BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION APRIL 24-6, 2026) — Let’s see. By THE PLANET‘s count, we have more-or-less 50 states in the union. Care to guess which one stands alone as the only state that exempts the governor’s office, the legislature (both houses), and the judiciary from public records law? You read that right. In this state, all three branches of government can hide any documents from citizen taxpayers.

Give up?

Here’s a hint: If you live in Berkshire County, you live in that state.

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Dan Valenti kicks off his NE book tour for Sanity Made Simple in Pittsfield … 2 p.m. Saturday 4/25, Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Stop by, get a free book, and meet the author!

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We see this unhealthy pattern of secrecy in every level of corrupt government in the Commonwealth. Gov. Maura “Openly Lesbian” Healey continues to bury hundreds of entries to the state’s ICE Misconduct Portal, where anyone can share what they know about illegals grifting on your dime. As for the courts and legislature, where’s the audit of the State House that voters overwhelmingly approved (72%) in 2024? Stuffed by the do-nothings and no-goods in the house, the senate, and by DEI-AG Andrea Campbell, who has worked tirelessly to block the audit.

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At the local level … you kidding? There aren’t enough photon’s in THE PLANET‘s computers to list all the violations. Let’s exemplify with the city’s refusal to release to “independent” report on the corruption and slime in city schools — even though that report was conducted and sanitized by two retired judges with strong local connections to The Suits. Professional courtesy.

SANITY MADE SIMPLE: Aphorisms, Epigrams, and Other Parsed Phrases, is available now at amazon.com or at any Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Just $14.95 for the paperback, $4.95 for the e-book. Your purchase will help support a Pittsfield-based small business.

We could also include this omertà the settlement of Victoria May’s lawsuit against Pittsfield’s Mayor “Openly Gay” Lumpy and the Pittsfield Co-Op Bank. The sides reach agreement at the end of March. There was no announcement, but THE PLANET‘s spies dug out the notice in the court records.

That official Bitchfield continues to hide its misdeeds proves the old saying about shit running downhill. In fact, the gutters direct the smelly stuff directly in the corner office, council chambers, and school committee sessions.

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THE PLANET didn’t realize the Bay State’s singular place in the Sunshine Hall of Shame until we got word courtesy of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), a group we first joined on Oct. 17, 1974. SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee presented its “Black Hole” award to Massachusetts. The committee cited MA “for

deficiencies in the state’s public records law, including broad exemptions, weak enforcement mechanisms, and persistent delays that limit access to government information. Despite a legal framework that purports to guarantee access to public records, Massachusetts [leaves] significant portions of the state government shielded from public scrutiny.”

The SPJ report noted:

• Requests for public records are typically delayed or ignored altogether
• Officials routinely ignore statutory deadlines
• High costs throw a wet blanket on attempts to pry public records lose
• Enforcement mechanisms for public-records violation are virtually nonexistent
• Seekers of public records must often seek redress through the courts, a costly, time-consuming process.
• Compliance is inconsistent and unreliable
• There’s almost no central oversight or accountability.

You can take all seven of these complaints, and you have an accurate picture of city government under Two Pete’s & Dumpster.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

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“Secrecy: The freedom dreamed about by tyrants” — Sir Donald Turpentine, Knight of the Bath.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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