BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION MAY 1-3, 2026) — Today and for the weekend, THE PLANET takes you to the movies. Now, it’s not our upcoming Stanley Kubrick Film Festival. It’s a tape of the most recent meeting of Revenge of the Nerds, otherwise known as the April 29 gathering of the city school committee.

Let’s get right to the chase. You can skip the dreadfully boring opening and fast-forward to 31:55. That’s when you will see The Only Elected Public Official Who Gives A Spit go to work, Ciara Batory.

At 31:55, Batory begins to question Mayor-Chair Lumpy, bringing forth questions citizens have asked her to ask. In the process, she takes the chair to the woodshed over the Lump’s shady maneuver to illegally rescind an earlier vote (February) to release to the public a redacted version of the PHS scandal report.

Taxpayers paid two connected ex-judges $155,000 to do the investigation. You can be reasonably sure though not certain they furnished the recipes by cooking the books. Nonetheless, despite the suspected sanitization, for some reason, Lumpy is terrified to let The Kapanskis–citizens, the public, taxpayers, We The People, owners of government– see the report.

Batory holds the floor until 51:04 of the meeting — almost 20 minutes of the best political theater we’re likely to see this year. The link of the PCTV broadcast is below.

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Batory’s brilliant performance rates up there with other legendary public hurricanes, including the time Mayor P.J Moore pole vaulted naked into a packed council changers, as well as when councilors Jim McCaffrey and Peter Arlos staged their re-enactment of Jake LaMotta v. Floyd Patterson.

“You can’t make your own rules,” Batory thundered to a rattled mayor. I’m not going to play this game.” Repeatedly, she asked when the dancing, dodging chair when he (the committee) would the report. “You’re abusing your position as chair. Stop protecting these people [named in the document]. Release the report.” Those attending applaud.

At about 44 minutes into the meeting, a discomposed Lumpy surrenders the chair. Yes, that’s how much Batory rattled him. Vice chair Heather McNiece takes over.

Another interesting exchange occurs when Sara “Twenty Muil Team” Muil meekly apologizes to Batory for her February vote to approve releasing the report.

Huh?

Twenty gives the pathetic excuse that she was new to the committee at that time, fresh off the turnip truck apparently, and didn’t understand Roberts Rules of Order. She’s admitting that in her vote, she DIDN’T KNOW WHAT SHE WAS DOING! Rather than accept the apology, an incredulous Batory understandably asks why Twenty did not study the rules before taking her position on the committee. Amateur Hour.

Muil states that it’s the committee’s job “to work together as a team.”

Batory corrects her, (paraphrasing) “No. Our job is to represent citizens.”

Game. Set. Match.

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In sum, Batory gave a performance for the ages, passionately speaking on behalf of the bedraggled Kapanskis.

Finally.

Watch for yourself. Go to 31:55 and continue to 51:05.

Click this link.