BY DAN VALENTI

Hopefully they’re smart enough to pass this common sense ordinance. Josh Landes protest argument doesn’t make sense. People will still be able to protest at Park Square. They must stay out of the road and off the sidewalks. Nobody pays any attention to them anyway. No one should give money to the panhandlers. Here’s a typical food pantry and meal week in Pittsfield, Monday-4 pantry’s open,6-8 open daily the rest of the week.2 breakfast, 2 lunch, 1 Dinner sites on Monday, Every day is like this Tuesday-Thursday 3 Breakfast Sites per day, 1 or more lunch sites daily too.Monday- Sunday minimum of one Dinner site open. The panhandlers are trying to feed there addictions, don’t be enabling them.

mASSachsetts Leftist Courts have already ruled on this.

Public safety and common sense be dammed! They cited a 1st amendment conflict. The bums have a right to beg, even if it presents a hazard to law abiding citizens.

Now concerning 1st amendment rights, which the “Tolerant” Leftists pretend to champion, ………that is unless you don’t agree with their views/values, which are to the left of Chairman Mao.

In that case you are labeled: racist, sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, Xenophobic, inbred, bible thumping, bigoted, domestic terrorist, Putin puppet….and their newest favorite Nazi.

March 25, 2025

Only City Councilor Pete White voted in favor of Mayor Peter Marchetti’s panhandling ordinance last night.

The 2-Pete’s Pittsfield politics is a failure of leadership!

Jon Melle

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“Pittsfield committee moves to shelve embattled median safety ordinance”
By Maryjane Williams, The Berkshire Eagle, March 25, 2025

PITTSFIELD — It’s back to the drawing board for the mayor’s proposed median safety ordinance.

The city’s Ordinance and Rules Committee voted 4-1 on Monday evening to file the proposed Median Safety and Pedestrian Regulations in Public Roadways, meaning it will go back to the City Council for review but with the recommendation to shelve the measure.

The decision came after 21 Berkshire County residents spoke out against the ordinance during public comment, citing concerns about its potential impact on panhandlers, constitutional rights violations and a lack of evidence for safety concerns.

“I feel [the ordinance’s] impact will fall on a homeless and low-income residents who use medians to seek assistance,” said Barbara Mahony, a Pittsfield resident. “Instead of this proposed ban, the City Council needs to explore less restrictive, more constructive solutions to address pedestrian safety.”

The ordinance, proposed by Mayor Peter Marchetti, states that every pedestrian has the right to use public ways in Pittsfield (except where it’s expressly prohibited), but there has been “an increase in public safety issues relating to pedestrian use of and entry into the public roadways identified herein.”

Panhandling has become a growing concern in Pittsfield, with many residents voicing frustration over being approached by people asking for help.

However, a series of court cases at the state and federal level — including a 2020 case that struck down a panhandling ban in Fall River — have determined that penalizing individuals for asking for money violates the First Amendment.

In 2023, Marchetti introduced an ordinance banning people from standing on certain median strips unless crossing the street. The Ordinance and Rules Committee referred it back to the mayor in 2024, and the new ordinance was proposed in January.

The updated ordinance would prohibit pedestrians from walking along an adjacent roadway when there is a public way (sidewalk, median, crosswalk, center traffic island or safety island), using a public way to disrupt traffic flow or endanger themselves/others, getting within 5 feet of a vehicle on the road or standing, sitting, or lying down in public ways “with the intent to obstruct or hinder the free and safe passage of pedestrians or motor vehicles.”

These regulations would apply within 100 yards of the intersection of West and Center streets, East and First streets, South and East Housatonic streets and all intersections at Allendale Shopping Center and Park Square.

21 residents seated in meeting room

Opponents argued the measure was an attempt to criminalize homeless and poverty, rather than address pedestrian safety.

“If you care about safety, focus on infrastructure and lower speed limits,” said Elijah Mertinooke. “This is obviously targeting the homeless.”

Others pointed to the lack of data proving that there is a safety crisis at these intersections.

Meg Bossong referenced the the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission STEPS Comprehensive Safety Action Plan report, noting that “none of the intersections that are identified in [the] ordinance are actually identified in that report as being the most dangerous in Pittsfield or in central Berkshire County.”

“The stated purpose of that grant (that funded the report) was create a toolkit for the city in this field and for cities in the county to make data driven decisions about traffic seeking,” Bossong said. “There is nothing in that entire report about panhandling, and one of the main recommendations is to create more medians and safety islands for people to stand on.”

Councilor Patrick Kavey also noted that passing this ordinance without data showing that these intersections are prone to pedestrian related crashes could put the city in a jeopardizing legal position.

“The number of communities that have lost in court over this issue is pretty astounding, and I’m seriously concerned that if we were to pass this, we would be sued,” Kavey said.

The Rev. Joel Huntington warned that with the 5-foot buffer zone between pedestrians and traffic, the ordinance could effectively ban public demonstrations in areas such as Park Square without a permit.

“Sidewalks are a public forum. This ordinance pushes protests into the park, which then requires a permit,” he said. “How many times have we had protests that needed to be done quickly?”

However, one of the main concerns raised during the meeting was how this ordinance would impact the most vulnerable members of the community.

“[By] criminalizing homelessness and poverty, all you’re going to do is make it harder for the most vulnerable people in our city to access … services,” said Michael Hitchcock, co-director of Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds. “What you’re doing is pushing them further to the side, where everything will be dangerous and more frightening for the people who are already feeling in fear.”

Councilor Dina Lampiasi also took issue with the vague wording of the ordinance — specifically the sections prohibiting pedestrians from sitting, standing or laying down in public ways “with the intent to obstruct or hinder the free and safe passage of pedestrians or motor vehicles,” arguing that it may lead to unequal enforcement.

Ultimately, the committee voted to file the ordinance, meaning it will move to the City Council without a recommendation to approve.

Only Council President Peter White opposed the motion to file, citing public safety concerns.

“I don’t want to see anyone prosecuted for hitting a pedestrian who steps into traffic because these strips are so small,” White said, adding that he supports revisiting the issue with a better-crafted ordinance in the future.

Mayor Marchetti defended the intent of the proposal, insisting that it was not crafted to target panhandling.

“There’s a lot of misinformation. This was about safety,” Marchetti said, referencing a past fatality on West Street as an example of the city addressing roadway dangers.

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Pittsfield is now safe for transgender panhandling.

I think if and when the Council votes down the Median ordinance a new subcommittee should be formed.. Every Councilor who voted against this ordinance would be on it. They would meet on Friday nights. Their main purpose would be to find the panhandlers employment. Local employers could send job openings to the Committee to be filled.Local cops could send them the daily beggars list. That would be the opposite of Enabling which is truly what’s going on.
Personally the only hope for this town is a Town Manager, We need 11 Liberal Loonies like we need a weekly Colonoscopy. The town site could be set up to take digital votes on subjects like this. That would be true representative government,

One third of D.C. judges were not born in U.S. and had no judicial experience! The same judges have been tying Trump’s hands……

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/03/report-one-third-dc-district-judges-were-not/

Defund NPR & PBS!

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/how-white-me-npr-ceo-cant-remember-posting-all-sorts-racist-crap-claims-no-bias-network