits about: Ukraine, China, “pedo Pete” (Hunter’s pseudonym for Papa), crack smoking, hookers and whores in action, Hunter’s illegal guns, “the Big Guy” and Uncle Jim,……..
It was another “right wing conspiracy theory” promoted by the MSM, that strangely came true.
Key Facts
On March 29, 2017, Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of President Trump, became an official government employee, joining her husband, Jared Kushner, as an adviser to her father.
The day before that appointment, Ivanka applied for 17 new trademarks with the Chinese government.
In early May of 2018, ZTE, a Chinese electronics maker, said that it had halted “major operating activities” after being penalized by the United States Department of Commerce for breaking sanctions and selling electronics to Iran and North Korea.
Yet, in mid-May, President Trump surprisingly reversed course when he indicated a willingness to rethink the punishment and vowed to work with Chinese President Xi Jinping to prevent the collapse of the ZTE, which employs 75,000 people, with Trump tweeting, “Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!”
You’re bringing up things from 2017 and 2018 with your incessant TDS.
That was 6-7 years ago, how about bringing up ONE THING China Joe Xiden has done to help the American taxpayer.
Can you?
Well, let see now. OH, he has not tried to overthrow democracy by igniting an insurrection like Trump did on Jan 6th. Does that qualify? Cuz I could go on all day ya know.
Wrong again
MIC DROP
BOOM!!
Oooooooooo….fake news
“Predictions are really hard to make, especially about the future.”
Name one driver going on Elm street that doesn’t cut into the bike lanes in front of Domino’s.
I’ll wait… I’m just waiting for someone to plow into the back of an unsuspecting bicyclist this spring/summer.
I drive in the bike lane on most roads. People in the opposite lanes tend to drive on or over the yellow line. I refuse to be hit head on. Seems to be more head on collisions lately. So, narrowing the roads seems to be an asinine idea. Pittsfield being Pittsfield.
JOE
The fatal flaw with narrowing roads lies in the premise that drivers will be forced to slow down. Well, experience shows that drivers will goes as fast as road conditions allow. Going “slower” on a narrower road is usually more dangerous than going “faster” on a wider road.
Might try handing out speeding tickets? Seemed to work for years and brings in legitimate revenue while helping solve a problem.
They love to hand out parking tickets but speeding?? Not so much… Why?
Parking is run by a parking guy with a special car. Speeding is police which could complicate the days of a DA.
but there is more revenue to skim
Skim milk, the official beverage of Pittsfield.
I believe the law on bicycles is unchanged drivers now need to give them space. Not sure there is such a thing as a reserved bike lsne.
The fallacy behind bike lanes is that the greatest hazard to a biker is road debris, potholes, and hitting stationary objects.
And sometimes bicyclists who insist on riding side by side with their bike buddy, often get in the car travel lane. Biking is awesome but some of them are kinda stupit and sometimes bring trouble to themselves.
Had to be said. And they see it themselves when they drive their own cars.
I once biked to work. The concept behind commuter biking follows certain rules. 1) choose the safest route – often it is longer. 2) stage your choices so you do not get sandwiched. 3) Follow the road rules when on the road. Sometimes it”s easier to switch into pedestrian mode and use crosswalks.
No one ever needed a bike lane.
I’d rather have a Lois Lane
Stationary objects being parked cars
They may be seriously considering banning parking in Pittsfield.
BUT DAN! They can’t make the sidewalks more narrow……If the disability scammers can’t drive their taxpayer funded scooters around North St,with their cigarettes puffing in the wind and the sweaty bellies from their half shirts glistening in the sun…well, just imagine how even more ghost town-ish the place will look? Keepin it classy, Pittsfield!
Dalton Ave smells like downtown summer in Harlem in the sixties.
Maybe Ricky can narrow Marchetti’s waistline or Tyer’s ass.
that is what happens when special interests are comping all your meals
Some ass calming in order there.
Is it true that the Pittsfield school department gave glasses to the kids so they could watch the eclipse? Please folks, don’t let the children in your life stare at the sun with or without these “special “ glasses. It’s not worth the risk. There will be tons of photos and videos on social and regular media.
If it turns out that the moon is really made out of cheese it may get real messy out there. gonna need more than protective glasses.
What Democrat Senator from Texas just said that??
Couple things:
1. I don’t mind the speed bumps because people drive like a-holes
2. I like roundabouts because I know how to use them
3. Enough with the bike lanes, they are worthless
4. Damnit Rumpus, I just wan’t my freaking street paved
Please tell them in-person:
https://www.wamc.org/news/2024-04-05/community-input-meeting-monday-on-rezoning-of-pittsfields-west-side-neighborhood
That $40 million the Petes want to spend on a “ballpark” no one wants or needs would fix a lot of roads. Assuming Marchetti is not going to follow in tyers footsteps and continue to let the roads go to hell. Trying to claim your city as a tourist destination while the roads are shit seems like a dumb equation.
Well, maybe not for Pittsfield political types.
There are areas of the city, let’s use off Waconah street up Wilson way for example, that have a grid of roads with a couple paved in the middle and most of the ones around them are pitted and potholed. So in order to get to a couple of paved roads you need to drive over several all around them that are falling apart. Effing genius.
In the movie Apocalypse Now there is an after battle scene where help arrives and asks a shell shocked soldier, “Is anyone in charge here?” And he is met with a stoic blank stare. THAT is Pittsfield, Ma. in a nutshell.
♀️The Bitchfield Commissioner, with plans so absurd, Seeks to worsen our streets, a traffic-congested herd. His remedies, he claims, are the keys to salvation, But let’s dissect his folly, unravel this vexation.
1. Narrowing Streets: “By slimming lanes,” Rumpus declares with conviction, “We’ll slow traffic down, protect pedestrians’ jurisdiction.” Yet, FACT whispers louder: danger lurks in disguise, Narrow roads breed chaos, where safety often dies.
2. Pedestrian and Cyclist Space: “Expand sidewalks, add bike lanes,” he proclaims, But Bitchfield’s bike lanes? Cobwebbed, forgotten names. Wider sidewalks, a trap for unsuspecting cars, A proven killer dance, where vehicular chaos mars.
3. Raised Crosswalks, a Misguided Notion: “Slow traffic,” he insists, “with bumps on the ground.” Yet, these speed humps confound, make control unbound. Vehicles jolt, pedestrians vanish from sight, As front ends rise and fall, day turns into night.
4. Enhanced Signage, or Lack Thereof: “Stop!” we cry, “Look at the signs, Commissioner!” His response? A blank stare, a bureaucratic blunder. Existing signs twisted, their purpose misconstrued, A gallery of chaos, where clarity is subdued.
5. The Intersection of West and West: “Improvement,” he mumbles, “for streets that converge.” But wait! West meets West? Rumpus, did you splurge? A typo, perhaps? Nay, it’s his grand revelation, West Street intersects itself—a mind-bending sensation!
And now, the pièce de résistance, his signed confession: “Safer, more inclusive,” he claims, with a sly expression. But beneath the veneer, the truth unfurls its wings, This isn’t about safety—it’s woke politics’ strings.
So raise your voices, Bitchfield, against this folly, For Rumpus, the box-checker, dances blindly, jolly. Let’s protect our streets, our sanity, our town, And bid farewell to this commissioner’s circus crown. ♂️♀️
School bus drivers love narrow roads. Especially in winter when the snowbanks crowd the lanes even more.
The North Street bike lanes need signs to go with the toilet plungers: ONE WAY
April 6, 2024
Re: Marchetti’s secrecy and monetizing social services in Pittsfield (Mass.)
The Eagle’s editorial states that Pittsfield Mayor Peter Marchetti should not have started his new mental health and addiction advisory committee with secrecy and by giving Marchetti unilateral power to shape public policy. For decades, I have written and argued that my native hometown of Pittsfield (Mass.) uses Perverse Incentives when it comes to public education and social services state administered federal funding. I believe the reason why Mayor Peter Marchetti – who is my relative as we share the same great-grandparents from over one century ago – set up this new committee the misguided way that he has done is because he wants to monetize social services funding in Pittsfield.
Pittsfield has Level 5 public schools, which is the bottom rating by the state. Pittsfield has acutely high per capita welfare and social services caseloads. Hundreds of residents are homeless in Pittsfield. There are a couple dozen deadly overdoses per year in Pittsfield. It has been this way in Pittsfield for a very long time. Why hasn’t it changed for the better? I believe the reason for this is because City Hall uses Perverse Incentives to monetize the state administered federal social services funding as a considerable revenue source in the over $205.6 million excessive municipal operating budget.
I compare it to the state lottery SCAM, which is really regressive taxation that predatorily targets the mostly financially illiterate low- to-moderate income residents and the economically distressed and unequal cities the underclass resides in throughout Massachusetts. The larger the lottery’s annual profits equals the larger state tax breaks that greedy lobbyists such as Dan Bosley are able to get for their wealthy big business clients, who, in turn, donate big campaign dollars to the corrupt career politicians on Beacon Hill. To be clear, the state lottery uses perverse incentives, among many other levels of inequity, to monetize state revenues that primarily financially benefit the ruling, corporate, ruling and greedy lobbyist elites, while those of us common people who have limited income are being exploited by the government that is, in theory anyways, supposed to serve us, financial fools.
In closing, I believe that Mayor Peter Marchetti – similar to many other career politicians – are disingenuous with public policies, government secrecy, and/or unilateral legal authority as it relates to the government’s limited resources because he wants to use the city’s mental health crisis and addiction crisis alike to monetize social services funding in Pittsfield. It is always MONEY over people when it comes to Pittsfield politics and beyond!
Jon Melle
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“Marchetti’s mental health committee is a good idea; shielding it from public view is a bad idea”
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, April 6, 2024
We welcome Pittsfield Mayor Peter Marchetti’s initiative in creating a committee to guide Pittsfield’s policy responses to growing mental health and addiction issues. It was a central pledge of his campaign last year, and we agree with the need to bring a wide and diverse array of expert perspectives to the table to see how the city might mitigate the impacts on public safety and quality of life that many residents are feeling.
However, we disagree with the mayor on one critical aspect of the newly minted committee: We believe its work should be public-facing.
Last year, then-mayoral candidate Marchetti pledged to create a task force with a mission of targeting the cracks in available services and supports for those with mental health and addiction struggles to make those existing programs more efficient and effective. Such an approach, Mayor Marchetti maintains, might help the city deter crime, homelessness, panhandling and other growing concerns without further burdening the city’s already shaky budgetary footing.
After taking office, however, Mayor Marchetti decided against the “task force” model and instead opted for an advisory committee reporting only to his office. Such bodies that are created to advise an individual official on decisions he or she alone has responsibility for are not subject to the state’s Open Meeting Law. That means this committee ostensibly formed to benefit the people of Pittsfield won’t be compelled to announce its meetings, publicize its agendas and minutes, or conduct its business in public at all.
Mayor Marchetti said he opted for this model to give the group greater privacy to discuss the nitty-gritty nature of these pernicious issues in a way that the mayor says might not be “appropriate to have on TV.”
“I want people to be able to speak freely about the issue and not have to sugarcoat it,” Mayor Marchetti added. “Doing so in a public forum may make that more difficult.”
We also want folks with critical expertise and relevant backgrounds to speak freely, but while the mayor is concerned that doing so in public will make that more difficult, we’re concerned that doing so in private has pitfalls, too. Whether the mayor finds the committee’s targeted topics appropriate for TV, the reality is that many of his constituents are all too familiar with the stakes and the effects of the mental health crisis and the scourge of addiction — a reality that the mayor must know given his welcome prioritizing of the issue. Those same constituents deserve to see the more holistic assessment the mayor is seeking as well as the difficult but necessary conversations that might inform new public policy postures.
We agree that we don’t want advisory committee members to sugarcoat the facts on the ground and the available options for action. Yet the implication that this critical analysis must be either sugarcoated or shunted away from public view builds up the barrier of stigma that the mayor has rightly said we must work to dismantle if we hope to fully expose and treat these vicious social ills.
The mayor already has fully appointed the advisory committee, which comprises 30 members whose work and advocacy puts them face to face with various facets of the twin crises in mental health and addiction. From health care and social workers to EMS and law enforcement to safety net and civic organizations, the mayor has clearly put together a team that can offer up the holistic picture he’s looking for with regard to how these pressing issues are affecting Pittsfield and what more can reasonably be done at the local level.
In casting such a wide net, why foreclose the public’s view and input? The large number of appointees clearly intends to produce well-rounded and well-informed discussion, but we worry that the committee’s size might make it unwieldy. That’s all the more reason to increase, not limit, the public’s observation to better scrutinize the committee’s productivity and let residents know whether this endeavor produces actionable results. Beyond observation, citizens could offer valuable insight, too.
Further, the “advisory committee” model that ducks Open Meeting Law compliance implies the only topics to be tackled will be those relating to actions the mayor can take unilaterally. These issues are bigger than that, though, and the mayor knows neither his office nor any singular entity can single-handedly meet this complex and expanding crisis. Will the committee make public meetings and minutes that raise matters and measures outside the mayor’s command, or will that be a limiting factor for the breadth of discussions? This is a communitywide and national issue; the synthesis of perspectives offered by this initiative originating from a public office ought to be publicly available.
The exemption carve-outs in Massachusetts Open Meeting Law are unfortunate but clear. It is the mayor’s prerogative to shield what we otherwise consider a wise initiative from public view. Still, in the weeks leading up the committee’s first planned meeting, we urge him to reconsider that opaque approach. Absent that, we implore the advisory committee to make public as many of their meetings as possible. Otherwise, this panel not only stands to conceal from the people of Pittsfield a necessary conversation convened on their behalf but also risks validating the stigma that the mayor acknowledges is a barrier to truly confronting these wicked problems.
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Jon: explain how social services are monetized. Define/explain monetization. Where does the money go?
It is clear that each division of this quasi committee has a point person aka special interests. Clearly thirty people on a committee extenuates the notion of bias predicaments and the sheep are there to follow all decision.
The Brien Center must be looking to become Bithchfields largest employer. Drug addiction is and has been a serious issue and junkies should get the help that is humanely possible. There has to be a a line drawn on the cost and where are priorities lie. The taxpayer is suffering also to support someone’s addiction.
Time for the Brien Center to give Pittsfield a substantial amount of money, in lieu of taxes. Williams College does this too. We cannot subsidize all of these so called non- profits. We have to shake them down for their share of our bloated budget.
My guess is this Dodge. Word hit that the City landed a big fish – $2 million. Immediately the homunculi in 100+ social services active in Pittsfield crawled out of the woodworks – oozing out from sheetrock, floorboards and molding. They began a war for the funds and those service admins began bickering. “Why should you get that money when we are already doing that thing? Im afraid that you are taking from us what we are entitled to.” “We have been at it longer than you, you are just here to get the money. Go to the back of the line with you.” “Esscuse me! Esscuse me! What about me! I was here first and I have fresh perspective.”
This is bad for the Mayor – these are his essential friends. They are the ones who put everyone on the council. So, he convenes a congregation and ordering of spirits. He draws thirty magic circles on the floor in white chalk.They are all given an unholy circle to stand in; so long as they sit still they get their share of cash.
I watched this happen when Bianchi and Hinds invoked the homunculi in the aftermath of the First Tyler Street Shooting. Ostensibly, it was a ‘Community Hearing.” The community showed up in masse, they were then told to get lost and the malevolent spirits of the undead emerged and filled the room. Bicker, bicker, bicker ensued.
Metaphorical images:
The Soviet origins are appropriately taken.
To my observations of practices of witchcraft and other unholy arts, this Council and adminstration is in league with Witch Slapped. It all makes sense to me now that I have time to reflect.
I voted against some quivering package of cash gifted to or from the evil dn.
Remember all that “transparency” happy horseshit during the mayoral race? Well gosh it didn’t take long for Mayor Marchetti to take a hard pass on the Open Meeting Law with that mental health committee of his. The media bitched about Tyer’s secret committees but guess what no one in this town cares so Peter is doubling down on the practice.
Info Blockade in Bitchfield … corruption is at an all-time high and it’s going to get “progressively” worse … Maypo Marchetti, fattening the calf.
Lumpy, fine lad that he is, is only there to manage the decline of Pittsfield. He just wants to get those three highest years in for his pension.
Do not forget the health insurance too.
A big 4Q to the citizens of Pittsfield.
As Pittsfield has always been cutting edge, Mayor Marchetti announced today that the infield diamond at the new and improved Wahconah park will be replaced with a rotary and the bases will be replaced with plastic plungers similar to what we see on parts of North Street.
Will high school football return to Wahconah? They could narrow the field to cut down on injuries.
And any player that reaches first base will receive a cookie and a beverage of their choice. Kool Aid is popular. There will also be umbrellas give-outs at the ground breaking ceremonies along with rain boots and sunglasses for the wet parking lot and the sun blinding behind home plate.
Maybe free used eclipse glasses
April 7, 2024
My correspondent friend on Pittsfield politics and beyond posted: “Jon: explain how social services are monetized. Define/explain monetization. Where does the money go?”
My reply is that monetization means that a bureaucrat uses his or her accounting spreadsheet and inserts dollar figures into public policies and programs.
To explain how social services – as well as public education – is monetized in Pittsfield, the social services and public education spending in Pittsfield puts tens of millions of dollars per fiscal year into the city’s coffers. Instead of seeing the state administered federal funds as a means to an end to assist and educate the city’s underclass population, the bureaucrats only views the large sums of money as an end. To be clear, social services and public education funding is viewed by the bureaucrat(s) as one of Pittsfield’s biggest sources of revenue.
The best illustration of Perverse Incentives is that multi-billion-dollar Massachusetts State Lottery SCAM. Most of the lottery revenues benefit the wealthy. Most of the lottery’s consumers are the mostly financially illiterate low- to-moderate income residents who live in economically unequal and distressed “Gateway” cities such as Pittsfield. The lottery is a regressive taxation scheme, but it goes over most of its underclass customer base’s heads.
When the state lottery produces record profits – like it did in fiscal year 2023 (and the state leaders had the nerve to brag about it last Summer 2023) – the greedy lobbyists, such as Dan Bosley, in Boston are able to get larger state tax breaks for their wealthy big business clients in Boston. The state government views the state lottery SCAM as a large revenue source, and the career politicians in Boston receive huge campaign donations from the greedy lobbyists – some of whom report 7-figure per year incomes in Boston.
Politicians are disingenuous; they are phonies! They put MONEY over the people the government is supposed to be serving. Governor Maura Healey cut $375 million in state funding for Social Services and the like public programs that assist people and communities. She did not cut her own public pay plus perks, nor did she propose cutting the state lawmakers’ public pay plus perks. In her fiscal year 2025 state budget proposal, she proposes further cuts to social programs, while increasing funding for gambling, which on a public policy level is regressive taxation. To be clear, (misguided) Maura Healey’s financial public policies are inequitable.
My point is that Mayor Peter Marchetti is trying to look like “Mr. Wonderful” with his new advisory board on mental health and addiction, but he chose to operate in secrecy and with unilateral authority. Why? I believe that the answer here is that he is looking at the outside funding from the state and federal government as a large revenue source to the city’s operating budget. If I am correct in my belief, then my relative – as we share the same great-grandparents from over one century ago – is anything but “Mr. Wonderful”. Rather, Mayor Peter Marchetti is yet another greed-ball, disingenuous career politician!
Jon Melle
Typical planet fiction
https://youtu.be/wWBiLeVy45k?si=FvwGeCFRUh1VE3yf