THE AMATEUR HOUR: DOWNTOWN PITTSFIELD ALL BOXED IN
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY JULY 28, 2016) — Over the weekend, one of our posters asked THE PLANET to write again about the painting of electrical boxes downtown. THE PLANET, ever responsive to its readers and viewers, checked out the boxes.
If the efforts weren’t so embarrassing, they would be comical. Think of the serious and nearly insurmountable problems besetting Pittsfield to put the painted boxes into proper perspective. First, we have the economy or lack of one. Next would be the most recent budget, which unleashed record spending some $163 million. Finally, we would mention record high taxes inflicted on property owners and businesses. These three problems loom over Pittsfield like a monster in a Japanese science fiction film.
With these pressing problems requiring immediate attention, what does the city do? It wastes time, treasure, but little talent on painting North Street junction boxes. THE PLANET wrote about this bogus program earlier (our June 21 column). This obtuse program not only represents an attempt to distract citizens but adds another public safety hazard to what is already a danger zone with a carved up road, careless drivers, jaywalking pedestrians, the usual downtown zombies, and the ever-present threat of drugs and violence.
In their natural state, these utility boxes are done in battleship gray or sea-foam green. These neutral colors aren’t accidental. A lot of money went into tests to determine what shades would be the most “invisible.” That has long been a concern of planners and engineers because of the location of the boxes, which are typically found adjacent to or in streets to supply electricity. They are designed NOT to distract motorists.
That’s also why the boxes are square and spare. The design doesn’t stand out. Painting the boxes defeats these public safety objectives.
That would be bad enough, but have you seen the alleged “art?” To call it amateurish would be to add injury to insult to even the most talentless doodlers. For example, consider the the box at North and East streets, close to the Pop Corner. It depicts a poorly done image of what it supposed to be the iconic Popcorn Wagon, with a painted broken window. Great. Depict a Pittsfield landmark in all its vandalized glory.
Or take the box at North and Depot — please. It evokes all the sophistication of preschool finger painting: handprints in an array of clashing colors. Then cross the street to the box in front of Palace Park. On it, you will see are incompetent representation of a young black girl, wearing fried eggs on her eyes, the yolks popped out. Another inspiring work replicates a laundry detergent box. Can it get any worse? How about goobered silhouettes of kids blowing bubbles, or the dreadful one just to the right of The Soda Chef. Some bozo spray painted the green box orange, didn’t prime it, and only applied one layer. This base coat is so sloppily done, you can see rivulets of orange paint streaking down the sides. To imperfectly top off this perfectly abysmal job, the dolt doodler has drawn abstract designs with a black Sharpie. Chintz-ball City.
We won’t belabor the point. This program is a foolish waste of money and reinforces how little the city’s “leaders” think of themselves, their programs, and the municipality they allegedly direct.
Alex Reczkowski, Artscape chairman who has a bad case of I Am Trying So Hard To Look Cool, announced the winners (losers for the rest of us, who have to look at their crud): Marcel Bova, Megan Carberry, Michael Carty, Catarina Cowley, Paul Dodds, Stacey Healey, Michael McKay, Kyle Murray, and Stephanie VanBramer.
Alex “Wreck” said the works will make Pittsfield “more beautiful.”
THE PLANET is still waiting.
“We area city that recognizes, celebrates, and creates spaces for artistry to thrive in its many forms,” said The Lovely Linda, mayor.
Evidently, one of those “many forms” is incompetency.
An Aside: On our walking tour of downtown Pittsfield yesterday, both sides, we heard plenty of wrath at business owners livid at city officials for how they have so messed up North Street. Store fronts cannot be entered, there’s almost no parking, and the dust from the dry weather and construction has coated everything with a fine layer of sand. Who in their right minds would venture downtown … or would? want to move to Pittsfield … or would want to start a business there … or would want to stay there?
Maybe electrical boxes painted by the talentless will do the trick, or the glowing ground at the THS construction site.
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“Apart from art, the trap’s the gap.” — Huntington Proteus Hollingsworth
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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In Pittsfield ma a park grass mower and field lining foreman can make 50 buck per hour on overtime on sat and 60 bucks per hour on sunday in his green truck doing zero.
He once took the truck to a casino in conn.while we paid him.If you see this man on the weekend just know your getting nothing inreturn.
I heard from an embedded source that the dust is an experiment to try to throw the aim of gang bangers off. Studies show that if a Blood tries to shoot a Crip in a dust storm his chances of hitting his target are diminished 74%. This translates in to big savings for a municipality in terms of filling out paperwork and coroner calls.
Kudos to the city for thinking outside the box.
(Sarcasm): North Street is a cultural mecca that rivals London, Paris, Manhattan, L.A. People from all over the world come to Pittsfield to see North Street and experience its cultural offerings.
(Facts): Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on Pittsfield’s downtown renaissance. Over $2 million was spent on downtown revitalization from GE’s economic development fund.
(Propaganda): North Street’s investments are an economic engine that will attract people and businesses to Pittsfield!
Has anybody noticed no American flags, INSIDE, the DNC convention center? There were some Palestinian and Russian Flags in attendance.
All the American flags were outside the double wall erected by the DNC, tended by feral liberal animals, burning.
http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2016/07/27/leftist-protester-catches-fire-burning-u-s-flag/
I had heard that it was a deliberate a ton by the DNC not to display the US flag because some people attending the convention might be offended.
What kind of party has the Democratic Party become. It is sure not my father’s party. It is now doing everything to destroy the US.
Then they steal the nomination from Sanders via superdelegates and give their nomination to Hildebeast, who will lie and say anything to get elected. I will take my chances on Trump any day.
Saw that and find it disgusting! What I did enjoy was watching the protesters catching fire while burning the US Flag. They deserve it.
No flags?
What convention are you watching? There are a bunch of them on stage and the audience is full of flags.
The liberal/socialists were shamed into it as the first days of the convention only had Mexican, Palistinian, and Russian flags, inside. Have look Eddie.
Crooked DNC dog and pony show for their chosen (not voted for) H-Beast, aka Shillary Rotten Clinton. The DNC didn’t want to offend the socialist/commie/progressives with those red white and blue symbols of a free America.
When the word got out, outside the fenced off convention, they went OOPPPS! Brought in a bunch of flags made by Chi-Coms and made sure everybody on the floor got one.
BUT, They were burning American flags outside everyday!!!
While Willie slept through H-Beasts Coronation by the DNC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPbUhcvDgCo
The Bernie voters had left in DISGUST with a rigged primary process after nomination. See ANY American flags Eddie? This is 7/26:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGRo1mH2_8w
And it’s NOT about the messenger who leaked the DNC emails, it’s about the Crooked Clintons, and the DNC rigging a national primary.
Have a look at the truth about what the Clintons are all about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozDeQTB0LIs
Is this the best the city can come up with:
1) Painting junction boxes (who will admit to this stupid idea)
2) Does the city consider these artists to be high quality? If so, there is nothing to brag about.
How sad!
There are no high standards in Pittsfield. Towns of Lenox, and Stockbridge remain true to their beauty, because their Standards are not broken.
Why would you hate on this? Is GE coming no! Is Sabic coming back no! Are new career jobs coming no! No!!!!
How do you generate revenue for a downtown in a city when no one is moving in? You take advantage of your strengths.
Our strength the arts and culture of downtown. You do everything you can to make the downtown more appealing. People from NYC really enjoy Berkshire County and downtown Pittsfield. I know because I’ve spent alot of time in NYC and I met many strangers who were excited of my hometown.
These types of creative projects are the forward thinking you need for a more aesthetically appealing area.
I’ve moved far far away from New England and have no plans on moving back to Pittsfield. But these types of projects give me hope their is real effort for change.
No one will come if you don’t try.
Why is construction criticism or disagreement called “hate”. Just another example of leftists trying to shut down free speech.
Look what happened to Twiitter stock after their recent censoring of conservative comment. It dropped HUGE.
Stop with the hate on comments, Dan is correct. This is a dumb idea, many other abandoned buildings that could use good art murals. This is amateur hour.
“Leftist shutting down free speech” – What are you talking about? It’s a counter argument no one is shutting down speech.
and I’m a moderate Republican. LOL
This is not art or culture. It’s trash.
Spagirl, have to agree with you on this one. Don’t call this “art” or the perpetrators “artists.” I’ll take your word for it, “trash.” As for the perpetrators, how about “People who know someone on the inside.”
I’ll also use a word DV uses: “embarrassment.” The painted boxes are an embarrassment to an already disgraced city.
“People who know someone on the inside.”= GOB SIG……
By the way, I believe that the box painting is being funded by a grant from Berkshire Money Management. At least it’s not tax money but I wish that they donated the money to a more productive cause.
Larrybird, nobody wants to come here to look at foolish art that looks like a kindergarten class did it. These electrical boxes are pitiful to say the least. Other towns in our area display projects that are classy. What do we have? Child like foolishness!
Maybe the construction downtown is to create some kind of tourist attraction, it’s like going through a dusty car wash, unique if you will. There is no life downtown during week anyways, other than the State-City employees and Jaywalkers.I can tell you this, if some out of towner was looking for a restaurant, or show, they ain’t coming back, to North Street anyways.
I don’t read these blogs, but someone told me of this particular one and I feel the need to comment. A small committee of young people put their heart and soul into this project. It was independently financed, and not much money went to it. Many, many cities and towns decorate their electric boxes. It’s kind of a “thing.” As the boxes were being painted, so many citizens walking by stopped and commented on how great it was that the city was doing this. I’m not sure you can get many artists to donate the hours and hours it takes to paint something of that size, in the 90+ degree heat we have had in the last weeks. I think the real problem here is that you would rather see the gray in this city. You reject the vibrant positivity that is happening, and condemn people and businesses trying to make a change. To try is to win, to do nothing and complain is what is really losing in Pittsfield.
It is nice to see all the community pride in wanting Pittsfield to be a better place is backfiring with people that would rather save a nickel to spite their neighbors. There is no local economy but is not because of the taxing rate. Taxes are not the reason. The reasons that jobs do not locate in Pittsfield are:
Poor jobs/skills+education match.
No access to freeways.
High crime.
Lack of high quality, market competitive rental housing.
A dearth of flexible, right sized, ‘pad ready’ industrial property with access to rail and/or truck routes.
Duplicative and uncoordinated efforts to attract and retain jobs and talent.
The competitive advantages that Pittsfield should promote:
A beautiful place to live with unparalleled arts, culture, and outdoor recreation in a rural setting that is unmatched in New England or upstate NY.
A willingness to innovate and grow to meet future market conditions.
I applaud the community for trying to address the obstacles. improving communities costs money. I am sure outsiders without an understanding that local government is an assembly of moving parts can cherry pick efficiencies. They can’t necessarily pull a part out or replace it without affecting other systems. Take some pride in the community and realize that to improve it is going to take public investment.
Want more developable land? There are needed improvements for utilities and preparation (i.e., no gargantuan existing foundations and contamination) Want safer streets? Pay for more police and adequate facilities. Want smarter workers? Pay for the programs and establish partnerships with other institutions for higher learning. Want quality workforce housing? Public development options are out there. Better access to freeways? Come together as a region to realize that sustainability isn’t all about environmental preservation- get traffic bypassed around Lee and processed through the US 7 corridor more efficiently. Downtown Lee is established, a bypass won’t kill it, or better yet, install the interchange in the vicinity of US 7 through Stockbridge.
Insist on a coordinated approach to resolve these issues. A whole lot of public money, and more importantly time and effort, is wasted with competing regional promotion groups.
Want to be involved in decisions in a representative democracy? Effectively campaign and run for office. The last election gave multiple crystal clear examples of what not to do for successful local office campaigning.
Issues like the dumb carousel, circuses, cigarettes, and fireworks are nothing but incremental distractions from solving actual regional quality of life issues- stop falling for the bait.
I would agree with most of what you have said, however, a bypass was proposed over 30 years ago and didn’t happen, mall was rejected for downtown and most of all you are insulting to Mr. and Mrs. Shulman and all the volunteers that worked so hard on the beautiful carousel.
The carousel is a wonderful project for many reasons, and my words were intentionally harsh to distinguish that the carousel does not contribute to resolving the issues hindering the Central Berkshire’s evolution… it is on par with the Berkshire Scenic Railroad’s boondoggle in north County. Awesome display of volunteerism with few measureable regional benefits. But hey, if you want to concentrate on contrived rabbit holes, go right ahead.
As for the bypass and the mall, who decided it was too late to reposition the region for success?
Shakes solve all those problems and people will choose to locate in a lower tax area where government spends it’s money wisely and the mayor doesn’t take advice from drunks at DelGallo’s.
Also the Berkshires spends tons of money on all sorts of education. Maybe the school districts should get lean and start to do their jobs.
EVERY city has people that lose elections and insult the mayor. Companies still locate there. EVERY city has people that criticize spending. Companies still locate there.
Your argument is pointless because it does not change any of the principal reasons that Pittsfield is struggling. Just like the dumb boxes.
The painted boxes are dumb, but not because I care if the painted boxes exist or what manner they are decorated… they are dumb because they aren’t helping anything substantive. Effort without return.
A bright guy like you must have a clue why population shifts from MA and NY to TX.
Warm weather, cheaper housing, clustered petrochemical industry, a lot more people, better public colleges, and…. no personal income tax?
Shakes has pretty much nailed it; especially the regional planning issues. Instead of all the infighting that goes on within and between the tiny towns around here, people should all be getting together to plan and improve the region as a whole. As I’ve said before. The center of the nanoscience universe is 35 miles away. If we got together and mad a plan we could easily attract people who work there…to live here. Then once they were here, and innovation was happening it would spread here as well.
Shakes, are you saying the Arts aren’t being touted enough? Give us a break. The problem is a lot of people don’t like Arts shoved down their throats or just don’t like-care about it.
Believe when someone, propbably Ruffer said that Streescape would be beautiful when iTMS completed and the construction would be inconvenient at items, well the current North Street road reconstruction trumps all that, inconvenient? A better word would be….dreadfully inconvenient, synonymous with, aren’t returning.
Oops.
Hi, Dan, I used to be one of your students, I hope you are well. I remember you taught me about the beauty of the bigger picture in my writing, the message that my words may bring beyond the word count. I think this street art may find a similar parallel in the need to take a step back and smile.
This kind of project is being done all over the world and the nation in numerous cities… Brisbane Australia, Philly, NOLA, Costa Mesa… In each city you will find there are all levels of artistry on these public works of street art.
There is a larger point here, the same that leads to colorful murals on the cracked walls of low income neighborhood schools here in Brooklyn. The point is not always the privilege of top artistry, but rather the community’s positive message. Color brings joy, joy makes a difference even in the poorest, most forgotten towns.
Yes, we do need other solutions, so let’s prioritize an attack on what brings the need for everyday humans who care to respond with color– unemployment, GE, housing policy… Community is useful, no matter the cost. Art is only useless once we analyze its monetary value.
I admire how lucky you all are to live in a community that cares even about the little things. Enjoy it.
MARILEE
Thanks for the comment. I’m doing fine and hope the same with you.
The painted boxes are a driving hazard and its unnecessary since the utilities paint the boxes on their own dime. Does Pittsfield spend too much on the arts? This is hard to tell but if it cut arts spending the noise from the arts community would be very negative. This would tell businesses that the city is serious about keeping taxes low.
Would this hurt the arts? Probably not much. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, local funding is about 3.3% of the revenue for the arts in the US. see https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/how-the-us-funds-the-arts.pdf
State funding is about 2.2% while Federal is 1.2%. Massachusetts is right at the average funding for the arts.
.
No, they are not a driving hazard. Dumb yes. Driving hazard, no.
Companies look at the City’s budget documents, Comprehensive Master Plan, and their bond ratings. They may scan the headlines of the local paper. Companies don’t investigate these until after they have selections that meet their business needs for location and employees.
Pittsfield’s myopic focus on culture and arts projects have resulted in the loss of thousands of local jobs that pay a living wage with benefits. Thousands of people have moved away from Pittsfield.
What is the #1 asset of a community?
Answer: The people!
Why? Because the people pay taxes, shop at local stores, and invest in their community!
How does Pittsfield treat its people?
Answer: Record setting taxation via excessive municipal budgets, $10 – $12 per hour part-time jobs if you are lucky enough to find one, senior citizens choosing between food or medicine, corrupt political hacks, etc.
Let’s get real. The utility box artwork is harmless and was sponsored by a local business. If you don’t like them move along.
They did this in Bristol CT, a town with very similar demographics and economy as Pittsfield has.
The boxes that have not been vandalized, or defaced do a good job drawing your attention away from the blighted and dilapidated buildings they are in front of, which I believe is the ulterior motive behind this project.
A pig with lipstick is still a pig.
From Wikipedia:
Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Hartford. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 60,477.[2] Bristol is primarily known as the home of ESPN, whose central studios are in the city. Bristol is also home to Lake Compounce, America’s oldest still-functioning theme park. Bristol was known as a clock-making city in the 19th century, and is home to the American Clock & Watch Museum. Bristol’s nicknames include the “Bell City”, because of a history manufacturing innovative spring-driven doorbells, and the “Mum City”, because it was once a leader in chrysanthemum production and still holds an annual Bristol Mum Festival.[3] In 2010, Bristol was ranked 84th on Money Magazine’s “Best Places to Live”.[4] In 2013, Hartford Magazine ranked Bristol as Greater Hartford’s top municipality in the “Best Bang for the Buck” category.
not even close to Pittsfield, but your point about the basic effect of the boxes is fair.
Wow. SHH can cut and paste. your mother must be proud
not john is clever
I cited it.
Would you rather me fraudulently take credit for a dead man’s invention? Seems like that’s okay with your ilk.
These boxes are not “dumb”. A lot of hard work and creativity went into them. I personally think they look great and I am happy to see some bright and interesting artwork downtown. This article is so cranky and judgemental (as well as the comments.) Please lighten up and get over yourselves!
The art on the boxes may be fantastic and the fruit of much hard work. The whole shenanigans is cute, but a huge distraction from getting things done.
Donald Trump will not release his tax returns.
Hillary Clinton deleted 30,000 emails that are still unaccounted for.
Donald Trump cheated on his first two wives and has been married three times.
Hillary Clinton stood by her “cheating heart” husband Bubba and called the criticism of President Bill Clinton’s love affair with Monica Lewinsky a “vast right wing conspiracy”.
Donald Trump declared several of his companies bankrupt and ran a questionable business university.
Hillary Clinton helped raise millions of dollars from authoritarian governments for the Clinton Foundation.
Donald Trump unfairly targets minority groups of people, including Muslims, Mexicans, Women, etc. with hate speech.
Hillary Clinton’s biggest political weakness is her special interests lucrative secretive speeches to Wall Street investment banks.
We all know where Donald Trump stands on his hateful beliefs against groups of minority peoples, while few to nearly no one knows where Hillary Clinton stands on financial regulation of Wall Street.
I think it is fair to say that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are flawed candidates for the American Presidency in 2016!
– Jonathan Melle
Vote for GARY!! He’s not “scary – Hillary” and he’s not “Hairy – Trump” So vote for Gary!!
I have read a lot of your blogs and posts and they all seem very critical of the Pittsfield community. I just want to ask what have you done to improve the local community? Or do you consider writing negative narratives your contribution? Pittsfield, like any community is only as great as the citizens make it, and for that I applaused the artist who went out and tried to make north street a better place.
JMUHL
For 28 years, I had my offices in downtown Pittsfield, paying taxes there and generating millions in income that supported more than 70 employees over that time. As far as my narratives, they seem critical because they ARE critical, using that terms in its most enlightened sense, which is to say, to express a qualified, well-informed evaluation. My columns are meant to inform, entertain, and provoke thought and discussion. Your last sentence puzzles me, though. You refer to “the artist.” There was no artist. There were a handful of people chosen for dubious reasons in a non-transparent process, and the end result shows it.
The Clinton Foundation and the e-mails are directly related. Hillary should be imprison.
What about what happened with the Saudi citizens in the U.S.A. and their connection to the Saudi Arabian government after September 11th, 2001?
What about the false intelligence that said Saddam Hussein possessed nuclear weapons of mass destruction to acquire Iraq’s (2nd largest in the world) oil fields?
What about the illegal uses of torture, renditions, and violations of people’s consitutional and human rights?
I believe these aforementioned political issues are more serious than Hillary Clinton’s “careless” negligence and unaccounted for emails as Secretary of State under President Barack Obama!
– Jonathan Melle
With all due respect Jonathon, The things you mention were issues of past elections and have no weight in this election. And remember Hillary voted for the war.
The email scandal is a current issue. Maybe in one of the upcoming debates the moderator could ask Mrs. Clinton how she would feel if her Secretary of State makes the same “mistakes” she did by not following government protocol regarding email.
With Willie and their spawn
I Like Trump as a self made Billionaire beholden to no one, like Kennedy. Clinton nit so much. Don’t see Clinton as Commander in Chief for our Military.
I agree Dilly! She has No respect for the Men and Women who serve. Just like Obama she thinks it’s their job to hold umbrellas over their heads.
Dilly I hafta stop you right there. Trump self made? C’mon now! He was born extremely wealthy. Do you see him as commander in chief? He’s bellicose, completely self directed and appears to have no real desire to govern…just to win the election. You can’t just walk away from a treaty.
Go Trump. Hillary is a disgrace to the country. All she cares about is increasing her wealth. I would not trust her with our national security.
Pittsfield is and will be a healthcare industry……20 years from now PHS will be a Hillcrest commons living community.Lenox will be a retreat wellbeing community and stockbridge will be the Red Lion inn
Conservatives have no faith in the military…this military survived 8 years of Bush
The eagle lands at midnight
I think some of the graffiti on the railroad cars is pretty good. Maybe I should check out the electrical boxes.
The boxes would look better with graffiti than they do now. As they are now they are an embarrassment.
DILLY dally please turn the channel.
North street looks fantastic…south street is the most attractive.in the Berkshires …Wahconah never looked better…..Pittsfield is a very beautiful city except the fn hood in morningside….it is not dirty like when I was a kid its just a dangerous ignorant unemployable area of town
School committe, it’s great, I tried to go to Carr Hardware Wed. I tried to turn in where the sign was that said to go by the auto parts store. I had some jerk wave me down and said I couldn’t turn. He was rude and obnoxious, refused to let me talk to him. I was forced to drive up North St. I ended up driving up to Home Depot. Totally not what I wanted to do. Who gives a crap what it looks like if I can’t go there. This project is taking way to long. For goodness sake we could build the Empire state building in less time.
The city needs to end this construction project quickly. It has dragged on WAY TOO LONG.
They built a Highway to Alaska in 6 months 70 years ago
S C 17?
Pauldid you have to wash your car?
Hillary used her own account to get briefings. What’s to say? Now it is common knowledge that she and ooma Weiner are lovers.
I will give credit to this project for beautifying the downtown…they are done this year….inspite of it being a incomplete project it was and is a great looking downtown
Where does the crosby school store money gol
Painting electric boxes legalize graffiti
Painting electric boxes legalize graffiti
Please vote NO one community preservation act. Just another money grab, we cannot afford. A yes vote is a vote for higher taxes.
Planet Exclusive First:
North Korea has declared War on United States.
Next on Pittsfield’s agenda is painting man hole covers!
Who gave permission to paint the boxes in the first place?? Aren’t they owned by the utility?
Good one Paul!
….or tarp,
Go Hillary the silent conservatives will be voting Clinton…make no mistake they will not put Trump into the Presidency….not a tremendous Hillary fan I know she is smart tested and qualified….Trumps not president material. He has yet to talk jobs.
She failed every test….she’d be the Linda Tyer of DC
Trump has been talking jobs since he began. Obama did nothing for jobs. Clinton would be the same. Progressives are NOT job creators. They do not know how I am convinced.
She is a vile human, married to a serial rapist. That doesn’t seem like Presidental material. Obama set the bar low, anyone with a pulse would be better.
They belong in Pittsfield
Bubba knows job’s, ask Monica!
The American economy failed under Reagan and Bush…Obama was gifted 2 wars and a world within 3 hours of a financial collapse….im guessing it s maybe something you were not interested in at the time but it was very big news from 2008 to 2013
That being said he doubled the national debt, out spending all other presidents combined. Sorry no excuse for that.