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NEW SOCIAL-SERVICE NON-PROFIT REPLACES TAX-GENERATING PRIVATE BUSINESS AT 75 McKAY ST; SWITCH PART OF MAYOR’S ‘PLAN’ TO CONTINUE DOWNTOWN’S DESTRUCTION

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BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION MARCH 29-31, 2024) — First off, THE PLANET hopes you enjoyed a happy Easter. It’s a wonderful celebration, both in its religious and seasonal messages, of spring’s return and with it, the reemergence of new life.

The opposite impulse can be seen in the action of Bitchfield’s current Administration and its unrelenting drive, carried over from the previous gang, to delimit, desecrate, destroy, and doom central city and its downtown. THE PLANET speaks of the latest plundering of the tax roles at the costly altar of non-profit proliferation and social-service synchronicity.

For the downtown, S-L-O-W Death.

Specifically, we speak of the space at 75 McKay Street that once housed private, for-profit eateries. True, there were a series of tried-and-failed restaurants at the space, one after the other. That, though, only speaks of the failure of the city to create a downtown that generates life and attraction as opposed to vomiting death and destruction. Ask yourself: Who wants the inconvenience of venturing into empty downtown Pittsfield? Maybe a few tourists during July and August. Perhaps a cinema goer now and then if they can find a place to park. Certainly all manner of characters involved in the drug trade. For sure an assortment of beggars, mendicants, illegals, mentally ill, criminals, gangs, and other “armies of the road.”

Take a look at the picture:

Living in Recovery’s soon-to-be open new site at 75 McKay Street.

What you see is the soon-to-be opened headquarters of an operation called Living in Recovery. You can read the rest of the legend on the sign. “Living” appears to be another of those operations that teach addicts to remain dependent upon others. The hard truth is, the ability to change is and must be Self-willed. The only thing “Living” will do is attract more addicts downtown.

The place for these types of agencies is somewhere else.

Consider the general notion of not-for-profit enterprises. It’s simple, actually. They replace private businesses that in Bitchfield pay an outrageously high tax rate at artificial, arbitrary assessments. Trust THE PLANET. We know all about it having had offices at 137 and 150 North St. for 28 years.

Non-profits, if they pay anything at all, do so under the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program. PILOT contributions are voluntary, which mean that without close monitoring, many companies skip paying what they’ve promised to pay.

In Boston, for example, a recent audit showed that that non-profits skunked the city out of $128.58 million in promised contributions. Boston took in just $37.87 million in cash.

Non-profits arrive at a PILOT assessment (again, voluntary) with the host city on what are essentially “gentleman’s agreements.” The goal is to get another-for-profit to cough up 25% of what they would otherwise have owed in taxes. The negotiations are private, taxpayers not needed. Can you imagine what happens in a town as corrupt as Bitchfield? Where accountability is virtually nonexistent? Where “wink-wink, nudge-nudge” is considered “Best Practices.”

Right. THE PLANET need not draw you a map.

Cities have the right to regulate PILOT as they wish, meaning that if Mayor Peter Marchetti (“Say his name! Say his name!”) or the deadbeats on the City Council wished to, they could as soon as the next meeting take four simple steps:

(1) Fund an independent audit of every non-profit in the city. This audit would identify which companies and agencies are legit in their tax-free designation and which ones are on the con. The audit would look at the books: How much money did they promise in PILOT payments? Have they paid up?

(2) Demand payment of all monies owed.

(3) Remove non-profit designation of each gifting, grifting outfit.

(4) Monitor PILOT … accountability with sharp teeth.

So we put the challenge to Marchetti and any/all of the 11 councilors: Initiate such action and level the playing field for struggling PRIVATE businesses and bedraggled citizens and taxpayers.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

—————————————————————-

As a writer, I dance with prose and wrestle with poetry” — Sir Donald Turpentine, Knight of the Bath.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL

Copyright (c) 2024 By Dan Valenti, PLANET VALENTI and EUROPOLIS MANAGEMENT. All rights reserved. The views and opinions expressed in the comment section or in the text other than those of PLANET VALENTI are not necessarily endorsed by the operators of this website. PLANET VALENTI assumes no responsibility for such views and opinions, and it reserves the right to remove or edit any comment, including but not limited to those that violate the website’s Rules of Conduct and its editorial policies. Those who leave comments own all the responsibilities that are or can be attached to those comments, be they rhetorical, semantic, or legal. Such commentators remain solely responsible for what they post and shall be and remain solely accountable for their words. PLANET VALENTI shall not be held responsible for the consequences that may result from any posted comment or outside opinion or commentary as provided in, but not limited to, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and this website’s terms of service. We serve as a marketplace of ideas, without prejudice and available to all. All users of this site — including readers, commentators, contributors, or anyone else — hereby agree to these conditions by virtue of this notice and their use of/participation in this site. When PLANET VALENTI ends with the words “The Usual Disclaimer,” that phrase shall be understood to refer to the full text of this disclaimer.

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Punch Bolle
Punch Bolle
8 months ago

Well what the hell is that thing in front sidewalk a trap door?

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Punch Bolle
8 months ago

Liberal portal to Hell

Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
8 months ago

Yeah, how many hundred millions of people must suffer in the name of socialism, equity and caring for the little guy. Maybe the little guy would do just fine without the help of the globalist who know what is best for us all.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Duke University
8 months ago

There is no such a thing as ‘recovery’ from addiction. Only substitutions and redirections.

Duke University
Duke University
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

I said plea bargain think about it

12 Gauge
12 Gauge
Reply to  Duke University
8 months ago

John Wayne has a university?

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  12 Gauge
8 months ago

That’s ‘Duke’s University” School of Hard Knocks

Jonathan A. Melle
Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

March 28, 2024

Pittsfield’s Pot King Luciforo filed yet another marijuana business lawsuit this time in Boston to revive the union decertification bid, while Nuciforo’s pending pot lawsuit versus the City of Pittsfield in Berkshire Superior Court that he filed last Summer 2023 is looking to have the Pittsfield City Government pay his Berkshire Roots marijuana business back the $440,000 in HCAs fees that Berkshire Roots paid Pittsfield many years ago now to stink up nearby residential neighborhoods all around his Dalton Avenue marijuana growing buildings, while Nuciforo himself lives in his $950,000 mansion in Pittsfield’s elitist Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College.

The (SARCASTIC) Bottom Line: Only Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior is supposed to make money being a drug dealer in the marijuana industry. In Luciforo’s warped mind, Pittsfield is to pay Nuciforo, while his workers are to be underpaid by Nuciforo.

https://www.law360.com/corporate/articles/1817925/cannabis-retailer-sues-to-revive-union-decertification-bid

Why isn’t Nuciforo in prison?

In the mid-2000’s-decade, he was allegedly illegally double dipping at the Massachusetts State Senate Chairman of the Finance Committee while at the same time from 1999 – 2006, he served as a private Attorney for Boston’s big banks and insurance companies at the Boston Law Firm Berman & Dowell, according to the Boston Globe news story in early-2007. While Nuciforo stepped down from being a State Senator in 2006, he never faced any charges for his unethical double dipping. Moreover, as of this point in the early-Spring 2024, Nuciforo still has a law office in Boston’s Financial District.

Nuciforo started his 7-year-old marijuana business “Berkshire Roots” sometime around March 2017. I read news articles that questioned how he – along with other former politicians – used his old political connections in both Pittsfield and Boston to obtain one of the first permits to start Berkshire Roots. The journalists and editors questioned how Nuciforo’s pot empire had such deep pockets of investments, while other permit seekers did not. Was it due to Nuciforo’s allegedly illegal ties to the finance industry? Were Nuciforo’s investors on the up and up, or were there unethical handshakes, such as honor among thieves (corrupt politicians)?

In conclusion, Nuciforo always gets to do whatever the Hell he wants to do, and he has always gotten away with everything under the Sun. I hope that there are journalists and bloggers out there who will expose Nuciforo’s corrupt past and connect it to his current pot lawsuits in both Pittsfield and Boston state court systems.

Jon Melle

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

Business owners are following the law to recover expenses. No problem. Blame the municipalities (Pittsfield, Great Barrington) for collection the fees and not offsetting them against damages. Pittsfield Dalton Ave residents suffer air pollution – reduce tax value and inspection expenses. Should have declared them and documented them.

Instead, they just dump the money into their slush funds. No sympathy.

Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

Excellent point’s CK on the lawsuit situation that has risen. I’m not a fan of the pot business at all, but I don’t blame them for seeking returns of money based on the HCAs fees agreements made. JM has a unhealthy thing for Nuciforo and you can see it by how he doesn’t mention others seeking the same return of money.

Markus Aurelius
Markus Aurelius
Reply to  Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

Yesterday, it was discovered you choose illegal aliens over the US Vets you supposedly advocate for JM, by virtue of the democRATS policy on illegals over Vets and your firm stance with democRATS over Trump.

Because Trump “cheated on all his wives,” and he used “abusive language,” is the reason you give for sh!tcanning our WAR HEROES FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS?

On behalf of my fellow Vets, may I extend you a big middle finger JM.

Hypocrite

Jonathan A. Melle
Jonathan A. Melle
Reply to  Markus Aurelius
8 months ago

I agree with you that Veterans should take priority over illegal immigrants. I also wish to thank you for your honorable service. I have helped many Veterans in my life. I am a 100 percent service-connected disabled Veteran myself.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

“I agree with you that Veterans should take priority over illegal immigrants.”

So you’re voting Trump 2024 Johnny? Or Traitor Joe again?

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Mad Trapper
8 months ago

But I’m still not comfortable with the priorities.

Joetaxpayer
Joetaxpayer
8 months ago

It’s time for the State to stop funding all of these Social Services. Time to consolidate the programs and services they offer. Just in Pittsfield there are numerous duplication of services.

Joetaxpayer
Joetaxpayer
Reply to  Joetaxpayer
8 months ago

The funding should be narrowed down to the most deserving and successful programs. Also Pittsfield should put a cap on how many Non Profits are allowed in the City,

Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Reply to  Joetaxpayer
8 months ago

Any form of state-sponsored (taxpayers) welfare  is immoral. The state confiscates, through taxation, the productivity of those who earned it and gives it to those who did not earn it. Confiscating the fruits of one’s labor to serve the purposes of another who did not earn it. Look back on the long history of the myriad welfare programs in this country, it is obvious that the only people who truly benefit is the army of social workers and 
administrators whose livelihood depends on a never-ending stream of clients and dependents. The public-sector army of SJWs will make sure that no government program ever eliminates that steady stream.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
8 months ago

Big YES to this.

The school committee
The school committee
8 months ago

Ivanka Trump got 2 billion from the Saudi Royal family of Arabia

Herb Pease
Herb Pease
Reply to  The school committee
8 months ago

Tell us more pussytoes

Fake News
Fake News
Reply to  The school committee
8 months ago

Very fake news from communist democrats

Joetaxpayer
Joetaxpayer
Reply to  The school committee
8 months ago

WTF.Stay on point, and please take your meds.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  The school committee
8 months ago

Ukraine got/is still getting billions from the Biden crime cartel.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  danvalenti
8 months ago

Still waiting for Joe to be criminally charged for Quid Pro Quo

Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Reply to  The school committee
8 months ago

She received money as an investment as she had product to sell. Sir SnortsaLot (Hunter) doesn’t have a crackpipe to stand on when it comes to what product he was selling other than his Biden family name and got millions in cash, Porsche and diamonds.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Optimus Prime
8 months ago

Joe is a “devout” Catholic, and Hunter is a Crystal Methodist.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  The school committee
8 months ago

Biden declared a special day for You tomorrow, in lieu of Easter.

Think he’ll apologize for offending Christians?

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  danvalenti
8 months ago

comment image

Markus Aurelius
Markus Aurelius
Reply to  danvalenti
8 months ago

It’s only permissible under the China Joe Xiden administration to offend white, straight, Christian, Americans.

Merry & Bright
Merry & Bright
8 months ago

Happy Easter to all.

Dan, great article and so true. Also, thank you for posting the picture, verified my irritation his week. Had several meetings in the North Street area this week. On several mornings I did not appreciate having to carefully finagle over the Bitchfield “gutter ice jams”. On one of my visits, the friggin meter maid watched me trying to walk over it without falling, she got out of her taxpayers paid for car and stuck a ticket on my windshield. I was 4 minutes late!! Lucky for her it was only a warning. What a warm reception to North Street. Years ago, the city would have huge snowstorms and the next day North Street would be cleared like it was a summer day. Why is it our Public Works department can’t handle a few inches of snow. What exactly is it that the Public Works department does all day but ride around in their new taxpayer’s paid for vehicles. Maybe getting out to place another taxpayer’s paid for orange cones or barrels that now decorates the city. They certainly are NOT maintaining the roads, clearing snow and picking up litter. Would like Mayor Maypo to explain to us what the reason is for this neglect. Is it pure laziness, poor management or what is the excuse? It also seems that the Mayor and all the City Clownsil are blind to the conditions of the roads. Do they ever get off their pompous ego ridden butts and take a ride around the city?

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Merry & Bright
8 months ago

M&B: I continue to marvel ,from afar, that the most disliked employee by the taxpayer gets the nicest paid by them.

I advocated for muny golf carts for them. Cheap, ugly, gets the job down.

Last edited 8 months ago by Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

*nicest car.

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

Get them Schwins and let them use the bike lanes

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Gobsig
8 months ago

Interesting fact. some city directors stated that they a fine with muny micro electric vehicles.

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

Subcompact gas cars yes, EV’s are a scam of a fairy tail

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Gobsig
8 months ago

95% of EVs are still on the road, the rest made it home.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Gobsig
8 months ago

Electric minis make sense for muni use. Lessaintenance and service needs. Oil, brakes, exhaust systems, etc… plus half the price of even a gas car.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

bicycles, MTBs for winter

Punch Bolle
Punch Bolle
Reply to  Merry & Bright
8 months ago

you can’t ask Maypo anything yet? His ninety days ain’t up yet.

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  Merry & Bright
8 months ago

The trend now is to spend money on useless woke crap and avoid funding things that actually benefit people. Total symbolism over substance.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Gobsig
8 months ago

The Woke Stuff goes directly from your pocket to theirs.

Markus Aurelius
Markus Aurelius
8 months ago

I believe the former train wreck of a mayor, Barry “Flat” Tire, and the local state illegal aliens’ representative, Tricia Farley-Country Buffet (D-illegal aliens), told us that during the pandemic that adding people of color to the city from Eastern MA (i.e.-Boston area POC drug addicts, “houseless,” and recovering addicts) added “diversity to the city,” to those looking from the outside.

It got me thinking, does this mean in Bitchfield political speak, that the PILOT program is synonymous with “diversity,” as “grant money” is to bribes, kickbacks, and Ricky Rumpus roundabouts?

Nothing screams tourist attraction like a drug addict recovery center on NON.

Punch Bolle
Punch Bolle
Reply to  Markus Aurelius
8 months ago

Noticed a ton of foreign country drivers HERE, getting pulled over. The driving records from where they came from, are they available?

Markus Aurelius
Markus Aurelius
Reply to  Punch Bolle
8 months ago

I’m sure the cops don’t even really know who these people are, much less their driving records from who knows where.

Keep in mind when the state’s illegal aliens representative Tricia Farley-County Buffet (D-illegal aliens) pitched the idea of giving illegals DL’s, she assured everyone by stating, “Chief Wynn said it’s safe.”

Of course it’s not to eventually flood red states with ID carrying (multiple vote submitting) illegal aliens, huh Trish?

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Markus Aurelius
8 months ago

Ever see Flat Tyer or TF Bliviot, stop to flip a fiver at an intersection, to one of the bums they imported to the Berkshires?

The Pittsfield Public Library has become “diverse and inclusive”. Bums/addicts use it as a flop house to sleep/sober up in. And they use the restrooms to do drugs and/or administer NARCAN when one of them is ODing.

Seen it myself when I went to get some tax forms recently. PPD and ambulance came to cart one of the “DIE”ing to BMC…..

Last edited 8 months ago by Mad Trapper
Markus Aurelius
Markus Aurelius
Reply to  Mad Trapper
8 months ago

That junkies medical care is on our dime, is the ultimate kicker.

And as any gainfully employed, tax paying, adult knows, an ER visit isn’t cheap.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Mad Trapper
8 months ago

I know someone who was there during the od narcan event. What are the odds the two of you are in the same room at the same time?

Yet, I am certain I never met you in person.

Last edited 8 months ago by Charles Kronick
Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

Let’s not let the library become another liberal den of inequity.

For liberals: den of inequity – n a place of immoral behavior, often of a sexual nature

Markus Aurelius
Markus Aurelius
Reply to  Mad Trapper
8 months ago

Where children are also known to frequent after school.

Nothing to see here, move along…

Keep in mind Gov. Healey’s thoughts of when a disabled juvenile female got sexually assaulted by an illegal alien recently, “..things happen..”

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Mad Trapper
8 months ago

I’m serious about that above post. I was talking to someone who witnessed the guy od’ing in the bathroom and the Emergency Narcan Providers (ENP) who are stationed behind the checkout counter rushing to action. And you were there too? Have you and I met?

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

I was using the bathroom when the “DIE”ing and posse came rushing in.

Downtown Dweller
Downtown Dweller
8 months ago

It’s not a new program. They’ve been downtown, just not as visible in the past. I know this doesn’t make you any happier about the program or location but they’ve been on North St for a while.

Punch Bolle
Punch Bolle
Reply to  danvalenti
8 months ago

No anti Israel protests at park square?

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  Punch Bolle
8 months ago

One guy at the park had a honk for peace sign. I tried it and it didn’t seem to work.

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  danvalenti
8 months ago

Next Thursday I’ll try to get a flock of honking geese and see if that does the trick

Happy Bitch
Happy Bitch
Reply to  Gobsig
8 months ago

Maybe shot spotter would work.

Joetaxpayer
Joetaxpayer
Reply to  Downtown Dweller
8 months ago

As the sign states, supported by Servicenet. Yes the same Servicenet that runs the Pittsfield Homeless Shelter, which allows drunk and drugged patrons. I know this by the one to two ambulances going there every day. Their pros, been at the scam since 1965, main office in Northampton. Willing to bet the top dog running this shit show making 6 figures plus. Non-Profit my ass. Also own numerous houses in Pittsfield too.

Joetaxpayer
Joetaxpayer
Reply to  Downtown Dweller
8 months ago

According to ServiceNets website, President &CEO is making $210,742 a year. 14 other executives making 6 figures a year plus.Doesn’t sound like a non-profit to me. Time for Mayor Pete to get some tax money from the snake oil salesman. There taking up too much of our taxable real estate

Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Reply to  Joetaxpayer
8 months ago

Excellent JT! I was thinking the same on salaries etc. and you beat me to it. Many nonprofit’s pay the top personal well.

pothole
pothole
Reply to  Joetaxpayer
8 months ago

Not a thing Mayor Pete can do about salaries paid to employees of a non profit. that’s a bigger battle that needs to be fought though.

Happy Bitch
Happy Bitch
Reply to  pothole
8 months ago

That wo7ldnt re-elect him.

Carrie Cabal
Carrie Cabal
Reply to  Downtown Dweller
8 months ago

And at the very top of the staff for these orgs you will find a highly paid individual with connections to political crony folk. If you do not have people on the inside do not waste your time applying for any of these lucrative overseer positions, (many of which are no show) Your application will be in the trash before it even gets a look at.

Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Reply to  Downtown Dweller
8 months ago

Linden Street wasn’t good enough and Service Net which is a nonprofit is funding this nonprofit Living The Dream.

Funnel The Money
Funnel The Money
Reply to  Optimus Prime
8 months ago

Check the Registry of Deeds.

Kone King
Kone King
8 months ago

If you had told me ten years ago that Pittsfield would one day rely on tiny Lenox to provide residential waste drop off services I would have called you crazy.

https://www.cityofpittsfield.org/departments/public_services/index.php

Happy Bitch
Happy Bitch
Reply to  danvalenti
8 months ago

Way overdue for a book Adan.

snark shark
snark shark
Reply to  Kone King
8 months ago

Pittsfield also relies heavily on Lenox to provide a decent education to many of its students. These are the ones able to pass college entrance exams.

Crab
Crab
Reply to  snark shark
8 months ago

yes, part of that giant sucking sound you hear is the $35k in school choice per kid dollars going to Lenox. Lenox PPS just had a crack down this year on making all families confirm Lenox residency. Many of the Pittsfield families were using fake addresses to register their kids (in desperation) and Pittsfield was still getting that state money for kids they were not educating. But far be it from SHITSfield to report that.If only the BEagle did as careful investigation on things like that and the 50K no bid tree work mystery, the city might have a fighting chance.

Crab
Crab
Reply to  Crab
8 months ago

…and I meant investigating things like the $50k no bid work and state money being used for kids Pittsfield is not educating with the same vigor , self importance (MEG) and journalistic integrity (cough cough) they investigate a 7 year old issue of some guy now running for Mayor who at one time could not tell the difference between his banks routing number and checking account number land opining about him like he’s Al Capone or Pablo Escobat.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Crab
8 months ago

CRAB:

The Berk Eagle performs a solemn and thankless task: reminding me to pay my water bill. Got a personal call from Meg telling me I’m past due.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Crab
8 months ago

Lenox just screwed it’s taxpayers with a big school budget increase (? almost 10%), and new overpaid administraitors.

Apparently $35k per student is not covering the costs of educating non-resident students.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Mad Trapper
8 months ago

MT & CRAB: You cannot escape bad education in Mass schools. It’s horrible for parents everywhere.

My daughter in a private school, I wanted to push for honors level classes. I was informed that colleges actually want students with just the basics and they discriminate against academically aggressive students.

The parent is in a hopeless situation and I believe that the only solution is for parents to reinvent neighborhood schools.

Must free from unions and must free from Dept of Ed. A homeschooler will find they can meet state requirements in three hour of home instruction (short breaks, no lunch, no free time, no study halls).

Last edited 8 months ago by Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Crab
8 months ago

Now that’s a story!

Crab
Crab
Reply to  Kone King
8 months ago

KING- ….and I am sure that the good people of Lenox are thrilled with the extra people at THEIR facility and the traffic through their roads with all the trash falling out of the vehicles along the way. It is sad when a once great leading community becomes a trouble causing succubus on the smaller towns around it. I wonder if Dalton, Lanesborough, and Hancock could finally absorb various parts of the bordering neighborhoods of the city and just whittle BOGUSfield down to a few small neighborhoods within a mile or two of every direction from City Hall.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Crab
8 months ago

and I am sure that the good people of Lenox are thrilled with the extra people at THEIR facility and the traffic through their roads with all the trash falling out of the vehicles along the way”

Ha! I cleared out about 800# yard branches etc… and took a wrong turn with a uHaul trailer. Got myself on a really narrow road and stopped where it became a dirt road for 1 car. Said, ‘ok, now you know this can get worse and already has.’

Residents gave me permission to do the 59 point turn. They were kind. But they first scoured me to make sure I wasn’t a Pittsfield dumper known for trashing their land.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Kone King
8 months ago

Cassella has taken over most of the waste transfer in the Northeast. They acquire/buy out local businesses. Do they have political/Mob connections?

I can say that the service has not improved, the outside management is impersonal and uncaring, and the costs of course have risen.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Mad Trapper
8 months ago

Does trash have a Mob connection. Of course not. Ridiculous. The Mob is only interested in owning ports, governments, mass transit. They have absolutely NO interest in trash. Not anymore.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

What do they do with the bodies now?

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Mad Trapper
8 months ago

Mob left that biz too. It’s the pols that do that now.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Charles Kronick
8 months ago

Mobsters are just businessmen now. Crimes, push the envelope, some grift and graft, but mostly they are in business.

It’s the politicians who are out of their minds and crazy.

Last edited 8 months ago by Charles Kronick
Bishop
Bishop
8 months ago

Social services alley should be moved to the old Adams/Zayres property. It’s accessible and well served by public transportation. Then the rest of us could wiz by in our cars no worse for the wear.

Merry & Bright
Merry & Bright
Reply to  Bishop
8 months ago

Sure, why not!! Ward 2 taxpaying residents are already enduring the cancer-causing Hill 78 at Allendale, the constant stench from Berkshire Roots pot farm, over 650 clients a day wandering around our neighborhoods from the Spectrum Methadone Clinic and two pot stores, narrowing our heavily traveled streets with no communication to us, which now allows vehicles to “wiz” by so we can no longer walk safely on our streets. Sad thing about this Ward is that the residents living there are hardworking middle-income families. We have had NO voice in any of the above, not that it would matter to the Bitchfield administration. The city administration also must not realize that Bitchfield’s largest employer is in this Ward, General Dynamics. That must be why they allowed the methadone clinic right across from the main gate to this company. Why us?

Merry & Bright
Merry & Bright
Reply to  danvalenti
8 months ago

We have been there done that. Last meeting was attended by around 20 residents’ last fall. Meeting was set up by Councilor Kronick. Also, Councilors Kevin Morandi and Charles Kronick tried advocating for our ward for an accumulation of many years. Councilor Morandi held Ward meetings that were attended by many. Why would we think Brittany could do any better? Both the previous councilors were good at their elected job. Bottom line decisions are made in Bitchfield by how much the higher administration can benefit from the decisions, not about common sense.

Dynamic Vibrator
Dynamic Vibrator
Reply to  Merry & Bright
8 months ago

Vibrant and Generally Dynamic

JoePesci
JoePesci
8 months ago

The city has no authority to approve an organization as a non-profit. That is governed by state law. The city has no authority to remove that status from an organization either.

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  JoePesci
8 months ago

Not the Infernal Revenue Service?

Jonathan A. Melle
Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

March 30, 2024

Pittsfield politics voted to send a statement of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority to replace two old schools – Conte and Crosby – in the West Side with a consolidated single new school building.

https://www.wamc.org/news/2024-03-27/pittsfield-city-council-gives-authorization-to-explore-consolidating-crosby-conte-schools-in-new-facility

What is wrong with this picture? Answer: The Allendale Elementary School in Pittsfield abuts Hill 78, which is a capped leaky landfill full of GE’s PCBs industrial chemicals that cause brain damage, learning disabilities and cancer. In a perfect world, wouldn’t the building to be demolished be the one that poses huge public health risks to children, along with the adults who work there?

What else is wrong with this picture? Pittsfield spends an excessive amount of taxpayer dollars in comparison with similar postindustrial small cities like Pittsfield. In early-May 2024, Mayor Peter Marchetti will propose a municipal operating budget that will begin on July 1st, 2024, that will increase city spending by between 5 percent to 10 percent, he promises millions of dollars for the Wahconah Park project, and the aforementioned new public school will cost state and city taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to build.

Why were Pittsfield’s public assets met with decades of deferred maintenance? Why didn’t Pittsfield put money into a reserve account(s) for its capital projects? Why does Pittsfield spend so much of its annual budget on its Level 5 public schools that have had years of declining enrollment?

Jon Melle

typical Planet poster
typical Planet poster
8 months ago

Waa waa waa… black people are being given all my money… Pittsfield is a dirty sucky town… waa waa… my taxes are too high… Waa waa democrats are all bad ratty people… Waa waa… democrats are all stupid… dei are all snake oil salesmen… waa waa people of color are all lazy non-contributors …waa waa…democrats like to fuck sheep… Waa waa waa liberals are ruining north st… waa waa immigrants are ruining this country…  Waa waa… donald trump is brilliant and our salvation… waa waa waa the war in ukraine isn’t real and it’s all the biden crime family’s fault… waa waa waa Dems all push fake commie news… waa waa waa… everything is the democrats fault…

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  typical Planet poster
8 months ago

Did you get that from PMSNBC?

Joetaxpayer
Joetaxpayer
Reply to  typical Planet poster
8 months ago

Go have a lousy beer at Hot Plate, with all your like minded friends. Discussing how you can get trannies to read books to children.

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  typical Planet poster
8 months ago

In Da Know is the democrat who makes nik nik with sheep

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  typical Planet poster
8 months ago

You mean it’s not all Trumps fault?

Acute Angina
Acute Angina
Reply to  typical Planet poster
8 months ago

Spoken like a true moonbat democrat.

Mr. Fritz
Mr. Fritz
8 months ago

O’Biden declares Easter as “Transgender Day of Visibility” and bans Christian symbols from WH Easter celebration. If you are a Christian you cannot vote for this sick man!

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/biden-issues-white-house-proclamation-declaring-easter-be/

Pat
Pat
Reply to  Mr. Fritz
8 months ago

Biden is lost to the far left craziness. There is no hope for him. Taking a day that is the most holy of the year and turning it into a transgender day of celebration is so insulting to the true religious meaning. Their attacks against Christianity are only increasing and gives them so much in common with terrorist groups.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Mr. Fritz
8 months ago

If there was a Pope that did his duty, instead of caving into abominations of the Catholic faith, Joe would be excommunicated.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  danvalenti
8 months ago

Biden crapped his pants when he visited the Pope.

Pope: Was that a fart?

Biden: Some of it.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Mad Trapper
8 months ago

comment image

Jonathan A. Melle
Jonathan A. Melle
Reply to  Mr. Fritz
8 months ago

If you are Christian, are you supposed to vote for the ultimate Moral Hypocrite named Donald Trump? Does the Republican Party stand for Moral Hypocrisy? It is always fat old white dudes such as Trump who use Jesus Christ and The Bible to win – at any cost.

Donald Trump openly cheated on all three of his wives. His daughter Tiffany was conceived out-of-wedlock prior to Trump marrying his 2nd wife. He paid a porn start – trial in 2 weeks on 4/15 – and a Playboy Bunny model hush money to not speak publicly about his respective adulterous love affairs with them. He was caught on a hot mic saying that he likes to grab women by their [genitals].

I believe that both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are Moral Hypocrites in their own right. I didn’t want either of them to run for U.S. President in 2024.

Jon Melle

P.S. Yes. Bill Clinton is the ultimate Moral Hypocrite, too.

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

Biden is letting his gang destroy the United States. Trump wants the United States to thrive.

snark shark
snark shark
Reply to  Gobsig
8 months ago

Speaking of this Trump guy…..will he be again staring into the eclipse April 8th on national TV while everyone else around him is wearing protective eye wear?

You gotta admit that was classic Trump, dumber than a door nail and oblivious to the international scorn he brings upon himself. Did you get your copy of his bible yet and if so did you proudly place in on your fireplace mantle next to his golden sneakers?

It is true that a fool is born every minute and Trump loves each and every one of you. Very much. And it may not even be true that he falls over laughing every time one of you purchase one of his gimmick gadgets. He is not like that. Is he?

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  snark shark
8 months ago

So Trump has a problem with his eyes? I don’t think so. He sees democrats for what they are.

Optimus Prime
Optimus Prime
Reply to  Gobsig
8 months ago

Well in the end the dem’s will just say it is better for America to have a mentally unfit leader than Trump.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

Biden declared the holiest Christian day, Easter, Transgender Day of Visibility.

“Christian Leader Franklin Graham UNLOADS on Joe Biden Following Desecration of Easter Sunday as Trans Rights Day”

Just for You John.

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  Mr. Fritz
8 months ago

Also remember that Biden hides his own Easter eggs.

Pat
Pat
Reply to  Gobsig
8 months ago

The White House told children that no religious symbolism is allowed this year on the eggs they are designing. They want to further turn Easter into nothing more than a Pagan fertility holiday that is all chickens and rabbits and obscure the true religious meaning which is Jesus dying for our sins. How many kids think that Easter is about a giant rabbit giving out treats?

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  Mr. Fritz
8 months ago

“…they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do no hide it. Woe to them” (Isaiah 3:9)

A celebration of sin, proclaimed by Biden.

Jonathan A. Melle
Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

A Planet Valenti comment blog poster wrote: “JM has a unhealthy thing for Nuciforo and you can see it by how he doesn’t mention others seeking the same return of money.

Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024

My reply: Nuciforo used his political connections in Pittsfield and Boston to receive one of the first pot permits in both metro areas at the opposite ends of Massachusetts. Nuciforo’s “Berkshire Roots” marijuana business always had deep pockets of investments. Who were his investors? Why didn’t many of the other pot permit seekers have so much large investment capital funds like Nuciforo’s Pittsfield Pot Kingdom?

Nuciforo is NOT similar to many of the other marijuana businesses in Massachusetts. We all know that Nuciforo has deep ties to the finance industry in Boston. It led to him being a disgraced politician and having to step down from his elected position of State Senator back in 2006. The Boston Globe reported on these facts in early-2007.

Nuciforo has two pending marijuana lawsuits in two Massachusetts Superior Courts. The first lawsuit was filed last Summer 2023 in Pittsfield’s Berkshire Superior Court. He is suing the City of Pittsfield over the $440,000 in HCAs fees “Berkshire Roots” paid to the city government many years ago now. The second lawsuit was recently filed in Boston’s Suffolk Superior Court in a union decertification bid – SARCASM: You’re some Democrat, Nuciforo, suing to decertify unions in the Massachusetts marijuana industry in order to make a few more pot bucks for yourself, you GREED-BALL.

Nuciforo is a very politically connected, disgraced politician, unethical financial industry-based Attorney, and litigious marijuana businessman. In 2004, when John Forbes Kerry ran for U.S. President, Nuciforo and Kerry wore matching tuxedos to co-host an elitist fundraiser whereby they raised campaign funds from the financial, corporate and ruling elites. John Kerry is a billionaire and Boston Brahmin, as is Bill Weld.

Nuciforo is a millionaire. Nuciforo owns several buildings in Boston and Pittsfield alike. Nuciforo is a landlord. Nuciforo has a law office in Boston’s Financial District. Nuciforo has a law office in Pittsfield, too. Nuciforo lives in a mansion in Pittsfield’s Gated Community neighborhood west of Berkshire Community College.

The Berkshire Eagle wrote that Nuciforo is a FRINGE politician. The Springfield Republican wrote that Nuciforo is MEAN-SPIRITED. The Boston Globe wrote that Nuciforo – along with other former politicians – used his political connections and deep pockets of investors to receive their pot permits to make millions of dollars off of the commonwealth’s marijuana industry, while minority applicants had to pound sand.

Since I was 20 years old during the Spring 1996, Nuciforo has persecuted me: Jon Melle. Nuciforo also persecuted my dad, Bob, who is a former Berkshire County Commissioner, 1997 – mid-2000. I have lived in Amherst, NH, for the past 20 years now. Believe it or not, people who live here who have ties to Massachusetts know that Nuciforo ensnared me into his conspiratorial politics. Even when I was a graduate college student at U Mass Amherst, (from the Fall 1997 – Spring 1999), some of my College Professors told me they questioned Nuciforo about his mistreatment of me when they went to the Boston Statehouse back then. Even blogger Dan Valenti himself once wrote to me that he knows that I was hurt in Pittsfield politics. Bottom line: A lot of people who follow Massachusetts politics know that Nuciforo has been mean-spirited towards me for a very long time now.

In closing, I do NOT understand how Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior is able to file his pot lawsuits without question by the news media and blogs, while he is a disgraced politician, a politically connected sycophant to the likes of John Kerry, and an unethical Attorney who always gets to do whatever the Hell he wants to do and he never faces any consequences for his actions!

Jon Melle

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

When the state determines that a product is bad for the consumer and others, it is in no position to tax it. The tax serves to modify and restrict the State’s interest in reducing consumption. It grows to love the revenue more than it hates its harm.

If the city agrees that there are damages then they should either ban the product or don’t collect the Impact Fee. I vote ban. Public consumption, ubiquitous sales, air pollution from cultivation damages the health and morals of your community.

Charles Kronick
Charles Kronick
Reply to  Jonathan A. Melle
8 months ago

You may be interested to know that BR background actors go waaaay beyond Nuciforo. The owners are a who’s who of Pittsfield politics.

Jon: You can’t get revenge, and you certainly don’t want to.

typical Planet poster
typical Planet poster
8 months ago

Waa waa… Dems turned Easter & Xmas into Pagan holidaies with choclate bunnys … waa waa… White House obscure the true religious meaning of Jesus celebration of the Passover satyr and dieing for our sins… waa waa… the Biden Christianity attacks insult their religion and proclaim a celebration of sin. …Waa waa… we need trustworthy leaders like Giulianny Bannon and Trump… .

Gobsig
Gobsig
Reply to  typical Planet poster
8 months ago

Happy Transmission Fluid Day Of Awareness clown

TellitLikeitIs
TellitLikeitIs
Reply to  typical Planet poster
8 months ago

Precisely Holmes. You just summed up what’s wrong with Biden administration (partial list), and why we need Trump.

Mad Trapper
Mad Trapper
Reply to  typical Planet poster
8 months ago

Bigoted against Christians much?

REDACTED X
REDACTED X
8 months ago

off topic but someone tell me what the deal with the Berkshire Edge

when I comment, contrary to the thinking but completely factual, my comments are deleted as spam

and one writer, Vickie Shufton, writs an article about being in the middle

LMFAO