By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THURSDAY, NOV. 10, 2011) — With everyone trying to gleam cosmic significance over tomorrow’s date of 11/11/11, THE PLANET finds soul in everything we see, touch, hear. In short, the transcendent is where you find it. Even in elections, you find people caught in the act of being themselves.

RECOUNT DRACULA — Peter Marchetti lost to Dan Bianchi by 100 or so votes. He should not seek a recount. Bianchi lost to Jimmy Ruberto two years ago by 200 votes and got a recount as he should have done. What’s the difference? This year, the 100-vote differential can be found scattered throughout the city’s wards and precincts. Two years ago, the 200-vote difference came from one ward. Bianchi won everything else and got overwhelmed in 4, in such proportions that the distribution of votes appeared odd. There were rumors of funny stuff going in on 4, prompting the recount. The second tally in 4, however, did not uncover anything unusual, and only three votes (or thereabouts) were changed. There’s no way Marchetti finds 100 votes in a recount. The stake is through his heart, and the Count will not come back until at least 2013. His best bet is to continue the gracious and classy exit out the door and into his six weeks as a lame-duck councilor at -large.

SPEAKING OF AT-LARGE — No one else will dare bring this up, but since it was a topic throughout this campaign in various quarters and circles, THE PLANET “dares to go there.” Did Peter Marchetti lose because he is overweight? Many remarked on the extra pounds Marchetti put on going into this campaign season. He looked as if he had sought lots of comfort in food along the Big Macs line rather than fresh veggies. Marchetti looked fat, jowly, and bloated, like the caricatured image of the greedy, overweight pol getting rich by taking food off the starving taxpayers’ tables. That’s not the man, but if it’s the image of the man — these days, where dumbing down has become a high art, that’s enough. Bianchi, on the other hand, appeared trim and at his fighting weight. Let THE PLANET be clear. We would never and have never cast a vote on the such a superficial basis, but some people do. We doubt there were 100 votes to be lost in the Spare Tire, but surely a few. Any truth to this theory? We don’t know, but it’s certainly food for thought.

LET’S ALSO BE CLEAR ABOUT THIS: PETER MARCHETTI HANDLED DEFEAT WITH CLASS, GRACIOUSNESS, AND DIGNITY. We hope he comes back in 2013 but only if his heart wants it. If he doesn’t, he should enjoy his life to the fullest. He is a warm, caring man. Yes, he is a friend at this address. No. We don’t enjoy having to walk the tightrope on covering people we know professionally and personally. We wish Peter all the best in the world, and say this with heartfelt sincerity.

BREAULT MUST DEMAND A RECOUNT IN WARD 5 — Joe Breault came within six votes of a win in Ward 5 over incumbent Jonathan Lothrop. A straight recount of votes could easily tip three from J-Lo’s tally and move them to Joe. That produces a tie ball game. Then you have the so-called “blank” votes. There are as many as 84 of them, we hear. People have been asking how a voter could vote in a ward and then not make a selection. That’s not what happened. The “blanks” are only that way because machines are stupid. You see, almost all (if not all) of the “blanks” actually have a preference for a candidate indicated, but instead of filling in the bubble, people make some other mark, most of them circling one of the two names. Those votes should be in play because they clearly indicate the voter’s intent. We cannot let a machine’s inability to read a vote not indicated to its satisfaction determine the outcome of an election. We must let the human element overrule the machine. All votes that clearly indicate a voter’s choice must be counted.

KINNAS WIN MAKES SCHOOL COMMITTEE HIS KIN — Citizen watchdog Terry Kinnas won perhaps the most significant victory on Tuesday night. His narrow win over Jon King for the final spot on the six-member school committee promises to at minimum change the culture on that historically underperforming, under-scrutinized board. Kinnas will bring We The People to the dais with him to each meeting. Kinnas is now political kin to the five other members plus mayor-elect Bianchi. With Kinnas, transparency will rule the day in a way it rarely if ever has for an invisible board that controls 2/3 of the city $130 million budget. That staggering amount requires staggering oversight and scrutiny, and with Kinnas, the taxpayers at least have a shot that questions will be asked and answers demanded. Why does THE PLANET have a feeling that the school committee’s first meeting next year will be the hottest ticket in town? THE PLANET also congratulates King for his reasoning in not seeking a recount in a 20-something-vote loss: He said he didn’t want to put the city through it. With that statement, we say King deserved a seat … at the expense of any of the others not named “Kinnas.”

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WE GOTTA GO, ME OH MY-OH. TOMORROW, WE PRESENT ANALYSIS OF TUESDAY NIGHT FROM THE PLANET’S POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, JOSH CUTLER. AND BE PATIENT, THOSE WAITING FOR OUR CHOOL REPORTS. IT’S COMING …

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”