Rep. Smitty Pignatelli versus Governor Maura Healey

November 18, 2023

Hello Governor Maura Healey,

Since over the 20-year Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli is being a disingenuous bully by blaming you for the housing crisis in Berkshire County earlier this year of 2023, and he is now blaming your administration for your non-plan for immigrants and homelessness, and he told a public radio journalist that you could bankrupt the state government in Massachusetts on your administration's immigration public policies and programs to defend himself and his fellow do-nothing State House lawmakers for not passing a supplemental budget prior to their 7-week holidays season vacation, I thought I would return the favor to Rep. Smitty Pignatelli by publicly writing to you about his failed public record in Boston:

* Smitty Pignatelli's first vote in Boston in early-2003 was for Speaker turned Convicted Felon Tom Finneran; Smitty Pignatelli also later voted for Speaker turned Convicted Felon Sal DiMasi

* Since 2003, Smitty Pignatelli voted against rules reform measures called "Sunshine Laws", and he openly and publicly said secretive State House government works well

* Smitty Pignatelli has voted for and/or happily accepted any and all public pay raises and perks that are paid for by taxpayers; In early-2017, Smitty Pignatelli voted for the outrageous and controversial 40 percent pay raise for himself and his fellow state lawmakers

* Smitty Pignatelli supports GE putting a toxic waste dump inside of a watershed in the polluted Housatonic River over the objections of the people he represents in Lee and Lenoxdale

* Smitty Pignatelli writes op-eds about the Berkshires' shrinking tax base with thousands of lost living wage jobs and diminishing population numbers while the local tax burden increases without looking at himself in the proverbial mirror as a failed corrupt career politician who voted for hundreds of millions of dollars in state tax breaks for Boston area big businesses

* Smitty Pignatelli proposed legislation to give youths criminal records if they possess a small amount of marijuana near a youth center instead of helping them succeed in their young lives; (the real alleged criminals are the corrupt career politicians, registered lobbyists and marijuana dispensary owners with political connections at the Boston State House)

* I read on blogs that there are two Smitty Pignatelli's in one political man with an ego that is bigger than the Moon; the first Smitty Pignatelli acts like an arrogant buffoon around common people like Jon Melle; the second Smitty Pignatelli is a kiss-up around important political people like PAC Man Richie Neal

* Smitty Pignatelli writes op-eds complaining about Boston always low-balling state aid with inequitable financial formulas to Western Massachusetts' municipalities and public-school districts, while at the same time he almost always votes in lockstep with Boston's corrupt leadership on Beacon Hill that gives Boston area big businesses a little less than $18 billion per fiscal year in state tax breaks

* If Smitty Pignatelli is so concerned about the Berkshires' financial struggles, why isn't he asking Speaker Ronny Mariano and company to use their billions upon billions of dollars in surplus state cash plus "Biden Bucks" for middle class tax relief and increases in state aid for local governments and public-school districts?

* If Smitty Pignatelli is so concerned about the Berkshires' financial struggles, why doesn't he lead by example and vote to cut his and his fellow corrupt career politicians' public pay and perks by at least 50 percent and give the savings for middle class tax relief and state aid for local governments and public-school districts?

* In early-2004, I asked Smitty Pignatelli - along with Peter Larkin and Daniel Bosley - if they would please sign my nomination papers for Berkshire-based State Senator, and Smitty Pignatelli said to me, "I don't sign nomination papers", with similar declining words from Larkin and Bosley, who now are both greedy registered Beacon Hill lobbyists.  Smitty Pignatelli blocks all of my political email letters, too, because I do not lie to him and tell him how wonderful he is as a career politician

* Smitty Pignatelli never speaks out against Beacon Hill lawmakers, including himself, taking weeks or months off at a time while the Salons collect all of their public pay and perks paid for by the taxpayers.  Sarcasm: I hope that Smitty Pignatelli and his fellow Salons in Boston will enjoy their current 7-week taxpayer funded vacation from November 16th, 2023, through December 31st, 2023; It must be nice to get paid for doing nothing .... but DISSERVICES against the people and taxpayers!

* Smitty Pignatelli openly said that when he runs unopposed or in non-competitive so-called elections every two years, it means that people approve of his so-called (part-time) work in Boston .... and Pigs (& Smitty Pignatelli) have wings and fly

* Smitty Pignatelli voted to study, which meant not voting on, voting registration reform laws last year in late-January of 2022

* Smitty Pignatelli voted for and publicly endorsed the single largest state tax increase in the over 400-year history of Massachusetts: The surtax on incomes of over $1 million

Rep. Smitty Pignatelli blocks all of my political emails.  He only wants people to tell him that he is wonderful when he is really a STINKER! I cannot believe the phony op-eds that Rep. Smitty Pignatelli writes in Western Massachusetts newspapers, but it makes for good material for me to write and blog about his real state legislative FAILED public record.

I don't like Rep. Smitty Pignatelli because he represents is everything that is wrong with the state government.  Rep. Smitty Pignatelli is a corrupt career politician who votes himself huge pay raises plus perks, he rubber stamps the secretive, corrupt and inequitable State House Speaker's legislative agenda, he sold out his own constituents - along with Maryland Markey - by supporting GE's proposal to put a toxic waste leaky landfill full of industrial chemicals called PCBs inside of a watershed in the polluted Housatonic River, he voted for two State House Speakers named Tom Finneran and Sal DiMasi who later became Convicted Felons, he writes phony, lofty op-eds that does not match his failed public record over the past 20 years in Boston, he write about Berkshire County's distressed and very unequal economy without looking at himself in the proverbial mirror as a do-nothing State Representative from Berkshire County, and he refuses to listen to anyone who doesn't affirm and enable his failed leadership in Boston.

Happy Thanksgiving, but I am NOT thankful for Rep. Smitty Pignatelli!

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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November 18, 2023

Hello Governor Maura Healey,

Over 20-year Lenox State Representative blamed your administration earlier this year of 2023 for the housing crisis in Berkshire County. I remember writing to you about the news story in iBerkshires.com

Yesterday, Rep. Smitty Pignatelli said in a public radio interview that your administration's non-plan for immigrants could bankrupt the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

https://www.wamc.org/news/2023-11-17/berkshire-officials-on-beacon-hill-voice-frustration-over-stalemate-on-supplemental-budget-migrant-crisis-funding

How do you feel about Rep. Smitty Pignatelli blaming you for the do-nothing corrupt career politicians on Beacon Hill? I think it is unfair because Rep. Smitty Pignatelli is a total failure in Boston and the Berkshires alike!

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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November 19, 2023

Hello Governor Maura Healey,

I do NOT understand how the news media allows Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli to openly blame Governor Maura Healey for the state's issues, matters and problems.  Rep. Smitty Pignatelli has been in the same elected office since the beginning of 2003, which is a little less than 21 years time now.  He writes phony, lofty op-eds in the Berkshire Eagle and other Western Massachusetts newspapers about the public issues that face the people he represents in Boston.  Never - not even once - has Rep. Smitty Pignatelli ever said and/or wrote about holding up a proverbial mirror to self-reflect on his over two decades-long FAILED public record in state government.

Governor Maura Healey has been in her current elected office for 10.5-months versus Rep. Smitty Pignatelli's 20-years and 10.5-months.  The Berkshires has a housing crisis.  Who did Rep. Smitty Pignatelli blame?  NOT himself, of course.  He blamed Governor Maura Healey, but the Berkshires' housing crisis long preceded her administration!  The state has an immigrant and homelessness crisis.  Who did Smitty Pignatelli blame?  NOT himself, of course.  He blamed Governor Maura Healey, who I see on my TV on the Boston news stations almost every single day, as well as I hear her on the Boston radio stations a couple of times per week, working hard on all of these public matters.

Rep. Smitty Pignatelli is on a 7-weeks-long taxpayer-funded vacation.  In 2024, Rep. Smitty Pignatelli will go on a 5-months-long taxpayer funded vacation from August 1st - December 31st.  Meanwhile Governor Maura Healey is always on TV on the Boston news, as well as radio, stations making a real difference for the people of Massachusetts.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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December 3, 2023

I have lived in Amherst, NH, for 20 years now.  Pittsfield is a place many thousands of people have fled from.  My dad, Bob, was a Pittsfield area politician 25 years ago when he served as a Berkshire County Commissioner from 1997 - mid-2000.  We all know what happened to my dad and I back then at the hands of Pittsfield's devilish 4 foot tall piece of poop in the form of a man who has went to pot.  I remember going to Beacon Hill with my dad back in the late-1990's when he testified about county government to state lawmakers.  If looks and words could kill, my dad and I would not be around today.  State and local career politicians only want big campaign contributions and millions and billions of taxpayer dollars.   Someone such as "Jon Melle" and "Bob Melle" are supposed to tell "Smitty Pignatelli" how wonderful he is for going to Boston for a little less than 21 years now in late-2023, but that whopper would even worse than all of the world's HOT AIR!

Jon Melle

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December 3, 2023

Predictable Pittsfield politics has no choice but to play the same old financial shell games with the state government in Boston. Since Proposition 2.5 passed and was enacted into state law over 40 years ago now, the city has always passed a municipal operating budget with a spending increase of 5 percent or higher.

Proposition 2.5 is an irrational and arbitrary spending constraint that led to local governments having to play financial shell games with the state that ended up excessively increasing municipal spending since Larry Bird started winning NBA championships with the Boston Celtics. It is long passed time to repeal Proposition 2.5, along with all of the other unnecessary public spending constraints that lead to the exact opposite of their intended purpose: Increased Public Spending that kills private sector economic growth.

Why Proposition 2.5 is still on the books after over 40 years shows how STUPID and MISGUIDED the corrupt career politicians on Beacon Hill are about public financial management policies.

Do you all understand that Boston is systemically mocking "Gateway Cities" such as Pittsfield and the taxpayers who live in Pittsfield? The multi-billion-dollar Massachusetts State Lottery is a perfect illustration. The lottery SCAM pays the mostly low- to moderate-income buyers a small fraction of their scarce dollar(s) over the long-term. The lottery SCAM targets the underclass and mostly financially illiterate mostly blue collar working class residents. The lottery SCAM is nothing more than a (voluntary) regressive taxation SCHEME. The lottery SCAM makes profits off of distressed cities such as Pittsfield. The lottery SCAM pays Pittsfield state aid dollars, but otherwise equitable and progressive taxation schemes would pay Pittsfield a lot more money in state aid dollars than the lottery SCAM.

Why am I explaining all of this to you? The answer is that Pittsfield politics and the puppet-like state and local career politicians are playing all of you for FOOLS, especially in distressed cities such as Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which is my native hometown and a place I have studied for three decades of my adult life of 48 years.

The ruling elites in Pittsfield are in bed with the ruling elites in Boston, who are enriching themselves at the public trough by giving their wealthy big business campaign contributors billions of dollars per fiscal year in state tax breaks, while selling the lottery SCAM to Pittsfield and the people who live in Pittsfield. Also, Boston area big businesses do NOT exist in Pittsfield and many other areas of Massachusetts, which means that Beacon Hill lawmakers are screwing over these distressed areas they supposedly represent in Boston.

In Pittsfield politics, the career politicians are NOT your friends! It - state and local government - is all one big financial shell game to the ruling, corporate and financial elites. To be clear, the DISSERVICES the career politicians are doing to Pittsfield and its residents mean that there is nobody in state and local government representing the city and the taxpayers. Ergo, the December 12th, 2023, vote to increase the municipal tax by 8.75 percent is already a done deal.

Jon Melle

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December 4, 2023

Let's see.  Nuciforo is suing the City of Pittsfield over his Pittsfield Pot Kingdom named "Berkshire Roots"'s payments to the city of $440,000 in HCAs fees from years ago.  Why do you write that I should stop writing about Nuciforo's never ending political persecution of me over the past over 27.5 years now, but it is somehow O.K. for Nuciforo to sue the city over his predatory marijuana company's past HCAs payments plus unspecified damages?

What about the fact that the residential neighborhoods near Nuciforo's largest in the Berkshires marijuana growing three story building on Dalton Avenue in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, have  complained for years that Berkshire Roots' pot growing operation fill their properties with unpleasant pot growing odors?  As for Nuciforo, this past Summer of 2023, he purchased a $950,000 mansion in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community that is 0.3 miles from Mayor Linda Tyer and CPA Barry Clairmont's mansion close to the Hancock border.  Nuciforo himself does NOT live near his Dalton Avenue Pittsfield Pot Kingdom!

The irony of Nuciforo's lawsuit is that he himself is a disgraced politician.  In 2006, Nuciforo had to step down in disgrace from his elected position as a Pittsfield, Massachusetts State Senator in Boston because he was allegedly illegally double dipping as the Chair of the State Senate Finance Committee while at the same time he served as legal counsel for Boston's big banks and insurance companies for the Boston Law Firm Berman and Dowell from 1999 - 2006.  These facts were all published in the Boston Globe in early-2007.

Yet, Nuciforo's lawsuit basically argues that Mayor Linda Tyer acted in BAD FAITH with his marijuana company's HCAs payments to the city that took place years ago.  Going back in history, it is clear that the bad faith politician was Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, who is a disgraced former politician, while Mayor Linda Tyer is NOT a disgraced politician.  In fact, Mayor Linda Tyer has received praises from state and local officials throughout Massachusetts because she is a good public manager.

Beacon Hill's Statehouse in Boston is a den of corruption, secrecy, financial inequity with the financial, corporate and ruling elites all enriching themselves at the public trough, while the common people and distressed areas throughout Massachusetts are mocked with DISSERVICES such as the multi-billion-dollar state lottery SCAM, which is nothing more than (voluntary) regressive taxation that exploits the underclass financial illiteracy.

For Nuciforo to have had to step down as a Massachusetts State Senator in 2006, he must have done something(s) really wrong back then.  I wonder what Mayor Linda Tyer's thoughts are about Nuciforo's lawsuit against the City of Pittsfield.  She must be thinking that Nuciforo is the pot calling the kettle black.

Jon Melle

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December 4, 2023

Do you people even know what happened to me in Pittsfield politics at the hands of "Luciforo"?  Nuciforo persecuted me because he had a vendetta against my dad, Bob.  It all started in the Spring 1996 when I was 20 years old and my dad started campaigning alongside of Nuciforo back then, and my dad was elected Berkshire County Commissioner and Nuciforo was elected State Senator in the 1996 election.  It annoys me when people write that I am still complaining about events that happened 30 years ago, which is not at all accurate.  Furthermore, Nuciforo's abuses against me never stopped, even after I moved to Amherst, NH, nearly 20 years ago.  Other people, politicians and news media outlets have written about Nuciforo over the years.  Most of the printed words were unfavorable to Nuciforo in politics, the law and the marijuana industry.  The Berkshire Eagle once called Nuciforo a FRINGE politician.  The Springfield Republican once called Nuciforo mean-spirited.  The Boston Globe said that Nuciforo used his political connections in Massachusetts, along with his unknown financial backers with deep pockets, to be one of the first people to receive state and local permits to start his Pittsfield Pot Kingdom on Dalton Avenue with a dispensary in East Boston called "Berkshire Roots".  I am NOT alone in writing about Nuciforo being a very questionable character who has disgraced himself in politics due to his corrupt special interests in the financial world, especially insurance companies; The Boston Globe once reported that Nuciforo co-hosted an elitist campaign fundraising event with then presidential candidate John Forbes Kerry whereby they wore matching tuxedos to impress billionaire John Kerry's wealthy donors.  I never understood why someone such as Nuciforo would use so much of his energy to hurt "Jon Melle" over and over again, but I feel fortunate that people have defended me in Pittsfield and beyond over and over again.  I am a nobody whose father was once a political and community activist in Pittsfield politics.  It never made any sense to me.  But Nuciforo's 2012 fringe and mean-spirited campaign for U.S. Congress was also nonsensical, which he lost by 40 percentage points to PAC Man Richie Neal, who also has a questionable reputation for being too close to insurance company lobbyists on K Street in the Swamp.  Nuciforo's 2023 lawsuit against the City of Pittsfield is also a long-shot.  Nuciforo is pushing 60 years old come next February 2024.  I don't know what will come next for him, but I hope that he will either stop being a very questionable character or that he will end up in prison where he belongs!

Jonathan A. Melle

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December 6, 2023

There are 535 Members of U.S. Congress.  There are 12,500 registered lobbyists in the Swamp in 2023.  That equals over 23 greed-balls for every 1 career corrupt-ball.  I wonder who really runs the U.S. Congress?  If it goes by the number of lobbyists, then it is K Street instead of Capitol Hill.

Then there is the Beacon Hill Statehouse in Boston whereby some registered lobbyists earn 7-figure salaries, while many other greed-balls earn 6-figures.

Greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley is a former corrupt career politician who cashing in at the public trough.  Greed-ball Dan Bosley likes to write letters and op-eds praising PAC Man Richie Neal (D-K Street).

Sarcasm: I am sure that the Founding Fathers envisioned greedy lobbyists using Pay to Play to legally bribe the career politicians for life in the state and federal government.

Jonathan A. Melle

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December 9, 2023

I disagree with your - blogger Dan Valenti's - praises for Jimmy Ruberto.  He never owned a home, nor did he ever rent an apartment in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, but he got away with serving as Pittsfield's Mayor for 8 years from 2004- 2011.  His backers were all of the Good Old Boys - Carmen Massimiano, Jr., Angelo Stracuzzi, Cliff Nilan, Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, the late Mayor Gerry Doyle - who all disgraced themselves in Pittsfield politics.  During Rolodex's tenure, Pittsfield always had VIOLENT CRIME, LEVEL 5 public schools, excessive municipal spending, the indebted and polluted PEDA debacle (that is now 25 years old in 2023), a few short years of downtown revitalization along with tens of millions of public dollars spent on North Street (for what exactly?), thousands of people fleeing "The Pitts", hundreds of living wage job losses, but to be fair, the brutal 2008 economic recession had a lot to do with it, several "ethics" complaints, and his long stays in Naples, Florida where he always really lived.

As much as I am unhappy with Aberration/Schoolmarm Sara Hathaway in Pittsfield politics, she was 100 percent correct when she warned us about the snake oil salesman Jimmy Ruberto in the early-2000's.  Sara Hathaway always stood up to Jimmy Ruberto, especially when he supported the Berkshire Museum's selling of its historic artwork, including two paintings donated by Norman Rockwell himself.  Sara Hathaway still lives in Pittsfield, while Jimmy Ruberto is a part-time resident of upscale Lenox (and a full-time resident of Florida).

Jimmy Ruberto appears to think that he is too great to live in Pittsfield.  His ego must be even bigger than Smitty Pignatelli's deluded view of himself.  If Jimmy Ruberto is in an elite group, then Pittsfield hit ROCK BOTTOM many years ago, but Pittsfield's downward spiral will continue with The Gavel: Mayor Peter Marchetti....

Jon Melle

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December 13, 2023

Please consider this: Pittsfield politics just increased its tax rate(s) by a little less than 9 percent.  In addition, Pittsfield politics continues to raise its water and sewer fees each and every fiscal year.  Pittsfield taxpayers are paying hundreds of dollar more this fiscal year 2024 than last fiscal year 2023 for the same municipal services.  Furthermore, the City Council still does NOT have the state's certified FREE CASH amount from fiscal year 2023, which ended on June 30th, 2023 - the state is 4.5 months late so far!

In Boston, Beacon Hill lawmakers are sitting on a record high $8.2 billion cash surplus.  If you don't believe me, then please click on the following link:

https://wbznewsradio.iheart.com/content/healey-shrugs-off-midyear-spending-cuts/

On December 12th, 2023, Governor Maura Healey filed her economic development plan with the state Legislature, which is currently on their 7 weeks-long taxpayer-funded vacation, which means that her plan to stimulate the Massachusetts economy is like her mailing a letter to Santa Claus in the North Pole.

Anyways, if state revenues fall short of estimates next year in 2024, who do you predict will receive the most cuts in state funding?  Answer: Economically and financially distressed cities such as Pittsfield!

It is time to vote out all of the corrupt career politicians on Beacon Hill, who had their least productive legislative session so far in over one decade.

Jonathan A. Melle

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December 27, 2023

My dad, Bob Melle, was the last Chairman of the Berkshire County Commission, which was abolished and taken over the the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on July 1st, 2000.  He served as a Berkshire County Commissioner for 3.5 years from 1997 - mid-2000.  He served with Smitty Pignatelli for 2 years, and with Ron Kitterman for 3.5 years, and with Tom Stokes for 1.5 years.  He opposed the state takeover of Berkshire County Government and the other 7 abolished county governments in Massachusetts, and he still comments that 6 county governments still operate all in the eastern half of the state.

Bill Weld was the Governor of Massachusetts in the 1990's and he pushed supply side economics that favor the wealthy and efficiency in state and local government.  The irony of Bill Weld's tenure as Governor in the 1990's is that he mismanaged Boston's "Big Dig" public works project, which was the single most expensive public works project in U.S. history at the time.  Bill Weld criticized county governments over millions of dollars in public spending, but it was Governor Bill Weld who was overseeing recurring billion dollar "Big Dig" cost overruns.  In fact, the "Big Dig" went from over $5 billion at the beginning of his administration to doubling in cost to almost $12 billion.  When one compared the inefficiencies of county governments to Governor Bill Weld's mismanagement of the "Big Dig", it became clear that Bill Weld was the biggest failure of all.

In Berkshire County, then Pittsfield State Senator Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior and then North Adams State Representative Daniel Bosley attached a secretive rider to the fiscal year 1999 state budget to abolish Berkshire County Government.  Then Governor, the late Paul Cellucci, signed the state budget into law, and the people of Berkshire County no longer had regional representation in government.  Ironically, Nuciforo anointed himself to a sinecure as the Middle Berkshire (County) Registrar of Deeds in 2006.  Ironically, Bosley ran an unsuccessful campaign for Berkshire (County) Sheriff in 2010.  Nuciforo and Bosley both abolished Berkshire County Government in the middle of 1998, but then years later, they both ran for county government elected positions that the state had taken over.

I still lived in the beautiful Berkshires when Governor Mitt Romney made the deepest cuts in state aid in 2003 to local government and public school districts.  As I followed my dad's political activism in Berkshire County, I saw how the promise of the state's so-called efficiency in government was a lie even bigger than the "Big Dig" being "on schedule and on time".  The municipalities and public school districts throughout Massachusetts did NOT receive more state funding, but, in fact, they received significantly less in only a few years time.

In recent years up to the end of 2023, I have read that the Massachusetts State Budget has increased by billions upon billions of dollars, while taxpayers are asking the do-nothing Beacon Hill lawmakers to please limit state spending.  Compared to other states such as the much larger Pennsylvania, Massachusetts spends far more money.  Furthermore, I receive political advocacy emails that Massachusetts is the least transparent, least accessible and least productive state government in the entire nation.  Career politicians such as Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli has been going to Boston's State House for 21 years now, and he has always voted against Sunshine laws and rules reforms.  He is the norm in Boston's cadre of bureaucratic rubber stamp career politicians.

When I think about my dad's time as a community and political activist in Pittsfield politics, I believe that he was too idealistic for the likes of Nuciforo, Bosley and Pignatelli.  Bill Weld is a Boston Brahmin blue blood who was born with an $80 million trust fund, his family's legacy at Harvard University goes back over 20 generations, and he was a Governor for the financial, corporate and ruling elites' Good Old Boys' club.  Bill Weld was a snob who didn't care about social policies so long as the elites had all of the money and power.  Bill Weld's idea of abolishing Berkshire County Government, along with the other 7 abolished county governments in Massachusetts, are a perfect illustration of Bill Weld's vision of Boston having all of the money and power, while the rest of the state could have been pushed off a cliff for all that he cared.

Jonathan A. Melle

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"Why did half of Massachusetts’s counties abolish their governments in the ’90s?"

"And what do the remaining counties do?"

By Chloe Courtney Bohl, Boston Globe, December 12, 2023

Twenty-five years ago, Gov. Bill Weld made history when he abolished Middlesex County. 

Middlesex was established in 1643 as one of Massachusetts Bay Colony’s original three counties. It survived the Revolutionary War and bore witness to the entirety of American history. But by 1997, Middlesex was failing. 

The county had been financially mismanaged, having wracked up $24 million of debt and recently defaulted on a $4.5 million bond. It had been forced to sell the insolvent Middlesex Hospital to a private buyer. Oh, and the county sheriff had just been imprisoned on racketeering charges.

Even before this spate of high-profile fumbles, the county had been in steady decline for decades. The state had taken over the county court system in 1978, relieving all 14 counties of one of their most important functions. Their district attorneys, too, had been moved onto the state’s payroll. In the 1980s, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to abolish Middlesex County’s highway department after learning that it had no highways of its own to maintain, yet employed upwards of 60 people.

To Weld (and many others in Massachusetts), Middlesex’s spectacular failure was a testament to the wastefulness of county governments in general, a useless extra layer between the municipalities and the state. 

“Counties have become obsolete, inward-looking bureaucracies with dozens of departments and department heads that serve themselves and not the taxpayer,” Weld declared in 1997 as he signed the legislation formally dissolving Middlesex County. 

The three-person County Commission was disbanded and its handful of employees let go. The county treasurer stayed on as a state employee, and the state absorbed the few departments that remained. 

Public opinion of county government was so low and Weld’s abolition of Middlesex County seen as so successful that over the next few years, the House passed legislation eliminating Worcester, Hampden, Essex, Suffolk, and Barnstable counties, while Franklin County’s residents voted of their own accord to dissolve that county government. The state took control of their roads, hospitals, and registries of deeds. Their governments gone, the countries became no more than geographic boundaries on a map.

That left six functioning counties, clustered in the state’s southeast quadrant: Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, Norfolk, and Plymouth.

What do the remaining county governments do?

The surviving Massachusetts county governments are less powerful than their counterparts in other states. They don’t operate the county jails (the state does), and they can’t directly tax their constituents. Instead, the towns and cities in their jurisdictions pay them a small assessment in exchange for their services. 

Each county makes money from these assessments, from fees collected by their registries of deeds (which document real estate transactions), and from miscellaneous sources like parking fees. 

All told, the counties’ operating budgets for Fiscal Year 2024 ranged from about $9 million to about $36 million. (That’s excluding Nantucket County, which contains only the Town of Nantucket and whose operating budget is just $1 million.) Those figures look puny compared to Boston’s annual budget of $4.28 billion, or even Cambridge’s $833 million. 

Despite their small stature, the counties serve their communities in important ways. And they’ve learned from the embarrassments of the late ’90s, evolving to do more with less and stay accountable to the municipalities beneath them. 

They know, in the words of Plymouth County Chairman Jared Valanzola, that “if we screw up, we will be on the chopping block.”

In 2020, Plymouth was awarded $91 million in federal COVID relief funding through the CARES Act. 

Valanzola believes no one was better situated to distribute that money to the people who needed it than the county. It sent more than 90% of the $91 million to Plymouth’s 27 cities and towns, spending less than $1 million, or about 1%, to administer the program. 

After setting aside some of the CARES money to buy COVID tests and support the county’s nonprofit hospitals, Plymouth County distributed the rest to its municipalities in proportion to their populations. Brockton used its $19 million to buy a Chromebook for every public school student as they transitioned to remote learning. Pembroke used some of its $3 million to add a walk-in cooler to the town food pantry. 

Plymouth was the only county in Massachusetts to apply for CARES Act funding directly from the federal government and distribute it to the towns and cities in its jurisdiction. Other municipalities around the state still received CARES money, but Valanzola argues that because of its exceptionally low administrative costs, the county-level distribution was the most effective way to get communities the most money possible.

“We like to remind folks that if we didn’t exist, those communities would have received significantly less dollars,” he said.

Public health crisis response aside, the Plymouth County government does a myriad of seemingly mundane yet important things. Many of them have to do with saving its cities and towns time and money — by updating their antiquated parking ticket systems, by managing a regional retirement fund for government employees, by operating a dredge that it leases out to towns for cheap. Plymouth has a 4-H program and a county entomologist, who travels from town to town educating people about tick-borne diseases. These are the kinds of services that many towns need, but can’t afford to run themselves.

“Parking tickets, that’s not fun,” Valanzola admitted. “But it’s important, and it’s a revenue generator for a lot of communities. And we’re saving them money while administering that program for them.”

Like Valanzola, Barnstable County Administrator Beth Albert is proud to be providing useful regional programs that “transcend town boundaries.” 

This year, Barnstable County’s operating budget was about $22 million. On top of that, the county received around $56 million in federal and state grants. So what did they do with the money?

Water quality is a major concern on the Cape, so the county government operates a dredge, runs a water quality lab, monitors beaches and ponds, and administers a program that helps residents get low-interest loans to replace their aging septic systems.

The county’s laundry list of regional services also includes broadband expansion, affordable housing partnerships with towns, Narcan distribution, education for seniors on their Medicare options, landfill monitoring, emergency planning, food safety training for restaurants, the AmeriCorps Cape Cod program, child sexual abuse services, regional IT services for town governments, and flood-plain planning. 

Three county commissioners and a 15-member Assembly of Delegates decide how the county spends its money. These are elected positions; the entire county votes on the commissioners, and each of its 15 towns sends one delegate to the assembly with a weighted vote proportional to that town’s population.

“I’m really very proud of the work that we do,” Albert said, stressing that the county is efficient, accountable, and adaptive to its community’s needs. 

Do people in Barnstable County realize all the cool stuff their government is doing? 

Maybe not, Albert conceded. Some of the programs that are less hands-on might go unnoticed by the average resident.

In neighboring Norfolk County, Commissioner Richard Staiti agrees that the counties’ big issue isn’t performance, it’s visibility.

When he was running for commissioner, “half the battle” was explaining to people what the job entails, Staiti said. Public engagement was low because few people understood why they should care about county government.

Staiti is trying to change that. ARPA helped raise the county’s profile, he said. (After Plymouth County’s success with the CARES Act in 2020, other counties — Norfolk included — followed its lead and applied for American Rescue Plan Act funding in 2021.) Staiti travels within the county as much as he can — attending events, meeting with town officials, and talking about county-run programs. 

“Every time I talk to people, it’s exciting,” he said. “People go, ‘Wow, we didn’t know that.’”

Like the other counties, Norfolk’s programs aren’t terribly flashy. Its modest budget goes toward programs like veterans’ services, an opt-in weights and measures program for towns, and the Norfolk County Agricultural High School.

Staiti remembers the wave of county abolitions in the ’90s, though he wasn’t a county commissioner at the time. He also remembers how the now-defunct counties were overspending and couldn’t sustain themselves.

“I don’t see that happening in Norfolk County,” he said.

Norfolk County Director John Cronin added that in 2021, the county hired a consultant to do a full audit of its operations. The recommendations helped them save money on capital planning, IT, and human resources. 

Again, not flashy. But the point is, “we don’t want to sit and watch time go by,” Cronin said. “We want to look at how we operate to make sure that we’re giving all of the residents of Norfolk County the best bang for their buck.”

What’s going on in the inactive counties? 

It’s hard to measure the exact impact of the abolition of eight of Massachusetts’s 14 county governments, because the state and the municipalities took over many of the former counties’ responsibilities after they were eliminated. Still, in some of these communities, new structures have popped up in place of traditional county governments that suggest a widespread desire for some form of regional collaboration.

You’ll remember that Franklin County voted to dissolve its government in the ’90s. In its place, they established the Franklin County Regional Council of Governments, or FRCOG (pronounced FER-cog) for short. 

Like a traditional county government, the FRCOG provides needed services to towns. Unlike a traditional county government, membership in the FRCOG is voluntary.

“That means that we say to the towns of Franklin County, the municipal governments, ‘We believe we can provide you with strong services, will you be a member of our council of governments?’” explained FRCOG Executive Director Linda Dunlavy. “What that difference means is that we can’t rest on our laurels. We have to always provide valuable services to our member communities, so they stay members.”

To do this, the FRCOG offers what its communications manager Mark Maloni calls an “à la carte menu of municipal services” that towns can choose to pay for, or not. 

Franklin is one of the commonwealth’s most rural counties, filled with small towns that don’t have the budget to hire full-time staff. That’s where the FRCOG comes in.

“We are the town accountant,” Dunlavy said. “We are the building inspector, plumbing inspector, health inspector for towns. Those municipal service programs are voluntary opt-in. Only the towns that want them get them, and they pay to be a member of that program.”

On top of these shared municipal services, the FRCOG runs programs targeting the county’s big-picture needs. In a region crisscrossed by rivers and dirt roads, flood-proofing and climate resiliency are top concerns. And with a rapidly-aging population, attracting newcomers to the county has become a priority.

All 26 towns in Franklin County elected to join the FRCOG in 1997 and have stayed for the 26 years since.

“We have made transformational change in Franklin County,” Dunlavy said. “Over the years, we’ve brought passenger rail back, we’ve realigned Route 2 to make it easier and safer, we’ve built [a] transit center, we’ve done a huge amount of watershed planning so that we know what’s going to happen when our rivers flood. We just do a lot of good.”

In Worcester County, where the government was abolished in 1998, the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission has stepped in to cover some of those regional services.

The CMRPC is one of 13 regional planning agencies in the state. At its inception in 1963, it had just two departments: Transportation and Land Use Planning. But since the county was abolished, it’s expanded significantly, adding a Regional Services branch with seven full-time staff. 

“We are the only regional connective tissue between very small towns,” explained Connor Robichaud, the CMRPC’s director of regional services. “So we have expanded to provide many more services, from economic development to … community planning.”

Even in the absence of any kind of county government or overarching regional entity, municipalities still share resources informally, because it’s the time- and money-saving thing to do. 

Windsor is a town of 851 people in the state’s northwest corner, part of the erstwhile Berkshire County.

“For the most part, Windsor is a very, very independent town,” said Windsor Town Administrator Madeline Scully. “Very self-sufficient.”

Scully hardly remembers the Berkshire County government from before it was abolished.

“I don’t know what they did for us,” she admitted. Regardless, she said, the town runs well on its own.  

But even independent-spirited Windsor is a member of a 14-town regional recycling program, shares a public health nurse with neighboring municipalities, and allows nearby Peru and Savoy to use its new emergency shelter.

‘Regionalization is the future’

Back in the ’90s, Massachusetts’s counties earned their reputation as cumbersome and wasteful. But today, Valanzola in Plymouth County argues they’re the most efficient form of government we have. 

“I love the small town feel that New England has and Massachusetts has, but a lot of our town budgets have grown by leaps and bounds, exponentially,” he said. “Part and parcel, I think, because we’re not regionalizing certain things. When we talk about services, regionalization is the future.”

That doesn’t mean the eliminated counties are coming back any time soon. “Regionalization” is a flexible idea that can take many forms — like an opt-in council of governments, an expanded regional planning agency, or an informal multi-town partnership, to name just a few.

As for the surviving county governments, their leaders maintain that they’re not going anywhere.

“We’re not what we were,” Valanzola said. “We’re here to stay.”

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December 27, 2023

Hello correspondent,

It is too bad that Mayor Linda Tyer went low on her opponents on the outgoing City Council by having her hand in the Eagle's news article about the 4 dissenting City Councilors having arrears with the city government.  I understand your beliefs that Mayor Linda Tyer is unproductive, manipulative, and scheming.  I also understand that marijuana is very harmful to the mental health of young adults.  Similar to the alcohol, tobacco, gambling, porn and sex workers industries, the marijuana industry is a predatory industry that exploits people's impulses, demands and desires.

I love to read about financial management, which has a dark side to its own industry.  I tell people that my understanding of financial management is that we spend our adult lives trying to transition from negative income, to neutral income, to positive income, and if one does well enough and lives long enough, progressive income.  I also tell people that given all of the predatory industries that play on our impulses, demands and desires as human beings, it is O.K. to spend one's money on "negative income" interests.

If I wish to play the lottery or go to a casino. I may say to myself, I have a $100 limit or another amount in a given month, and once I lose my $100 or another set amount of money in a given month, then I am done gambling for the rest of the month, and then I wish myself better luck next month with my new $100 limit or another set amount of money.  I know that gambling is a predatory industry that plays on my impulses, demands and desires.  I know that gambling is "negative income".  I know that casinos are like the Opiate Dens of old times that I read about in my history books.  I know that gambling - especially the state lottery - is regressive taxation that allows the state government to lower taxes for the corrupt career politicians' wealthy campaign donors who pay some of the super-greedy lobbyists $7-figure salaries.  I know that greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley loves regressive taxation schemes such as the state lottery because it allows him to make more money than he otherwise would by Dan Bosley getting big tax breaks for the wealthy big businesses who hire him as their lobbyist in Boston and beyond.

When I buy a Powerball ticket that tonight advertises a $700 million jackpot, I call it a couple of dollars and my elusive dream of being wealthy.  The odds of me winning tonight's Powerball $700 million jackpot prize are irrational.  When I was a kid growing up in Pittsfield, people used to say to me that the lottery was "A dollar and a dream".  Who comes up with these kinds of SCAMS?  When I try find the answer, I think of greed-balls such as Dan Bosley, who is very intelligent about financial management and government operations, but he is also very greedy.

The trinity of addiction for people in need of dopamine rushes are substance abuse, paying for porn and/or sex, and gambling.  For young adults who have an addiction(s) and are in need of dopamine rushes, their mental health is at stake because their youthful still developing brains are being wasted.  Beer companies show celebrities, beautiful young women in bikinis on the beach - sex sells, and other dreamy ads that target young adults.  Instead, they should show middle-aged adults with beer bellies complaining about their divorces, debts and bouts of depression.

Mayor Linda Tyer is who she is, but I believe that Dan Bosley is much worse than her in politics because he has spent his political and lobbyist careers supporting the wealthy campaign donors in state government in Boston by pushing predatory SCAMS such as the state lottery on the common people to further enrich himself for greed.  I also believe that predatory industries and career politicians in state government mock the common people and the economically distressed and unequal cities that they live in, while the Dan Bosley's of the world cash in on regressive taxation and the elites enrich themselves at the public trough.

Best wishes,

Jon Melle

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January 3, 2024

The Springfield (Mass.) Republican published a news article touting the a little less than one-year-old $50 scratch ticket that led the over 50-year-old Massachusetts State Lottery to its most profitable fiscal year 2023 and going forward into the current fiscal year 2024.  The favorable news story upset me because the lottery is an inequitable financial scheme that is nothing more than  (voluntary) regressive taxation that targets low- to moderate-income mostly financially illiterate people in the underclass and working-class.  The lottery also systemically mocks the "Gateway Cities" that the disadvantaged people and families live in, such as my very economically unequal native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Predatory industries include alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, gambling, sex work and porn, and the like.  The lottery is a predatory operation.  Does anybody understand that the more inequitable revenues from predatory industries such as the lottery equals more state tax breaks that the corrupt career politicians in Boston's Statehouse can giveaway to their wealthy campaign donors?  Yes, indeed, the real purpose of the lottery is for greedy registered lobbyists such as Dan Bosley to enrich himself and the financial, corporate and ruling elites at the public trough!  Let us note that some registered lobbyists in Boston earn 7-figure salaries pushing predatory and (voluntary) regressive taxation financial schemes on the people and families who live in Massachusetts.

In April 2021, The Boston Globe published a news story that stated that Beacon Hill state lawmakers giveaway a little less than $18 billion in state tax breaks per fiscal year.  One of the ways they are able to giveaway so much money in state tax breaks to their wealthy campaign donors is through the lottery's structural assaults on the common people, who are being played for fools in a political and financial shell game by the elitist snobs in Boston.  Moreover, the big business who receive these lucrative tax breaks do NOT live in most regions of Massachusetts, such as the mostly rural region of Western Massachusetts.

I wish that the news media outlets would publish my letter(s), especially about the corruption of state government in Massachusetts.  My true belief about the lottery is it is wrong on more levels than the Empire State Building.  It is elitist snobbery that goes over the heads most of the common people.  The lottery should either be abolished outright or there should be a public outreach campaign(s) to explain what the lottery is really all about.

Jonathan A. Melle

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"Mass. State Lottery’s $50 ticket released Feb. 2023 is best-selling in country"

By Irene Rotondo | IRotondo@masslive.com - Published: Jan. 02, 2024

(The Billion Dollar Extravaganza scratch ticket, the $50 ticket introduced by the Massachusetts State Lottery in Feb. 2023. Photo by Christian Teja/Massachusetts State Lottery)

Massachusetts is pretty used to being number one — especially when it comes to the lottery.

The $50 lottery scratch ticket called “Billion Dollar Extravaganza,” released by the Massachusetts State Lottery in early 2023, topped not only the statewide charts in ticket sales, but it also has become the best-selling lottery ticket in the country.

“Billion Dollar Extravaganza” was released on Feb. 7, 2023. It made history by offering Massachusetts’ highest scratch ticket prize ever at $25 million. There were three grand prizes available to win, which were all claimed by the end of 2023.

The Massachusetts State Lottery reported over $900 million in sales over the last year for the $50 ticket, making it not only the state’s most popular ticket, but the best-selling game across every lottery in the United States.

“Part of it is the culture of the Northeast; if you look at Northeast lotteries, they tend to do well,” Mark William Bracken, director of the Massachusetts State Lottery, said.

“But that being said, no state offers the prizes, and the payouts, and the propositions that the Massachusetts State Lottery does. Numbers are numbers... people buy tickets in Massachusetts, because you can win on tickets in Massachusetts,” Bracken said.

Bracken gave the example of the Texas Lottery’s two $100 scratch ticket games, which have much lower grand prizes than Massachusetts’ $50 scratch ticket. The first $100 ticket released in Texas had a top prize of $20 million; its second was just $7.5 million.

And though Florida is the only other state to offer a $25 million prize for its $50 ticket, also with an 82% prize payout, Bracken explained Massachusetts is paying out more to its players than any state.

The prize payout, or the amount of the prize turned over to the winner, is comprised of the money left after the lottery turns over its mandatory compensations, such as overhead or administrative costs.

Bracken said Massachusetts’ transparencies on its games, the amount of prizes left, its odds and payouts contribute to its unique success with prize payouts. It also has the most lottery agencies per square mile and per capita in the country.

As of late December, about 70% of “Billion Dollar Extravaganza” tickets have been distributed and about 67% have been sold, Bracken said.

There are still four, $2 million prizes remaining to be claimed in the game as of Jan. 2, along with five $1 million prizes and 65 $50,000 prizes.

Every winning “Billion Dollar Extravaganza” ticket has a minimum prize of $100. The game offers over $1 billion in total lottery winnings besides its grand prizes, with five $2 million prizes and 15 $1 million prizes released at the start to win. The overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 4.1.

The success of the $50 ticket this past year papered over concerns the Massachusetts State Lottery had over meeting its 2023 fiscal year goal. And Bracken again reiterated the need for more advertisement funding if the lottery hopes to continue breaking national records — especially without an online lottery.

“As the numbers show, we’re being saved by this $50 ticket,” Bracken said. “And as a lottery, I don’t want to be in a position that I’m getting saved because of one particular product.”

Massachusetts had joined more than a dozen other state lotteries offering a $50 ticket. The previously highest-priced scratch ticket available in Massachusetts was $30, and was first introduced in 2014.

According to the lottery, Massachusetts was the first state to create a scratch ticket game for players, which was in May of 1974. It released a $1 ticket called “The Instant Game,” and the lottery said the invention “revolutionized the industry and established Massachusetts as a lottery innovator.”

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January 4, 2024

Peter Marchetti: "Openly Gay"

Linda Tyer: "Gated Community"

Dan Bianchi: "Mayor Montello"

Jimmy Ruberto: "Rolodex"

Sara Hathaway: "Aberration"

The late Gerry Doyle: "Barstool"

Pittsfield politics: "RETRIBUTION"

re-Pete White: "Food Mood"

Tricia Farley Bouvier: "Country Buffet"

Smitty Pignatelli: "NO to transparency!"

John Barrett III: "Career Politician"

Paul Mark: "Rubber Stamp"

Maura Healey: "No productivity"

Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr: "Pittsfield's Pot King"

Adam Hinds: "Chrome Dome"

Barry Clairmont: "Pittsfield's 3 am Cumby's Crusader"

Richie Neal: "PAC Man"

Maryland Markey: "Hot Air"

Elizabeth Warren: "Big Biden Supporter"

Joe Biden: "BIG government Biden Buck$"

Donald Trump: "Moral Hypocrite"

Bill Clinton: "Twice Convicted FELON"

Hillary Clinton: "Stand by your man"

John Kerry: "Millions of dollars invested in the oil and gas industries until early-2021"

Dan Bosley: "Greedy lobbyist for BIG business"

The Berkshire Eagle: "A yellow rag that is an embarrassment to journalism"

Blogger Dan Valenti: "The Stockbridge critic of Pittsfield politics"

Jon Melle: "The financial, corporate and ruling elites enrich themselves at the public trough, while the common people, families and taxpayers pound sand"

Capitol Hill: "The Swamp's Country Club of out-of-touch Members of U.S. Congress"

Beacon Hill: "Do NOTHING but DISSERVICES"

The lottery: "Voluntary regressive taxation that systemically mocks the mostly financially illiterate low- to moderate-income residents of "Gateway Cities" such as Pittsfield"

Casino Gambling: "Just the kind of people Massachusetts doesn't hope to attract"

North Street: "Social Services Alley surrounded by The Ring of Poverty inner-city Pittsfield distressed neighborhoods"

PEDA: "Millions of dollars in debts and unfunded liabilities that is still a polluted wasteland that is an eyesore that doesn't attract Fortune 500 companies to Pittsfield"

The American Dream: "To move your family out of Pittsfield like many thousands upon thousands of people and families did over the past 50 years"

The City Council: "Spend Pittsfield into oblivion"

The School Committee: "Level 5 is rock bottom"

Pittsfield: "A downward spiral...."

Jon Melle

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January 6, 2024

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

I "Googled": city of pittsfield city council agenda

https://www.cityofpittsfield.org/government/city_council/city_council_agendas.php

Please review the Pittsfield City Council Agenda:

https://cms2.revize.com/revize/pittsfieldma/government/city_council/docs/January%209,%202024.pdf

The City Council is going to accept a settlement check of $8 million from GE due to GE's pollution of industrial chemical called PCBs that flows south to the Long Island Sound.

What is wrong with this picture?

1. The State of Connecticut and its municipalities are not receiving any settlement checks from GE.  The last time I checked, the Housatonic River flows through Connecticut.

2. The 25-year-old polluted PEDA debacle has many millions of dollars in debts and unfunded liabilities with no financial plan to pay its creditors.

3. Pittsfield's acceptance of GE's $8 million settlement check is a slap in the face to the Town of Lee (Mass.).  GE plans to put its capped leaky landfill of PCBs in Lee (Mass.).

4. While the City of Pittsfield, the corrupt EPA and GE signed off on this aforementioned settlement, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' state environmental agencies refused to do so.  What does that tell us?

5. Capped landfills do not last forever.  Even GE has stated this unpleasant fact.  Why on Earth would the City of Pittsfield accept GE's settlement when GE's capped landfills will someday cease to contain GE's industrial chemicals called PCBs?

6. Pittsfield has been down this road before, and it has been a debacle and environmental disaster.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

7. U.S. Senator Ed Markey (aka Maryland Markey) campaigned and touts the Green New Deal, but like "PAC Man" Richie Neal and Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli, Ed Markey sided with GE's settlement with Pittsfield and the other handful of Massachusetts municipalities with the people of Lee (Mass.) protesting GE's settlement.

8. It has long been written that similar to Judas feeding Jesus to the wolves, the late Gerry Doyle sold out the people of Pittsfield for "30 pieces of silver".

9. Similar to Judas and the late Gerry Doyle, Peter J. Larkin (aka "Lobbyist Larkin") has collected million(s) of dollars for himself from GE, while Pittsfield is now GE's dump.

10. How much surplus cash does the City of Pittsfield have in its coffers?  GE's $8 million settlement check to the City of Pittsfield would be on top of millions of dollars in "FREE CASH" and other "Slush Funds".

Jon Melle

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January 7, 2024

Re: Smitty Pignatelli will speak at a Statehouse art exhibit on the Opioid Crisis in Massachusetts

PHOTOVOICE OPIOID CRISIS EXHIBIT: The National Institute of Health Heal Initiative hosts an exhibit: "Voices of Resilience: The Opioid Crisis Through The Lens of Individuals with Lived Experience." An interactive display of photography and narratives featuring the stories of people affected by the crisis will be on display on the 4th floor of the State House from Jan. 8 to Jan. 12 [2024]. An event highlighting the exhibit will feature guest speakers Rep. Pignatelli, Public Health Commissioner Robert Goldstein and Boston Medical Center principal investigator with the HEALing Communities Study Dr. Jeffrey Samet. (Tuesday, 11:30 a.m., Nurses Hall)

Source: https://franklinobserver.town.news/g/franklin-town-ma/n/232651/people-power-and-politics

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January 7, 2024

I don't like that Joe Biden is trying to redefine FREE SPEECH.  I also did not like that Mayor Peter Marchetti said that he is not a fan of social media and blogs, and that he publicly asked for a 90 day grace period from the people he works for from exercising our FREE SPEECH.  I don't like that Maryland Ed Markey, Smitty Pignatelli, Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Paul Mark block all of my political emails.  I don't like it that The Dirty Bird (aka The Berkshire Eagle) hasn't published any of my letters in the a little less than 20 years now.  I don't like that Donald Trump uses similar words, speeches and propaganda - such as The Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him and that the January 6th, 2021, insurrection on Capitol HIll that he led was not an insurrection - that Adolf Hitler used 100 years ago in his rise to power in Germany as the Nazi dictator in the 1930's.  Even Donald Trump's own former Vice President Mike Pence said that he does not support Donald Trump in 2024.

https://thehill.com/homenews/4394194-cnns-christiane-amanpour-accuses-trump-of-nazi-talk/

Jon Melle

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January 12, 2024

Donald Trump is facing 4 criminal trials and multiple civil trials in 2024.  Joe Biden is facing an impeachment inquiry in 2024.  The corrupt career politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Republican Party side want Hunter Biden to testify in privately held depositions to throw his father, Joe Biden, under the bus so that the Swamp politicians will have more ammunition to use against the sitting U.S. President.  Hunter Biden defied the subpoena because he knows that it is a mousetrap.

For years now in Pittsfield politics (Massachusetts), I - Jon Melle - have written about the deadly mousetrap(s) set up to ruin my life because Nuciforo, who is an Attorney, had a vendetta against my dad, Bob, and tried to ruin his life in the mid- to late-1990's.  People have said and written that what happened to me was many years ago, but the political and legal mousetraps are still there for me in my native hometown of Pittsfield.

This is called CONSPIRATORIAL POLITICS and LEGAL ENTRAPMENT(S)!  They are doing it to Donald Trump.  They are doing it to Joe Biden and his scoundrel son Hunter Biden.  In Pittsfield politics, they are still doing to to me: Jon Melle - even though it happened many years ago now.

Why do politicians and lawyers set up these kinds of conspiratorial mousetraps?  Aren't we supposed to be treated both FAIRLY and SAFELY with Equal Justice Under Law?  If your father was the sitting U.S. President and you knew that a mousetrap was set up for you to throw your own father under the bus, would you take the bait like a rodent?  Hunter Biden is a lawyer who has lawyers defending him.  Hunter Biden chose to NOT throw his father, Joe Biden, under the bus.

Jon Melle

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January 13, 2024

Hello Erin Leahy at Act on Mass,

Thank you for your political email about Governor Maura Healey's cuts to social services programs in Massachusetts.  She signed a huge state tax cut into law last Fall 2023.  The wealthy households and big businesses received huge state tax breaks.  Now, she is concerned that the state's revenues are not keeping up with the state government being able to balance its (cooked) books.  I wonder why Maura Healey would even want to serve as the Governor of Massachusetts when she doesn't understand financial management 101.

I grew up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and I lived a majority of my life in Berkshire County.  My dad, Bob, was a political community activist in Pittsfield whereby he held elected positions in local government decades ago now.  The problem that Western Massachusetts always faces is that Boston receives the biggest benefits of state government, while Western Massachusetts relies on state funding for local aid, public education, and social services programs.

The wealthy households and big businesses that exist in the Boston metro area are contrasted with economic inequality and a lot of state owned land in Western Massachusetts.  When Beacon Hill lawmakers and the Governor giveaway around $18 billion per fiscal year (April 2021 figures) to wealthy households and big businesses, Western Massachusetts does NOT benefit like Boston because there are little to no wealthy households and big businesses in Western Massachusetts and other regions of Massachusetts.

Some registered lobbyists in Boston report 7-figure per fiscal year salaries because they lobby state lawmakers for billions of dollars in state tax breaks for their big business clients.  Many registered lobbyists in Boston report 6-figure per fiscal year salaries.  Many state lawmakers also report 6-figure per fiscal year state public pay plus perks.  Given all of these high-income greedy lobbyists and corrupt career politicians in Boston, why don't they lead by example and cut their own lobbyist salaries or state public pay plus perks before the Governor's inequitable cuts in state funding for social services programs that assist the neediest households and communities in Massachusetts?

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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January 13, 2024

Act on Mass: Saturday Scoop

Happy rainy day, Jonathan.

Sometimes the weather accurately reflects the current mood, and that is certainly true of today; this was a dark and dreary week in Massachusetts politics.

Childcare providers, student loan grantees, local fire departments, and more, learned that their funding was being cut in this year’s budget due to lack of revenue. But thank goodness we cut taxes for multi-state corporations in October! (More on that below.)

Luckily, it wasn’t all gloom and drizzle: criminal justice reform advocates won a long-fought battle this week. No thanks to the Legislature for that though – this victory came from a Supreme Judicial Court decision after years of legislative inaction.

Remind me, what are we paying our legislators for, again?

 

State House Scoop

Governor Healey announces $375 million in cuts to social services

I hate to say I told you so, Jonathan. I mean, really, really, actually hate it: in last week’s Scoop, we predicted that budget cuts were on their way due to the state’s lower than expected tax revenue, never mind the egregious tax cuts passed in the fall. But even we didn’t guess how bad it would be. 

On Monday, Governor Healey announced a series of  "9C" cuts, i.e. cuts to an approved budget due to lack of funds, totaling $375 million. These cuts affect 66 budget line items including, but certainly not limited to: MassHealth, behavioral health services, loan forgiveness, housing support, child care, emergency aid to the elderly and disabled children, community college grants, and transportation.

I’m no math wiz (I was a philosophy major, French minor ✌️), but maybe if we didn’t just throw away $1 billion in annual tax revenue, we wouldn’t have to cut a single one of those line items. More math for you: the three regressive cuts in the tax cut bill, i.e. the cuts that specifically benefit the rich and corporations, cost $347 million per year – almost as much as the total 9C budget cuts. That’s roughly $350 million out of our social programs, into the pockets of the wealthiest Bay Staters. Gee, I wonder who our lawmakers feel more accountable to?

In the wake of the 9C cuts, Healey defended her tax cut bill, calling it “absolutely essential” and saying it makes the state “more affordable.” But it’s worth asking: more affordable for whom? Certainly not for the 27,000 families in Massachusetts living below “deep poverty” whose monthly cash assistance was affected by the 9C cuts, according to the Lift Our Kids Coalition during their protest of the cuts on the State House steps earlier this week.

We at Act on Mass stand in solidarity with the Lift Our Kids Coalition in calling for these budget cuts to be rescinded. A spokesperson for the coalition put it mildly: “We really need to be doing better than this in Massachusetts.” 

Hold our elected leaders accountable by telling Governor Healey and your legislators how you feel about these budget cuts today:

Governor Healey: (617) 725-4005

Find contact info for your Rep and Senator here

Revenge porn bill passes House for the second session in a row

Massachusetts may soon become the second-to-last state in the union to ban revenge porn – the act of sharing sexually explicit images or videos of someone without their consent. Yay?

This issue was a longtime priority of former Governor Baker, who lamented the Legislature’s failure to get the bill to his desk during his tenure. While accepting crumbs from the Legislature is pretty much all we can ever do, celebrating is still premature; last session, the House unanimously passed the bill only for it to idle in the Senate for seven months. In the final week of the term, the Senate passed it with some changes, sending the bill back to the House. Ultimately, the bill died during the chaos of the end of session crunch, meaning it had to be refiled this session so it could go through the whole legislative process, yet again. Round and around we go!

SJC rules that life sentence without parole for 18-20 year olds is unconstitutional

In other slow-churning legislative news, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled this week that 18-20 year olds cannot be sentenced to life in prison without option for parole. (Read the full decision here). While this is a huge win, it’s yet another example of our Legislature’s harmful inaction, and how advocates often have to use unconventional measures, like court decisions or ballot petitions, to make changes outside of the legislative process; this same victory could have been achieved years ago by the passage of one of two long-time legislative priorities of ours: raising the age of criminal majority to 21 and eliminating the mandatory sentence of life without parole. Instead, these have both consistently been sent to study.

As one of just 10 states that has a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for certain crimes, this ruling states that imposing such a sentence on emerging adults (18-20 year olds), whose brains are “not fully developed and are more similar to juveniles than older adults,” would be cruel or unusual punishment. It’s believed that we are the first in the nation to implement such a ban.

At least 100 people currently incarcerated in Massachusetts could be immediately eligible for parole due to the ruling. But if the Legislature had swiftly acted upon either of the above bills, that could have meant years more that people who were unconstitutionally punished under that law could have spent with their loved ones and reintegrating into society.

 Take Action

Fight for your Rights Lobby Day: January 23rd

It’s finally happening: we’re going under the golden dome! Join Act on Mass and Indivisible Mass Coalition on Tuesday, January 23rd at 9:45am, for our first ever Lobby Day! We’ll be meeting with our legislators to lobby for a slate of pro–democracy bills, including the Sunlight Bill, S.1963.

What: Lobby Day

Who: Indivisible Mass & Act on Mass

When: Tuesday, January 23rd, 9:45am-2:00pm

Where: State House, Room 428

RSVP FOR THE LOBBY DAY >>

 

Write a letter to the editor for the Healthy Youth Act on January 17th

We’re teaming up with the Healthy Youth Act Coalition to lead a training on writing a Letter to the Editor! Join us on Wednesday, January 17th from 6-7PM to hear more about the fight to make sex ed in our state medically accurate, consent-based, and LGBTQ+-inclusive, and how to take action in your local news outlet. No experience necessary, we’ll train you from drafting all the way through to publication. 

RSVP FOR THE LTE WORKSHOP >>

 

That's all from me on this drizzly, rainy, windy, no good very bad day. Yes, this was a frustrating week. Heck, most weeks on Beacon Hill are frustrating. But you know what's the best way to relieve that frustration? Doing something about it. Call Governor Healey, call your legislators, and if you can, come to our Lobby Day! Our Fight for your Rights Lobby Day will be a perfect opportunity to advocate for structural reforms, like increased transparency and voting access, that can help us hold our elected officials accountable in the long term so they can't keep getting away with this GOP-esque behavior. These 9C cuts are a great example of the material consequences of a government that is accountable to the wrong people. It's up to us to remind them who they work for.

Ok ok, I'm stepping off my soapbox. But hey, it's a nice view from up here. I think the rain is letting up.

Until next week,

Erin Leahy

Executive Director, Act on Mass

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January 15, 2024

WAMC's journalist Josh Landes promote's North Street's sarcastic name of "Social Services Alley":

https://www.wamc.org/news/2024-01-15/pittsfields-peer-led-living-in-recovery-group-is-settling-into-its-new-downtown-headquarters

Downtown Pittsfield (Mass.)'s glut of Social Services Agencies and 15 empty storefronts on North Street is surrounded by Pittsfield's inner-city distressed neighborhoods that are sarcastically called: "The Ring of Poverty".

Social Services Staff always talk about the generations of traumatized individuals and families that face recurring episodes of direct, structural and cultural abuses, assaults, and community conflicts in Pittsfield, which is always ranked in the FBI's annual reports as being in the top ten cities by population in Massachusetts for violent crime.

I grew up in Pittsfield.  One of my biggest fears in my life on 48.5 years was having to end up as a low- to moderate-income adult who resided in inner-city Pittsfield.  It still amazes me - Jon Melle - that I own my own condo unit in a civilized community in Amherst, New Hampshire.  I thank the lucky stars after leading a life of social anxiety and emotional traumas as a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Why does Pittsfield always have recurring themes of suffering people and families, along with a distressed community that has an over-reliance on social services?  I am Exhibit A as a person who grew up in Pittsfield who had recurring themes of anxiety and traumas.  I did everything in my power to not be part of Pittsfield's generations of traumatized individuals and families.  It still saddens me to read about Pittsfield's never-ending and always recurring downward spirals....

Jon Melle

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January 15, 2024

A correspondent wrote to me: "Josh Landes is to me as Nuciforo is to you. He is absolutely a malevolent shit".

My reply is that there are many pieces of poop who exist in the form of men, including Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior and Josh Landes.

Please do not speak for me by saying that I wanted to be part of the club in Pittsfield politics, but I was denied membership (many years ago when my dad, Bob, was a politician in Berkshire County).

I wish to speak for myself, please.  I wanted - and still wish to be - to be an American Citizen who uses my FREE SPEECH to participate in our government in our FREE COUNTRY!

You sound like a stool sample yourself.  Do you know why government stinks?  It is full of....!

Jon Melle

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January 20, 2024

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

The Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) rag (newspaper) published an editorial criticizing the 7 out of 11 Pittsfield City Councilors for voting in favor of a petition to level fund or close to level fund the yet to be proposed fiscal year 2025 municipal budget that will take effect on July 1st, 2024 and end on June 30th, 2025.  The editorial did make some valid points, including that it was too soon for the petition and that it would have been better if the petition requested that the new Mayor, Peter Marchetti, find ways to reduce city spending in Pittsfield politics.

The issues I have with the Dirty Bird's editorial are that:

1. The Dirty Bird published a news story about the four no voting City Councilors tax arrears when they voted on then Mayor Linda Tyer's a little less than 9 percent tax rate increase.  The Dirty Bird has a pattern of publishing unfavorable news stories and editorials against dissenting voices, such as their coverage of former Ward 2 Pittsfield City Councilor Charles Ivar Kronick.  Also, The Dirty Bird took the nuclear option to sink John Krol's mayoral campaign the day after the preliminary election.  In fact, The Dirty Bird has not published any of my many letters to them in a little less than 20 years because someone - (Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior) - doesn't like me: Jon Melle.

2. The bigger story would be for The Dirty Bird to follow up on Mayor Peter Marchetti's online WAMC radio interview whereby he publicly asked for a 90 day grace period from criticisms, as well as him saying that he is not a fan of social media and blogs.  What message did Mayor Peter Marchetti send to the people he works for in Pittsfield, Massachusetts?  I would think that The Dirty Bird would want to clarify the new mayor's public remarks!

3. There are so many other career politicians for The Dirty Bird to write about and comment on.

A. Joe Biden.  U.S. Congress will likely impeach him in the coming months of 2024.  His scoundrel son Hunter Biden is a very suspicious person in the Swamp for his overseas business dealings in Ukraine, Russia and China, among his other activities.  Joe Biden raised and raises more big campaign dollars from Wall Street and K Street corporate lobbyist firms than any other person in U.S. history.

B. Elizabeth Warren.  She claims to fight for Main Street, but she fully supports Joe Biden and all of his fortunes from big government and big business.

C. Ed Markey.  He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, which is a wealthy suburb near the Swamp.  He campaigned on the Green New Deal, but he openly supports GE's plan to put a capped leaky landfill full of PCBs in Lee (Mass.) over the objections of his constituents there.

D. Governor Maura Healey.  She is the poster woman for being UNPRODUCTIVE.  In the past year, she signed a record high state budget into law, tax relief for the elites into law, and she recently cut state funding for social services.  It looks to me like she could not pass Financial Management 101.  I cannot understand why she wanted to be Governor when she fails at public management.

E. Paul Mark.  He is a big RUBBER STAMP for Karen Spilka in the State Senate.

F. Smitty Pignatelli.  He has voted against Sunshine laws and rules reform measures in Boston for a little over 21 years now.

H. Tricia Farley-Bouvier.  Another do nothing career politician who has not helped Pittsfield's distressed and extremely unequal economy.

I. John Barrett III.  He has been a career politician for almost as long as Joe Biden's a little over 51 years in the Swamp.

J. Mayor Peter Marchetti.  Victoria May alleges in a sex discrimination federal lawsuit that he called her a BITCH at the bank prior to her termination there.

K. City Council President Pete White.  Like his City Council colleague and V.P. Earl Persip, he refuses to be interviewed by blogger Dan Valenti.  Why?

L. School Committee member Sara Hathaway.  Doesn't she work as a middle-school teacher?  If so, should she even be on the Pittsfield School Committee?  Also, she sued the City of Pittsfield over age and sex discrimination around one decade ago and walked away with an undisclosed settlement under the Dan Bianchi administration.

M. Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior.  There is so much for me to write about him.  He is a disgraced politician for double-dipping as a Pittsfield State Senator who chaired the State Senate Finance Committee in the mid-2000, but had to step down from his elected position in 2006 due to him also serving as a corporate Attorney for Boston's financial district - big banks and insurance companies - where he still has a law office today in 2024.  In 2006, he proceeded to strong-arm two woman candidates - Sara Hathaway and Sharon Henault - out of the 2006 "election" for Middle Berkshire Registrar of Deeds to anoint himself to the 6-year term (sinecure).  For nearly 6 years, Nuciforo plotted to oust the now late John W. Olver from his seat in U.S. Congress.  In 2012, Nuciforo lost to Congressman Richie Neal by 40 points.  In early-2017, Nuciforo used his political and financial business connections to start his marijuana business.  In mid-2023, Nuciforo filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Pittsfield over the $440,000 in HCA's fees "Berkshire Roots" paid plus unspecified damages.

N. Richard Neal.  Instead of Congressman, the fitting title should be PAC Man!  Richie Neal has been in office since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth.  Richie Neal only represents K Street corporate lobbyist firms in the Swamp, especially big Insurance Companies.  If a common citizen wishes to contact Richie Neal, they would have better luck with talking to Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.

O. Violent Crime in Pittsfield.  Going back decades, Pittsfield always ranks in the top 10 cities by population for VIOLENT CRIME.  The first thing that businesses look at in a community is the crime rate.  How can any mayor honestly say they are for economic development when Pittsfield is a gang-land?

P. Level 5 public schools.  Why are Pittsfield's public schools always rated Level 5, which is the worst rating by the state.  The first thing than a middle-class family looks at in a community are the quality of the public schools.  How can any mayor honestly say they are for middle-class families living in Pittsfield when the public schools are a disaster?

Q. PCBs.  Allendale Elementary School abuts Hill 78, which is a capped leaky landfill full of GE's industrial chemicals called PCBs that cause cancer and learning disabilities in children and adults alike.  Most of Pittsfield's PCBs sites are in capped leaky landfills, which do not last forever.  

R. PEDA.  How many millions of dollars in debts and unfunded liabilities does PEDA hold?  Who will pay off these arrears?  PEDA will turn 26 years old this upcoming Summer 2024, but it is still very polluted with GE's PCBs.  PEDA is a DEBACLE!

S. North Street.  Downtown Pittsfield has 15 empty storefronts, a glut of social services agencies, and a down and out vibe to it.

T. The state lottery.  The multi-billion-dollar Massachusetts State Lottery boasts record profits, but it is really a regressive taxation scheme that systemically mocks "Gateway" cities such as Pittsfield.  Why? ....

U. Dan Bosley.  He is a greedy lobbyist in Boston and beyond.  Dan Bosley is a big supporter of the lottery SCAM because it allows him to give his big business clients in Boston huge state tax breaks, while the low- to moderate-income residents of Pittsfield (and North Adams) are being played for fools by playing the lottery.

V. RETRIBUTION.  Pittsfield politics' other name is RETRIBUTION.  It seems like it is The Dirty Bird's other name, too.

W. Homelessness.  The state sends homeless people and families - both domestically and around the world - to Pittsfield, and then the Governor cuts state funding for the social services the city and homeless people and families rely on.  She should resign over this fiasco!  If not, she should apologize to everyone and the cities involved, and then she should not only restore the state funding, but increase it.

X. Beacon Hill.  Why is the Boston Statehouse so corrupt, inaccessible, inequitable, secretive and top-down?  Answer: The ruling elites enrich themselves by enriching the financial and corporate elites with billions of dollars per fiscal year in state tax breaks.  Some super-greedy lobbyists in Boston earn 7-figure per year salaries legally bribing the fictional Massachusetts State Representative Sellout Shakedown.  I hear he is Dan Bosley's cousin!

Y. The Swamp.  Joe Biden not only broke all of the records in raising big dollars in campaign cash, he also spent more money than any U.S. President in U.S. history.  Oh, by the way, our U.S. national debt surpassed $34 trillion earlier this month of January 2024.  Over 40 years of deficit spending, while the working class' median pay increased a whole $5 over the past 50 years.  The system of government is broken!  It must be why postindustrial Pittsfield is part of our nation's rust belt.

Z. The Kapanski's.  The fictional Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski works hard for a living, plays by the rules, and lives in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  The Kapanski's never get ahead.  They live their lives in Pittsfield by paying the bills, while City Hall, the Boston Statehouse, and the Swamp are all living the high life.

Jon Melle

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January 22, 2024

SARCASM:

I pretended to be Josh Landes.  I interviewed Smitty Pignatelli.  Here it is:

I asked Smitty why he always votes down state government transparency rules and bills over the past 21 years in Boston.

Smitty said that he is Dracula and Sunshine is his enemy.

I asked Smitty why he voted himself a 40 percent public pay raise in early-2017, along with all of the other countless public pay raises plus perks he has happily collected for himself.

Smitty said that he is Scrooge and he loves money and power over the people he serves as a Lenox State Representative.

I asked Smitty why he has been blaming the one-year Governor Maura Healey for all of the problems he has not himself resolved over the past 21 years in Boston.

Smitty said that Governor Maura Healey is like an evil Queen in a Disney Fairy Tale, while he is our Knight in shining armor.

I asked Smitty why he supports GE's plan to put a toxic waste capped leaky landfill in Lee (Mass.) over the objections of his constituents.

Smitty said that he wants to be like PAC Man Richie Neal and Maryland Ed Markey, who also support GE's poisonous plan.

I asked Smitty why the State House of Representatives has been so unproductive.

Smitty said that he likes his long taxpayer-funded vacations.

I asked Smitty why he writes op-eds decrying the distressed economic conditions in the Berkshires.

Smitty said that he is Dracula so it is useless for him to look at himself in the mirror.

I asked Smitty how many living wage jobs he has created and/or retained in the Berkshires over the past 21 years.

Smitty said that he has created a snow job and retained his con job.

I asked Smitty why he voted for two Speakers - Finneran and DiMasi - who later became Convicted Felons due to their leadership positions.

Smitty said that his first vote in Boston was for Finneran, while his vote for DiMasi is because he has a big brown nose.

I asked Smitty Pignatelli how many more terms he plans to serve in Boston.

Smitty said that he hopes to serve as many terms as possible, but the mid-2040's is his benchmark as a career politician; over 40 years in Boston.

I asked Smitty why people say and write that there are two Smitty's.  One Smitty is very sweet around rich and powerful people.  The other Smitty's nickname is "Shitty" around common people.

Smitty said that there is only one Smitty Pignatelli, but that he has two faces.

Lastly, I asked Smitty if he would like to take the floor and say whatever is on his mind.

Smitty said that the closest thing to perfection is Smitty Pignatelli, but some people say that he is self-deluded.

Jon Melle

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January 27, 2024

Hello Erin Leahy at Act on Mass,

Congratulations on all of the good news due to your public advocacy group pushing for needed reforms on Beacon Hill in Boston.  Even if career politicians such as Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli always votes down Sunshine laws and rules reforms, at least we are sending him and his corrupt colleagues a message that we count in the state government that mostly does DISSERVICES to the common people, families, communities, regions and taxpayers of Massachusetts.

You wrote about Governor Maura Healey's "devastating “9C” budget cuts to social services".  She is either financially illiterate or just plain incompetent to cut social services state funding.  Why?  The answer is because Governor Maura Healey has been placing needy individuals and families in distressed "Gateway" cities throughout Massachusetts, which should have meant that she would have increased social services state funding to help the distressed "Gateway" cities publicly assist these marginalized people throughout Massachusetts.

I grew up in Pittsfield (Mass.), which is my native hometown.  Pittsfield's downtown is sarcastically called "Social Services Alley", along with North Street's 15 empty storefronts.  Pittsfield relies on state funding to balance its municipal and (level 5) public school district budget.  Unlike the Boston metro area, Pittsfield does not benefit from the billions of dollars in annual state tax breaks from state lawmakers and the governor because there are little to no wealthy financial and corporations in Western Massachusetts.  As an aside, Pittsfield sells Massachusetts State Lottery products to its mostly financially illiterate low- to moderate-income residents, and I believe that the elitist snobs and greedy lobbyists in Boston - such as Dan Bosley - are systemically mocking Pittsfield with the inequitable lottery SCAM.

Maura Healey does NOT understand even financial management 101.  She does not understand the state government's inequitable public policies.  Maura Healey should not be the Governor of Massachusetts - which is a very financially-based state - because she is making misguided policy decisions and being advised by the wrong bureaucrats in Boston.  While she is not very different that her predecessors in the state's corner office, Maura Healey fails as a public manager due to her low financial management IQ and/or incompetent management policies.

I am a 100 percent totally and permanently disabled Veteran.  I wish I could sit down with Governor Maura Healey and explain all of these issues and matters to her, but I cannot work for her administration.  She needs to stop putting short-term fixes on systemic issues.  She needs to restructure the state's financial management system and propose a revised fiscal year 2025 state budget that is based in economic and financial reality for the entire state.  She needs to understand that Pittsfield and Boston are very different metro areas, and that she and Beacon Hill lawmakers are throwing Pittsfield off of the proverbial cliff.

Governor Maura Healey is UNPRODUCTIVE.  Part of her inaction as Governor is due to the do-nothing State Legislature, which will so-called "work" until July 31st, 2024, and then they will take the following 5 months off for their long-term taxpayer-funded vacation.  Governor Maura Healey needs to use her office as a sounding board for PRODUCTIVITY in the state government to take action for the people, families, communities, regions, and taxpayer of Massachusetts.  She needs to use state policies and programs to invest in people and communities throughout Massachusetts.

Lastly, despite my criticisms of Governor Maura Healey, I support her in politics, while I do NOT support Smitty Pignatelli in politics.  Governor Maura Healey is true-blue in her public service.  Smitty Pignatelli is one big phony as a career politician in Boston for a little over 21 years now.

Best wishes,

Jon Melle

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January 27, 2024

Re: Saturday (Kiddie) Scoop: Sunlight Act is on the move following our lobby day!

Whew, Jonathan,

What a week!

We had our first ever Lobby Day on Tuesday, which was a huge success. THANK YOU to everyone who made it out to the State House early Tuesday morning to participate in the Fight for your Rights Lobby Day! We had a great turnout; 50 or so activists from across the state met with both their state rep and state senator to advocate for three bills which are critical to our democracy: The Voting ACCESS Act (S.410), the Location Shield Act (H.357/S.148), and last but not least, our very own Sunlight Act (S.1963).

Thank you to our friends at Indivisible Mass Coalition for hosting the event with us, and a special thanks to Senator Jamie Eldridge, lead sponsor of the Sunlight Act, for being the keynote speaker.

As we reel in the chaos from the past few weeks, we’re downsizing the Scoop, just for today. This week, we’re serving a kiddie-sized Scoop – a tiny cup full of good-flavored news to tide you over until next week.

And boy do I have some very good news for you. Yes, really:

 

State House Kiddie-Sized Scoop

The Sunlight Act, our flagship transparency bill, has been favorably reported out of committee!

The very same day over 50 advocates showed up at the State House to meet with their legislators about the Sunlight Act, it was favorably reported out of committee. Yes, that means what you think it means: our transparency bill was not “sent to study,”and has advanced to the next step in the legislative process. To all of you who attended the lobby day, have spoken with your legislators about transparency in the past, or have emailed your legislators about this issue: you made this happen. Clearly, Beacon Hill has been hearing a lot about this bill from constituents, and felt the need to act on it. This is a great day for our movement, and a testament to our people power. Read our full press release here.

The Sunlight Act  includes several transparency reforms, including requiring all recorded committee votes to be posted on the Legislature’s website, requiring that committee hearings be scheduled at least a week in advance, making written testimony submitted to committees publicly available, and subjecting the Governor’s Office to the state’s public records law.

Pretty great, right? Sadly, commonsense pro-transparency measures like these are considered controversial on Beacon Hill because they aren’t supported by House Leadership – the very people who benefit from the status quo of closed-door meetings and off-record votes. That makes it all the more significant that our bill has made it this far.

So, what’s next? The bill has now been sent to the Senate Ways & Means Committee, where it waits for Senate Leadership to decide whether to bring it to the floor for a vote. This next hurdle is a big one, so our work isn’t done yet. We need to keep up the momentum through the end of the session to get this a vote before August. And the only chance we have at that, is to get way more cosponsors in the meantime:

ASK YOUR REPS TO COSPONSOR THE SUNLIGHT AGENDA >>

Stay tuned for more ways to take action as the new phase of this campaign emerges in the next few weeks!

And the cherry on top: MCI-Concord to close this summer

Weeks after Governor Healey announced her devastating “9C” budget cuts to social services, we’re finally cutting costs from someplace good: the state prison system. MCI-Concord is on the budget chopping block and is set to close as soon as June due to record-low incarceration rates, unsafe facilities, and a desire to reinvest in programming and educational opportunities for people experiencing incarceration. While it’s yet to be seen where the existing population will be transferred, advocates are pushing for many to be placed in minimum-security or pre-release facilities instead of maximum-security Souza-Baranowski. In any event, this is a huge win for abolitionists and decarceration advocates as we get another step closer to bringing loved ones home, and reinvesting in our communities.

 

Mmm, that was a nice little break from reporting on the typical tomfoolery of Beacon Hill. Sometimes all you need is a kiddie-sized Scoop to satisfy your sweet tooth!

But rest assured, we’ll be back to our normal Saturday Scoop next week with an analysis of Governor Healey’s FY2025 budget proposal, so bring your appetite.

Until then,

Erin Leahy

Executive Director, Act on Mass

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January 28, 2024

Why do we common citizens even expect all of the stool samples in elected office to not block our political emails to them?  The pieces of poop in elected office who always block my political emails are: Maryland Ed Markey, Paul Mark (Marxism), Smitty Pignatelli (Shitty Pig-pen), and Tricia Farley-Bouvier (Country Buffet, Illegal immigrants, and Happy Endings).  The government is supposed to serve the people, but I must not be good enough to email the aforementioned stool samples.  Then there is the biggest piece of poop of all in my adult life who exists in the form a 4-foot-tall man who is sarcastically called Luciforo as well as Pittsfield's Pot King.  Career politicians, greedy lobbyist such as Dan Bosley, and the financial and corporate elites are all systemically mocking us common people, especially with the multi-billion-dollar Massachusetts State Lottery SCAM.  They are all in bed with each other, while we have to pound sand.

Jon Melle

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January 31, 2024

In referring to the state legislation pushing for Sunshine - government transparency rules and laws reforms - in Boston's secretive Statehouse, The Berkshire Eagle's editorial states: "We urge the Berkshire delegation to be a part of that step toward a more responsible and responsive state government."

For a little over 21 years now, Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli has always voted down Sunshine rules and laws legislation.  Moreover, I read news articles from around 20 years ago whereby Smitty Pignatelli said that closed door government is more efficient and gets things done.

To my knowledge, I cannot remember when even one Berkshire delegate to Beacon Hill voted in favor of Sunshine rules and laws reforms legislation.  My memory of Berkshire delegates to Boston are that they are Rubber Stamp votes for the top-down State House Speaker or State Senate President.

On a separate and unrelated subject, on Dan Valenti's Planet-Valenti blog today, he discredits one of Donald Trump's accusers who won an $83 million civil court case against the former 45th U.S. President.  I want to say that while blogger Dan Valenti made valid points, Donald Trump epitomizes MORAL HYPOCRISY and that there is no bigger MORAL HYPOCRITE than Donald Trump other than Bill Clinton who has 26 flight logs on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet, along with Bill Clinton being a twice Convicted Felon for perjury and suborning perjury in the Paula Jones Sexual Harassment civil case that he settled with her by Bill Clinton paying Paula Jones a little less than $1 million because when Bill Clinton was the Governor of Arkansas, she entered a room for a job interview, but Bill Clinton had his pants down with his penis exposed to her in hopes that Paula Jones would give him a blow job.  Like Donald Trump, Bill Clinton is an impeached but not convicted of impeachment former U.S. President due to Monica Lewinsky giving Bill blow jobs in the Oval Office - the "oral orifice" - and other rooms in The White House.

Donald Trump openly cheated on all three of his wives.  He has 5 children by 3 mothers, including a daughter named Tiffany who was conceived out-of-wedlock with Marla Maples.  He paid off a porn star actress and a Playboy Bunny model to stay silent about his extra-marital love affairs with him.  There are questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, but no proof of any wrongdoing against Donald Trump.  He was caught on a hot mic saying that he likes to grab women by their [genitals].  

Jon Melle

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Our Opinion: "Massachusetts, a state with woeful government transparency standards, needs the Sunlight Act"

The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, January 30, 2024

We have been consistent and vocal critics of Massachusetts’ dubious distinction as a national leader in state opacity. The Bay State is the only one in the nation that exempts all three branches of state government from its own public records laws. That’s a shameful standard of transparency for the commonwealth that served as the cradle of American democracy, and we support all reasonable efforts to pierce the veil of secrecy between the people of Massachusetts and their public institutions.

The so-called Sunlight Act (S.1963) would further that goal by enshrining transparency measures that are strong, simple and long overdue.

For the Legislature, this bill would bring into public light legislative processes that are now obscured from the view of the voters who elect our representatives on Beacon Hill. Currently, the Legislature does not have to reveal how individual lawmakers vote on bills in the critical committee phase, which means citizens can’t see how they’re being represented when legislation advances or languishes on Beacon Hill. What’s also kept from public view is written testimony delivered to the legislative committees that can influence policy. The Sunlight Act would require all members’ legislative committee votes to be posted on the Legislature’s website no more than 48 hours after such a vote, as well as mandate the public release of testimony received by legislative committees with reasonable provisions for redacting sensitive or personal information. In addition to giving Bay Staters a better view of what’s influencing legislative action (or inaction), it would also encourage public comment and participation in hearings by requiring committees to schedule them at least a week in advance.

For the governor’s office, this bill would actually enforce the public records law that already binds municipal officials but is currently not applied to the state’s executive branch (or the other two branches, for that matter). That exemption stems from a Supreme Judicial Court case, Lambert v. Executive Director of the Judicial Nominating Council, that has unfortunately been interpreted as providing blanket exemptions for the state Legislature, judiciary and governor’s office since that 1997 ruling. Anyone who cares about transparency, though, knows it’s all the more valuable and necessary when it comes to higher offices and more powerful leaders. The Sunlight Act would push the commonwealth toward more fully recognizing that principle by explicitly writing into state law that the state’s most powerful executive officials, including the governor, must abide by public records law just like their municipal counterparts in town halls and mayor’s offices across Massachusetts.

These are common-sense and long overdue upgrades to the basic mechanisms of public accountability in a state with a disappointing posture and record on governmental secrecy. We aren’t alone in that sentiment. Transparency advocates like Act on Mass have been pushing for many of the principles in this bill for a long time, and they deserve credit for keeping this fight up amid years of entrenched political resistance. We’ve also highlighted in the past officials like Secretary of State William Galvin, a longtime public servant whose duties include overseeing the state’s Public Records Division, who have leveled full-throated critiques of the state’s unacceptable levels of official opacity. Mr. Galvin has even proposed legislation in the past that would hold the state’s highest public officials to the letter of public records law. Sen. Jamie Eldridge, the lead sponsor of the Sunlight Act, deserves credit for pushing this important legislation.

Officials and institutions rarely welcome more scrutiny of themselves, but this bill carries critical momentum. The Joint Committee on Rules, comprising lawmakers from both houses on Beacon Hill, gave the bill a favorable report. And the prospect of applying public records law to the governor’s office has received a nod of approval from Gov. Maura Healey — or at least it did when she was still candidate Healey and Gov.-elect Healey. On more than one occasion, Gov. Healey said she would support enforcing the public records law all the way up to the state’s executive branch, although the governor has been a bit squishy as to whether she will follow through with that pledge. Hopefully this bill makes it to her desk so she can reaffirm that commitment to good and open governance.

For that to happen, the Sunlight Act needs to make it out of the Legislature — an uphill battle even with the positive report from the Joint Committee on Rules. If you believe citizens have a right to know how our most powerful state leaders are handling the people’s business, then let your representatives know and tell them to support this long-needed upgrade to state transparency and governmental accountability. Ideally, we’d go further. Just as there’s no good reason for the governor’s office to be totally exempt from public records law, the Legislature and state judiciary shouldn’t be either. And the Open Meeting Law could use some modern updates as well. But the Sunlight Act would be a great first step. We urge the Berkshire delegation to be a part of that step toward a more responsible and responsive state government.

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Our Opinion: Beacon Hill can and should move quicker to regulate ghost guns

We were encouraged to see the Senate forward their streamlined response to the House’s so-called gun omnibus legislation. We have argued on this page that the initial bill that originated in the Statehouse’s lower chamber contained some vital updates to state firearms regulations — particularly on untraceable “ghost guns” — but was weighed down by an unnecessarily broad approach with many other measures that courted more opposition and pulled attention from its most pressing tenets. The Senate’s bill sharpens the focus, coming in at 94 pages lighter than the House’s effort. It was wise to trim some fat and center the most pressing updates to firearm regulations, such as cracking down on the proliferation of ghost guns and smartly expanding the state’s red flag law. That focusing effort earned the Senate legislation support from the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association — an endorsement that the House’s bill notably lacked. Certain gun owners’ groups and firearms industry lobbyists will oppose any firearm legislation no matter how necessary, but with support from a critical law enforcement group, hopefully the Senate’s bill sees a clearer path forward for these needed updates to the commonwealth’s nation-leading gun safety laws.

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"Echoing Berkshire County locals, Western Mass. politicians call for GE’s toxic waste removal plan for the Housatonic to hinge on rail, not trucks"

By Josh Landes, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, February 1, 2024

Western Massachusetts legislators are locking arms behind a call for General Electric to use rail — not trucks — to transport higher-level toxic waste from the Housatonic River out of Berkshire County.

General Electric dumped toxins into the county’s main waterway from a Pittsfield plant over decades in the 20th century. While the first two miles of the river south of the dumping were remediated over 20 years ago, the remainder of the Housatonic remains full of cancer-causing chemicals that sit out in the open to this day. As part of a controversial cleanup plan brokered between GE and communities along the river, the company held a meeting to present a plan to remove the most contaminated materials from the river out of the Berkshires in November. Locals like Stockbridge select board member Patrick White were outraged that it heavily favored trucking over rail.

“Approximately 50 years ago, GE laid off my dad, along with tens of thousands of other people and put this county in a depression, and the people of Berkshire County lifted themselves up out of that depression, and we built a tourism economy and a service economy," said White. "And if you think we're going to trust you not to wreck that economy over the next 20 years as you put all these trucks over our roads past Oak and Spruce and Tanglewood and the Red Lion Inn, tens or dozens or 50 trucks a day, you have another thing coming.”

Now, legislators are amplifying calls for a solution that favors rail over trucking by publicizing their support for the plan and urging the EPA to back it as well.

“Everything I'm hearing from the communities from the towns, even from a meeting I had with Housatonic Railroad, GE is prioritizing saving costs- And that might be what's best for GE, but what seems to be better for the community is to reduce the wear and tear on the roads, reduce the amount of trucks driving through these neighborhoods, it would reduce the noise, reduce the smoke coming out of exhaust pipes, and focus on using rail as much as possible," said Democratic State Senator Paul Mark of the Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire district. “No one’s telling anyone, build a bunch of new tracks to cover every single inch of the area and do what's not practical- But wherever it is feasible, wherever it is realistic, and wherever it is clearly the better option to do it, and not think about the bottom line of a really big corporation that is responsible for a lot of this damage, and apparently is trying to get out of that responsibility.”

“Well, I think rail is the only option to make it fair to all the communities impacted and the people who live in those neighborhoods where the truck routes are going to be going," said fellow Democrat State Representative Smitty Pignatelli represents the Southern Berkshires on Beacon Hill. “We’ve got to do whatever we can to get GE to change their mind, and I think the EPA has been very supportive of the rail concept. It's not going to eliminate trucks, but it's going to be dramatically a reduction of truck traffic. And if we approach this thing the right way, it's going to lessen the impact environmentally and practically for these neighborhoods that the trucks will be going through.”

Democratic Congressman Richard Neal of the 1st district also backs the rail solution.

Since it was announced in early 2020, much of the controversy over the cleanup plan has been focused on the new landfill for lower-level contaminates it will bring to the town of Lee. Critics say it poses a health risk to the surrounding community and that it will torpedo the town’s property values. Mark says that since he took over his district in 2023, constituents have focused their concerns on how to transport the more toxic materials out of the county.

“The overwhelming communications that I've received have been about this part of it, is, if it’s going to happen, let's make sure it's happening as safely as possible, with as little impact and as much mitigation as possible,” he told WAMC.

For his part, Pignatelli – noting that a series of legal challenges to the landfill plan have failed in court – says it’s time to move on.

“When you go to a judge and say, no landfills in Berkshire County, and the response is, well, you've already got one called Hill 78 in Pittsfield that they agreed to 25 years ago," Pignatelli told WAMC. "So, I think it was an uphill battle to begin with. The towns fought the good fight, and I think we're going to get some better things out of it if we approach this thing and get it on rail instead of trucks. And I tell you, everybody will be a winner.”

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February 2, 2024

Homelessness in the USA is at an all-time high, along with rent and mortgage payments.  I wish I was a billionaire so I could put a roof over the heads of all of the marginalized people and animals who need a home.  Oh yeah, Donald Trump is said to be a billionaire, but he is paying all of his legal bills and funding his third campaign for U.S. President.  I find it interesting that Governor Maura Healey is finding ways to house the homeless after she cut state funding for social services agencies.

Jon Melle

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February 5, 2024

I hope that the good people who are working to reform the government will be successful in Pittsfield politics and beyond.  Please look at what is happening in Lee (Mass.) with Rep. Smitty Pignatelli supporting GE's planned capped leaky landfill that the local people oppose.  Please look at what is happening in Boston with Rep. Smitty Pignatelli long supporting the top-down secrecy on Beacon Hill, while Erin Leahy at Act on Mass is promoting her organization's Sunlight Agenda in the corrupt and unproductive state government.  Look at what is happening in the Swamp with the do-nothing U.S. Congress that hasn't even passed a federal budget, while PAC Man Richie Neal is only representing K Street Corporate Lobbyist Firms that have nothing to do with Western Massachusetts.

While "The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions", the career politicians are already pseudo-governing in Hell.  It won't matter if reformers who want a real government ends up failing because it couldn't get any worse than it is now.

Jon Melle

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February 5, 2024

Eric SwanSIN the SINNER:

Tricia Farley Bouvier has been a Pittsfield State Representative in Boston for over one dozen years now.  In all of that time, she has done little to NOTHING (but DISSERVICES).  In early-2017, she - along with Smitty Pignatelli and Paul Mark - voted for her own 40 percent state legislative pay raise that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.  In 2018, she sided with The Berkshire Museum's selling two Norman Rockwell paintings and other historic paintings for tens of millions of dollars.  She sponsored state legislation that gives illegal immigrants state driver's licences.  She is sponsoring state legislation to decriminalize sex workers in Massachusetts.  She wrote op-eds from Pittsfield to Boston newspapers arguing for state tax increases, while she is a Rubber Stamp vote for the top-down State House leadership that gives away billions of dollars per fiscal year in state tax breaks to Boston area big businesses that do not exist in Western Massachusetts.

Although, I giver her credit because she is NOT as bad as the over 21 year career politician in Boston named Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli, who is one of the worst state lawmakers in the over 400 year history of Massachusetts.  In closing, I ask: Has the over 33 combined years of Tricia and Smitty in Boston made us better off than we would have been without them earning 6-figure public pay plus perks in state government?

Jon Melle

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"How low can it go? MA misses revenue projections"

By State House News Service, February 5, 2024

Make it seven months.

Having already made mid-year budget cuts and dimmed the outlook for tax collections through June based on six consecutive months of underwhelming receipts, the state reported Monday that tax revenue came in below even downgraded expectations during January and that year-to-date revenue collections now trail actual collections from the same portion of last budget year.

The Department of Revenue reported collecting $3.594 billion last month — $268 million or 6.9% less than actual collections in January 2023 and $263 million or 6.8% below the administration’s revised monthly benchmark of $3.858 billion.

The Healey administration last month lowered the monthly benchmark for January from the $4.121 billion it projected for the month prior to the governor’s fiscal year 2024 adjustments.

MassFiscal, a conservative watchdog, said the millionaire’s tax is not working.

“Gov. Maura Healey is dealing with an economy she helped create. It’s safe to say the income surtax is driving wealth and resources out of the state,” said Paul Craney, MassFiscal’s spokesman. “The poor decision to endorse a ballot question that wrote into the state constitution an 80% income tax hike on some high-income earners, small business owners, home sales, and retirees is having a devastating impact.”

Since fiscal year 2024 started in July, DOR has collected $21.460 billion, which is $212 million or 1 percent less than actual collections in the same period of fiscal 2023 and $263 million or 1.2 percent less than what the Healey administration projected last month that it would have hauled in by this point in the calendar.

“January collections decreased in income tax withholding, non-withheld income tax, corporate and business tax, and ‘all other’ tax in comparison to January 2023,” Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said. “These decreases were partially offset by an increase in sales and use tax. The decrease in non-withheld income tax was driven by lower income tax estimated and return payments and an unfavorable increase in income tax refunds. The decrease in withholding was mainly due to typical timing factors in collections. The decrease in corporate and business tax was due to an increase in corporate refunds and a decrease in corporate estimated and return payments. The decrease in ‘all other’ tax is mostly attributable to a decrease in estate tax, a category that tends to fluctuate.”

With tax revenues running $769 million behind projections after December, the Healey administration last month slashed the year-end revenue estimate by $1 billion. Reducing the revenue estimate by $1 billion was meant to address the existing $769 million shortfall while also providing some breathing room for the second half of the budget year, when Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz said he expected additional months of below-benchmark collections. The administration also said it thought its January actions would be enough to avoid further 9C cuts this year.

Now, after the governor cut $375 million in spending and newly tapped $625 million in non-tax revenues to account for the $1 billion revenue downgrade, the state still finds itself in a hole.

The Executive Office of Administration and Finance said the administration was not making any additional budget moves in tandem with the below-benchmark January revenue report.

January is the start of a crucial six-month period for the state’s coffers. Collections are not split evenly across the 12 months and the second half of the fiscal year (January through June) typically produces about 60 percent of the state’s annual tax revenue, officials have said. The second half of the budget year also tends to be more volatile for tax collections.

Last year, the head of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation urged a cautious approach to the end of the budget year because “we know from long history that what happens in the first six months of a fiscal year doesn’t often have a lot to do with what happens in the second six months.”

One factor that could work in the state’s favor is the relative strength of the U.S. economy, which grew at a faster clip than expected in the second half of 2023. And with inflation starting to fall back to Earth and the stock market performing at or near record levels, there is a glimmer of optimism from the economy at large.

When Gov. Maura Healey made budget cuts last month, Gorzkowicz also decreased the fiscal year 2024 revenue estimate by $1 billion, from the $41.41 billion figure that he and key lawmakers agreed a year ago to $40.41 billion. Backing out $1 billion in revenue from the surtax on household income above $1 million put the revised non-surtax revenue estimate at $39.41 billion.

Since then, the year-end revenue assumption has been further reduced by about $577 million to settle at $38.834 billion (or $39.834 billion if counting surtax revenue), DOR said. The change is meant to reflect the impact of the tax relief package that Healey signed in October, a law that takes an approximately $576.8 million bite out of fiscal 2024 revenues.

This year’s costs of the package were fully covered in the budget, but the year-end tax revenue benchmark had not previously been adjusted to reflect its passage, DOR and the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation said.

DOR is due to report revenue collections for February, the least significant month remaining in fiscal year 2024, by Tuesday, March 5. The monthly benchmark for February is set at $2.018 billion, or $38 million more than what was collected in February 2023.

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February 6th, 2024

Good riddance, Smitty Pignatelli.  You are one of the worst career politicians in Massachusetts history.

You support GE's plan to put a capped leaky landfill in Lee (Mass.) over the strong objections of the town's residents who will be impacted by GE's industrial chemicals called PCBs.

You always voted against Sunshine rules and laws reform measures that would have brought transparency to Beacon Hill's secretive operations.  You even publicly stated that you support closed door governance because you said it is efficient and gets things done.

You are a Rubber Stamp vote in favor of the top-down State House leadership.  Beacon Hill lawmakers and the inequitable governor's office gives away billions of dollars per fiscal year in state tax breaks to Boston area big businesses that do not exist in Western Massachusetts - the worst of both worlds for your constituents.

You voted for two House Speakers - Finneran (your very first vote in Boston) and DiMasi - who later became Convicted Felons as a result of their illegal actions in their leadership positions.

You voted for your own 40-percent state legislative pay raise bill that cost state taxpayers millions of dollars.  You happily accepted countless state legislative public pay raises plus perks for over 21 years now.  You will file for a 6-figure state public pension plus perks one year from now.

You wrote op-eds decrying Berkshire County's past 50 years of losses in population and living wage jobs - a shrinking tax base - while state and local taxes increased - a distressed economy in Western Massachusetts.  You never once looked at yourself in the proverbial mirror of self-reflection as a career politician who is part of the problem.

You proposed legislation to give youths criminal records if they possess a small amount of marijuana near a youth center instead of helping them succeed in their young lives; (the real alleged criminals are the corrupt career politicians, registered lobbyists and marijuana dispensary owners with political connections at the Boston State House)

In early-2004, you - along with now greedy lobbyists Dan Bosley and Peter Larkin - refused to sign my nomination papers for Berkshire-based State Senator because you chose loyalty to then Pittsfield State Senator Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, who two years later had to step down from his elected position due to Nuciforo allegedly illegally double-dipping as the Chair of the State Senate Finance Committee while at the same time serving as legal counsel for Boston's big banks and insurance companies in Boston's Financial District where Nuciforo still has a law office in 2024.

You block all of my political emails to you because your ego is bigger than the size of the Moon.  Moreover, you blame Governor Maura Healey's one year in her current elected office for the problems that you have failed to solve in over 21 years in Boston.

You have two faces. One was sweet for the rich and powerful. The other was sour for the rest of us. Instead of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, it is Smitty & Shitty.

You represent everything that is wrong with state and local politics.

Jon Melle

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"State Rep. William 'Smitty' Pignatelli will not run for another term. Friends, Colleagees and Constituents say he'll be hard to replace"

By Greg Sukiennik, The Berkshire Eagle, February 6, 2024

Lenox - State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli will not run for another two-year term representing the 3rd Berkshire District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the longtime Democratic lawmaker told The Berkshire Eagle on Monday.

Pignatelli, who was first elected to the House in 2002, said he made that announcement now to give would-be hopefuls “plenty of opportunity to explore” a run for the seat.

But Pignatelli, 64, emphasized that his leaving Beacon Hill is “not a retirement” when it comes to public service, and that he remains focused on finishing out his 11th two-year term. “I promise you that I’ll be running through the tape at the end of my term in January 2025,” he said.

“There is always more to do, but I feel it’s time for a new generation of leadership to hopefully make the people of the 3rd Berkshire District their priority as your new state representative," he said.

"I'm still humbled by the show of support that I have received," he said in a letter announcing the decision. "Each day that I enter the Statehouse I think about my immigrant grandparents who wanted nothing but a better life for themselves and their families. In our Commonwealth, with nearly 7 million people, I think that they would be proud knowing that their grandson was one of 160 people chosen to serve our state in the House of Representatives."

Why now?

“I think it’s time,” he said. “I've seen a lot of changes and I've been losing a lot of dear friends — it’s keeping life in perspective. After 40 years of elected office and over 50 years of service, I feel it’s time to move on.”

Also, Pignatelli never expected to make a career out of Beacon Hill.

“I gave up a very good job just to run for this job,” he said of his former role in business development at Lee Bank. “This was never my plan ... it just happened.”

“I told my staff for 22 years do your job every day and the next election will take care of itself. I still believe that,” he said.

SOLVING PROBLEMS

Friends, town officials and fellow lawmakers said Pignatelli’s tireless effort and follow-through, empathy, willingness to listen and commitment to the district’s needs made him effective — and popular. They also pointed to the many favors Pignatelli has done for others, quietly and without fanfare or publicity.

“South County identifies itself geographically as a place. But there’s only been one unifying government we could call for the last however many years — it’s been Smitty,” Lenox Town Manager Christopher Ketchen said. “So the idea we’ll no longer have him is understandable from his perspective, but sad for us who have enjoyed working with him.”

“The strength of Smitty is his ability to connect with people,” said Gene Dellea, president of Fairview Hospital and Hillcrest Family Health Center of Berkshire Medical Center. "Beyond being a legislator he is there to solve problems for people other than legislation.

"He's the go-to person for South County — I know that firsthand. He’s responsive and always gets back to people. If he says he’ll do something it always will be done,” Dellea said.

“The thing I think of is he's fast on his feet,” said Mary Ellen Deming, who recently retired as Lenox director of administrative services. “He was sincere and honest and always there to help anyone … you could call him at any moment and he will help you.”

Pignatelli made the announcement on the day his late father, former Lenox Select Board and Berkshire County Commission member John Pignatelli, would have turned 100. The fifth anniversary of his late mother Mary Jane Pignatelli’s death, in 2019, is Tuesday.

“I owe everything I am today to my parents, who laid the foundation for service to our community,” Pignatelli said.

"My father was a great mentor to me. He taught me you have to understand history to chart a path forward, otherwise you're going to make the same mistakes," he said. "Whoever the next state rep. is needs to have his perspective."

John Pignatelli, a World War II veteran and electrician, joined the Lenox Planning Board in 1957, and served as a Lenox Select Board member from 1961-93 and a county commissioner from 1972-92. Smitty — named after his father’s childhood friend, William Henry Smith, who was killed in World War II — also started his public service career on the Planning Board, and was elected to the Select Board in 1992, serving with his father for one year.

Deming, who worked with both father and son in town government, said the younger Pignatelli went about things the same way as his dad. “That’s how he grew up," she said.

Michele Rivers Murphy, a longtime friend who grew up in the same neighborhood as the Pignatellis, said she thinks about how proud John Pignatelli would be of his son.

“I think about his father a lot, just knowing what his father meant to Lenox and to Berkshire County politics — and how proud he would be of those 40 years of selfless service to others,” she said.

“From a public service standpoint it's hard to imagine you’ll ever find such a staple of goodness and service again," she said. "Everyone’s posturing and positioning. And then there’s Smitty.”

Of his mother, a world language teacher in the Lenox Public Schools, Pignatelli was impressed by her combination of compassion, tenacity and dedication to public service.

“It was about doing something to help other people,” he said of his mother’s efforts. “She did things in a very different style — quiet and behind the senses but equally as effective.”

Another close friend, Doug Trombly, recalled how he and Pignatelli bonded during a weeklong trip to New Orleans in 2007 to rebuild a Lower Ninth Ward home that had been decimated by Hurricane Katrina.

Two years after the storm, a family was still living in a FEMA trailer not much bigger than an SUV, Trombly recalled. Pignatelli organized a small army of Berkshire building contractors and tradesmen and led a weeklong trip to build the family a new home.

“It says everything about who he is. He cares about people. He’s not the politician of politicians; he sincerely cares for you,” Trombly said. “If I call and tell him I've got a problem, or a buddy of mine has a problem, this is what he’d tell you: ‘Give him my cell phone number.’ He’d never hesitate to do that. And he’d help him out. He’d see it through. I think that’s what makes him special.”

BIG SHOES

Whoever follows his footsteps has big shoes to fill — and an 18-town district stretching from Dalton to Mount Washington.

“In a district that size you need somebody who has a lot of energy, a lot of commitment. Being a representative in a district like that means working 14-hour days, six days a week,” said state Sen. Paul Mark, whose Senate district is even larger. “It’s a lot of time away from family and has a significant impact on your personal life.”

Mark said Pignatelli was invaluable as a mentor. He recalled that one time before a tough vote — in which he was bucking leadership — Pignatelli related his experience with the 2004 same-sex marriage bill, in which he gave his first House floor speech in favor of the state granting that right.

“The point I took from it was even when you’re worried about doing the right thing, the right thing is usually its own reward in the end,” said Mark, D-Becket, of the advice. “That meant a lot to me.”

LOCAL IMPACT

While many hailed Pignatelli for his advocacy on behalf of the Berkshires, others said the loss of a 22-year veteran will be felt.

“Smitty has moved up in seniority and he’s well known,” Dellea said. “He knows how to approach an issue with a commissioner or the governor. For a new person there’s a learning curve."

When it comes to future priorities for his successor, Pignatelli remains convinced that the state must do more to ease the Berkshires' housing crisis — not with a single project in a single town, but with a "patchwork" spreading homes throughout the county. 

But he remains convinced that the most important work is constituent service. 

"The day-to-day interactions you can have are far greater than trying to go down there to solve big issues," he said. "I’m glad to be part of a team to solve big issues. But don't lose sight of where you came from."

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Letter: Where was this Rest of River accountability when Lee raised concerns?

The Berkshire Eagle, February 6, 2024

To the editor: All the concern and outrage from the town leadership of Lenox, Stockbridge, Great Barrington and Sheffield rings hollow.

Where have they been for the last four years? There was absolutely no concern in the Rest of River settlement until they realized that the trucks would be coming through their towns, not only Lee and Pittsfield. They were perfectly content to let Lee shoulder the burden and adopted a NIMBY attitude.

Every single group or organization that agreed to the settlement did so because they didn't think it would be a problem for them. And yet, here we are.

Nancy Stuart, Lee

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Our Opinion: "Pignatelli will end his tenure as South County's rep. the same way he served — with great care and consideration for his constituent district"

The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, February 7, 2024

”Sincere and honest and always there to help anyone.” “Ability to connect with people.” “A staple of goodness and service.”

Those were just a few of the ways that Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli’s constituents described his impact on the legislative district he’s served for more than 20 years.

Rep. Pignatelli’s career of public service began well before his time on Beacon Hill. In addition to working for his family’s company Pignatelli Electric, he served on the Lenox Planning Board, Lenox Select Board and Berkshire County Commission. Even after he ran to represent the 3rd Berkshire District in the state House of Representatives (which was then the 4th Berkshire District when he won his seat in 2002), he maintained that sense of responsiveness forged during his time as a local official.

Few in this sprawling, rural district would wonder who their representative was over the last two decades — because he’s been there. Smitty Pignatelli showed up and met his constituents where they were, whether his districts’ communities were celebrating good news or needed help amid bad news. That enduring presence and sense of service is a simple but effective antidote to the apathy and polarization we see far too much of in our political climate at all levels.

On the floor of the House, he consistently centered issues affecting South County and the greater Berkshire community: staunchly supporting West-East rail, pushing for a first-in-the-nation state cultural facilities fund, sponsoring measures aimed at regional equity of health care access and opioid crisis harm reduction. Just as consistently, he stood for the values that make the Bay State great, from bolstering health care to protecting reproductive rights to advocating early on for the commonwealth’s same-sex marriage law that tilted America toward nationwide marriage equality.

Those decades of public service are admirable, as is the considerate manner in which Rep. Pignatelli is making his exit. He will serve out the rest of his current term, which lasts until January of 2025. Meanwhile, his announcement this week leaves plenty of time for this year’s electoral process to play out, during which other candidates can emerge, seek the necessary signatures and make their cases ahead of the September primary and November general.

We have used this page in the past to praise politicians who take a purposeful approach to leaving their posts when the time is right rather than letting inertia play an outsize role in how critical public offices are filled. It is not always easy to know when that right time is, but credit where it’s due to leaders like Rep. Pignatelli who “feel it’s time for a new generation of leadership,” as he put it, and then responsibly act on it. That respect for his constituents and the necessary electoral process is appreciated, especially as that respect for voters and decent democratic norms is unfortunately not a given at any level of our political ecosystem at the moment.

We are curious to see who emerge as candidates for South County’s first new face in the House in more than 20 years, and we look forward to assessing the field as it materializes. For now, though, we simply hope that whoever does emerge will be as responsive and present for South County as Rep. Smitty Pigantelli has been during a laudable tenure representing the Berkshires on Beacon Hill.

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February 7, 2024

I read the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle's) glowing editorial praising one of the worst State Representatives in the history of Massachusetts who is called Smitty Pignatelli.  It is one of the worst editorials I have read in my life.  I don't think that Kafka or The Twilight Zone writers could have written a more distorted opinion piece.  The Eagle's editorial was a perfect illustration of 2 + 2 = 5.

Over the years, I have read the Eagle's glowing editorials praising the now and forever greedy lobbyists Peter Larkin and Dan Bosley, who never left the Boston Statehouse after they retired from state politics.  I also read the Eagle's glowing editorials praising Jimmy Ruberto, including the absurd headline that he left Pittsfield better off.

Pignatelli, Larkin, Bosley, Ruberto, and the like, all failed the people and taxpayers of Pittsfield and the Berkshires.  Pignatelli's public record is one of always voting down Sunshine rules and laws reform measures, voting for and always accepting his own excessive state legislative pay raises, supporting GE's poisonous plan to put a capped leaky landfill full of industrial chemicals called PCBs in Lee (Mass.) over the strong objections of his constituents who live in Lee and Lenoxdale, and so on.

Even blogger Dan Valenti continues to praise Jimmy Ruberto as a so-called great Mayor of Pittsfield. 

Jimmy Ruberto's downtown revitalization plan failed after a few short years of success and a whole lot of taxpayer dollars.  Jimmy Ruberto's so-called "Rolodex" stands as a sad symbol of postindustrial Pittsfield's distressed economy.  Jimmy Ruberto never owned his own home, nor did he ever rent an apartment, in Pittsfield in his entire life.  He now lives full-time in the state of Florida and part-time in Lenox, Mass.

Peter Larkin sold his soul to GE a long time ago.  GE left Pittsfield in the ditch without even one GE job, while Pittsfield has become GE's toxic waste dump.  Peter Larkin cashed in on Pittsfield's demise to the tune of millions of dollars.

Dan Bosley is a greedy lobbyist for big businesses that do not exist in mostly rural Western Massachusetts.  His public record was one of supporting inequitable public policies that enriched Boston area big businesses, while he represented one of the poorest cities - North Adams - in Massachusetts.  Dan Bosley's gift to North Adams, Pittsfield and other similar down-and-out cities was more (and more) state lottery tickets that exploits the mostly financially illiterate low- to moderate-income residents in Massachusetts.

I do not understand how the news media in Berkshire County praises these failed politicians.  The only way it makes sense to me is that the Berkshire County news media, especially The Dirty Bird, operates in The Twilight Zone.

Jon Melle

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February 10, 2024

Sarcasm: I asked Smitty Pignatelli who he would like to see replace him as the next Southern Berkshire County-based State Representative to Boston.

Sarcasm: Smitty Pignatelli told me that he hopes it will be somebody who will blame Governor Maura Healey for all of the problems in state government, support GE's poisonous plan to put a capped leaky landfill full of industrial chemicals called PCBs in Lee, Massachusetts, always vote down Sunshine rules and laws reform measures in the Boston State House, vote for his or her own 40 percent public pay raise, write op-eds that decries the distressed economy in Western Massachusetts, spend 22 years as a Rubber Stamp vote in favor of the corrupt State House Speaker(s), and retire with a 6-figure state pension plus perks for life.

Sarcasm: I told Smitty Pignatelli that we don't need another career politician like himself.

Sarcasm: Smitty Pignatelli replied that 99 percent of the career politicians are just like him.

Jon Melle

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Letter: "Another way forward for Housatonic River mediation"

The Berkshire Eagle, February 10, 2024

To the editor: It must be dawning on those who for years have been involved in the Housatonic River PCB cleanup that the cure might be worse than the disease.

Whether it's trucks or trains taking away the polluted muck, the river will become an ugly construction zone for 12 or more years. When the muck is gone, the river will take many more years to heal, possibly never returning to its original channel and condition. And those hundreds of millions General Electric's dollars will have gone up in clouds of diesel fumes or lie buried in possibly leaky landfills as useless sludge.

Here's a better idea. It's not too late to find a biological agent to break down the PCBs into harmless compounds. How, you may ask? Give GE's hundreds of millions earmarked for the cleanup to the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation to invest and manage. A conservative return between 4 and 5 percent would yield about $25 million annually. Invest half of that every year until a biological agent is found. It should not take very long; that research has been simmering for a long time. An infusion of serious funding would accelerate finding a noninvasive solution, making open-heart surgery on the river unnecessary.

The leftover millions (eventually, all the income generated by the trust forever) would be dedicated to community needs of Berkshire County: human services, education, scholarships, historic preservation, open space, regional agriculture, music, arts, culture.

If Berkshire County's man in Boston, Rep. "Smitty" Pignatelli, were to make it happen, he would be revered for generations. Let's give him a call to see what he thinks.

Jonas Dovydenas, Lenox

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February 16, 2024

We already know that Mayor Peter Marchetti and the City Council rubber stampers are going to increase city spending by 5 percent to 10 percent when they pass the fiscal year 2025 municipal budget sometime this Spring 2024 to possibly early-Summer 2024 before the June 30th, 2024, deadline.  Oh, and guess what, there is the threat of a possible recession later this year, 2024.  If a recession occurs, then it may (or may not) dawn on Pittsfield politics that they will have to budget in economic reality instead of spend, spend, spend....taxpayers' money.

Cities comparable to Pittsfield (Mass.) do not spend nearly as much money as Pittsfield politics spends.  States comparable and even larger than Massachusetts do not spend nearly as much money as the do nothing (but DISSERVICES) Beacon Hill lawmakers spend.  A taxpayer in Pittsfield experiences the WORST of both worlds between their City Hall and the far away Statehouse in Boston.  

In return for a couple hundred million taxpayer dollars per fiscal year, Pittsfield hosts many Level 5 public schools, violent crime rates that have more than doubled the statewide average since at least 1980, GE's capped leaky landfills full of industrial chemicals called PCBs, the soon to be 26-year-old heavily indebted and polluted PEDA debacle, a downtown full of around 15 empty storefronts along with a myriad of social services agencies due to the city and region's distressed and very unequal economy, and so on.

This past week, I have read editorials, op-eds, letters, and news stories praising the outgoing Lenox State Representative who is called Smitty Pignatelli.  All of it propaganda at its worst, of course.  What has Smitty Pignatelli really done for Berkshire County during his a little over 21-year political career in Boston?  Answer: DISSERVICES!

In closing, I either live in "The Twilight Zone" or Smitty Pignatelli and all of the career politicians who are similar to him are failures in leadership.

Jon Melle

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February 17, 2024

Hello Erin Leahy at Act on Mass,

Just because a Beacon Hill corrupt career politician retires does not mean that they actually leave the secretive Boston Statehouse.  Greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley, GE lobbyist Peter Larkin, and the disgraced Stan Rosenberg, who is a lobbyist, all collect their state public pensions plus perks for life after they retired from being Beacon Hill lawmakers, but they are still at the Boston Statehouse lobbying state lawmakers on behalf of the special interests who receive millions and collectively billions of dollars in state tax breaks per fiscal yer.

I was surprised to read that good ol' Rep. Smitty Pignatelli is a cosponsor of the Sunlight Act because for the past a little over 21 years, he has always voted down Sunshine rules and laws reforms.  Similar to Smitty Pignatelli's retiring colleagues in Boston, Smitty Pignatelli will collect his 6-figure state public pension plus perks for the rest of his life.  It is called greed-balls cashing in at the public trough.

I support raising the minimum wage in Massachusetts.  In New Hampshire, the minimum wage is a paltry $7.25 per hour, which means that a very low-wage worker is paying the system to work, which is similar to Slavery.  Most of the U.S.A.'s original U.S. Presidents and Founding Fathers owned slaves, so I guess New Hampshire is going backwards while Massachusetts is going forwards.

I support workers at the Boston Statehouse having the right to unionize.  Let us not forget that the Boston news media reports that on the weeks when Beacon Hill lawmakers meet in formal session, they usually work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, while Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays are their long weekends.  In 2024, Beacon Hill lawmakers' 5-months-long taxpayer-funded vacation runs from August 1st, 2024 through December 31st, 2024.

The MBTA has a public debt-load in the tens of billions of dollars.  Talk about a way to dump public debt on a state agency, just look at the MBTA's public finances.  I imagine a black hole sucking up our taxpayer dollars when I think about the MBTA's public financial mess.

As for the bill(s) proposing a 5 year prison moratorium in Massachusetts, I ask, "Whatever happened to investing in people and communities instead of mass incarceration?"  It is a sad state of affairs when I read about the public school to public - sometimes private - prison pipeline that Wall Street firms are earning lucrative profits off of.  Instead of growing the middle class family structure, the system is growing the underclass population to record high levels.

Growing the middle class family structure is as old as socioeconomics itself.  Fund public education, public healthcare, public housing, public transportation, teach financial literacy, invest in people (living wage full-time jobs) and communities (social services, public safety, good governance), and so on.  Why we elect corrupt career politicians who only serve themselves and their elitist campaign donors is beyond my comprehension, but then I look at the untouchable PAC Man Richie Neal, who is a big corporate Democrat from of all places Western Massachusetts who is the darling of K Street's corporate lobbyist firms - especially big insurance companies - in the Swamp.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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February 17, 2024

Re: Saturday Scoop: Who’s not running for reelection and why it matters

They’re dropping like flies, Jonathan!

And by “they” I mean legislators, and by “dropping like flies” I of course respectfully mean not running for reelection.

Among the lawmakers who recently announced their retirement or that they plan to seek other office this year are: Sen. Marc Pacheco, Sen. Sue Moran, Rep. Sarah Peake, Rep. Ruth Balser, Rep. Josh Cutler, Rep. Denise Garlick, Rep. Gerry Cassidy, Rep. Angelo D’Emilia, Rep. Paul Schmid III, Rep. Daniel Carey, Rep. Dylan Fernandes, Rep. Mathew Muratore, and last but certainly not least, good ol’ Rep. Smitty Pignatelli (a cosponsor of the Sunlight Act!).

Oof, I’m out of breath just typing all that.

Such a mass exodus means some key leadership positions will be up in the air; Reps Peake and Balser are both in House leadership, and several others listed above are committee chairs and vice chairs. 

Some, uh, not key leadership positions will turn over as well; when he retires, Senator Pacheco will be relinquishing the entirely ceremonial title of “Dean of the Senate,” a role reserved for the longest continuously-serving senator. According to Senator Michael Barrett, the title had previously been granted to the earliest-serving senator, and let me tell you he has some feelings about it. Barrett, who began serving before Pacheco but whose long tenure in office wasn’t contiguous, feels he was wrongfully passed over for the deanship in favor of Pacheco years ago, and so claims to be a “victim of nefarious discrimination.” 

Gentlemen, gentlemen, come now. There’s no need to fight. How about I break the gavel in half so each of you can preside over the first session, and share all the other non-duties and non-powers that come with the role? 

Another outcome of these lawmakers moving on to greener pastures: a whole lot of open seat elections this fall. Challenging incumbents is so difficult in Massachusetts that the vast majority of legislators get elected to open seats. In fact, Massachusetts has had the least competitive elections in the country four cycles in a row – a critical reason why our legislators don’t feel accountable to their constituents (and instead feel accountable to House and Senate leadership).

But right now, it means that this election cycle poses a rare opportunity to elect more new legislators than usual. If the progressive, pro-democracy, pro-transparency movement can elect even just a handful of champions to the state house, it can make all the difference.

If anyone reading this lives in one of the districts where incumbents are not seeking reelection (listed above) and would consider running for office or know someone who should, we very much look forward to hearing from you: admin@actonmass.org.

 

State House Scoop

Years after unionization, Senate staff pay structure changes

Senate staff are set to get a pay raise, following the release of a study by the National Conference of State Legislatures last month that once again confirmed that state house staff are paid consistently below market rates. Across all positions, Senate staff compensation lags the market by an average of 25%, and in some positions that soars above 40%. In response, the Senate Human Resources department sent a letter to Senators and their staff detailing plans to roll out new staff positions and titles, increase salary ranges, and implement new benefits like stipends for bilingual staffers and reimbursements for professional development. 

This study, the second one the Senate has requested from the NCSL since 2021, reaffirms what their staff have been saying for years: their wages are inadequate and inequitable. The Senate staff successfully formed a union almost two years ago, and have communicated demands for livable pay, clear and comprehensive leave, protections from sexual and racial harassment, and contracts negotiated by the union. 

And yet, Senate leadership has refused to recognize the union, instead commissioning studies, and even hiring a “compensation specialist” to examine how to navigate pay issues (it’s worth noting that according to public payroll data, this specialist was paid $100,000 in 2022, which was nearly double the average base pay of a Senate staffer). Call me crazy, but maybe it’s a waste of time and resources to “study” this issue when the solution is quite obvious: recognize the Massachusetts State House Employee Union, and negotiate a fair contract.

Think the staffers should have a right to collectively bargain? So do we. That’s why one of our Sunlight Agenda bills explicitly codifies the right of legislative staff to unionize (S.2014 / H.3069). The bill survived Joint Rule 10 day by way of an extension, which means we have a few more months to fight to get this bill passed. Call or email your lawmakers in support of this bill today:

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS >>

ICYMI: The latest MBTA funding woes, and our blog post on how we got here

This week, Governor Healey spoke on the new task force established to examine how to bridge the gap in MBTA funding. The group will meet later this month and is supposed to issue a report by the end of the year, but the MBTA estimates its budget gap will grow to over $628 million by July. They’re currently forecasting a paltry 1% in annual revenue growth over the next five years, but expenses are expected to climb by almost 5%. This, of course, is on top of debt interest that accrues faster than the MBTA can pay it off and an ever-growing list of dire maintenance repairs.

Our Political Organizing Intern Sydney took a deep dive into how we got to this dire funding situation, and explores the myriad deliberate policy decisions that led to the T’s troubles today.

READ THE BLOG POST >>

A very happy correction

Last week we stated that the bill to establish a 5 year prison moratorium was sent to study. In actuality, while the House version of the bill (H.1795) was sent to study, the Senate version (S.1979 ) is still very much alive! The Senate bill was granted a reporting extension to 7/1. Learn more about the campaign behind this bill and get involved at justiceashealing.org/nonewwomensprison.

 

Take Action

Email your senators in support of the Sunlight Act!

Lead sponsored by transparency champion Senator Jamie Eldridge, this comprehensive legislation includes several transparency reforms, including requiring all recorded committee votes to be posted on the Legislature's website, requiring that committee hearings be scheduled at least a week in advance, making written testimony submitted to committees publicly available, and subjecting the Governor's Office to the state's public records law. The bill has received a favorable report from the Rules Committee, and now sits in Senate Ways & Means - the last hurdle before it can be brought to a vote and passed. 

Email your senator today to express your support for the Sunlight Act and urge them to bring it to a vote this session!

EMAIL YOUR SENATOR >>

 

Tell your legislators to support a minimum wage increase in Massachusetts!

With the cost of so many things increasing, from food and gas to housing, we need a higher minimum wage for MA workers. This year, our friends at Raise Up Massachusetts (the coalition behind the Fair Share Amendment) are advocating for An Act relative to raise the minimum wage (S.1200 / H.1925), which would raise the minimum wage to $20 by 2027 and index it to inflation in the future.

This bill is critical to ensure that workers in Massachusetts can afford to stay in the state amidst the affordability crisis, and elected officials need to hear about it. Click the link below to show your support for legislation increasing the minimum wage in Massachusetts to $20/hr!

EMAIL YOUR LEGISLATORS >>

Are you or someone you know a low or minimum wage worker? Share your story!

As part of their #TimeFor20 campaign to raise the minimum wage, Raise Up Massachusetts is collecting the stories of people who would be directly impacted by the wage increase, i.e. people who make the current minimum wage or under $20/hour. These stories will be shared with legislators and the public to uplift the urgent need to pass this legislation. 

SHARE YOUR STORY >>

 

That's it for this week! And by Jove, stay warm out there. 

Until next time, 

Erin Leahy

Executive Director, Act on Mass

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Letter: "My issue with GE’s quality of life compliance plan"

The Berkshire Eagle, February 14, 2024

To the editor: General Electric’s quality of life compliance plan for the Housatonic River remediation project is flawed, necessitating urgent attention from various Berkshire stakeholders.

The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public feedback until March 29.

A key concern is the plan’s reliance on truck transportation over rail, an issue still unresolved by the EPA. Crucially, it lacks assessment of the project's impact on Berkshires tourism and business, including traffic to attractions like Tanglewood and its effect on local charm and businesses along anticipated truck routes down Main Streets in Stockbridge and Lee.

Moreover, GE's exemption from local regulations raises accountability questions, notably concerning project noise standards that exceed local limits. The plan overlooks impacts on municipal parks and playgrounds and fails to address health concerns regarding volatilized PCB particles. And the report's section on that was supposed to focus on health failed to mention health once.

Stakeholders, including local Select Boards, health officials, chambers of commerce and business leaders must review the plan at https://semspub.epa.gov/work/01/679162.pdf and submit feedback to the EPA at R1Housatonic@epa.gov before the end of next month to ensure all impacts are addressed adequately.

Josh Bloom, Lee

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March 02, 2024

Sarcasm:

As a career politician, I lie, raise taxes, increase spending, and dish out retribution....

As a lobbyist, I greedily shakedown big businesses for money, put some of my loot in the pockets of the career politicians, and then support regressive taxation schemes such as the state lottery SCAM to give my wealthy clients big tax breaks....

As an accountant, I cook the books for my boss and then I crawl back under my desk in shame....

As an economist, I say that "the ratio" always has trade-offs, but all of the income gains go to the super wealthy 1 percent, while the working class received a whole $5 pay raise over the past 50 years....

As a bureaucrat, I only care about the elites whom I serve, along with my pay plus perks for life....

As a lawyer, I make hundreds of dollars per hour, interpret the law in favor of my client(s), and my picture is on my opposing side's dart board....

As a journalist, I work for my media outlet, which is funded by big corporations to divide and conquer the people based on our political beliefs....

As a blogger, I write about my views of Pittsfield politics and beyond, read Dan Valenti's blog posts, and redundantly write that the financial, corporate and ruling elites are all enriching themselves at the public trough, while the rest of us pounds sand....

Jon Melle

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Letter: "Legislature must act on state's housing crisis"

The Berkshire Eagle, March 2, 2024

To the editor: Massachusetts and the Berkshires have a housing crisis.

To rent the average two-bedroom apartment in Massachusetts requires an income equal to $41.64 per hour, more than twice the minimum wage. Home-ownership has become increasingly out of reach as the state’s median home price nears $600,000.

The high cost of housing has led to displacement, and in a growing number of municipalities the local workforce can no longer afford to live there. The Legislature needs to take action before the crisis gets worse.

I’m glad that Gov. Maura Healey has responded to this crisis by introducing the Affordable Homes Act, which combines funding authorizations for various housing programs with important new policy measures for affordable housing. One of the most exciting proposals is the real estate transfer fee local option. This would enable cities and towns to levy a small fee on large real estate transactions in order to create a dedicated revenue stream for affordable housing production and preservation.

I am grateful that the housing crisis will be at the center of the Legislature’s attention this year, and I hope that our Berkshire legislators will advocate for the strongest legislation possible as the only way to make or keep that a reality is through good policy.

Al Blake, Becket

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March 4, 2024

Re: Governor Maura Healey's ongoing social cuts and inequitable financial policies

The Boston Globe published a news story today explaining that Governor Maura Healey's proposed fiscal year 2025 Massachusetts state budget (a) cuts social services funding that helps compulsive gamblers who live a life of addiction(s) and distress, and (b) doubles the state's gambling marketing budget that would attract new gamblers.  What the news story does not explain is that on a policy level, gambling is a regressive taxation scheme targeted at the mostly financially illiterate and policy ignorant low- to moderate-income residents of the commonwealth.

Earlier this year, Governor Maura Healey cut $375 million in state funding to social services agencies and other programs that help people and communities in need of assistance.  Last Fall 2023, she signed into state law a huge tax cut that disproportionately favors the wealthy in Massachusetts.

In 2022, did Governor Maura Healey campaign on any or all of decisions that treats the people like a doormat, while treating the wealthy like gold?  Answer: No.  To be clear, Governor Maura Healey is a big PHONY!

The following is what happens when someone such as Governor Maura Healey serves the elites instead of the people:  The greedy lobbyists in Boston only see MONEY.  Gambling takes from the poor and redistributes the MONEY to the rich.  The career politicians receive big dollar campaign donations from the gambling industry and other big businesses, which makes state elections non-competitive (because MONEY matters instead of democracy to the elites).  The greedy lobbyists use the gambling and other regressive revenues to get millions of dollars more in state tax breaks for their big business clients.  The elites all cash in at the public trough.

What is the problem here?  The answer is that most regions of Massachusetts do not host the elites like the wealthy Boston area does.  To illustrate, in my native hometown of Pittsfield (Mass.), there are little to no big businesses there like there are in Boston.  Instead, Pittsfield hosts social services agencies, not-for-profit agencies, state lottery tickets, and so on.  The benefits of inequitable financial public policies that boosts Boston have the opposite impact in Pittsfield.

Jon Melle

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"Critics assail Healey plan to cut funding for gambling addiction"

By Chris Serres, Boston Globe Staff, March 4, 2024

A year after Massachusetts legalized online sports betting, unleashing a torrent of gambling advertisements and wagering on everything from the Super Bowl to college basketball, Governor Maura Healey is proposing cuts to the state’s main fund for combating gambling addiction.

The proposal, tucked deep inside her $56 billion budget plan, would reduce by half the percentage of casino gambling revenues earmarked for a public health fund that, since 2018, has supported programs to reduce the harm associated with gambling and to research its effects. If enacted, money directed to the fund could be cut by more than $6 million.

The cuts would come as researchers are still scrambling to understand the public health effects of a new era of legalized sports betting in Massachusetts. In the past year, online sports betting operators like DraftKings and FanDuel have unleashed an avalanche of advertising and celebrity endorsements. Increasingly, adolescents and teenagers are circumventing regulatory safeguards and gaining access to the new digital betting platforms, stoking concerns that the gambling industry may be sowing the seeds of a future addiction crisis.

Since the onset of mobile sports betting here, gamblers have wagered about $4.8 billion on various online platforms. More than 1 million wagering accounts were opened with online sports betting platforms, which recorded approximately 135 million transactions in the last fiscal year, according to data from the state Gaming Commission.

“This is the absolute wrong time to be scaling back funding for problem gambling,” said Representative Adam Scanlon, a North Attleborough Democrat. “It’s never been easier for people in our state to place a bet and fall into the trap of addiction and now, with these cuts, we could see programs turn people away.”

A spokesperson for the Executive Office for Administration and Finance said the administration had to explore “creative solutions” to balance the 2025 budget amid lower-than-expected tax revenues. The change would be a one-time cut to the amount deposited in the Public Health Trust Fund, which has a balance that carries from year to year. The money would be shifted to support local aid, transportation, education, and economic development, he said.

“There will be no impact to programming supported by the trust fund” in fiscal year 2025, the spokesperson said in a statement.

Under law, the fund receives 5 percent of the state’s gambling revenues. The proposal seeks to cut that percentage to 2.5 percent. The fund has a balance of about $25 million and helps pay for the gambling help line as well as a variety of initiatives to prevent problem gambling and to mitigate its harms.

The Gaming Commission estimates that the budget change would have reduced by $6.4 million the amount of money received by the fund in the last fiscal year, had it been implemented then. At the same time, Healey’s proposed budget calls for more than doubling state spending on advertising the lottery to $10 million from $4.5 million.

Massachusetts spent nearly $12 million on problem gambling services in the last fiscal year — more per capita than almost any other state.

Gambling addiction is on the rise in teens. What do parents need to know?

A year after Massachusetts legalized online sports betting, some local addiction experts are seeing teenagers coming to them for help. Reporter Chris Serres explains the risk for young people and what parents should know.

Yet gambling researchers, public health advocates, and several state lawmakers say they fear losing ground in efforts to track and combat compulsive gambling — at a time when record numbers of people are placing bets online. There hasn’t been a statewide study published on the prevalence of gambling problems since 2015, when researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst concluded that 2 percent of the state’s adult population had a gambling problem (in line with national averages) and another 8 percent were at risk. In 2020, the state, citing funding pressures, abruptly discontinued an expansive study exploring the economic and social effects of gambling over time.

“With all the [gambling] advertising that’s happened over the past year . . . we need to get a good measure on its impact,” said Senator John Keenan, a Democrat from Quincy. “If we don’t get out in front of the industry now, then we will have a very significant public health problem in the near future.”

Rachel Volberg, a research professor at UMass Amherst who leads much of the state’s gambling research, said she is concerned that Healey’s budget proposal wouldundercut efforts to understand the impact of legalized sports wagering, including how many adolescents and other vulnerable groups are using the new technology and falling prey to addiction. Rates of problem gambling are significantly higher among sports bettors, primarily because they are engaged in a wider range of gambling activities, according to a 2022 analysis by Volberg and other UMass Amherst researchers.

“It does not seem to me to be a good idea to cut back on resources to minimize and mitigate gambling harm in Massachusetts at the very point when gambling opportunities have expanded, explosively, in the Commonwealth,” Volberg said.

Among the problem-gambling prevention programs that could be affected by Healey’s proposal is GameSense, which received $2.7 million in state funding last year and began when lawmakers legalized casino gambling in 2011. The program employs green-shirted staff on the casino floors who are trained to identify bettors at risk of developing a gambling problem, and can help them manage their behavior by setting limits or voluntarily banning themselves from betting. GameSense advisers also provide round-the-clock help to people betting online through its live chat service.

Marlene Warner, chief executive of the Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health, a nonprofit that helps people with gambling problems and advocates for protections, said the budget change would be “potentially devastating” to GameSense and other outreach programs.

“We are still trying to assess the impact of a year of online sports wagering, and cutting vital services to at-risk populations would be short-sighted,” she said.

In the last three months of 2023, GameSense advisers had nearly 44,000 interactions with gamblers at the state’s three licensed casinos and fielded more than 1,300 live chat requests, according to the state Council on Gaming and Health, which operates the program under a contract with the Gaming Commission.

Many GameSense advisers are former casino workers who are familiar with the signs of problem gambling.

Jolyn Barreuther spent 25 years working craps, roulette, blackjack, and baccarat tables in casinos before becoming a GameSense manager at Encore Boston Harbor. Barreuther said she made the career move in part because she felt guilty dealing to bettors who were clearly in distress over their gambling problems, and she felt powerless to help.

Now, Barreuther can intervene and help people set voluntary betting limits and connect them with addiction support groups such as Gamblers Anonymous.

“Working on the other side of the table, it was hard to see great people slowly fall apart,” she said. “Sometimes I felt like I was contributing to the habit. At least now, I can make a difference in people’s lives.”

Chris Serres can be reached at chris.serres@globe.com. Follow him @ChrisSerres.

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March 06, 2024

Wait until Mayor Peter Marchetti's fiscal year 2025 municipal budget proposal increases city spending by between 5 percent to 10 percent starting on July 01st, 2024.  He should donate all of his public pay plus perks to the city to lead by example, but Hell would freeze over first.

Governor Maura Healey's administration wants us financial fools to be compulsive gambling addicts, while she cuts state funding for social services that otherwise help people and distressed communities in need.  She needs to resign over her inequitable decisions.

Joe Biden is running federal budgets deficits of over $2 trillion per fiscal year.  What the Hell does he care because sooner than later, he will be a memory we will all have to pay for for the rest of our lives.

This is the government that the fictional Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski working class family who lives in Pittsfield (Mass.) does NOT deserve!

Jon Melle

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March 09, 2024

Hello Erin Leahy at Act on Mass,

Like you, I look forward to Sunshine Week from Sunday, March 10th - 16th, 2024. I hope that voters will elect new state representatives and senators to Boston's corrupt, inaccessible, inequitable, secretive and top-down Statehouse in 2024. It would be too good to be true for all of the Rubber Stamp career politicians in Boston (and beyond) would be voted out of their elected offices in 2024.

The government is supposed to serve the people of Massachusetts, not the Almighty Dollar and the financial, corporate and ruling elites in Boston who profit off of corruption. The government is supposed to use the taxpayers' dollars to invest in people and communities. If not, then the career politicians are no different than a thief in the night who breaks into one's home and steals their belongings while one sleeps. I liken career politicians who only do DISSERVICES in the government to thieves in the night.

The cap of 9-months on emergency shelter stays is a structural assault on the underclass families in Massachusetts. Homelessness and poverty are a structural assault on a person and a family. There are three types of conflicts and violence. The first kind is direct assaults such as verbal assaults and physical assaults. The second kind is structural assaults such as poverty, joblessness, and homelessness. The third kind is cultural assaults such as one race, religion, gender, etc., saying that they are superior to the would-be inferior race, religion, gender, etc. When any and all of these types of assaults occur in society, it is all of our duty to limit and stop conflicts and violence against people and families. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable people and families experience a majority of these types of assaults, while the elites think and say it is not in their interest to help. Whatever happened to being a good man, good woman, or good person?

State House Speaker Ronny Mariano opposes state legislation that would require that the schools that teach sex ed and use a medically-accurate and LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum. Massachusetts is one of 11 states out of 50 that does not teach children about sex education. Since I was a teenager, I learned that when a man has an erection, a man emits sperm prior to, during ejaculation, and after, and that when a man's genitals are near or in a woman's genitals, the sperm can travel to a woman's egg, and that the woman can become pregnant. In short, a man should not have his genitals near or in a woman's genitals because the man's sperm can reach the woman's egg, and then the woman can get pregnant. I do not understand why schools would not explain these sex ed facts to their student. Pregnancy and giving birth to a baby and raising a child is a life-altering event for every person and family in human history.

Governor Maura Healey's financial proposals and policies are misguided and inequitable. She proposes a 50 percent reduction in state funding for re-entry programs for formerly incarcerated people in Massachusetts. In addition, she proposes level-funding other initiatives that advocates say would reduce recidivism rates, including rental assistance and reentry programs for young adults. Also, she proposes online lottery gambling, cutting state funding for gambling addiction services, and would double state funding for marketing gambling in Massachusetts. As we all know all too well, gambling on a policy is really regressive taxation. The record-breaking profits by the Massachusetts State Lottery is achieved by decades of the state government marketing their regressive taxation scheme(s) to the mostly financially illiterate low- to moderate-income residents who live in poor communities. The greedy lobbyists, such as Dan Bosley of the poor City of North Adams and the big business-filled City of Boston, see the lottery's huge profits as a way to get bigger state tax breaks for their big business clients. The state lottery is a big SCAM!

Moreover, Governor Maura Healey recently cut $375 million in state funding to Social Services agencies and other state programs that assists people and communities in need. This is the same Governor Maura Healey who places the underclass population in distressed cities throughout Massachusetts who rely on state funding for Social Services agencies to balance their budgets. Governor Maura Healey's misguided and inequitable financial policies are at extreme odds with her support for illegal immigrants having emergency shelters and the right to shelter law(s) in Massachusetts. She refuses to raise state taxes to pay for her big state government proposals and policies. Governor Maura Healey is misguided. I believe that she should step down from her elected office of Governor of Massachusetts because she is leading the commonwealth towards an iceberg similar to the one that sank the Titanic over one century ago.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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March 09, 2024

Re: Saturday Scoop: House votes to limit emergency shelter stays

Happy almost Sunshine Week, Jonathan!

NEXT WEEK IS Sunshine Week across the country — a tradition among journalists and good governance advocates to highlight the importance of public records and government transparency. Here in Massachusetts, the clouds are hanging low — and we aren’t just talking about the drizzly weather. 

2023 was a bad year for good governance on Beacon Hill. The Senate eliminated the Senate president’s term limits, Gov. Healey walked back her promise to comply with the state’s public records law, and the House shot down an amendment that would have made legislative committee votes public without a public vote. And that was just February.

Wow, what sparkling prose, what a daring editorial. Who are the bold truth-tellers (voices of their generation, perhaps?) that penned such powerful words?

Well, your humble Act on Mass staffers, of course! Read the full opinion piece, Sunshine Week casts light on Beacon Hill’s democratic decline, that Brenna and I published in Commonwealth Beacon on Tuesday:

READ THE OP-ED >>

But this is about more than one piece; we want to take advantage of Sunshine Week by using the power of the press to call attention to the state of our democracy on Beacon Hill, and whip up support for the bill best poised to fix it: the Sunlight Act (S.1963). 

We are calling on all supporters of transparency and accountability on Beacon Hill to write and submit your own letters to the editors. A deluge of pro-transparency LTEs in the papers during Sunshine Week will get the message across to our legislators, loud and clear: their constituents care about this issue.

We’ve already done the hard part for you; from talking points to local paper submission guidelines, we’ve put everything you need in our handy dandy LTE Hub:

CHECK OUT THE LTE HUB >>

All right, enough about how we can take action to fight for democracy on Beacon Hill. Now, on to exactly why we need it.

State House Scoop

House passes Healey’s funding bill, placing time limit on emergency shelter stays

The House passed a supplemental budget bill on Wednesday that allocates an additional $245 million to the state’s emergency shelter system. The bill passed 121-33, with eight Democrats voting against it. Why the rare display of disapproval from some members of the majority? Likely because the bill would also impose a new nine-month time limit on families staying in these shelters — on top of the shelter cap of 7500 families already in place. The average stay time in the shelters is currently 13-14 months. 

“Whenever you limit time, it begs the question: What happens when that time expires?” What a great question from radical lefty bomb-throwing activist *checks notes* Senate Ways & Means Chair Michael Rodrigues? 

The ball is now in the Senate’s court, and it remains to be seen whether the Senate will similarly propose a limit on shelter stays. And even after that it will remain to be seen what the conference committee appointed to hash out any differences decides, which as a reminder, happens entirely behind closed doors and is unable to be amended upon emerging. Let’s hope the Senate continues their current progressive streak and omits the potentially disastrous time limit from their version of the bill. It could make all the difference for thousands of our most vulnerable, new Bay Staters.

Mariano not interested in Healthy Youth, again

As predicted in the last edition of the Scoop, the Senate just passed the Healthy You Act, the crucial bill to update our sex and relationship education standards, for the fifth session in a row. The bill has now been sent to the House Ways + Means committee where the Speaker of the House has already said he has no intention of letting his chamber touch the bill.

In a statement, Mariano expressed that he was not inclined to act on HYA since the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) recently adopted new guidelines for curriculum, saying: “it is important that we give school districts adequate time to implement them, rather than rush to potentially amend or codify them into law.”

Remember, these DESE guidelines are not standards or requirements for curriculum, and can be changed by any future governor’s administration. For a state that has a lengthy history of Republicans in the corner office, this means that when Massachusetts elects their next GOP governor, these guidelines could disappear in an instant. So why would Speaker Mariano, who is very aware of the precarious nature of the DESE guidelines, and the fact that HYA has been around for 13 years, use them as an excuse not to pass the bill?

It’s just that: an excuse. For years, advocates have connected the House’s unjustifiable opposition to this bill to a "disinclination to vote on issues relating to sex, to sexuality to gender identity." Don’t believe the advocates? Take it from the bill’s lead House sponsor, Rep. Jim O’Day, right before another ill-fated attempt to pass the HYA in the House in 2018: "There are some of my colleagues who are still skittish about this issue [...] It blows my mind. But it is what it is."

Massachusetts lags behind other states on this issue; the Bay State is not among the 39 states that currently require any form of sex ed or HIV education. The HYA wouldn’t even change that fact; it merely requires that the schools that do teach sex ed use a medically-accurate and LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum. To put it mildly, Jonathan: we’re not asking for a lot here.

House Ways + Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz and Speaker Mariano have the sole power to bring the Healthy Youth Act to a vote this session, and we’re not falling for their excuses. Tell them we want to see the Healthy Youth Act passed this session, and that it’s imperative that we codify the DESE guidelines into state law:

CALL YOUR REP IN SUPPORT OF HYA >>

Advocates flag Healey’s proposal to slash reentry program funding in half

This week, advocates for decarceration convened at the State House to urge lawmakers to reinstate adequate funding for the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program which finances reentry programs for formerly incarcerated people in Massachusetts. In her proposal for the FY25 budget, the governor allocated $7.5 million — a mere half of the $15 million they were awarded in FY24. The Governor’s Office insists that the drop in funding is adequate “to meet projected need,” but advocates disagree. In fact, MassAction for Justice has requested $17 million to meet the program’s growing needs. 

In addition to the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program cuts, Healey is also recommending level-funding other initiatives that advocates say would reduce recidivism rates, including rental assistance and reentry programs for young adults.

Incarceration rates in Massachusetts have dropped by 34% since 2017, meaning nearly 6,000 people are being reunited with their families and communities. With more people eligible for reentry programming and a shrinking prison population, it’s imperative that these systems are funded adequately to maintain progress on criminal justice reform and decarceration. We will be closely watching the House and Senate budget proposals to see whether they differ on cutting this funding. 

 

Take Action

Write a LTE for the Sunlight Act this Sunshine Week!

Sunshine Week, a time when journalists and advocates emphasize the importance of open government, is just around the corner: March 10-16th. And you KNOW we can’t let that pass us by…

That’s why we’re launching our Sunshine Week Letter to the Editor Campaign to turn up the volume about the Sunlight Act! If everyone writes and submits their letters in the next week, we’ll see a deluge of pro-transparency LTEs in the papers during and just after Sunshine Week, and more importantly, so will our legislators. I can practically feel the sunburn already!

WRITE A LTE FOR TRANSPARENCY >>

 

Make calls for the Sunlight Act with Act on Mass at Activist Afternoons!

Sunday 3/10 3:00 - 4:30 in Andover

Sunday 3/17 4:00 - 6:00 in Cambridge

Join us at the Greater Andover Indivisible Activist Afternoons on 3/10 and at the Cambridge Activist Afternoons on 3/17 to phonebank in support of transparency and accountability on Beacon Hill! These will be friendly calls to Act on Mass members across the state encouraging them to contact their Senator in support of the Sunlight Act. Be sure to bring your phone and laptop, and headphones are recommended.

RSVP FOR ANDOVER 3/10 >>

RSVP FOR CAMBRIDGE 3/17 >>

 

That's it for this week. Enjoy the upcoming fickle early spring weather and remember to turn your clocks forward tomorrow! That's right — we made it through another Massachusetts winter. 

Until next [daylight saving] time, 

Erin Leahy

Executive Director, Act on Mass

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March 9, 2024

Hello Governor Maura Healey,

I am not a subscriber to The Dirty Bird rag otherwise called The Berkshire Eagle so I am unable to read the full news story of the starving underclass families in Western Massachusetts, which has systemic multi-generational poverty that has been studied by the Boston Federal Reserve over the years.  Of course, I - Jon Melle - grew up and spent a majority of my life in Western Massachusetts, so I understand the severe economic inequality there on a personal basis.

You need to not only reverse the $375 million in state funding cuts to Social Services Agencies, but also, you should increase the state funding to meet the increasing need of the starving underclass families, especially in Western Massachusetts which has it the worst in the commonwealth.

As the Governor, you have to deliver positive results for the entire commonwealth, not just the wealthy elites in and around Boston and its wealthy suburban municipalities.  If you fail to deliver, then you are a failed public manager, and you need to step down as the Governor of Massachusetts to let a new Governor deliver for the entire commonwealth.

If I were the would-be Governor of Massachusetts, I would be all over this matter of the starving underclass families in the commonwealth.  Unlike you, I would not be supporting all of the gambling industries, cutting state funding for Social Services for compulsive gambling addicts, doubling the state funding to market gambling in Massachusetts, and so on.  On a policy level, gambling is really regressive taxation.  If you do not understand any and all of these matters, then unfortunately, you are similar to the underclass residents you are doing DISSERVICES to.

I want to help you, but I am a disabled man.  I hope that my letters to you are helping you, but I am very frustrated by your decisions as the Governor of Massachusetts.  You are different than the very wealthy trust fund Harvard legacy Governors Bill Weld and Willard Mitt Romney.  You are not as corporate as Governor Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker.  It seems to me that you may not understand financial management policies because you are an Attorney by education and career.  If you do, indeed, understand financial management policies, then you are the most misguided and inequitable Governor of Massachusetts to date.

Best wishes,

Jon Melle

Berkshire County food pantries are grappling with a need that is 'increasing all the time'

The Berkshire Eagle, March 09, 2024

Food pantries across the Berkshires are reporting substantial increases to the number of households they serve a year after the end of pandemic SNAP benefits. The South Congregational Food Pantry is capping its deliveries for the first time.

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March 18, 2024

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

On my way to the VA Medical Center today, I drove by a highway sign that said Litchfield (NH), which rhymes with Bitchfield (Pittsfield, Mass.).

Anyways, instead of being called Governor Healey, we should call her "misguided Maura".  She cut $375 million in state funding for social services to the underclass, which Pittsfield has in spades, but she is punishing municipalities who vote down her proposals for "affordable" housing.  Misguided Maura's fiscal year 2025 state budget proposal cuts additional state funding for various social programs, but she wants to double state funding for the marketing budget for gambling in Massachusetts, which on a policy level is really regressive taxation that allows the greedy lobbyists in Boston to get their big business clients even bigger state tax breaks that have no real benefit to many regions of the commonwealth because there are little to no big businesses in these areas.

Mayor Peter Marchetti's upcoming fiscal year 2025 municipal budget proposal will increase city and public school spending by between 5 percent - 10 percent.  In his municipal budget proposal, he will have to account for the city's large underclass population's increased demand for social services that misguided Maura keeps cutting state funding for.  During the public hearings on the Mayor's municipal budget proposal, a few fictional Kapanskis will show up and speak, but it will be a done deal from day one.  The city plays financial shell games with the state, while the local taxpayers will pay for it.

Joe Biden averages around $2 trillion per fiscal year in federal deficit spending.  I read that his annual deficit spending levels are really way above what the federal government reports.  U.S. inflation is still rising well above the benchmark rate.  The government on all levels is growing, while the common people's financial accounts are shrinking in real value.  The states are starting to run annual budget deficits (again) due to the influx of illegal immigrants and the always growing larger underclass population.

Lastly, let us note that Joe Biden has and is raising more money from Wall Street and K Street corporate lobbyists than any other politician in U.S. history.  He has and is buying the White House by over-spending our federal taxpayer dollars to benefit the financial, corporate and ruling elites, while the rest of us pound sand.  The rich are still getting richer, while the poor are still getting poorer with old man Joe Biden in the White House!

Jon Melle

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March 18, 2024

Economic growth in Pittsfield = the excessive Underclass population

Financial growth in Pittsfield = the always growing bigger state and local Government

Educational growth in Pittsfield = Level 5 public schools that cost a lot of MONEY

Social growth in Pittsfield = Moving out of Pittsfield or getting stuck in the ditch

Job growth in Pittsfield = Marijuana, Alcohol, Tobacco, Lottery Tickets, etc forms of (voluntary) regressive taxation that greedy lobbyists such as Dan Bosley love to hate

Tax and Fee growth in Pittsfield = Kufflinks' secretive Slush Funds and Cooked Books

Political growth in Pittsfield = Mayor Peter Marchetti always increasing city spending because residents enjoy city services

Journalism growth in Pittsfield politics = The Twilight Zone of praise and persecution

The Governor in Pittsfield = Misguided Maura dumping illegal immigrants in Pittsfield while she cuts state funding for social services - the WORST of both worlds

The Gated Community neighborhood in Pittsfield = Linda, Luciforo, & all of the Latte Limousine Liberals

The Rolodex in Pittsfield = Jimmy Ruberto living in Florida and Lenox, but how about that Rolodex?

Jon Melle

P.S. Nadia Milleron's op-ed on her campaign to oust PAC Man Richie Neal:

https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2024/03/next-lawmaker-in-1st-congressional-district-should-help-people-not-corporations-viewpoint.html

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March 19, 2024

Hello Governor (misguided) Maura Healey,

Kelly Ayotte denounced your comments about a disabled teenage 15-year-old girl who was raped by a 26-year-old migrant housed by the state.  Kelly Ayotte said that former Manchester (NH) Mayor and Democratic candidate for Governor of New Hampshire Joyce Craig should denounce your words about the situation.

I live near Nashua (NH), and people told me that Kelly Ayotte is an executive a BAE Systems in Nashua, and that she makes over $500,000 per year at BAE because she is a politically connected former U.S. Senator who gets big defense government contracts for BAE systems.  In 2024, she is running for Governor of New Hampshire in 2024, and her tagline is that she will prevent New Hampshire from becoming another version of Massachusetts.

After the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in New Town, Connecticut, then U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte was the only U.S. Senator in the entire Northeast region of our country to vote against gun control reform legislation.  Her vote was unforgivable, and it showed her to be a true career politician who is only interested in her own success.

While it is tragic that a migrant housed by the state raped a 15-year-old disabled girl, we should all be condemning Kelly Ayotte for her aforementioned vote that left school children vulnerable to school shootings since mid-December, 2012.  Kelly Ayotte's political career is far worse than your - misguided Maura's - political career ever will be, but hopefully you will change for the better soon.

In closing, Kelly Ayotte is cashing in at BAE Systems by using her political connections, she put her own political ambitions before the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and she is using you, (misguided) Maura Healey, and the state you run as her 2024 campaign tagline to try to win the Governor's Office in Concord, NH.

Compared to Kelly Ayotte, I would support you any day, month, season, year, etc.  Please take Kelly Ayotte's criticisms of you with a grain of salt because all you have to do is look at the source.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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"NH governor’s race rocked by Healey comments over alleged migrant child rape"

By Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald, March 19, 2024

Former U.S. Senator and candidate for New Hampshire governor Kelly Ayotte is calling on her Democratic opponent to reject an endorsement by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, over comments the Bay State’s chief executive made after it was learned a migrant housed by the state allegedly raped a disabled child.

Ayotte, in a Monday morning statement to supporters, called on former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig to “denounce” Healey’s endorsement of her campaign.

The call comes after Cory Alvarez, a 26-year-old migrant sheltered by the state at Comfort Inn in Rockland, allegedly raped a 15-year-old disabled girl. Alvarez has pleaded not guilty in Hingham District Court to one count of aggravated rape of a child and is being held in jail ahead of a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Friday.

“It’s a horrible situation. It’s a horrible allegation. My thoughts are with the victim and her family,” Healey told Boston25. “I think we have the right systems in place. Unfortunately this is a terrible incident.”

When asked if future acts of violence could be prevented by a more stringent vetting process, Healey said that Alvarez was in the U.S. legally according to federal law and that “it is unfortunate, from time to time, things will happen.”

According to Ayotte, the Commonwealth’s governor went too far.

“This is the problem with politicians. There are real consequences for these dangerous sanctuary policies and when the system fails our children, it is not good enough to say it will happen — it is unacceptable, and it must be fixed. Maura Healey should be ashamed of herself,” Ayotte said in a statement.

Craig received Healey’s endorsement last July, not long after she announced she would take a run at the executive seat currently occupied by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who is not seeking reelection.

Ayotte has hammered Craig on her leadership of the state’s Queen City, claiming that the Democrat supports “radical immigration policies like Sanctuary Cities” and warning that a statewide emergency declared in Massachusetts foreshadows a similar threat facing New Hampshire.

“Unfortunately, Joyce Craig agrees with her Massachusetts mentor’s dangerous sanctuary policies and would bring this crisis to New Hampshire. Craig needs to denounce Healey’s endorsement, and once and for all condemn sanctuary policies,” Ayotte said.

Craig’s campaign staff did not return a request for comment by press time.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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March 23, 2024

Hello Erin Leahy at Act on Mass,

I enjoyed the online video of you speaking on TV about Act on Mass' equitable policy positions on state government in Boston.  I support your work advocating for all of the people and taxpayers of Massachusetts.

Governor (misguided) Maura Healey's financial public policies are inequitable.  For generations now, it is well understood that to limit the always growing underclass population in Massachusetts and beyond, the career politicians need to support equitable public policies such as housing, education, health insurance, financial literacy, living wage jobs, realistic disability and retirement programs, social insurance programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and so on.  Instead, misguided Maura cut state funding for social services agencies, proposes to increase the marketing budget for gambling - regressive taxation - in the commonwealth, and signed state tax cuts and breaks that disproportionately benefit the wealthy instead of the common people and families.

Like misguided Maura, the State Legislature in Boston is unproductive.  I believe that most career politicians do nothing but DISSERVICES to the common people and taxpayers they represent.  I believe that greedy lobbyists such as Dan Bosley support misguided Maura's inequitable financial public policies because it allows them to obtain even bigger state tax breaks for their big business clients in the Boston area - not the rest of the state.  I believe that the financial, corporate and ruling elites are all enriching themselves at the public trough, while government spending increases, along with inflation, along with state lottery tickets (regressive taxation), along with all of the other SCAMS that we are structurally assaulted with on a daily basis.

I support a government that invests in people and communities.  To illustrate, if the government is inequitable, then it is like a thief in the night who breaks into my home and steals my belongings while I sleep.  The woman, Nadia Milleron, who is challenging PAC Man Richie Neal this year 2024, writes that her over 3-decades in the Swamp opponent has not held a Town Hall meeting since 2017, and that he is one of the top recipients of K Street corporate lobbyists campaign donations.  Joe Biden raises more money from Wall Street and K Street than any other politician in U.S. history.  He has been in the Swamp since early-1973, which is before I was born in mid-1975.  I hope that the failed leaders of today will give way to successful leaders in the future who will stop being all about money and power.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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March 23, 2024

Act on Mass: Saturday Scoop

Happy spring, Jonathan!

And what a classic first week of New England spring it’s been! Which is to say, cold, windy, wet, and cloudy.

*sigh* I guess Sunshine Week couldn’t last forever. 

Speaking of gloomy seasons, it’s also tax season across the country. Here in the Bay State, this is the first tax season since the infamous tax cut bill was passed into law in the fall. In case you’ve forgotten (or mentally blocked it), this is the tax package that costs $1 billion annually and is disproportionately benefiting the wealthy and corporations.

Or, as Governor Healey puts it in her new digital ad campaign, it’s “Making Massachusetts more affordable.”

These tax cuts save low-income seniors a max of $1,200 per year, low-income parents a max of $700 per year, and renters a whopping $50 per year. The top 1% wealthiest Bay Staters, on the other hand, save an average of $3,600 per year, and heirs to large fortunes will save $99,000. None of this is to mention the tax cut for multi-state corporations which now costs taxpayers $85 million annually.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: these tax cuts make the state more affordable for whom, governor? A quarter of young people in the Boston Area intend to move out of the area within the next five years, according to a recent survey. What are some of the main factors respondents cited as reasons they may leave? “Ability to buy a home” and “cost of rent.”

But hey, maybe if they see Governor Healey’s ad and learn about the extra $50 they should receive as renters this year, that might just convince them to stay!

State House Scoop

Massachusetts poised to become the 49th state to ban revenge porn

In a unanimous vote, the Senate passed their version of a revenge porn bill on Thursday that’s been years in the making, and if signed into law, would make Massachusetts the penultimate state to ban revenge porn. 

Doesn’t it feel great to lead the nation on policy? 🙄

The bill now goes to a closed-door conference committee where members are hand-picked by leadership to hash out differences between the versions passed in the House and Senate. The bills diverge in a few key areas, including which institution should oversee education and diversion programming for teens involved in sexting, and how long prosecutors can pursue charges in certain abuse cases.  

This issue was a longtime priority of former Governor Baker, who lamented the Legislature’s failure to get the bill to his desk during his tenure. But don’t roll out the victory wagon just yet; last session, the House unanimously passed the bill only for it to idle in the Senate for seven months. In the final week of the term, the Senate passed it with some changes, sending the bill back to the House. Ultimately, the bill died during the chaos of the end of session crunch, meaning it had to be refiled this session so it could go through the whole legislative process, yet again. In the MA Legislature, it truly is never over ‘till it’s over.

Governor Healey announces plan for blanket marijuana possession pardons

Speaking of years in the making: this week Governor Healey announced her plan to pardon people convicted of marijuana possession, marking a historic change in policy that could impact tens of thousands of Bay Staters, and right a wrong that has vastly disproportionately impacted people of color. For example, according to a report from the ACLU, 24% of those arrested for marijuana possession in 2014 were Black, despite being just 8% of the state’s population at the time. 

The governor’s pardon recommendation now goes to the Governor’s Council for approval. You may recall that back in 2022 Joe Biden pardoned and commuted the sentences of thousands of people with federal simple marijuana possession charges, and called on governors to do the same in their respective states. Since then, Healey has only pardoned 13. While Healey initially opposed marijuana legalization citing concerns for public health, she has since changed her stance, stating those concerns to now be “unnecessary.” Gee, you think? This shift in opinion from the governor could mean the livelihood of thousands would improve nearly overnight by removing barriers to education, housing, and employment for people convicted of marijuana possession — something that has been legal in Massachusetts since 2016. 

These pardons are an enormous victory for many currently and formerly incarcerated people and marginalized communities in the state. But this is only the beginning; we still have a long way to go in terms of addressing issues in the prison system as a whole in the Bay State. Yes, and.

 

House has taken half the amount of recorded votes typical in recent years

Remember when I told Adam Reilly on GBH last week that 2023 was a banner year for bad governance on Beacon Hill? Well, I wasn’t kidding. Thanks to numbers crunched by our good friend Jonathan Cohn at Progressive Mass, we now know that the House has taken fewer than half the number of recorded votes this session to date than in recent sessions. As of March 11th this year, the House had taken just 81 recorded votes. Let’s see how that compares to roll call votes taken as of March 11th in the last 6 sessions:

In a word: bleak.

In two words? Very bleak.

Although they’re not as bad as the House, the Senate has also seen a sharp decline in roll call votes; they’ve taken 114 recorded votes at this point this session, compared to 135 in 2022, and 186 in 2020.

So, what does it mean that our lawmakers are taking half as many roll call votes as they used to? For starters, it’s indicative of the fact that legislating is increasingly done with few, near-unanimous votes on mega-bills with dozens of policy items. When lawmakers only get to vote “yea” or “nay” on dozens of policy items, their stances on individual bills are not available to the public. 

Most roll call votes come on amendments to bills already on the floor, but even those have dropped off; it’s well understood that in state house culture, to request a roll call on an amendment not preordained by leadership is considered a major transgression worthy of punishment like loss of committee chair positions, reduced funding for one’s district in the budget, and social isolation from your peers. They even have a term for it — it’s called “spotting” your colleagues, because by making them take a vote, you’re “putting them on the spot.” You know, making them do their job.

The upshot: we shouldn’t just be troubled that there are fewer roll call votes, but that those votes in and of themselves have become largely ceremonial. By the time a bill comes to the floor, the decision-making has already been done by a handful of people in a closed-door meeting. This throws a major wrench in our democracy: how can constituents hold their legislators accountable when they don’t know their stances on the issues? How can a legislator represent the will of their constituents when they rarely take votes? And how can a legislator represent their constituents when they are convinced that the votes they do take can’t change the outcome?

 

Take Action

Snag a ticket for our Spring Fundraiser on April 7th!

Join Act on Mass and Senator Jamie Eldridge, lead sponsor of the Sunlight Act, for a genuine conversation about the broken state of our democracy on Beacon Hill and how we can work together to fix it! Tickets are limited, so get them while you can!

Shining Sunlight on Beacon Hill: A Conversation with Senator Jamie Eldridge & Act on Mass

When: Sunday April 7, 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Where: Wellesley (exact address will be provided upon purchase of a ticket)

RSVP >>

Can’t make it on the 7th? Donate to help us reach our goal!

We need to raise $10,000 by our fundraiser on April 7th to keep pace with our budget needs and continue to campaign as strongly as possible for the Sunlight Act and get it to a vote in the Senate. We’ve raised $2,395 thus far! THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed or bought a ticket! We're well on our way but not there yet. In lieu of buying a ticket, you can contribute any amount to help close the gap.

Can you make a donation to help us reach our goal?

MAKE A DONATION TODAY >>

 

Testify in support of the ballot question to audit the Legislature!

Because of your help this past fall, the campaign behind the ballot question to audit the Legislature collected the 75,000 signatures necessary to clear the first hurdle in the process to getting on the ballot. Now, the petition sits in the Legislature as a bill, where it gets a committee hearing: this Tuesday 3/26 at 10:00 am-1:00 pm! After this hearing the Legislature will decide if they want to take the bill up themselves (which is about as likely as Hell freezing over) or send it back to the ballot committee, who then is responsible for collecting another 12,000 signatures to solidify its spot on the ballot in November.

This is a great opportunity to speak directly to the Legislature on this issue. The deadline to register to testify orally is Monday at 12:00. The deadline to submit written testimony is Saturday 3/30. Find information on how to watch the hearing, register to testify, or submit written testimony here:

SEE FULL HEARING DETAILS >>

 

That's it for this week! Wishing you and yours a safe and healthy tax season. May you owe nothing at all, and may your refunds be plentiful.

Until next time,

Erin

Erin Leahy

Executive Director, Act on Mass

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March 27, 2024

Kelly Ayotte is a New Hampshire Republican who served one 6-year term in the U.S. Senate.  She is running for Governor of New Hampshire in 2024.  She is using Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey as her example of bad governance.  Her campaign tagline is to not let New Hampshire become another version of Massachusetts.

What is the problem with Kelly Ayotte scapegoating Maura Healey?  Answer: The problem is that Kelly Ayotte's own public record is wrong.  After the New Town, Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, then U.S. Senator was the only U.S. Senator in the entire North-Eastern region of our country to vote against legislation to stop school shootings, which never passed because politicians chose to leave school children vulnerable to school shootings.

When Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, then U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte allowed his nomination to never be voted on in the U.S. Senate.

In 2024, Kelly Ayotte promises to endorse Donald Trump for U.S. President.  Only 8 years earlier, Kelly Ayotte chose not to endorse Donald Trump for U.S. President after he was caught on a hot mic saying that he likes to grab women by their genitals - only he did not say genitals.

I support Governor Maura Healey.  I do not support candidate for Governor Kelly Ayotte.  It is not because one is a Democrat and the other is a Republican.  It is because Maura Healey stands for good causes, while Kelly Ayotte has a bad public record and if she is elected to the Governor's Office, she would be an extremist who supports Donald Trump, which is not what New Hampshire needs.

Jonathan A. Melle

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April 13, 2024

You sound like Kelly Ayotte, who is running for Governor of New Hampshire in 2024.  By the way, did Maura Healey ever pay a porn star sex worker, as well as a Playboy Model, hush money? A: NO.  Rather, I think that was Donald Trump.  By the way, did Maura Healey ever say on a hot mic that she "grabs women by their [genitals]"? A: NO.  Rather,  I think that was Donald Trump, too.  Lastly, it is NOT Maura Healey who is endorsing Donald Trump for U.S. President in 2024.  Rather, it is Kelly Ayotte who is endorsing Donald Trump in 2024, despite the fact that she declined to do so 8 years prior in 2016.  Hmmm.

Jon Melle

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April 15, 2024

Retiring Lenox State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli said that the Governor Maura Healey administration does NOT have a plan for the 2023 influx of migrants that filled Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system.  Pignatelli said that there is a sharp distinction between Healey’s and the House’s competing plans.  Pignatelli said, "this is not a sustainable model for Massachusetts, and without a good solid plan, not only of the housing needs, but of the financial needs of these folks, I think we're proceeding very cautiously. We want to just continue to work with the administration, but our dollar numbers are very different right now.”

Smitty Pignatelli believes that there real reason why Governor Maura Healey has not plan to spend somewhere around $1 billion per fiscal year on the migrant crisis in Massachusetts is because she is holding out hope that the dysfunctional U.S. Congress and the high inflation Biden administration will provide the commonwealth with billions of "Biden Bucks" to fund the needed social services.

https://www.wamc.org/news/2024-04-16/berkshire-state-reps-dig-into-58-billion-house-budget-draft-ahead-of-debate-earmarks

What is wrong with this picture?  The Massachusetts State Legislature is one of the most unproductive in over one decade.  Smitty Pignatelli does NOTHING but complain about Governor Maura Healey, who has been in her current elected position for 15.5-months, while Smitty Pignatelli has been in his elected position in Boston for over 2 decades.

Jon Melle

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April 18, 2024

I think The Bible meant to say "Pizza on Earth", but it was erroneously translated to "Peace on Earth".  At least we have Pizza on Earth, but we also have to live in a world full of NUKES.

I didn't know that books could be cooked, but then I followed the creative accounting work by government and business financial managers alike, which led me to realize that money is only for the ruling, corporate and financial elites, while the rest of us have to pound sand.

I thought that Pittsfield (Massachusetts) would cost a similar amount of taxpayer dollars to operate per fiscal year compared to similar sized small cities.  Then I realized that the city government's tax rate and operating budget is a Bait & Switch shell game with the state for Pittsfield to receive as much state aid as possible.

I thought that the multi-billion-dollar Massachusetts State Lottery SCAM was for public education, local aid, and other good causes.  But over the years, I have followed the public record of greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley and others like him who see the lottery for what it is - a tax on all of the financial fools in the underclass - while the greed-ball lobbyists in Boston use the regressive state revenues to get huge state tax breaks for the big business clients in the Boston metro area, but let us not forget that big businesses don't exist in most other areas of Massachusetts like they do in Boston.  Does that mean that the lottery is really an inequitable scheme to redistribute Massachusetts commoner residents' money to Boston area big businesses in the form of lucrative state tax breaks?

I could be wring about all of these matters, but I do enjoy eating Pizza, I read that the super-wealthy HAVE received most of the income gains over the past 50 years, while the Have Nots have received a whole $5 per week pay raise since the early- to mid-1970's, I know that Pittsfield politics increases its annual spending by at least 5 percent all the way up to 10 percent per fiscal year for state aid funding, despite all of the decades of large losses in population and living wage jobs in Pittsfield, and, lastly, that during last Summer 2023, Massachusetts Officials had the nerve to brag to the public about the lottery's record profits in fiscal year 2023, which ended on June 30th, 2023, and now, less than one-year later, the same state bureaucrats are complaining about declining state revenues, while the greedy lobbyists in Boston are earning up to 7-figure per year salaries by legally bribing the fictional Massachusetts State Representative Sellout Shakedown.

Jon Melle

P.S. PIZZA, PIZZA

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"Berkshire Democrats oppose State Auditor DiZoglio’s controversial effort to investigate the legislature"

By Josh Landes, WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Josh Landes, April 16, 2024

As Massachusetts Democrats continue to feud over an audit of the legislature, Berkshire County politicians are weighing in.

First-term State Auditor Diana DiZoglio has made auditing Beacon Hill her signature issue, much to the dismay of her fellow Democrats in the state house who claim she lacks the authority to undertake the investigation. She spoke with WAMC this spring.

“We are frequently ranked as one of the least transparent state legislatures in the entire nation, not subject to public records laws, not subject to open meeting laws," said the auditor. "Bills are able to be passed in the middle of the night, sometimes with no recorded roll calls. Committee votes are not recorded.”

With the legislature resisting the audit, DiZoglio is backing a ballot question in November’s election that, if passed, would pressure the body into compliance.

“If the legislature does not adopt this measure and does not agree to adopt the verbiage that was sent to them of including the general court in the language of the law – because we did get 75,000 signatures already to get this issue on the ballot – if they don't accept what the voters want and what the voters have already proven that they wanted via those signatures, then what happens is, we will need to go back to the voters in May and collect another over 12,000 signatures in order to gain ballot access,” she told WAMC.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell told WAMC in February that she doesn’t believe DiZoglio has the authority to conduct the audit.

“Based on our thorough analysis, including reviewing all the materials that the auditor sent us, it was crystal clear that she does not currently have that authority to audit the legislature as she has described that she wants to do," said Campbell. "There’s- Of course, there’s a separate ballot initiative. We approved that ballot initiative that she is also pursuing, and that's up to the voters. If it gets to stage, it will show up for them to vote on, and we’ll proceed from there.”

Members of the Berkshire legislative delegation are unsurprisingly siding with both House leadership and the attorney general.

“I'm not a lawyer, but the Attorney General has sided with the legislature," said 3rd Berkshire District State Representative Smitty Pignatelli. "I mean, as far as I'm concerned, our books are open. I think the auditor can look at them any way she wants. It may not be an official audit under her definition, but I think it's been an open book. The attorney general has backed us up, and she's going to have a ballot question in the fall, and then we'll see where it goes from there. But like I say, I think there's far bigger things to deal with as a political agenda than this particular issue here right now.”

2nd Berkshire District State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier also opposes DiZoglio’s audit.

“There seems to be confusion, or some misinformation about this, and one is, there's an argument that audits happened regularly years ago, and that is true," she told WAMC. "But that was before we had an inspector general in Massachusetts. And so, I think that's important to put that into context. And the other thing that is the most important, the central issue for me, is, you know, I took an oath to uphold the constitution, and this very much appears to be, you know, unconstitutional."

DiZoglio has vowed to fight on despite the intraparty turmoil.

“We have demonstrated clear precedent that the legislature was always audited, and it was always audited up until just recent years, when some speakers decided to push back and decided that they were above the law and above being audited and that the auditor shouldn't have the authority to hold the legislature accountable like every other state entity," she said. "And they stopped complying."

The general election is November 5th, 2024.

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Amendment 698, homeless veterans prioritization for shelter assistance, was rejected on a 27-129 roll call vote.

https://www.statehousenews.com/amend-698/pdf_db5e1a5a-0402-11ef-ad73-8f37db1591c1.html

On Friday, April 26th, 2024, Berkshire State Representatives (aka Rubber Stamps): Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Smitty Pignatelli, and John Barrett III all voted against a state legislative amendment that would have given homeless veterans priority for shelter assistance in Massachusetts.

https://fallriverreporter.com/house-democrats-reject-giving-massachusetts-homeless-veterans-preference-over-migrants-in-shelter-system/

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April 29, 2024

You, Governor "misguided" Maura Healey, are written about on the PlanetValenti.com blog today.  Here is my response to blogger Dan Valenti's blog posting:

Pittsfield politics runs on Perverse Incentives.  Pittsfield will accept thousands of underclass people and underclass families because it will further increase the state aid funding to the city and Level 5 public school district.  Former Mayor Sara "Aberration" Hathaway infamously stated many years ago now that, "Pittsfield is a Junkie for State Aid".

I wish that everyone out there could understand that when Mayor Peter Marchetti proposes his predictable Pittsfield politics municipal budget spending increase of between 5 percent to 10 percent soon, it has NOTHING to do with the taxpayers, nor is about city services and the substandard public school system.  Rather, it is about the city receiving its annual funding of tens of millions of dollars in state aid.

Why does one think that North Street is sarcastically called "Social Services Alley" with the surrounding inner-city neighborhoods sarcastically called "The Ring of Poverty"?  The Answer: Pittsfield ONLY wants as much state aid funding as possible by having a large underclass population that doesn't bother to vote, pay taxes, etc. because the underclass is taken care of by the government - aka the fictional Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski working-class family who lives and PAYS TAXES in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Governor Maura Healey is misguided because she cut and proposes to further cut Social Services state funding, while she expects taxpayers to pay over $1 billion per fiscal year for the huge influx of illegal immigrants in Massachusetts.  Moreover, "misguided" Maura is promoting gambling - which is really regressive taxation that greedy lobbyists such as Dan Bosley profits off of - in Massachusetts.

Jon Melle

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Letter: "Trump is getting a free pass, not being picked on"

The Concord Monitor, 05-16-2024

Although some may feel that Donald Trump is being unfairly picked on, it makes me wonder if former Congressman Frank Guinta feels the same. Years ago, he was accused of misrepresenting campaign funds that he said were his, but weren’t. In the end, he had to return the $355,000 to his family and pay a $15,000 fine. In summary, complaints are filed as Matters Under Review (MURs) and investigated by the Federal Election Commission. The six commission members then vote to make a referral to the Office of General Counsel, or not. So looking back, it appears that many worthy MURs never made it to the Office of General Counsel.

Some are related to the 2016 election, where the Trump campaign hired a UK based company, named Cambridge Analytica. Campaigning 101 says that having foreigners working on your campaign is not allowed. Although complaints were filed, the related MURs were never acted upon. Perhaps it is because then president Trump got to appoint four of the six commissioners to the FEC. Kelly Ayotte strongly promoted Frank Guinta’s resignation back then, but has no similar condemnation of Donald Trump for having likely violated campaign funding laws. As of a June 15, 2022 letter written by two FEC commissioners, 24 of 40 potential violations against Trump, his campaign, or his family members had merit, but were not acted on due to the votes of Trump’s three Republican commission members. To be clear, Trump is getting a free pass, not being picked on.

Don Cavallaro

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HOLY SHIT!

"State moved migrant families to hotels with sex offenders"

By Deirdre Fernandes and Stephanie Ebbert Globe Staff,Updated May 17, 2024

Governor Maura Healey’s administration has placed hundreds of homeless families, many of them migrants with young children, in hotels with registered sex offenders, suggesting the state failed to properly vet the sites in its haste to shelter a surge of families arriving from the US southern border, a Boston Globe investigation found.

At least five of the hotels and one dormitory that the state has tapped as homeless shelters also housed or employed sex offenders who have been convicted of crimes against children, including child rape, indecent assault and battery on children, and child pornography.

The Massachusetts state agency is in the process of removing the individuals: The aforementioned sex offenders.  Advocates were shocked that the state placed vulnerable children among sex offenders

Did Governor Maura Healey LIE to the public?  She stated back in March 2024: “Everybody, including him, who enters our shelter locations is vetted.”  She was referring to the adult sex offenders who allegedly raped a 15-year-old Haitian immigrant girl.

The hotels where the Globe identified sex offenders include the Comfort Inn in Rockland where a 26-year-old man allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl in March. Both are Haitian migrants who were living in the hotel. At the time, Healey sought to reassure the public that the state was screening migrants for criminal backgrounds.

WE ARE PAYING A LOT OF TAX DOLLARS FOR THIS MESS!

The deepening migrant crisis has led the state to expand the family shelter system — at a total cost of nearly $1 billion this year — and block out rooms at area hotels, some of which were already partially occupied.

Lastly, should Governor Maura Healey resign over her alleged lying and mismanagement of the the state's emergency shelter system that fed vulnerable children to the wolves - registered sex offenders?  If she does not resign, then should Governor Maura Healey give us an explanation of why she allegedly lied to the public?

Jon Melle

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Letter: "Ayotte plays the don't Mass. card" - "Ayotte’s cringe slogan"

The NH Union Leader, May 18, 2024 

To the Editor: I noticed gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte has a new slogan: “Don’t Massup, New Hampshire.” Really? Trying to blame newcomers to our state for opposing Republican policies and trying to demonize them for opposing far-right policies.

I have lived here for more than 25 years. I agree that Republicans should stop their attacks on abortion, transgenders, LGBTQ, marijuana and voting rights. Should New Hampshire change its slogan to: “If you don’t agree with us you’re wrong?”

Republicans don’t care how they do it, just so long as they get their own way. When they oppose what the majority of residents want they are wrong. The Republicans say we cannot be trusted with mail-in ballots. It’s the Republicans who cannot be trusted. And when they lose the election they can try to convince us gullible voters it was all Massachusetts’ fault. It is totally pathetic.

Michael Towne

Derry

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May 23, 2024

Someone wrote to me:

"When Joe Biden visited Boston, Massachusetts, it was for the campaign cash, NOT to visit the underclass"

Only serfs beckon their supreme leader for a visit (to see their plight.) Those who know what they are about don't see him.

Are you a serf?

Jon Melle's reply:

I am an American Citizen Activist in politics. I am similar to a serf in that I am a Have Not (who is educated about public policy).

My point here is that Massachusetts state taxpayers are paying somewhere around $1 billion per fiscal year to provide additional social services to the state's large underclass and illegal immigrant populations. Joe Biden's policies are costing state governments, such as Massachusetts, a lot of state tax dollars.

Joe Biden avoided the plight of all of the poor people when he visited Southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts this past Wednesday (05/21/2024) afternoon and evening, but he made sure to raise a lot of money for his presidential reelection campaign. Please note that Joe Biden has raised more campaign cash than any other politician in U.S. history.

State governments spend somewhere around 50 percent of their budgets on public health, social services, welfare programs, and the like. As it stands now, 50 percent is a very high ratio. The underclass is growing larger, the middle-class is shrinking in numbers since the mid-1970's (around 50 years now), the wealthy elites are only about enriching themselves, while the rest of us have to pay for their financial shell games.

How is any of this sustainable over the long-term? What will happen when Massachusetts spends 60, then 70, then 80....percent on public health?

Joe Biden cashing in at campaign fundraisers in Boston is a perfect illustration of everything I just wrote about. However, what does Joe Biden care - as he is an 81.5-year-old man whose future days are numbered in years instead of decades.

Jon Melle

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May 25, 2024

I read that a lot of the state lawmakers in Boston are landlords, who neglect the rising rent and mortgages in Massachusetts.  Imagine a homeless Veteran returning to their hometown in Massachusetts, but they are ineligible for immediate housing under the state' Right to Shelter law.  A homeless Veteran put one's life on the line for our country, but the state law leaves the Veteran at-risk of homelessness....because state lawmakers recently voted the measure down, including Berkshire-based State Representatives Smitty Pignatelli, Tricia Farley Bouvier, and John Barrett III.

Why aren't The Berkshire Eagle and/or blogger Dan Valenti writing about this matter?  It should be "a no brainer": Pass a state law in Massachusetts to make Veterans eligible for immediate housing under the state's Right to Shelter law!

Jon Melle

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June 3, 2024

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

Blogger Dan Valenti was against the Civic Authority, which failed decades ago.  Jimmy Ruberto was a big supporter of the Civic Authority, which made up his base of supporters in his failed 2001 election, but successful 2003 election that made him Mayor of Pittsfield politics for 8 years of his failed leadership.

Jim Bouton published a book published a book about the Civic Authority crew behind Jimmy Ruberto in Pittsfield politics.  The Berkshire Eagle loved Jimmy Ruberto because he took their side over the majority of the people and taxpayers of Pittsfield, who voted down the Civic Authority, which would have been another debacle similar to the soon-to-be 26-year-old heavily indebted and polluted PEDA debacle.

Mayor Jimmy Ruberto put his big bet on the arts and cultural venues for his so-called downtown Pittsfield "Renaissance".  He told voters that he had a ROLODEX to bring businesses back to Pittsfield after GE left town and made the city their toxic waste dump full of capped "leaky" landfills; now, GE is doing the same thing to Lee (Massachusetts) with the full support of Smitty Pignatelli, PAC Man Richie Neal, and Maryland's Ed Markey (D - HOT AIR).

The 2008 recession was the WORST one since the Great Depression in the 1930's.  While the Ruberto "renaissance" worked for a few short years and many millions in wasted tax dollars, the Ruberto "Rolodex" was a flop.  The 2008 recession saw great financial losses, but Jimmy Ruberto kept up his propaganda about his "renaissance" and "Rolodex", which meant the he told Pittsfield taxpayers to "sacrifice" by him raising municipal taxes and spending to record levels in the face of severe fiscal losses.

By 2011, Mayor Jimmy Ruberto's public record in Pittsfield politics was a total failure.  He did not run for a 5th two-year mayoral term.

The irony of Jimmy Ruberto's failed leadership in Pittsfield politics is that he never owned nor rented a residence in Pittsfield (Massachusetts) during his entire life.  As a man in his 50's, he moved into his mother, Edith's, Pittsfield home from Texas, and then placed his mother in a nursing home shortly thereafter, and then many years later, he sold his late-mother's Pittsfield home and purchased a $490,000 condo unit in upscale Lenox, while he has always owned a condo unit in Florida where he is a full-time resident in his Golden Years.

Here was a man who touted his Rolodex, made a false promise about a downtown Renaissance, and raised city taxes and spending through the roof, but Jimmy Ruberto himself never invested in being a home-owner or renter resident of Pittsfield.

A book named "Foul Ball" was written about Jimmy Ruberto and his political base, he supported The Berkshire Eagle over the people and taxpayers of Pittsfield, and he failed on all of his false campaign promises.

If Jimmy Ruberto really is blogger Dan Valenti's friend, then it must be on a personal level only because I could never believe that blogger Dan Valenti would support such a FRAUDSTER on the level of "Luciforo", the late Carmen C. Massimiano, Jr., Angelo Stracuzzi, Peter Larkin, and the like.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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June 15, 2024

The news article below says there may be more work required to balance the Massachusetts state budget that ends on June 30th, 2024; Governor Maura Healey's January 2024 $375 million in emergency cuts to social services and other programs will help to balance the aforementioned fiscal year 2024 state budget; and the big gains in state revenues that came from capital gains and the new surtax on millionaires' incomes did not match other state tax revenues.

Then there was the "sin of omission" by not writing that state lawmakers in Boston giveaway many billions of dollars per fiscal year - estimated to be up to $20 billion per fiscal year - to big businesses who donate big campaign dollars to the powerful career politicians, and that as a result, some greedy lobbyists on Beacon Hill report 7-figure incomes.

How could Boston's career politicians defend the many billions of dollars per fiscal year in state tax breaks and then they go onto say that there is more work required to balance the Massachusetts state budget?

Boston's state government is really a "Pay to Play" scheme, while balancing the Massachusetts state budget is an afterthought. The career politicians are "SCAM Artists".  The taxpayers are assaulted by inequitable schemes such as state lottery tickets that are disguised as regressive taxation on the common people who don't understand all of the levels of financial literacy and economic public policies.  The Financial, Corporate and Ruling Elites are all enriching themselves at the public trough.  It is state government at its WORST!

Jon Melle

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"More work may be required to balance state budget"

By Sam Drysdale | State House News Service - June 15, 2024

BOSTON — With one big month left in a rollercoaster year for state tax revenues, Gov. Maura Healey’s top budget official warned local officials earlier this week that additional steps may still be needed to balance the fiscal year 2024 budget.

Revenues appeared to bounce back from a nine-month slump in March when collections came in 4.7 percent above the administration’s monthly benchmark, and again in April, when tax collections beat expectations by more than $1 billion. However, collections fell again in all major tax types in May — leaving Massachusetts $700 million ahead of its revenue projection with one month left in fiscal year 2024.

Receipts in April, the most significant month for state tax revenue, seemed to be good news for Beacon Hill, but most of the big overage came from capital gains and income surtax revenue — which is statutorily set aside for specifically mandated and limited purposes.

“After adjusting for capital gains and surtax, we could still have some work in order to balance FY24. and that’s what we’re really focused on at this point,” Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz told the Local Government Advisory Commission on Tuesday.

June collections will be important for determining the health of the fiscal 2024 budget, Gorzkowicz said.

Revenue collected in June represents about 11 percent of total tax collections for the year, he said, usually making it the second or third largest month for new revenue.

“There is some opportunity for this picture to change a little bit over the next four weeks, and we’re monitoring that very closely,” Gorzkowicz said. “The administration will continue to keep our spending controls in place and we’ll continue to, again, take a close look at that.”

Fiscal year 2024 ends June 30 [2024]. The Department of Revenue has no specific deadline for reporting June revenues, which often accompany a report on full-year collections. That report is likely to shed more light on how much tax revenue is available to balance the budget, and how much is attributable to surtax or above-threshold capital gains revenues.

Through 11 months of fiscal year 2024, DOR has raked in $36.306 billion. That’s $1.279 billion or 3.7 percent more than collections at the same checkpoint in fiscal 2023, and $700 million or 2 percent ahead of the year-to-date benchmark.

The administration’s budget chief said Tuesday that May’s collections dip was evidence that Healey made the right choice in pursuing mid-year budget cuts in January [2024].

“It does, I think, add to the prudence in terms of budgeting and the rebalancing steps that we took in January. It also, I think, goes to some of the fiscal controls that we’ve put in place and continue to keep in place while we sort through what some of the revenue pictures look like,” he said, referencing Executive Branch hiring controls put in place in April to limit new additions to the state’s payroll.

With the support of Healey and former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, legislative leaders in recent years have overseen tax cuts and rebates and a major increase in state spending, especially when Massachusetts was flush with surging tax receipts and federal pandemic aid.

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June 17, 2024

Hello Governor Maura Healey,

I am on your side.  I am happy to support and vote for Joyce Craig for Governor of New Hampshire.

Kelly Ayotte is an extremist.  She is a total hypocrite, too, because 8 years ago, she un-endorsed Donald Trump for U.S. President after his "Grab women by their [genitals]" open mic episode, but now in 2024, she is endorsing Donald Trump for U.S. President.

I believe that you and would-be Governor of New Hampshire Joyce Craig would make a great team.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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June 17, 2024

Hello,

I’ve been clear from the day I announced my campaign for Governor — I will always make sure that Massachusetts stands up for freedom.

However, crucial rights remain under threat in states around the country.

This year, there’s a critical governor’s race in New Hampshire. I know the choice is clear. I’m supporting Joyce Craig for Governor of New Hampshire because she’ll deliver for her state and stand up for freedom.

The stakes are high. That’s why I’m reaching out to ask you to make a contribution to Joyce’s campaign.

The Republican candidates in this race are extreme threats to fundamental freedoms. Both candidates are opposed to marriage equality. And they will rollback abortion access in New Hampshire.

We cannot let New Hampshire go backwards.

That’s why I’m supporting the candidate who won’t back down from defending the people of New Hampshire — Joyce Craig.

When Joyce was mayor of Manchester, she was the first to raise the Pride flag at city hall. She’s announced a comprehensive plan to protect and expand reproductive rights the second she’s sworn in as Governor, including codifying access to abortion, expanding access to reproductive health care funding, and making New Hampshire a stronghold for reproductive freedoms.

Joyce is a leader who will protect fundamental freedoms in New Hampshire. She’s a person who stands up for what’s right. As Governor, I know she’ll be the partner Massachusetts needs, and I’m proud to support her.

We cannot let extreme candidates win — in Massachusetts, New England, or around the country. If you’d like to join me and support Joyce, please make a donation by clicking the button below.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

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Thank you,

-Maura Healey

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June 18, 2024

Hello news media & blogs,

The Berkshire Eagle published a glowing letter praising the career politician Smitty Pignatelli for double-dipping as a 22-years-long Lenox State Representative who will serve as the interim Town Manager in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Will Smitty Pignatelli juice up his public pension(s) for life by double dipping and serving as the interim Lenox Town Manager?

Why doesn't the news media and blogs ask Smitty Pignatelli if he will not use his double dipping public pay plus perks to increase his public pension(s) for life?

What about Smitty Pignatelli's support of GE's planned capped "leaky" landfill in Lee, Massachusetts with the polluted Housatonic River abutting the Lenoxdale area of Lenox?

Why doesn't the news media and blogs ask the people of Lenoxdale how they feel about Smitty Pignatelli's double dipping?  Do they want their tax dollars paying Smitty Pignatelli (for life) after he sold them down the river?

Why does The Berkshire Eagle always kiss Smitty Pignatelli's dirty behind?  Smitty Pignatelli is a nothing more than a double dipper who will juice up his public pension(s) for life.

Jonathan A. Melle

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Letter: "Welcome (back) to Lenox town government, Smitty"

The Berkshire Eagle, Opinion: Letter to the Editor, June 18, 2024

To the editor: Smitty Pignatelli will now have a much shorter commute to work. ("State Rep. William 'Smitty' Pignatelli will serve as interim town manager in Lenox," Eagle, June 13.)

For 22 years he has been driving the Mass Pike to the Statehouse in Boston and back. At peak times for the Legislature, he made the long trip daily.

Now Smitty can walk to work at the Lenox Town Hall in his new position as interim town manager. Welcome home, Smitty.

Henry Kranz, Lenox

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Letter: "What I think is missing from the housing bill on Beacon Hill"

The Berkshire Eagle, June 19, 2024

To the editor: The housing bond bill passed by the House this month neglected to mention the key policy that can bring relief to people struggling with out-of-control rents.

The state estimates that 200,000 new housing units are needed by 2030 just to keep up with demand. But the bond bill would enable the creation of only 40,000 units.

We must not abandon residents to the whims of predatory real estate speculators, especially during the decades it will take to make the housing market more affordable. We need rent stabilization policies to protect people while we also pursue long-term reforms to produce more accessible and affordable housing.

Al Blake, Becket

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June 23, 2024

The 3 Stooges - Pittsfield Mayor Peter Marchetti, Berkshire D.A. Tim Shugrue, and Berkshire Sheriff Tom Bowler - all make 6-figure public pay plus perks for life as future public pensioners.  It must be nice to be a complete joke!!

Rome is burning....up the wallets of the Pittsfield taxpayers.  In full-time resident of Sunny Florida Jimmy Ruberto's part-time Town of Lenox, Smitty Pignatelli is a double dipper who is probably juicing up his future public pension(s) plus perks for life.

Disgraced former double dipper Pittsfield State Senator Luciforo cashed in as Pittsfield's Pot King...of lawsuits, including his ongoing lawsuit in Boston trying to bust unions representing marijuana workers in Massachusetts.

Former Massachusetts state lawmakers Peter Larkin, Dan Bosley, Stan Rosenberg, and other public pensioners are greedy lobbyists who never left the Boston Statehouse because it is PAY to PLAY in Boston.

PAC Man Richie Neal rakes in millions of dollars per year from the Swamp's K Street corporate lobbyist firms, especially insurance companies.  Joe Biden raised and spent more campaign money than any other politician in U.S. history, but this past week, his challenger, former U.S. President Donald Trump, surpassed Joe Biden in campaign donations for the first time ever as the November election is fast approaching.

The Golden Rule is politics is that those with the Gold get to rule, while the rest of us pay taxes and pound sand.

Jon Melle

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Letter: "Sturgeon is perfect pick to lead Fourth of July Parade"

The Berkshire Eagle, June 25, 2024

To the editor: When I first heard the news that my friend “Wild” Bill Sturgeon was being named the grand marshal of the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade, I yelled out a big "yes." ("Pittsfield: Sturgeon named parade marshal," Eagle, June 19.)

I couldn’t think of a more deserving choice than Bill. He’s done so much not only for the Berkshires but for America in his commitment to service. It also came as no surprise to me that his first thought was for the veterans, especially his friends who never made it home from Vietnam. He and I have had many conversations over the years about showing appreciation and respect to those who came before us and remembering the sacrifice that so many have made to preserve our freedoms who are forever young in our hearts and memories.

This will be my last official march after 22 years as state representative, and just knowing that my friend will be leading the way will make it even more special. Thank you, Pittsfield Parade Committee, and congratulations to Bill for your friendship to me and so many others.

Happy Fourth to all.

William "Smitty" Pignatelli, Lenox

The writer is the state representative for the 3rd Berkshire District.

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June 25, 2024

Why did State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli - along with State Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier & John Barrett III - recently and successfully vote down giving at risk homeless Veterans priority to Emergency Shelter in Massachusetts, but then he writes and publishes a letter saying he has appreciation and respect for Veterans?

Jon Melle

100% service connected permanently and totally disabled Veteran

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June 29, 2024

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

Why does anyone care about my (honorable) military service?  I am not a career politician.  I believe that Governor Maura Healey stands with Veterans, but I strongly disagree with her doing more for illegal immigrants than Veterans in Massachusetts.  I believe that the Berkshire-based State Reps. Smitty Pignatelli, Tricia Farley-Bouvier and John Barrett III's recent vote against giving at-risk homeless Veterans priority to Emergency Housing Assistance in Massachusetts was wrong.

Smitty wrote a letter saying how he supports Veterans, but his public record does not always back up his always lofty words that he bestows upon himself.  John Barrett III was the Mayor of North Adams.  Isn't the first thing a Mayor turned State Rep. does is ensure that the people he serves are safe with a roof over their heads?  Tricia Farley-Bouvier prefers illegal immigrants on all public policy levels.

Homelessness is a structural assault on a person and/or family.  There should be no such thing as homelessness.  The huge underclass population in our country is a perfect illustration of how career politicians fail the people they supposedly serve in the government.

I am a member of the underclass population.  My native hometown is the distressed City of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  I did not make it in my life to live the so-called American Dream of owning a beautiful home with at least 2 new cars in the garage with 2 to 3 happy and healthy children who will never have to worry about their financial well-being.

I am Jon Melle, a disabled Veteran who lives in a 1-bedroom condo unit with his Emotional Support Animal 16-year-old dog named Chocolate in Amherst, NH, and drives a 2018 car to my VA appointments.

My surname is from a small municipality named Melle in Piedmont, Italy.  My great-great grandfather named Michael P. Melle emigrated from Melle, Piedmont, Italy to Pittsfield, Massachusetts sometime in the late-19th Century, and he died in Pittsfield in 1937.  My great-grandfather, Albert Henry Melle, was born in Pittsfield in 1895, and passed away in Pittsfield in 1971.  I come from a working-class, blue collar family who are from Pittsfield.

For a little over 28 years since the Spring 1996, I have been conspiratorially persecuted by Luciforo, who is also known as Pittsfield's Pot King....of lawsuits, including the one in Boston whereby he is trying to bust unions who represent marijuana industry workers in Massachusetts because just as city tax dollars don't matter to Nuciforo, neither do unions and workers.  To Luciforo, the only thing that matters is MONEY, which is the (Berkshire) root of all EVIL!

My relative Peter Marchetti - we share the same great-grandparents who emigrated to Pittsfield from Italy well over one century ago - is the current Mayor of Pittsfield politics, but he is all about money and power instead of family and community.  He allowed my Enemy #1 in my life named Luciforo to receive a city FREE CASH pot settlement of $341,000, while Pittsfield's Pot King (Nuciforo) is allowed to stink up residential neighborhoods in Pittsfield with his largest in the region marijuana growing operation on Dalton Avenue.  Pittsfield taxpayers pay their city taxes to enrich Luciforo and allow him to stink up their neighborhoods because Pittsfield is in The Twilight Zone. 

I am NOT a WINNER in life.  I choose to be the opposite of the aforementioned career politicians by simply being a good man in my limited time on Earth.  Whatever happened to being a good man?  Why does everyone, especially the 60-year-old Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, have to be so great by picking on the soon to be 49-year-old Jon Melle?  If I am lucky, I only have around 36 years to go in my life, and then I become a memory sometime around the year 2060 give or take a couple of years.

Jon Melle

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July 6, 2024

Luciforo lives in (both Boston & Pittsfield) Massachusetts.  He has conspiratorially persecuted me for a little over 28 years of my adult life now.  I am afraid to move back to Massachusetts because Luciforo would continue his EVIL quest to drive me to insanity.

Joyce Craig and Gov. Maura Healey both stand for good causes.  They have my full support.  I believe that they would make a great team together.  I believe that they strongly support Veterans, too.

Kelly Ayotte un-endorsed Donald Trump 8 years ago in 2016, but in 2024, she endorses him.  She flipped-flopped on Trump's hot mic "Grab women by their genitals" scandal.  The one word I would use to describe Donald Trump and Kelly Ayotte alike is CRINGE.

Two other reasons why I support Gov. Maura Healey is because Lenox State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli has excessively criticized her 1.5-year administration, while he has been in the same elected office for a little over 21.5-years now; and, Kelly Ayotte has used Gov. Maura Healey as her target of derision in Kelly Ayotte's CRINGE 2024 campaign for Governor of New Hampshire.

Jon Melle

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July 8, 2024

I feel bad for Linda & Barry Clairmont because Luciforo lives 0.3 miles from them in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College.  I would NOT want Pittsfield's Pot King living near me, but I don't have such problems because I am a disabled Veteran so I am not worth millions of dollars like they are.

I have been a proud supporter of Linda Tyer (Clairmont) supporter since 2003 when I lived in Pittsfield (Massachusetts) way back then.  I have followed her political career in Pittsfield politics for 2 decades.  I wish her well in her new position at Berkshire Community College.  I wish Linda & Barry a wonderful life together.

Andrea Harrington and her family relocated in the early-Spring of 2023.

https://www.iberkshires.com/story/75070/Former-District-Attorney-Marks-Year-In-New-Position-in-St.-Louis-.html

I wish her and her family well in the St. Louis region.  I did not like how the failed career politicians such as greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley, the wealthy Sherwood Guernsey, and the like, ganged up on her.  D.A. Tim Shugrue's public record is no better than his predecessor.

Tricia Farley-Bouvier is still a career politician in Boston since the Autumn season of 2011.  Her public record in Boston has very few achievements.  I disagreed with her support of the 2018 art sales of tens of millions of dollars in artworks by the Berkshire Museum.  Her number one legislative priority in 2024 is to decriminalize sex workers in Massachusetts.  She has long blocked my political emails, but so does Paul Mark, Smitty Pignatelli, and Maryland's Ed Markey.

Jon Melle

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Letter: "Urge lawmakers to get 'circus bill' rolling"

The Berkshire Eagle, July 9, 2024

To the editor: The current two-year legislative session in Boston is winding down.

There are more than 6,000 bills ranging from mundane to monumental that have been wending their way through the very complex process.

H.3245 (the “circus bill” in House Ways and Means) is a bill of monumental importance, and it needs our help to nudge it across the finish line. The cruelty to wild and exotic animals inherent in their training, confinement and travel is well known. Dangers to the public from aggression and zoonotic diseases like TB are well documented. The Animal Welfare Act is weak and poorly enforced.

Currently, more than 40 countries, 10 U.S. states and 200 localities in 37 states have similar laws. Massachusetts alone has 15 municipalities. Pittsfield is proud to be one of them, with a bylaw introduced by Berkshire Voters for Animals. Since even world-famous circuses like Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey have discontinued the use of elephants in their shows, this is a state law whose time has come.

Here’s where we can help. It's great that our state representatives are all co-sponsors who support H.3245. So, we can thank them and ask them to personally contact House House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, urging him to report the bill favorably out of committee and onto the floor for debate and vote. Please take a minute to do it.

Here is the information you need:

For Northern Berkshire residents, contact Rep. John Barrett III at 413-743-8300 or john.barrett@mahouse.gov.

For Pittsfield residents, contact Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier at 413-442-4300 or Tricia.Farley-Bouvier@mahouse.gov.

For Southern Berkshire residents, contact Rep. Smitty Pignatelli at 413-637-0631 or rep.smitty@mahouse.gov.

Marnie Meyers, Windsor

The writer represents Berkshire Voters for Animals.

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July 14, 2024

The 21.5-years in Boston career politician (and double dipper Lenox Town Manager) Smitty Pignatelli has been consistently and excessively publicly criticizing Governor Maura Healey's 1.5-year brief tenure, but on Wednesday evening, 07/17/2024, he is going to introduce her at a fundraising Gala.

I wonder which Smitty will show up?  Will it be the Smitty Pignatelli who has been throwing her under the bus over and over again?  Or, will it be the Smitty Pignatelli who will shower her with glowing praises?

Oh, by the way, Smitty, every time that you have blamed Governor Maura Healey in the news media, I have apprised her of your harsh words of blame instead of Smitty looking at himself in the proverbial mirror of his a little over 2 decades of failed leadership in Boston.

https://www.iberkshires.com/story/75996/Fairview-Hospital-Will-Honor-Gov.-Healey-at-Gala.html

Jon Melle

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"Fairview Hospital Will Honor Gov. Healey at Gala"

iBerkshires.com - July 13, 2024

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Fairview Hospital announced the Fairview Hospital's 2024 "Looking to the Future" Garden Gala will take place on Wednesday, July 17 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Gedney Farm in New Marlborough.

 

The event is a major fundraiser for Fairview Hospital, Berkshire Health Systems' 25-bed critical access hospital in Great Barrington.  Funds raised will support priority equipment needs at Fairview Hospital.

 

This year, the event will be held in honor of Maura Healey, Governor of Massachusetts, who will be in attendance and is being recognized for her work supporting access to healthcare in rural communities. Representative Smitty Pignatelli of the Third Berkshire District will introduce the Governor.

 

The evening, which is organized by a 35-member community committee representing the different towns in Fairview Hospital's service area, will include a reception featuring hors d'oeuvres and cocktails and live music by The Wanda Houston Band. 

 

Tickets are limited and available by calling Fairview Hospital's Community Relations Office at (413) 854-9609.

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Letter: "Beware bill that would rob us of home rule on big energy projects"

The Berkshire Eagle, July 16, 2024

To the editor: The Massachusetts Senate just approved energy legislation that is shocking in its scope and would strip communities of local control over the siting and permitting of industrial solar, onshore wind turbines, large-scale battery storage, and utility transmission and distribution infrastructure.

S.2838 — An Act upgrading the grid and protecting ratepayers — is a radical overhaul of our state’s permitting structure for energy facilities of all kinds, at the state and local levels.

The state House of Representatives is about to vote for virtually the same legislation.

A 2020 report from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs projected that “even with maximal rooftop [solar panel] deployment far in excess of historic levels,” we’ll still need 60,000 acres of ground-mounted solar arrays — and potentially double that amount — to meet the state’s clean energy goals by 2050. Another official report estimates that if all thermal power plants are shut down, our state will need about 158,000 acres for solar panels by then.

Land is cheapest in the western part of the state. This legislation is directed at us. Government officials know that once citizens start seeing vast solar buildouts scarring our landscapes, wind turbines littering our ridgelines, and huge battery-storage facilities shoehorned into our neighborhoods, there will be furious protests in town halls throughout our region.

So the legislative leaders have decided that for energy projects 25 megawatts or larger, all decisions will be made by a single state agency. The host town government will be able to submit comments or rack up legal bills trying to protest within a system stacked against it. That’s it.

For projects smaller than 25 megawatts, all local permits will be consolidated into one application, to be reviewed and approved by the town using standards set by the state. The only possible appeal will be to that single-state agency, and that remedy will be available solely to applicants or to parties that are “substantially and specifically affected,” meaning virtually nobody.

Supporting clean energy shouldn’t cost our home-rule rights. The only way to stop this outrageous power grab is for the delegations of the western counties to tell the House leadership they strongly object to any loss of local control. The vote is imminent. Please call your state representative right away and say “vote no to less local control.”

If you want to find your representative, visit https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator. And remember on Election Day.

Eleanor Tillinghast, Mount Washington

The writer is president of Green Berkshires.

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"Mass. last state in US without approved budget"

newburyportnews.com - By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter, July 17, 2024

BOSTON — Massachusetts is dead last in the nation to approve a fiscal year budget with closed door House and Senate negotiations yet to produce a final spending package.

The fiscal year began July 1, [2024], but lawmakers haven’t reached agreement on controversial policy issues and other sticking points in the nearly $58 billion plan.

Massachusetts is one of only two states — Michigan is the other — without an approved fiscal 202[5] budget, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Michigan’s state lawmakers passed a final budget package two weeks ago, sending it to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for review.

On Beacon Hill, a six-member legislative committee is still negotiating. Lawmakers broke for the July Fourth holiday but started up again this week.

Like most states, Massachusetts is required to have a budget, even if temporary, to keep the government running. There are no penalties for approving it late.

Gov. Maura Healey signed a nearly $7 billion interim budget on June 28 to fund the state government through July 31 or until a final budget is approved.

The House and Senate approved separate versions of the roughly $58 billion budget months ago, but a final spending package remains tied up in negotiations.

Both budget plans include more money for education, housing, transportation, health care and environmental protection.

They also call for spending $1.3 billion from the newly enacted “millionaires tax” by divvying up the money for a range of education and transportation programs and new initiatives. The voter-approved law, which went into effect last year, set a 4% surtax on incomes above $1 million.

What's holding up the budget isn't clear, as the lawmakers deliberating on the spending package have closed their proceedings to the press and public.

One possible sticking point could be proposed policy changes, such as a plan to spend $117.5 million to offer free community college for all Massachusetts residents and provide stipends for low-income community college students to cover the cost of books, transportation and child care.

The state Senate included that proposal in its version of the spending plan, but the House of Representatives didn’t.

Tardy spending packages have become a tradition on Beacon Hill in recent years, with the past 14 state budgets coming in after the July 1 deadline.

The conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance said the late budget is an example of Beacon Hill’s “dysfunctional” leadership that it claims is resisting calls to cut state taxes amid a windfall of surplus revenues.

The group took aim specifically at House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, and Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, for the logjam of legislation.

"Missing the annual budget deadline for the eighth year in a row is not something to be proud of, it’s an embarrassment," MassFiscal spokesman Paul Craney said. "While legislative leaders may not think it’s a big deal, it sends the signal that Massachusetts is not serious.

Craney said the late budget hurts local governments that are trying to finalize their own spending plans as they wait to find out how much funding they will receive from the state. He said it also delays policies that need to be renewed as part of the annual budget.

Once lawmakers agree on a final budget, the House and Senate will hold up or down votes, with no amendments allowed. The package then goes to Healey, who has 10 days to review it.

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com

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https://www.wamc.org/news/2024-07-17/pignatelli-talks-750-000-federal-earmark-for-lenox-town-hall-restoration-economic-impact-of-2024-tourist-season-and-more

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"Gov. Healey signs $57.8 billion state budget, vetoing $317 million"

By Colin A. Young, State House News Service, July 29, 2024

Gov. Maura Healey gave her OK to sweeping statewide policy changes Monday afternoon as part of the overdue fiscal year 2025 budget, signing free community college, online Mass. Lottery products, free rides on regional transit authorities and more into law while making only minor adjustments to the spending plan crafted by House and Senate Democrats.

The governor signed nearly all of the budget the Legislature sent her 10 days ago, approving of all but three of the 261 policy proposals lawmakers padded it with. But she also potentially created more work for the Legislature by trimming $317 million from 60 separate line items in the spending plan with her veto pen just more than 48 hours before formal sessions are set to conclude, leaving the House and Senate little time to take the votes necessary if they choose to overrule the governor.

The budget, which the governor's office said carries a $57.78 billion bottom line after Healey's actions, increases state spending by about $1.7 billion, or about 3.1 percent, over last year's budget. It uses about $1.2 billion in one-time revenues to support the outlays during a time of volatile state tax collections and an expected increase in revenues from the state's new tax on household income above $1 million is also helping the state to boost spending.

"The budget today represents a whole lot of things. One thing it represents is investments on things that we're already leading on, and making them even better. This includes our number-one ranked schools and our nation-leading child care policy. We're also tackling our biggest challenges by lowering household costs and improving transportation," the governor said during a signing ceremony in her ceremonial office Monday afternoon. "We're doing this all responsibly, fiscally responsibly, staying within our means, and in line with the rate of inflation. We've worked hard to make sure that every taxpayer dollar is focused on making life better for all who live and work in our state."

Legislators packed the budget with policy provisions, authorizing free community college, free rides on regional transit services, and legal online Lottery sales to fund a permanent Commonwealth Cares for Children grant program that launched during the pandemic with federal dollars — all of which Healey signed off on Monday. The governor also touted the budget's investment in her "Literacy Launch" program, which aims to connect all children from three years old to third grade with high-quality and evidence-based reading instruction, as well as its dedication of 1 percent of total spending to environment and energy initiatives.

The Senate initiative to make community college permanently free for all will cost $117.5 million, covering tuition and fees for students. And the House-backed idea of authorizing online Lottery sales is projected to pull in $100 million for the popular C3 early education grant program. Another section of the budget aims to prevent so-called home equity theft, which refers to a municipality taking more of a property owner's earned equity than is owed in unpaid taxes and other expenses.

"All of these investments are focused on making life better, making life easier for people in Massachusetts, making it more affordable to live here, to work here, to raise children here. This also makes us more competitive — more competitive for our employers, for economic growth, particularly as we compare ourselves to other states," Healey said. "So it's a really important investment, this budget."

The fiscal 2025 budget is supported by $1.3 billion in revenue generated from the state's 4 percent surtax on household income above $1 million, on top of the general state revenue foundation of $40.2 billion that lawmakers and the administration agreed to months ago.

The surtax revenue — which is restricted by law to education and transportation uses — is being deployed in the budget to cover tuition-free community college, free RTA rides, the costs of providing universal free school meals in K-12 schools, enhanced minimum aid funding to local schools, additional financial aid for Massachusetts public college and university students, local road and bridge funding, and more.

"Those are just a few of the transformative investments made possible by the ultra-rich paying more of their fair share in state taxes. We’re starting to rebuild the transportation and education infrastructure that everyone in our state, from families and seniors to workers and businesses, needs to succeed," Andrew Farnitano, spokesman for the Raise Up Massachusetts group that successfully pushed for the surtax, said.

The fiscal 2025 budget includes a $447 million direct appropriation to the MBTA, which is just one portion of the funding the T receives but represents a significant increase over the current spending plan at a time when the state is considering new ways to finance transportation across the state. There is also $110 million for the state's 15 regional transit authorities, $40 million of which is projected to be used to allow those agencies to eliminate fares for riders.

House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said the "record number funding" for the T was a House priority and suggested that the chamber could dive into a more thorough transportation financing conversation when the new legislative term starts in January.

He said funding for the MBTA is "something that we know we still have to continue to work through and something that we're not walking away from, but actually leaning in on and something that we're going to be working on going forward."

Lawmakers and budget managers in the Healey administration are also likely to have to work on funding for the state's overburdened emergency family shelter system in fiscal year 2025. The budget Healey signed Monday includes $326 million to contribute to the state’s ongoing shelter response, but the actual costs of providing shelter to homeless families swelled to roughly $1 billion last budget year, though Healey has since changed the program's terms in an attempt to control costs.

A host of legislators joined Healey in her ceremonial office for the budget signing — Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Ronald Mariano, Michewlitz, Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues, Democratic Reps. Tommy Vitolo of Brookline and Adam Scanlon of North Attleborough, and Weymouth Republican Sen. Patrick O'Connor.

"What we have here is a document that we can all sort of take a bow on," Mariano said.

Healey apparently felt the same way, judging by the light touch she took with her veto and amendment pen. Of the 261 outside policy sections, Healey approved 258 in full and sent three back in proposed amendments. And of the budget's nearly $58 billion in spending, Healey reduced or vetoed 60 line items for a total reduction of $317 million, or about 0.5 percent. The Mass. Taxpayers Foundation said Healey's vetoes are "the highest level of proposed budget cuts in at least five years."

"Look, our economy is strong, our bond rating is excellent, we've got money in our rainy day fund. But it's also our responsibility to make sure that we're being fiscally responsible in a time where there's still some uncertainty as to economic conditions. And we would rather be in a position of budgeting accordingly now, rather than facing the specter of having to make cuts later, better to plan than to have to make cuts later," Healey said when asked about the thinking behind her vetoes. "We think these vetoes were vetoes that were well-managed. $317 million, it's more than last year. But again, we think we've done so in a way that is responsible and also doesn't do harm to the delivery of service."

The single largest veto was in the MassHealth managed care account, where Healey cut $192.3 million and said the remaining $5.9 billion in the account was the "amount projected to be necessary due to anticipated utilization, timing of rate updates, and new revenues."

MTF said Monday that Healey's vetoes total $316.8 million in gross spending with a net impact of $248 million. Health care spending, including the MassHealth managed care line item, took the brunt of reductions at $233.3 million. The governor also vetoed $24 million from education accounts, $19.7 million from support services, $11.6 million from energy and environment line items, $8.2 million from economic development initiatives, $1.5 million from housing accounts, $600,000 from public safety funds, and $9.9 million categorized as "other," MTF said.

"Notably, if the Legislature maintains the proposed cuts, the final FY 2025 budget would spend less than the administration’s original recommendation by $352 million. This speaks to the significant spending and revenue fluctuations that the state experienced throughout FY 2024, and how they may impact FY 2025," MTF wrote in its analysis of Healey's budget actions Monday. "The decision to veto this amount of spending provides the Healey administration with some of the flexibility it requires to respond to unexpected cost increases or revenue downturns throughout the fiscal year."

The Legislature has just two days left for formal sessions to consider Healey's vetoes. The governor can't stop the House and Senate from overriding her vetoes with two-thirds support in each branch, but she could still veto any of the policy sections that the Legislature returns after July 31, and the Legislature would be effectively powerless to react. Lawmakers last year overrode about $83 million or roughly 30 percent of the $276 million that Healey vetoed from the fiscal 2024 budget.

The three policy sections that Healey returned with proposed amendments deal with a new MassHealth "notice of eligibility" requirement and with $63 million in annual supplemental MassHealth payments to Cambridge Health Alliance (technically two sections).

Healey's amendment would make the Cambridge Health Alliance payments contingent upon the availability of federal funds and federal approvals for the payments, and her MassHealth amendment would change when MassHealth is required to notify eligible members ages 55 or older of the options for enrolling in voluntary senior care programs.

Among 46 states whose fiscal year began July 1, Massachusetts was the last one to put an annual spending plan in place, according to data tracked by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Lawmakers and Healey previously agreed to an interim budget covering state expenses for about a month.

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"Advocates blast Mass. Legislature dysfunction at end of session"

By Anjali Huynh and Samantha J. Gross, Boston Globe Staff, August 1, 2024

Advocates, activists, and others with business before the Legislature woke up Thursday to see what lawmakers accomplished in their final, 23-hour-long day of formal proceedings, and expressed the same sentiment again and again: disappointment.

The House and Senate gaveled out after 19 months of work, having sent to Governor Maura Healey three major legislative packages, including a $5.2 billion housing bill, but left on the table numerous others intended to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the state.

It’s hardly the first time the Legislature has left important work to the final minute: Two years prior, a similar scenario unfolded with lawmakers up all night, only for a major tax relief proposal to die at the close of session. Current and former politicians, however, said the dysfunction in the Legislature has increased in recent years, as control over what legislation moves forward is increasingly consolidated to a few high-ranking lawmakers. Many legislators spent much of Wednesday night and the early hours of Thursday morning simply waiting for something to happen.

“This has been getting worse and worse, this mash-up at the end of session, and all the signs for a long time were that this was going to be the worst ever,” said Jonathan Hecht, a former state representative who now advocates for legislative reform.

“There’s so much evidence now that the Legislature doesn’t function and the concentration of power in the hands of a few people . . . means it can veer into crisis very easily,” he added. “It’s just not like the way most legislatures operate, where there’s a regular flow of business.”

A study from FiscalNote, a group that helps track policy, found that in 2021, Massachusetts introduced the second-highest number of bills but enacted the second fewest of any state legislature. Proponents of reform in the Legislature said they suspect productivity has only worsened since then.

Bills the Legislature failed to complete included ones on economic development, maternal health, supervised consumption sites, and clean energy. On Thursday morning, a couple dozen environmental justice activists assembled at the State House to express their displeasure, chanting, “This is not OK. Climate change doesn’t wait.”

“Even a small, cautious step forward would have been better than nothing,” said Dan Zackin, the legislative coordinator at 350 Mass, a climate advocacy group. “By choosing inaction, they have validated some of the more radical voices in the movement who say that people in power will never be our allies.”

“This is a deeply broken Legislature in what is supposed to be one of the most progressive states in the entire country,” he added, “and it’s incredibly pathetic.”

Even Healey weighed in after making a late-night appearance at the building Wednesday. “There were a number of urgent priorities left on the table,” the governor said, pointing to an economic development bill that would allocate hundreds of millions to the life sciences industry.

At least some in power see nothing wrong with the status quo. House Speaker Ron Mariano told reporters at 7 a.m. Thursday that he viewed the late marathon sessions as the norm. “It’s just the nature of the business that we’re in,” he said. When asked if that was an efficient way of law making, he shrugged and said, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

His counterpart in the Senate, however, soundedless confident. Senate President Karen E. Spilka said she hopes that the late-night sessions would not be a pattern, and that it is “certainly something that we will be taking a look at.

Auditor Diana DiZoglio, who is championing a ballot question that would allow her office to scrutinize the Legislature, emphasized a need for more legislators to be involved in the process.

“Any observer of this legislative session will come to the same conclusion: government is not supposed to operate the way the Massachusetts Legislature is operating right now,” she said.

“If an all-hands-on-deck approach was taken, where the entire body was empowered to work on assignments to ensure important legislation crossed the finish line, I believe we’d see real, meaningful, and positive change,” DiZoglio added.

As late night became early Thursday morning, legislators passed blame on who was at fault for the breakdown in negotiations.

Senator Michael Barrett told reporters around midnight that his House counterparts were the obstacle on a sweeping climate bill. The acrimony, he said, was not exclusive to his bill.

”There seems to be a larger game afoot,” he said of negotiations. “There are all kinds of problems with all kinds of conference committees.”

Across the building, Representative Jeff Roy, the House’s chief negotiator on the bill, accused the Senate of having “gone back on its word.” He said Senateand House leaders, along with Healey, had all agreed on language that would reshape the way that energy projects are approved and sited in Massachusetts.

But for advocates of many policy proposals that stalled when the chambers gaveled out, specifics did not matter so much as the results, or lack thereof.

And at least one candidate running for office seized on the Legislature’s inability to push through more legislation as part of a campaign pitch: Evan MacKay, a Democrat running to unseatincumbent Representative Marjorie Decker of Cambridge, issued a statement saying they were “heartbroken and enraged” by the lack of transparency in final negotiations, which they said “lets politicians hide and shirk responsibility.”

“Under the status quo, legislators delay and delay to create the illusion of progress at the last minute when bills like this should have passed months ago,” MacKay said of the Massachusetts Parentage Act, one of the few pieces of legislation sent to Healey’s desk in the final days of thesession.

The Massachusetts GOP, too, blasted the leadership infighting on the final day of formal sessions, calling it “a chaotic display of Democratic supermajority arrogance and disorganized legislating.”

And the dysfunction also disappointed business leaders, typically reluctant to criticize policy makers. The Kraft Group voiced its displeasure that a plan that would allow it to build a soccer stadium for the New England Revolution in Everett did not make it out of committee. James Rooney, chief executive of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, also said “there is still more work to do,” pointing to incomplete energy and economic development legislation.

Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said movement on legislation is still possible in informal sessions over the rest of the year, though approval can be stopped by one lawmaker. Leaders indicated they would aim to see legislation through in those sessions.

“Before we get to the post-mortem, let’s figure out how to get these bills done,” Howgate said.

But he added that lawmakers might get more done by end of session if they took up legislation earlier on, saying, “Going forward, how do we try to make sure that major pieces of legislation are not all kind of competing with each other for time and attention?”

The sentiment extended to members as well: Senator Marc Pacheco, a Taunton Democrat who will retire following this session after over three decades, said his parting message was for colleagues to consider moving bills quicker and earlier on, and for advocates to continue to put pressure on legislators.

“Citizen participation,” he said, “is a big deal and people in the Legislature need to hear from people all the time because it’s about political will: Are you willing to do what you need to do to get done what really needs to take place?”

Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com. Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross.

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August 1, 2024

Last Summer 2023, Massachusetts Officials bragged that the state lottery had its highest net profit ever in its 51st fiscal year of operation. This Summer 2024, they are bragging that the state lottery had its second highest net profit in its 52nd fiscal year.

This is really horrible news because the state lottery is nothing more than (voluntary) regressive taxation that exploits no- low- and moderate-income residents who live in distressed cities and towns throughout Massachusetts.

In Boston, some greedy lobbyist report 7-figure incomes, while many report 6-figure incomes. The state lottery is one of their favorite state revenue sources because it allows them to obtain large state tax breaks for their big business clients, which do not exist in many regions of the state, especially in Western Massachusetts, which sells plenty of lottery tickets.

The state lottery is wrong on so many policy levels that it would take me a very long time to list all of them. I believe the state lottery makes a systemic mockery of the residents who pay to play because it all goes over their heads. Moreover, distressed small cities such as my native hometown of Pittsfield (Massachusetts) are also being systemically mocked by the state lottery on many policy levels because the real benefits of the state lottery really go to the wealthy and powerful elites in Boston.

If the common people understood that the state lottery is a SCAM that exploits their financial illiteracy and lack of knowledge on public policy, then the state lottery would have been abolished decades ago. Instead, the Massachusetts State Lottery is in its 53rd year of operation and it represents everything that is wrong with the inequitable state government in Boston.

Jon Melle

“Massachusetts lottery rakes in $1.1B for the state, second-highest revenue on record”

bostonherald.com – Grace Zokovitch gzokovitch@bostonherald.com – July 31, 2024

The Massachusetts State Lottery sent out an estimated an estimated $1.157 billion in net profit back into the state in the 2024 fiscal year, State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg announced Tuesday — the second highest profit the 52-year-old state lottery has ever turned.

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August 03, 2024

I concur with the Berkshire Eagle's editorial that the Massachusetts State Legislature is unproductive, and its procrastination at the end of the 2023 - 2024 legislative session that ended on July 31st, 2024, was pathetic.

Per the bill that did not pass for safe illegal drug injection sites, I feel that it an oxymoron proportionate to 2 + 2 = 5.  How is one able to safely inject themselves with illegal drugs?  Unknown toxic and lethal substances may be in the illegal drugs someone injects themselves with.  If Massachusetts eventually passes this bill, then they need to provide the illegal drugs that are screened for unknown substances, too.

Per the economic development bill that was left unpassed, I observed over many years that the only winners are the financial, corporate and ruling elites - along with the greedy lobbyists (some of whom report 7-figure per year incomes) - in Boston.  For decades now, the rest of the state always gets thrown off of the proverbial cliff.

The problem in Massachusetts state government is that the political, economic and financial power is in the hands of the aforementioned elites.  Massachusetts is a one political (Democratic) party state with a few Republican Party enablers who skim off of the top.  The Big Three: Governor Maura Healey, Senate President Karen Spilka, and House Speaker Ronny Mariano are the most unproductive state officials since the Mayflower landed in Massachusetts in the 17th Century.

Where the Berkshire Eagle editorial is misguided is that they always endorse the same Democratic Party career politicians for re-election that they then criticize after the state government's recurring debacles from Boston's "Big Dig" boondoggle to today's do-nothing (but DISSERVICES) state lawmakers.  That would be me like paying to play the state lottery, and then writing political letters about how wrong it is for Boston to mock the "Jon Melle's" of his distressed native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  But then again, I am greedy so the "a dollar and a dream" tagline from my 1980's childhood is still ingrained in me in 2024.

Who has the Berkshire Eagle endorsed over the years?  Answers: Governor Maura Healey, (the glorified double dipper) Rep. Smitty Pignatelli, (the voted herself a 40 percent public pay raise) Tricia Farley-Bouvier, (the many decades-long career politician for life) John Barrett III, (the biggest rubber stamp ever) State Senator Paul Mark, along with (PAC Man) Richie Neal, (Maryland's HOT AIR put a toxic waste capped leaky landfill in Lee, Mass.) Ed Markey, (the Clintons-Obama(s)-Biden-Kamala establishment-friendly) Elizabeth Warren, and the like.

The fact is that Beacon Hill state lawmakers run a corrupt, secretive, top-down pay to play system of state government in Boston.  They play financial shell games with our public tax dollars to enrich themselves, the greedy lobbyists, and the financial and corporate elites at the public trough.  Every fiscal year, they give away billions of dollars in state tax breaks to their big campaign donors.  Every recent fiscal year, they give the common people state lottery tickets and report annual net profits of over $1 billion that they then use to give away more large state tax breaks to fill their campaign coffers with big sums of special interest dollars.

Jon Melle

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Our Opinion: "This is (still) no way to legislate"

The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, August 03, 2024

Another end to a formal legislative session on Beacon Hill, another handful of reasons why state legislators need to root out the systemic dysfunction that plagues the commonwealth’s lawmaking chambers.

How many reasons? By our count, at least nine:

• S.2838, a clean energy siting bill

• H.4804, an economic development bonding authorization

• H.4653, a series of hospital oversight reforms

• S.2520, legislation to lower prescription drug prices

• H.4193, a measure intended to improve long-term care quality and oversight

• H.4696, an authorization for additional liquor licenses in Boston

• H.4758, a bill to strengthen the state’s response to the opioid crisis

Of the 12 priority bills that Beacon Hill leadership tried to cram through the conference negotiation process in the literal last minutes of the legislative session that ended this week, the nine above fell through the cracks of that very broken process. Batting .250 is acceptable at Fenway Park, but it’s not acceptable when lawmakers leave three-quarters of late-session legislative priorities unrealized on the Statehouse floor.

How do we know these were priorities? Because House and Senate leaders along with Gov. Maura Healey repeatedly identified them as such throughout the 18-month 2023-24 session. And, perversely, legislators treated them like they have all too many legislative priorities over the years: last-minute cram sessions that either make it over the finish line with significant amendments lacking adequate oversight or fall into pieces that can’t be picked up until next year.

On Thursday as the session expired, Gov. Healey could hardy contain her frustration that an economic development bill that her administration prioritized was one of the casualties of this harried process. She also didn’t seem too thrilled that a clean energy siting bill that could have helped Massachusetts take more concrete steps toward ambitious but necessary climate goals collapsed as well.

Toward the session’s chaotic end, even legislative leaders openly vented frustrations with their own process. House Speaker Ron Mariano took a shot at his Senate colleagues for advancing a version of the opioid crisis response bill less than two days before session’s end that included a significant late amendment regarding the establishment of safe injection sites.

“Anytime you release a bill the day before the session ends, it’s a very difficult expectation for us to hear it, especially when it has proposals, major proposals, that we haven’t even had the opportunity to debate or vote on,” Speaker Mariano told reporters on Monday. “It sort of tells me you’re not really serious about passing the bill to begin with.”

Within a day, his counterpart in the Senate President Karen Spilka shot back with a similarly worded statement about another bill the House released in similarly late fashion.

In an environment of already questionable productivity, all this is particularly unproductive. These lawmakers have no one to blame but themselves for letting the clock run out on such high-profile priorities of the people’s business.

The day after the session closed, Speaker Mariano and House Majority Leader Mike Moran seemed optimistic about pushing some of the priorities over the finish line in informal sessions over the next six months. Emphasis on some. Rep. Moran was particularly bullish about the Boston liquor license bill. Good for Boston.

But what about the bills addressing issues that loom large for people across the commonwealth? Gov. Healey’s economic development bill that would invested billions in sharpening Massachusetts’ competitive edge in life sciences and climate technology can only be passed in formal sessions because it’s a bonding bill. And most other legislative measures have a narrow road in informal sessions, which required unanimity to forward legislation. That means prospects are somewhere between tenuous and dead for now regarding legislation on maternal health, lowering prescription costs, clean energy siting, opioid crisis harm reduction and others.

If only Beacon Hill leadership cared enough about these issues to pay them their due attention throughout the 18-month legislative calendar instead of the last few days. While the session’s end inevitably will be busy, this last-minute mad-dash approach seems to have become more extreme in recent years. Lawmakers should reflect on just how they came to fumble so many of their own priorities this time around — and commit to a better process for the 2025-26 session.

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Letter: "Wojtkowski's legacy echoes in free community college measure"

The Berkshire Eagle, August 3, 2024

To the editor: My wife and I were so happy to read in Tuesday's Eagle ("Healey signs $57.8 billion budget") that tuition and fees at the state's community college are going to be free.

That was the hope of Rep. Tom Wojtkowski when he wrote the legislation establishing community colleges here and then pushed for its passage. While studying the question, Tom and other legislators had gone to California to study its community college system, a very successful one that featured free tuition.

During debate in Boston, a member of the Senate who was on Tom's committee, told him that he could get the Senate to pass the bill, but if free tuition was part of it, the Senate would vote it down. In order to get community colleges established, which Tom saw as vital to bettering the lives of working class people, he reluctantly eliminated the controversial measure.

Tom, who died last year, was always so proud of his role in creating the community college system. He would be immensely thrilled that his dream of free tuition has finally been realized, making college education even more accessible to the people.

Jeff and Marcella Wojtkowski Bradway, Pittsfield

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August 3, 2024

Someone I am friends with wrote to me tonight (Saturday, 03-August-2024) about Pittsfield's distressed quality of life, and despite my criticisms of Pittsfield politics, they wrote to me that I am being generous to the state and local failed career politicians from former Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer Clairmont to Governor Maura Healey, whom they said despises us common people.

My response to my friend's correspondence is that Pittsfield politics has run the small postindustrial city into the ditch, but they made sure to take care of their own personal financial interests.  

Human beings have existed on Earth for around 300,000 years now, and I understand all too well that human nature and human behavior is not always about good versus bad, (right versus wrong) but rather, it is too often about power, money, greed, dominance, winning at the expense of the vulnerable people in society - the large and always growing larger in numbers underclass population - who are losing, and the like.

My favorite study of human nature and human behavior is greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley, who resides in both North Adams and Boston.  Dan Bosley spent a generation representing North Adams in Boston, and many years ago now, he was the sponsor of the would-have-been largest mulit-billion-dollar corporate state tax cut in the over 400 years history of Massachusetts, while North Adams is one of the poorest municipalities in Massachusetts 351 cities and towns.  His bill failed.

Dan Bosley collects a state public pension plus perks for life, and for years now, he has been still going to the Boston Statehouse as a greedy lobbyist on behalf of Boston area big businesses.  Meanwhile, in Western Massachusetts' newspapers, he writes endless glowing letters praising K Street's Swamp lobbyist firms number one corporate PAC Man Richie Neal, who is beholden to insurance companies, the financial industry, and the healthcare industry's special interests in U.S. Congress.

When Governor Maura Healey's administration proposed placing migrant families at the state college named MCLA in North Adams, Dan Bosley successfully led the charge to keep them out.  Dan Bosley wrote letters saying how he grew up in a poor household, but that helping the migrants was not in the interest of North Adams.  Dan Bosley has sure helped himself, however.

In 2022, Dan Bosley - along with the very (old) wealthy Sherwood Guernsey, who is also a former Massachusetts State Representative - wrote a letter(s) criticizing then Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington's one 4-year term.  But Dan Bosley himself voted for worse political leaders such as House Speakers Tom Finneran and Sal DiMasi, who later became Convicted Felons.  Where was Dan Bosley's letter(s) on his own support for Finneran and DiMasi?

When casino gambling was being codified into state law in Massachusetts, Dan Bosley opposed it because he wanted the state lottery to not lose its huge net profits to a competing gambling industry.  The past two years saw fiscal year 2023 see the largest net profit and the recent fiscal year 2024 see the second largest net profit - both over $1 billion per fiscal year - in Massachusetts State Lottery history of over 52 years of operation.  I am sure that greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley must be happy that Massachusetts is juicing up its gambling industry because it allows him to obtain large state tax breaks for his wealthy big business clients.

Both Pittsfield and greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley are illustrations of what happens when politicians are only out for themselves, while the rest of us have to pound sand.

Jon Melle

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"Massachusetts budget vetoes ripple through service sectors"

By Alison Kuznitz, State House News Service, August 05, 2024

Reentry services, job training programs and rest homes could soon feel the impact of Gov. Maura Healey's budget vetoes that were left intact after a chaotic end to formal lawmaking.

The House overturned some of Healey's fiscal 2025 budget vetoes during last week's formal sessions, but the Senate did not pursue any overrides of her line item reductions. Healey vetoed $317 million across 60 line items in the nearly $58 billion budget.

Lew Finfer, director of Massachusetts Action for Justice, said Monday he was worried about multiple vetoes, including Healey slashing $2.5 million from the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment grant program, which he said support dozens of reentry programs serving formerly incarcerated individuals. That leaves $7.5 million for the line item, which last fiscal year received $15 million.

"There are a lot of barriers people face," Finfer said, as he spoke about the need to connect people with housing, mental health and drug treatment services after they exit correctional facilities. "When their lives get derailed, it may mean they commit some new charge and they're back in prison, to the detriment of themselves and their families. That's why reentry programs are really important."

Leslie Credle, executive director of the Boston nonprofit Justice 4 Housing that provides services like case management and family reunification for formerly incarcerated Bay Staters, said Healey's veto is "not good."

"A lot of organizations rely on that money for reentry work, and so that means that we don't get to service as many participants as we would like to," Credle said.

Healey, in budget documents, said she reduced the grant funding to "the amount projected to be necessary due to the availability of alternative trust funding that can be maximized to support similar programming." She also said the "Executive Office of Economic Development will work towards utilizing the Workforce Investment Trust Fund to offset the funding being vetoed." But Finfer and the Healey administration said the stalled economic development bill needs to be passed to tap into that fund.

"Look, our economy is strong, our bond rating is excellent, we've got money in our rainy day fund. But it's also our responsibility to make sure that we're being fiscally responsible in a time where there's still some uncertainty as to economic conditions. And we would rather be in a position of budgeting accordingly now, rather than facing the specter of having to make cuts later. Better to plan than to have to make cuts later," Healey said about her overarching veto strategy last week. "We think these vetoes were vetoes that were well-managed. $317 million, it's more than last year. But again, we think we've done so in a way that is responsible and also doesn't do harm to the delivery of service."

Healey also cut $10 million across two line items affecting the state's "supplement" to the Supplemental Security Income program for "aged and disabled" individuals, as well as to the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children cash assistance program.

Ronald Pawelski, president of the Massachusetts Association of Residential Care Homes, said that money was intended to boost reimbursement rates for the commonwealth's 75 rest homes, which offer a level of care that falls between assisted living facilities and skilled nursing homes. The majority of rest home residents are receiving some type of public assistance, and "a number" of them were previously homeless, he said.

Pawelski said the Legislature in recent years has supported incremental funding requests, as he cited positive working relationships with the House and Senate budget chiefs. When an official from the Department of Transitional Assistance notified him about the budget vetoes last Monday, Pawelski said that it "came as a complete surprise because we were assured, based on multiple meetings, that the amount would be included."

"We are concerned. We're fearful that this veto could lead to a new round of closures, and we will be working very closely with our members to monitor the impact across the industry," said Pawelski, who noted more than 100 rest homes have closed in Massachusetts since 1998.

Healey cut the SSI funding by $6.3 million and the EAEDC funding by $3.7 million to the "amount projected to be necessary," she wrote. The veto documents explain for both line items, "Based on historical spending and expected demand, this level will support the continuation of current services."

Finfer, of Massachusetts Action for Justice, also sounded the alarm about the governor's cuts of $750,000 to career technical institutes in vocational-technical schools, $1 million to MassHire Career Centers, and $500,000 to a summer jobs program for at-risk youth.

The voc-tech veto could mean institutes that offer evening training opportunities in areas like welding, plumbing and carpentry may need to scale back on the skills they teach, Finfer said. Finfer said the MassHire cut could limit job training and services for unemployed residents, while he said the summer jobs veto would harm a program that's already dealt with "major cuts" this season.

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August 6, 2024

Governor Healey's ongoing cuts to social services programs is misguided.  Poverty in Western Massachusetts is the worst of any region in the commonwealth.  Municipalities rely on state funding to provide government assistance to the most vulnerable residents.

The Massachusetts State Lottery has been reporting annual net profits of over $1 billion.  The state lottery is nothing more than regressive taxation that exploits the large underclass population - as the poor residents don't understand that the lottery is a SCAM.

The state government is supposed to invest in people and communities, but instead, it is infested with greedy lobbyists such as Dan Bosley who also collects his state public pension plus perks, while some lobbyists in Boston report 7-figure per year incomes.

So far in 2024, Governor Maura Healey has cut close to $400 million in state funding to social services programs.  Meanwhile, the state lottery SCAM and the greedy lobbyists alike are profiting off the broken system of state government in Boston.

This is the state government at its WORST!  Governor Healey has earned her sarcastic name misguided Maura.

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 16, 2024

My answer is that I majored in public administration in graduate school, and I have followed financial management throughout my life of 49 years so far.  Boston's career politicians are inequitable.  It is our money, not their money, but the Governor of Massachusetts gets to manage the taxpayers' dollars, but she is being played for a fool by the corrupt special interests who are cashing in at the public trough.

Either Governor Maura Healey does not understand public administration and financial management public policies and programs, or she is the most misguided Governor in the over 400 years of Massachusetts.

Most people do not understand that Pittsfield politics and the elitist greed-balls in Boston alike are playing financial shell games with each other, but it is our money, not their money.  The state lottery is a perfect illustration because it is nothing more than regressive taxation that the career politicians use as their slush funds.

To illustrate, a greedy lobbyist such as Dan Bosley loves (to pretend to hate) the state lottery because the over $1 billion in annual net profits allows him to obtain huge state tax breaks for his wealthy big businesses he has a friendly reputation with for decades.

Lastly, in a Democratic Party dominated state such as Massachusetts, phonies such as Dan Bosley and GE lobbyist Peter Larkin say that they are Democrats otherwise they would never have been elected to Boston where they still are to this day for the almighty dollar.  In a Republican Party state, the opposite is true whereby they are sarcastically called RINO's.

Jonathan A. Melle

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Letter: "Beacon Hill's legislative process is broken"

The Berkshire Eagle, August 6, 2024

To the editor: Thank you for your Aug. 3 editorial “This is (still) no way to legislate."

This session was a missed opportunity to make the commonwealth a climate leader. The Legislature's inaction is a grave disappointment to anyone who cares about saving our planet.

This session was a chance to make serious progress slowing the expansion of our dirty and expensive methane gas system, but instead legislative leadership got tied up in political spats and chose not to extend the session and finish the job.

This comes after a year and a half of advocacy that included hundreds of meetings and thousands of calls and signatures to legislators. Many of the most popular policy proposals received vast majorities of legislative co-sponsors, yet House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka did not allow them to come for a vote.

Many policies "died in committee," where politicians take secret votes that their constituents are not able to see. Many more died in the backroom process where amendments to bills were withdrawn before they had a chance to receive a vote.

The legislative process is broken, and undue influence from corporations routinely blocks popular and effective legislation in favor of utility and developer profits.

We can do better, and we must.

Al Blake, Becket

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August 7, 2024

I am disappointed with Gov. Maura Healey's large cuts to state funding - close to $400 million in 2024 - for social services programs.  You are right that the elderly, disabled, and children should not be expendable, while the state lottery is reporting annual net profits of over $1 billion per fiscal year.

Whatever happened to the state government investing in people and communities?  Answer: Corrupt career politicians and the greedy lobbyists in Boston; some of the lobbyists in Boston report 7-figure incomes because it is PAY to PLAY on Beacon Hill.

Sherwood Guernsey is an old wealth, Ivy League educated latte limousine liberal.  I did not like his letter in 2022 criticizing then Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington.  He is a former Massachusetts State Representative and an unsuccessful candidate for U.S. Congress over three decades ago now.  He, along with the likes of former State Representative - greedy lobbyist - Dan Bosley and former State Senator - disgraced double dipper - Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, did not exactly hit home runs in Boston - more like strike outs.

It is always the political establishment sticking together in state and local politics in Massachusetts.  I have one million criticisms of Sherwood Guernsey, Dan Bosley, "Luciforo: Pittsfield's Pot King", and so on, but they all cover for each other for money and power because that is what really matters to them, NOT the people and communities.

Kamala Harris should not have been anointed by the Democratic Party elites to be their nominee for U.S. President in 2024.  It only figures that Sherwood Guernsey had her make a brief visit to Pittsfield (Massachusetts) to raise over $1 million.

Donald Trump's life is scandalous.  He never - even one time - admits to his wrongdoings.  He is the ultimate MORAL HYPOCRITE who is the leader of the WEIRD White Christian Nationalist racist political movement in the U.S.A.  It figures that Donald Trump would be the one standing for Jesus Christ and U.S.A. nationalism just like it figures that Sherwood Guernsey was the one who brought Kamala to the beautiful Berkshires.

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August 11, 2024

The Boston Statehouse politics is a debacle.  The Berkshire delegation to Boston are rubber stamps who are cashing in on their public pay plus perks and state pensions for life.  In Pittsfield politics, the only thing the common people receive other than excessive tax and fees bills is RETRIBUTION from the one political (Democratic) party insiders who treat the fictional Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski working-class family who lives in Pittsfield (Massachusetts) like a doormat, their ATM, and a toilet that they piss and shit on.

Career politicians spend most of their time raising money so that they will stay in elected office for life.  They enrich themselves and their financial and corporate elites wealthy campaign donors at the public trough in Boston (and beyond), while the rest of us are sold state lottery tickets and games that is nothing more than (voluntary) regressive taxation that further enriches the likes of greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley in Boston.

Beacon Hill lawmakers do nothing....but DISSERVICES....and some of the Boston lobbyists report 7-figure per-year incomes.  Money and power are more important to the financial, corporate and ruling elites in Boston (and beyond) than serving the people and communities who should be invested in, but rather, they are exploited.

In 2022, Maura Healey did not campaign for Governor of Massachusetts saying that she would cut close to $400 million in social services state funding that provides needed assistance to the disabled, children, elderly and poor.  Yet two years later in 2024 alone, Governor Maura Healey has cut close to $400 million in social services state funding.  Meanwhile, the Governor and state lawmakers in Boston always giveaway billions of dollars per-year in state tax breaks to their wealthy campaign donors, which provides little to no benefit to regions such as Western Massachusetts.

Bureaucracy is nightmarish because it usually ends up creating an inequitable system of winners and losers.  This is the case in Massachusetts (and beyond) politics.  The aforementioned elites have turned the Boston Statehouse into a system of enriching themselves with our tax dollars, while the rest of us watched one of the biggest debacles in the over 400-year history of Massachusetts.

Jonathan A. Melle

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Letter: "What are our lawmakers doing to represent us?"

The Berkshire Eagle, August 8, 2024

To the editor: I applaud your Aug. 3 editorial decrying the “systemic dysfunction” of the Massachusetts Statehouse.

We are saddled with arguably the least productive, least transparent, least efficient, least competent, least accountable and one of the least democratic legislatures in the nation.

Meanwhile, the ballot for the Democratic Primary here in Pittsfield lists seven races, all uncontested. While incumbent protection might be an article of faith for the old-school party faithful, we the people are paying the price. If democracy is to survive that has to change.

Not only is our one-party Legislature not passing the big-issue bills, they aren’t even managing to pass uncontroversial but important measures like the bill to fix the state's irrational Peeping Tom statute.

The July newsletter of our state senator, issued at the end of the 18-month legislative session, speaks volumes about what our representatives think their job is. Almost the entire report is devoted to how “honored” our state senator was to meet and greet various dignitaries and to attend various community and political events. The report is adorned with many photos of the state senator. The “legislative department updates” section follows; it’s all about earmarks the senator claims he secured for the Berkshires. Ask him: Exactly what did he personally do to secure that money? And then ask him what about climate? What about energy? What about transportation? What about transparency? What about single-payer health care? What about early childhood education? What about housing? What single bill did you shepherd from filing to passage in the entire session?

This is not to single out one member of the delegation. They are all guilty of thinking that they are like members of the British royal family who get paid to show up at community events, shake hands and cut ribbons. We have to remind them that they are not celebrities. They are paid to legislate, and we expect them to do their job.

Here is what we must do to save our democracy: In November, vote in favor of the state auditor’s ballot question clarifying that the Statehouse, like the rest of government, is subject to audit. Demand that your reps support transparency. Demand to know what your legislator is doing to advance legislation important to you. And do not make campaign contributions in the absence of a contested race.

Jeanne M. Kempthorne, Pittsfield

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Letter: "Crumbling infrastructure is an upsetting regional epidemic"

The Berkshire Eagle, August 15, 2024

To the editor: It was very upsetting reading the recent article in which we were informed that it will take eight years to replace the Brookside bridge in Great Barrington. ("The state has raised the cost of a new Brookside Road bridge in Great Barrington to $11.6 million. And it could take up to 8 years to replace," Eagle, Aug. 12.)

If that was not bad enough, the article went on to state that Kellogg Road should not be used for a detour because there is another decaying bridge on this route and also to avoid East Mountain road because it is in poor condition.

It appears as though we live in a third-world country.

Robert Hildebrand, Tyringham

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Letter: "Question for the Colonial after political event"

The Berkshire Eagle, August 16, 2024

To the editor: I was surprised that the Colonial Theatre hosted a fundraising rally for Vice President Kamala Harris as the Colonial Theatre is a 501(c)(3) organization. ("'We have a fight ahead of us.' Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield," Eagle, July 27.)

Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Perhaps the CEO of the Colonial Theatre might be able to offer an explanation. Did the Colonial give up its 501(c)(3) status?

Dave Bubriski, Pittsfield

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August 17, 2024

....rules are meant to be broken....when Kamala visits Pittsfield....and leaves the distressed small city with $1.4 million....because old wealth Sherwood Guernsey is part of the latte limousine liberal political establishment and he brought the Veep to the heart of the beautiful Berkshires....so that Kamala could campaign for the U.S. Presidency in 2024....at the historical Colonial Theater....but it is unlike the historical two Norman Rockwell paintings he himself donated to the Berkshire Museum....only to be auctioned off in 2018 for millions of dollars....along with other historic pieces of artwork....and there is no baseball in Pittsfield this Summer 2024....and Wahconah Park will turn into Pittsfield's version of Boston's "Big Dig" boondoggle...and PCBs are still everywhere in Pittsfield....and Mayor Peter Marchetti is named in a sex discrimination federal lawsuit whereby he allegedly called Victoria May "a BITCH" at a bank they once worked at together....and the aforementioned Mayor gave Nuciforo a so-called city "FREE CASH" pot settlement of $341,000....while the fictional Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski pay excessively high municipal taxes and fees....in return for....I won't write it....but former Mayor Linda Tyer, along with her greed-ball neighbor Nuciforo live in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College....and Jimmy Ruberto's Rolodex is rusted out at the bottom of Silver Lake....and Beacon Hill state lawmakers got almost nothing done and now they are on their 5-months-long taxpayer-funded vacation....and PAC Man Richie Neal is only representing K Street corporate lobbyist firms in the Swamp....and greedy lobbyist Dan Bosley is kissing his dirty behind....and Jon Melle supposedly cannot get away from myself....but I did get away from North Street's Social Services Alley and the ring of poverty inner-city neighborhoods that surround downtown Pittsfield....but I am still a member of the underclass population in Southern New Hampshire....so do not be too happy for me....Thanks everyone!

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 19, 2024

If Trump wins and Project 2025 is implemented into federal law(s):

https://sayno2project2025.org/

....then Jon Melle will lose his VA benefits and my nightmare of living on my homelessness sidewalk on the corner of First Street and Fenn Street in Pittsfield (Massachusetts) would become true for poor middle-aged me.

If the far-right extremists win, then I could only hope that my Enemy #1 called "Luciforo" may finally show me mercy after his over 28 years of abuse(s) against me by giving me one of his pot products to ease my pain.

The "have not's" will lose all of our rights.  We will have no choice but to serve the financial, corporate and ruling elites' agenda.  If we fight back against the tyranny of the "have's", then we will be sent to one of Putin's Siberian forced-labor prison camps.

JD Vance will force women to have children or else they will have to wear the equivalent of the Scarlet Letter A along with a cat print on the back of their shirts to live in shame for violating his WEIRD views of society.

History books will be revised to say that Slavery provided job training skills, the plight of the Native American Peoples was for white manifest destiny, that capitalism did not cause the huge underclass population, that the military industrial complex, forever wars, arms sales exports, and greenhouse gas emissions are all necessary to protect our freedoms.

The powerful will rule by RETRIBUTION.  The powerless will be persecuted.

Please STOP Trump's authoritarian madness.  Please vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for the U.S. President ticket in 2024!

Jon Melle

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August 22, 2024

I am a proud supporter of Kamala & Veteran: Walz.  They will STOP the Republican Party under Donald Trump and WEIRDO J.D. Vance from going back to the 1920's and the 1950's eras of inequity and moral hypocrisy.  They will NOT call women who never had children WEIRD names like miserable childless cat ladies.

If Trump's agenda really is NOT about Project 2025, including, but not limited to, abolishing VA benefits, gutting social insurance federal programs such as Social Security and Medicare, taking away women's rights, and so on, then what is Trump's agenda?

The answer is that Trump's agenda is to institute authoritarianism in the Swamp.  Trump's government would pass laws making it impossible for people such as "Jon Melle" to fight back against powerful people such as my Enemy #1 called "Luciforo: Pittsfield's Pot King".  Under Trump, if "Jon Melle" wrote and blogged about the millionaire Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior's abuses and corruption, then "Jon Melle" would be sent away to one of Putin's Siberian forced labor prisons to be killed.

The financial, corporate and ruling elites should have "Jon Melle" fight back against their authoritarianism in government.  I should have the right to write that PAC Man Richie Neal only represents K Street corporate lobbyist firms in the Swamp instead of the people who live in Western Massachusetts.  I should have the right to write that Smitty Pignatelli sold out his constituents in Lee & Lenoxdale (Mass.) by supporting GE's poisonous plan to put a capped leaky landfill full of PCBs in Lee (Massachusetts).  As well, I should have the right to write how absurd it was for Smitty Pignatelli to scapegoat Governor Maura Healey's less than 2 years in the corner office when Smitty Pignatelli himself has been in Boston for over 2 decades.

Donald Trump is the leader of the racist White Christian Nationalist political movement; MAGA = NAZI.  Donald Trump is the ultimate moral hypocrite who openly cheated on all 3 of his wives, paid a porn star to stay silent about his alleged love affair with her, and said on a hot mic that he likes to grab women by their genitals.  How on Earth could Donald Trump's evangelical politics square with his moral hypocrisy?  What would Jesus Christ have to say about Donald Trump, who is the ultimate moral hypocrite?

I agree with Tim Walz when he says that Trump and Vance's Republican Party agenda is WEIRD!

Jon Melle

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August 22, 2024

Blogger Dan Valenti edited a good portion of my blog post about the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as my negative comments about Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, Smitty Pignatelli, and PAC Man Richie Neal.  I also wrote about Donald Trump's long history of moral hypocrisy.

I do not only write negative things about Republicans, Italian-Americans, and/or other groups of people in politics, which I have been falsely accused of doing over the years.  My last name "Melle" is derived from the small municipality of Melle, Piedmont in northwestern Italy.  I am mostly French and Italian in my ancestral heritage; "FrItalian". (Mele translate to Apple in Italy; Milos translates to Apple in Greece.  I am Jonny Apple(seed).

I did not choose to be born and raised in Pittsfield (Massachusetts), nor did I choose to have the same Italian immigrant great-grandparents as Mayor Peter Marchetti, who is yet another failed leader of Pittsfield politics.

I did not choose to be conspiratorially persecuted by "Luciforo: Pittsfield's Pot King" since I was 20 years old during the Spring 1996; it has been over 28 years of Nuciforo's conspiratorial bullying and threatening to physically assault me (it is now the late-Summer 2024, and I am now 49 years old).  My dad successfully campaigned for the now defunct elected official position of Berkshire County Commissioner when I first met my Enemy #1: "Luciforo", and it has been Hell for me ever since that dreaded day many years ago now.

I do NOT understand all of it myself.  I wasn't dealt a good hand in my life.  I am trying to explain what the Hell is going on here.  Thank you.

Jon Melle

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August 23, 2024

On the blog Planet Valenti, one of the readers wrote saying: "Yes you support the extermination of the Jewish state".

For the record, this claim is false.  I support the State of Israel.  They are the U.S.A.'s strongest ally in the Middle East.  They are a democracy.  What happened to Israel on October 07, 2023, was a crime against humanity.  Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorism.

Also for the record, I watch Governor Maura Healey on my television news channels, and I listen to her on the radio.  I am a 100 percent p/t service-connected disabled Veteran who has an honorable discharge, and I say with absolute certainty that Governor Maura Healey supports Veterans in Massachusetts.  In fact, it was the Beacon Hill state lawmakers - including Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Smitty Pignatelli, and John Barrett III - who recently voted against the interests of at-risk homeless Veterans in Massachusetts.

Please do NOT put words in my mouth, especially when they are false.  I support Israel.  I am a strong supporter of Governor Maura Healey, too.

Jonathan A. Melle

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August 25, 2024

Trump's Republican Party has a 922-page Agenda called Project 2025.  If this far-right agenda is implemented, I - Jon Melle - would lose my VA benefits, which would make my nightmarish vision of me calling a sidewalk on the corner of First Street and Fenn Street in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, my forever home.

After the far-right Trump Republicans abolish VA benefits as we now know them, gut social insurance federal programs such as Medicare and Social Security, strip away women's rights and send society back in time 100 years, and so on, the "Jon Melle is a disabled man" slogan will see me in living a life in pain whereby I would hope that my Enemy #1 called "Luciforo: Pittsfield's Pot King (of lawsuits)" would finally take mercy on me after his over 28 years of conspiratorially persecuting me in Pittsfield politics, by Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior himself giving me on of his pot products to ease my pain from being fed to the wolves by the Grand Old Party of MORAL HYPOCRISY led by the ultimate MORAL HYPOCRITE named Donald Trump and his WEIRD V.P. J.D. Vance, who hates motherless women who own cats and therefore must be miserable.

Where now I live in New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte is running the UGLIEST of negative campaign ads against her opponent Joyce Craig, in her 2024 campaign for Governor of New Hampshire.  Kelly Ayotte says she approves this message that blames former Mayor of Manchester, NH, Joyce Craig for homelessness, violent crime, and a rape in a city cemetery....because 2 + 2 = 5.

Kelly Ayotte un-endorsed Donald Trump for U.S. President in 2016 after the hot mic incident aired whereby Trump said that he likes to GRAB WOMEN BY THEIR [GENITALS].  Eight years later in 2024, Kelly Ayotte endorses Trump for U.S. President after it has been revealed that he paid hush money to a porn star and a Playboy Bunny model, openly cheated on all 3 of his wives, and disparages women with his verbal abuse.  BUT JOYCE CRAIG IS TO BLAME in Kelly Ayotte's The Twilight Zone world of delusions.

RFK Jr. is a FRINGE politician who never had a shot at the White House.  Like everyone else out there, RFK Jr. criticizes the federal government, which has a low popularity rating with the general public.  BUT, what has RFK Jr. actually done in politics? Answer: NOTHING!

I fully support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for the U.S. President ticket in 2024 because she will stop Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and Project 2025.  She will represent the U.S.A.'s national interests in the White House by standing up for the American People who need the help the most instead of the billionaires and their inequitable politics.

Jon Melle

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September 2, 2024

If you had a choice, would you want Matt "Kufflinks" Kerwood managing your money?

If you had a choice, would you want Peter "Openly Gay" Marchetti spending your money?

If you had a choice, would you pay Tricia Farley Bouvier to do nothing in Boston for over 12 years?

If you had a choice, would you approve of a city FREE CASH pot settlement of $341,000 to Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior's multi-million-dollar Berkshire Roots marijuana business?

If you had a choice, would you want Richard Neal going to the Swamp to only represent K Street corporate lobbyist firms that have nothing to do with the people who live in Western Massachusetts?

What is wrong with this picture of Pittsfield politics in 2024?

Answer: There is NOBODY representing you in the government that you pay your hard-earned taxes to in return for Kufflinks, Openly Gay, Country Buffet, Luciforo: Pittsfield's Pot King (of lawsuits), and PAC Man.

My answer: NO!  I would tell Kufflinks, Openly Gay, Country Buffet, Luciforo, and PAC Man to all GO TO HELL!

Jon Melle

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September 13, 2024

Thomas Paine (in the....') lost pamphlet: Most of the Founding Fathers owned Slaves!

Donald Trump's AGENDA: Project 2025 to remake the U.S.A. into an authoritarian state!

I remember an infamous and disgraced Pittsfield politician's plagiarism in the year 2012.  His name rhymes with Luciforo.

My favorite politicians: Andrea Harrington, Kamala Harris, Joyce Craig, and Maura Healey.

Blogger Dan Valenti's least favorite politicians: see the names above.

What is the WEIRD legacy of the Republican Party?  Answer: Moral Hypocrisy.

Who is the ULTIMATE moral hypocrite?  Answer: Donald Trump.

If Kamala Harris is "sleazy", then Donald Trump's scandalous life is what, again?

Jon Melle

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September 18, 2024

Project 2025 and Donald Trump wants to abolish the U.S. Dept. of Education, privatize the VA, gut federal social insurance programs such as Medicare and Social Security, etc., in order to giveaway huge tax cuts to the super wealthy.  Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will support the Dept. of Education, the VA, Medicare and Social Security.

I am supporting and voting for Kamala and Tim in 2024 because I do not want to fulfill my nightmarish vision of me living on a sidewalk on the corner of Fenn Street and First Street in my native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, (while my Enemy #1 Luciforo lives in his mansion in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College).  I like my VA benefits, as well as my Medicare and Social Security benefits.  I support public education, too.  (I dislike Luciforo, of course).

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 23, 2024

Donald Trump's agenda is to Make America Go Authoritarian.  I am grateful for liberal leaders such as Andrea Harrington, Kamala Harris, Joyce Craig, and Maura Healey for standing up to Trump's bullying of people who need our support to live a life of dignity.

If Trump wins in 2024, he will privatize the VA, abolish the U.S. Department of Education, gut federal social insurance programs such as Medicare and Social Security, and so on, in order to pass a huge tax cut for the super wealthy.  As a disabled Veteran, I would end up living on my homelessness sidewalk on the corner of Fenn Street and First Street in my native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, while my biggest enemy in my life "Luciforo" lives in his mansion in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College.

I hope that Kamala Harris wins the White House in 2024 so that Veterans won't lose everything.  I don't want to see Grandma and Grandpa thrown off of the cliff.  I don't want to see children become uneducated.  I don't want the U.S.A. to go from a democracy to an authoritarian country.

Trump will lose the 2024 presidential election because he lost the women's vote.  No modern president has won an election without at least somewhere around 50 percent or higher of the women's vote.  Kamala has somewhere around 2/3rd of the women's vote, while Trump has somewhere around 1/3rd.

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 23, 2024

Bill Clinton is a 2x Convicted Felon for Perjury and Suborning Perjury from the Paula Jones Sexual Harassment case whereby he lied about receiving blow jobs from Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, which was sarcastically called the Oral Orifice.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling this year 2024, the U.S. President cannot be charged with a crime if it is an official act.  Does that make Bill Clinton receiving blow jobs from Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office and then the U.S. President lying under oath about it an official (SEX) act?

Donald Trump is a 34x Convicted Felon from the porn star Stormy Daniels hush money case that he will appeal.

Donald Trump also owes many millions of dollars from two civil cases that he is appealing.

I was convicted of 2 misdemeanors, which were annulled by the State of New Hampshire in 2019.  The Manchester NH police officer John Cunningham who arrested me for knocking over a plastic traffic cone was himself never charged with a crime when he later hit a pedestrian who is an Attorney named Adam Mackler with his police cruiser many years ago now.  Manchester NH Police Officer John Cunningham was counseled by his municipal police department for disrespect because he yelled at one of the two witnesses to my arrest by him saying to her, "I don't care if he [Jonathan Melle] is disabled!"

I know I am not a former U.S. President like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.  I no longer have a criminal record since it was annulled back in 2019.

I wish that Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior was charged, indicted, and possibly found guilty of his alleged double-dipping as a former Pittsfield State Senator who chaired the Massachusetts State Senate Finance Committee while at the same time serving as an Attorney for Boston's big banks and insurance companies with the Boston Law Firm Berman & Dowell from 1999 - 2006, which led to him having to step down from his aforementioned elected office in 2006.  These FACTS were reported by The Boston Globe newspaper back in early-2007.

I believe that Nuciforo should have been a Convicted Felon and disbarred from practicing law and sent to state prison long ago, but he still has a law office in Boston's Financial District, and earlier this year 2024, he successfully settled his pot lawsuit with the City of Pittsfield for $341,000.

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 26, 2024

Donald Trump's Project 2025 would leave me homeless, as it would privatize the VA, which has a $325 billion per fiscal year federal budget that would make the for profit insurance companies big dollars.  The whole point of Trump's agenda is to gut federal programs that helps many millions of common people in order to give the super wealthy few huge tax cuts.  Trump has promised the single largest tax cut in U.S. history if he is elected in 2024.

I better win the Powerball and/or Mega Million's jackpot(s) so I don't end up on my homelessness sidewalk on the corner of First Street and Fenn Street in my native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, while my enemy of over the past over 28 years now, Luciforo, lives in his $950,000 mansion in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College.

I have survived Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior's decades of conspiratorial bullying and political persecutions, I have survived being from Pittsfield, I have survived being a Soldier in the U.S. Army, I have survived being wrongly indicted on 2 felonies in NH Superior Court many years ago now, but now, I hope to survive Donald Trump and his authoritarian agenda named Project 2025 by hoping that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will be elected in 2024.

Jonathan A. Melle

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Kelly Ayotte is upset that Governor Maura Healey and Joyce Craig headed out to Berkeley, California to raise campaign cash on Friday, September 27th, 2024.

https://www.wmur.com/article/ayotte-craig-california-fundraiser-92724/62415689

I am upset with Kelly Ayotte for:

1. Being the only U.S. Senator in the northeast U.S.A. for voting against gun control reform measures after the tragic school shooting at New Town, Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School in late-2012.

2. Not supporting Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court by not allowing an up or down vote on the judicial nominee.

3. Unendorsing Donald Trump for U.S. President in 2016 after his hot mic "Grab women by their [genitals]" scandal, but 8 years later in 2024, endorsing Donald Trump for U.S. President.

4. Saying she is for the state abortion laws in New Hampshire after saying she is a pro-life politician.

5. Campaigning with the cringe "Don't MASS up New Hampshire" tagline on her political signs.

6. Using Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey for her derision by unfairly scapegoating her in politics.

7. Running harsh negative campaign ads against Joyce Craig that blame the former Mayor of Manchester, NH, for all of the societal problems in the state's largest and poorest city.

8. Allying herself with the Republican Party's far right fringe groups that would hurt people if they control the government.

9. Raising over twice the amount of campaign dollars than her opponent, Joyce Craig, with over three times less the number of campaign donors.

10. Not being able to be taken as a credible candidate for Governor of New Hampshire because she has a negative reputation of a lot of important people saying that we cannot believe anything that she says is true.

Please support and/or vote for Joyce Craig for Governor of New Hampshire in 2024.

Jonathan A. Melle

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September 28, 2024

Hello blogger Dan Valenti, blog posters & readers, and everyone else out there,

I am a permanent and total 100 percent disabled Veteran who served our country - the U.S.A. - honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces branch of the U.S. Army.  I received the regards of a U.S. President (GWB) who ordered me a hearing at the VA Central Office near The White House in the Summer 2004.  I enjoy attending my VA appointments in Manchester, NH.

I did not like how the blog poster, below, described my life as a 49-year-old man, who has no criminal record - as my 2 misdemeanors were annulled over 5 years ago in 2019 by the State of New Hampshire.

As for the Manchester, NH, police officer John Cunningham who arrested me and had me wrongly indicted on 2 felony charges, he later hit a pedestrian with his police cruiser many years ago now, but he was never charged with a crime, while I faced a trial in NH Superior Court in Nashua, NH, for knocking over a plastic traffic cone with my car.  Furthermore, Cunningham was counseled by his city police department for disrespect for yelling at a woman witness to my arrest by him saying to her, "I don't care if he (Jonathan Melle) is disabled."

As for Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, he has conspiratorially bullied and politically persecuted me - as well as my dad, Bob - since the day I first met him in the Spring 1996, which is a little less than 28.5 years ago now, when my dad successfully campaigned for the elected position of Berkshire County Commissioner (1997 - mid-2000).  I write with absolute certainty that nobody has had it worse in Pittsfield politics than me: Jon Melle, due to "Luciforo: Pittsfield's Pot King (of lawsuits)'s" decades of abuses.

Does anyone realize that I spent me 20's decade of my life from the Spring 1996 to the mid-Summer 2005 as a persecuted person who appeared to people as a paranoid schizophrenic due to Nuciforo's mean-spirited actions against me, as well as my dad, Bob?  Does anyone understand that neither Nuciforo nor his conspiratorial network of bullies ever once apologized to me for their hurtful words and behaviors against me, as well as my dad?

I do NOT understand why I - Jon Melle - am such as hated man in my native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, while some people revere Nuciforo for being a disgraced State Senator (1997 - 2006), a political hack Registrar of Deeds in Pittsfield (2007 - 2012), a failed candidate for U.S. Congress (2012), a corrupt Attorney in Boston's Financial District (1999 - present day, 2024), and the co-founder of the Berkshire Roots marijuana business (2017 - present day, 2024), who, back in 2004, wore a matching tuxedo with John Forbes Kerry at an elite presidential campaign fundraiser, but George W. Bush defeated his fellow Skulls and Bones Yale Alumni who married into the Heinz family fortune and is the billionaire champion of climate change reforms in the Swamp.

I am proud of my dad, Bob, who is now 80, for being a politician decades ago, but I wish I never met and/or knew the name Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior aka Luciforo aka Pittsfield's Pot King (of lawsuits).  I am NOT a politician.  My dad was the politician.  Please stop dragging me into my dad's life because I live my own life.  Thank you.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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JM is the perfect democRAT voter in a snapshot. I will explain.

He could work but he chooses not to. Instead, he finds it much easier to sit at home unemployed, watching MSM, and then incorporating the democRAT talking points (Project 2025) into his long-winded screeds. Never offering any solutions or suggestions Harris/Walz have to remedy the situation, other than TDS.

We certainly can’t forget about JM’s key character trait: playing the “professional victim.” It’s always someone else’s fault:

*Andy Nuciforo-a continuous, 30-year obsession with a man, who more than likely, doesn’t even give JM a passing thought.

*US Army-they were mean and yelled at him a lot. The Army expected JM to grow up and be a man.

*NH Cop-a cop doing his job that JM didn’t agree with. He ultimately ends up fighting with the cop and having to do jail time for it.

Did I miss anyone JM?

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Letter: "Why I'm voting Nadia Milleron for US Congress"

The Berkshire Eagle, September 26, 2024

To the editor: Will someone please tell me why U.S. Rep. Richard Neal backs a PCB dump in Lee, despite initially advocating for the toxic waste to be shipped out of state?

Could it be because he takes money from General Electric’s political action committee every year?

By now fighting for it to be kept in-state, Neal saved GE an incredible amount of time and money. GE plans to conduct more than 55,000 16-ton truck trips from the river to the dump in Lee right next to the Housatonic River — a much more affordable option than transporting it out of state and a major release of carbon emissions.

Richard Neal has sold our district out for less than $125,000 in campaign donations from GE's PAC. Now imagine how he works behind the scenes to benefit the countless number of corporations and special interest groups that paid him much, much more. If our congressman is so preoccupied with “saving our environment,” he should start with the mess that he helped create.

Independent Nadia Milleron, of Sheffield, is looking better and better. How about a debate, congressman?

Richard Rosencrans Jr., Holyoke

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October 18, 2024

It is impossible for Jon Melle (me) to find a job after being conspiratorially persecuted by Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior since the Spring 1996, which is 28.5 years ago when I was 20 years old (I am now 49 years old).  Moreover, Nuciforo also conspiratorially persecuted my father, Bob, when he was a Berkshire County Commissioner from 1997 - mid-2000.

I have had to defend myself from the Nuciforo network of conspiratorial bullies for almost all of my adult life.  I spent most of my 20's (mid-1995 to mid-2005) acting like I was a paranoid schizophrenic young man, but it turned out that I was facing unusual events because my dad, Bob, was a politician back then with Nuciforo being a mean-spirited son of (a) BITCH-field.

In the U.S. Army, I served honorably.  A Soldier held a steel bar to my head threatening my life, but when I reported the incident to my chain of support/command, I was told that only I was to be written up because I disrespected a Soldier by telling him to Go to Hell when he was about to severely harm me.  I was excessively sleep deprived by being ordered to work an excessive amount of 24 hour duty shifts.  I was given illegal orders to drive a 5-ton Army vehicle without the regulated minimum of 6 hours of sleep, which was weeks after a Soldier without enough sleep jackknifed a mother driving her son to an elementary school in Germany and thereby killing them, which caused a lot of controversy over there (Europe); that aforementioned Soldier faced a court-martial and was sent to a military prison.  I dutifully had to disobey the illegal order.  It was in the Winter, and months later, I received an honorable discharge for a psychiatric condition.

I am a permanent and total 100 percent service-connected disabled Veteran.  Without my VA benefits, I would be a homeless Veteran.  I may not have had a career, but I have had a life full of abuses.  For the most part, I am respected by most people.

I see Donald Trump as an abuser who bullies people who cannot defend themselves against him.  Unlike Nuciforo, Trump is an outright bully, while Nuciforo is insidious and conspiratorial.  I like Kamala Harris, Tim Walz - as well as Andrea Harrington, (the lovely) Linda Tyer, Maura Healey and Joyce Craig - because they are the people who can and do stand up to bullies such as Trump and/or someone such as Nuciforo.

Jon Melle

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Saturday, October 19, 2024

Hello Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey,

I received the following text message today (Saturday, 10/19/2024):

"Hi Jonathan, this is Amelia with the NH Dems.  Maura Healey is joining us for two canvass launches this Sunday on the 20th, to Get Out the Vote in New Hampshire!  We'll be knocking on doors at 10:00 am in Merrimack and 12:00 pm in Londonderry - which one works better for you?  Stop 2 Quit"

I wish to thank you for visiting New Hampshire tomorrow morning and early-afternoon to campaign for Kamala Harris for U.S. President and Joyce Craig for Governor of New Hampshire in 2024.  I believe that you, Maura Healey, and Joyce Craig and Kamala Harris will make a great team.  I proudly support all of you in politics.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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October 19, 2024

I asked my dog if I should relay your far right posting to Maura Healey.  My dog answered that rather than me tell Maura Healey about the Democratic Party's "communist agenda" and "worthless, sh!tty, good for nothing, women politicians" and that for her to "stay the FU*K out of NH", and that "we don't want illegal aliens and homeless drug addicts, destroying our state, live she accomplished with Boston", and the accusatory question "did Big Mike Obama kill their chef?" "Or was it Bathhouse Barry?" "He 'drown' in 8 feet of water and was also found NUDE...",

I should ask Kelly Ayotte, who is running for Governor of New Hampshire versus Joyce Craig, why in 2016, Kelly Ayotte un-endorsed Donald Trump for U.S. President after the hot mic episode whereby Trump said that he likes to grab women by their genitals, but now in 2024, she endorses Trump for U.S. President?

I also should ask Kelly Ayotte about a similar situation whereby years ago, JD Vance called Donald Trump "America's HITLER", but in 2024, JD Vance is Donald Trump's running mate.

In closing, while Donald Trump (Gold Medal) is the ultimate MORAL HYPOCRITE, Kelly Ayotte (Silver Medal) and JD Vance (Bronze Medal) are number 2 and number 3.

Jon Melle

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October 21, 2024

The Republican Party Members of U.S. Congress did not pass an immigration bill in 2024 because Donald Trump wanted it to fail for his own political gain.  That will backfire on them.  They are the Cult of Trump!

JD Vance years ago called Donald Trump "America's HITLER".  Right there, Donald Trump showed failed leadership by choosing JD Vance as his running mate in 2024.  Did he take the insult as a compliment?  We live in The Twilight Zone!

Then there is Project 2025, which is a road-map to authoritarianism that would destroy democracy in the U.S.A.  Everyone who is not wealthy and powerful will lose their voices to a system that worships a 78-year-old buffoon.

Kamala Harris will win on November 05th, 2024, because she has the women's vote.  No modern candidate for U.S. President has won without at somewhere around 50 percent or higher of the women's vote.  Trump has somewhere around 35 percent to 40 percent of the women's vote.  It is simple mathematics.

JD Vance calls women who never had children "MISERABLE CAT LADIES".  Donald Trump said on a hot mic that he likes to "grab women by their [genitals]".  They are the dumbest political candidates for the White House ever because they pick on women, as well as minorities, especially immigrants, who vote in elections.

Jon Melle

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October 23, 2024

They are all HYPOCRITES!  Please don't give me the Tulsi Gabbard negative views of the Clinton(s)/Obama(s)/Biden-led Democratic Party.  Please don't give the Liz Cheney negative views of the Trump-led Republican Party.

Donald Trump speaking at the Catholic Al Smith dinner is a perfect illustration of the MORAL HYPOCRISY of the Republican Party and the Catholic Church alike.

If one calls the Catholic Church an institution of MORAL HYPOCRISY, does it make on anti-Catholic?  Answer: Not in my opinion.  It makes one a person who speaks and/or writes the truth.

Kamala Harris NOT attending the Catholic Al Smith dinner is a perfect illustration of the far left led Democratic Party that does NOT care about the unwanted and voiceless people Jesus Christ cared about during His life on Earth, and in His teachings in The Bible.

Do you know what the Catholic Church, Donald Trump, Tulsi Gabbard, Liz Cheney, Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party are really all about?

Answer: The same thing that greedy lobbyists such as Dan Bosley are all about: MONEY and POWER!  We do NOT matter to these institutions and corrupt politicians, lobbyists, and marijuana kings and queens.

We have two lousy candidates running for the presidency, specifically Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

I like and support Kamala Harris, along with Tim Walz, Andrea Harrington, (the lovely) Linda Tyer, Maura Healey, and Joyce Craig, because they are the people who are able to stand up to Donald Trump's bullying style of authoritarian-like politics.  Down with Trump!

Jon Melle

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October 24, 2024

Who do I worship?  Answer: NOT "Luciforo", who did, indeed, politically persecute my dad, Bob, and I, many years ago, as well as he had his "Nuciforo network" conspiratorially bully me for a little less than 28.5 years now since the Spring 1996 when I was 20 which is when I unfortunately first met the now notorious "Pittsfield's Pot King (of lawsuits)", who now lives in his $950,000 mansion in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College; I am now 49 in the Autumn 2024.

I need to survive.  If I could work a low- to moderate-income job, it would take away some of my disability benefits, which would cause me great personal financial hardships that I experienced many years ago when I was a young man who was blacklisted from (gainful) employment in the beautiful Berkshires because Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior is a mean-spirited, corrupt, and retribution using stool sample, who earlier this year 2024 received from the City (of PIttsfield) a pot settlement of $341,000, which is after Nuciforo donated $1,000 to Peter Marchetti's 2023 mayoral campaign.

I must survive in society and in our otherwise cruel world.  I must survive the abuses of bullies such as Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr.  Also, I view Donald Trump as a bully,  who stands for authoritarian-style politics in the U.S.A.

Jon Melle

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November 08, 2024

Hello Governor Maura Healey,

I would rather have Prez Donald Trump cut my VA benefits, as posted by two MAGA (Nazi-like) authors on the blog named Planet Valenti, than me having to support this 78-year-old buffoon who wants to remake our democracy into an authoritarian state that marginalizes and hurts many people the governments is supposed to be serving.  If Prez Donald Trump wants to hurt people, then please, by all means, hurt me - Jon Melle - first!

I would rather have Prez Donald Trump cut my VA benefits, as posted by the aforementioned Trump supporters, than me not being able to write about my support for your administration leading the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by being a state that stands for Human Rights for All Peoples and people for dignity, compassion and justice - what the U.S.A. should stand for in our otherwise cruel world.

If I weren't a disabled man, I would proudly ask you if I could work for your administration in Boston, Massachusetts.  Also, I proudly voted for Joyce Craig for Governor of New Hampshire, but she was vastly outspent by Kelly Ayotte, who used the underclass population of the City of Manchester, NH, as a weapon against her when she was not attacking you and the great state that you lead.

If Prez Donald Trump wants to cut my VA benefits, then the more power to him.  I will find a way to survive his would-be persecution(s) and retribution(s).  I hate bullies, and I live at my own level of dignity rather than going down to their level(s) of abuse(s).  Please note, I have been surviving Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior's conspiratorial abuses and persecutions for 28.5 years now.

I served our nation honorably as a Soldier and for over 23 years now, I am a 100 percent totally and permanently service-connected disabled Veteran because I love my country, but I will always speak my good conscience as long as I live when it comes to the government.  Unlike Trump and other corrupt politicians, I do NOT win at any cost because I am a good person first and foremost in my life.

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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November 09, 2024

Hello, again, Governor Maura Healey,

I am being bullied on the blog named Planet Valenti for defending your great leadership in Massachusetts.  I am also being bullied because I always write how disgraced Pittsfield (Massachusetts) State Senator (1997 - 2006) Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior has conspiratorially persecuted me - Jon Melle - for the past 28.5 years of my adult life of 49 years.

First, I support you because you are a good person and politician who treats everyone with dignity, compassion and justice.  I believe that you represent the ideals of what the U.S.A. should be, while I see Donald Trump as a bully that many people fear.

Second, Nuciforo has hurt me on many levels for a very long time now.  Nuciforo has:

1. Nuciforo had people in "the Nuciforo network" conspiratorially bully me since I was 20 years old when I unfortunately first met him during the Spring 1996 when my dad, Bob, campaigned for the elected position of Berkshire County Commissioner (1997 - mid-2000).

2. Nuciforo filed multiple state "ethics" complaints to several Massachusetts state agencies against my dad, Bob, from the Fall 1997 - Spring 1998 to try to get my dad fired from his then state job at the Pittsfield District Courthouse and make his resign his elected office, but Nuciforo's vindictive actions did not succeed against my father back then. (Please note, then North Adams Mayor and sitting State Representative John Barrett III spoke up in defense of my dad, Bob, back then - Thank You!).

3. Nuciforo filed secretive criminal complaints against me - Jon Melle - in the Spring 1998 to the Pittsfield Police Department falsely alleging that I was making "veiled threats" against him, but it was Nuciforo who was threatening me for 2 years back then, and Nuciforo's vindictive actions did not succeed against me - Jon Melle - back then.

4. Nuciforo blacklisted me from employment in the beautiful Berkshires when I was a young man in the late-1990's and early-2000's.  For over one year of my adult life (Spring 2002 - Spring 2003), I walked around my native hometown of Pittsfield job seeking without any success.

5. Nuciforo and "the Nuciforo Network" spread vicious and half-truths rumors against me - Jon Melle - even after I relocated to Southern New Hampshire around 21.5 years ago now.

Nuciforo's corrupt history as a politician, Attorney, and pot King include:

1. In January 2007, The Boston Globe published a news story that explained that from 1999 - 2006, then State Senator Nuciforo was allegedly illegally double dipping as the Chair of the State Senate Finance Committee and at the same time, he was a private Attorney for Boston's big banks and insurance companies.  In 2006, Nuciforo had to step down as a disgraced State Senator because he was a corrupt politician and Attorney.  To this present day in late-2024, Nuciforo still has a law office in Boston's Financial District.  Nuciforo got away with enriching himself via corruption.

2. During the 2006 state election for Middle Berkshire Registrar of Deeds, there were two women running for the elected seat, who are named Sharon Henault, who worked at the Pittsfield Registry of Deeds, and Sara Hathaway, who is a former one-term Pittsfield Mayor (2002 - 2003).  Nuciforo strong-armed the two women candidates out of the election to anoint himself to the no-show sinecure (2007 - 2012).  In 2012, Nuciforo campaigned for U.S. Congress, but lost to PAC Man Richie Neal by 40 points back then.  Thank God (especially for me - Jon Melle), Nuciforo's corrupt and mean-spirited political career came to an end back then.

3. In March 2017, Nuciforo co-founded his marijuana business that he named "Berkshire Roots".  Nuciforo was one of the first people to receive a pot permit(s) in Pittsfield back then.  Later, Nuciforo opened a second marijuana dispensary in east Boston whereby, once again, he used his political connections and deep pockets to be one of the first people to receive a pot permit back then.  Earlier this year 2024, Nuciforo settled his pot lawsuit with the City of Pittsfield, and Nuciforo walked away with $341,000 from the city's coffers.  Nuciforo knew full well what he was doing when he paid for his pot permits, but he became greedy and won $341,000 from the very city government his once corruptly served in Boston.  

4. In August 2023, Nuciforo purchased a $950,000 mansion in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College.  Also, Nuciforo is a landlord who owns properties in Boston and Pittsfield alike.  Nuciforo is a millionaire who worships money and power, and he hurts anyone - especially me: Jon Melle - who stand in his way of winning at any cost.

5. Lastly, Nuciforo had/has a lawsuit in Suffolk (Boston) Superior Court whereby he is trying to make it illegal for workers to join and belong to unions in the marijuana industry in Massachusetts.  While Nuciforo has always said that he is a Democrat, even his hometown daily newspaper named The Berkshire Eagle once wrote that he is a fiscal conservative.

In closing, while I believe that I am persecuted person on this otherwise cruel world, I see you as a warm light of decency and democracy, Maura Healey, and as the Governor of Massachusetts, you have my full support, especially when it comes to your resistance of Donald Trump's cruel plans to hurt innocent Peoples and people who the government is supposed to be serving with dignity and respect.

Best regards,

Jonathan A. Melle

Veteran

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November 10, 2024

Hello Blogger Dan Valenti,

I support Governor Maura Healey's "open hostility" towards Donald Trump's inequitable and inhumane policies, especially when it comes to illegal immigrants.  I oppose Rinaldo Del Gallo III in politics because he is a DISGRACE for pretending to be a Bernie Sanders brand Democrat when he writes far right letters that support Trump's talking points that attack identity politics.  Rinaldo attends so-called "FREE SPEECH" far right political gatherings, as well as unsuccessfully defends far right political activists in court.  Rinaldo's politics supporting so-called "FREE SPEECH" politics and people are similar to the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in the 1920's and early-1930's.  Rinaldo is a DISGRACE!

Governor Maura Healey should propose financial management policies for paying for the billion(s) dollar programs that support the state's large underclass population, including illegal immigration.  Moreover, in the calendar year 2024, Governor Maura Healey cut around $400 million in state funding for social services programs and other kinds of local aid, which makes no financial sense given her support for illegal immigrants in Massachusetts.  Governor Maura Healey needs to put the state's money where her mouth is when it comes to helping the marginalized masses in Massachusetts.

However, it is not all her fault, as her critics suggest.  The do-nothing (but DISSERVICES) inequitable State Legislature in Boston are the ones who control the state's purse strings, not the executive branch.  It is impossible for Governor Maura Healey to back up her support for the underclass, especially illegal immigrants, with state funds when state lawmakers don't do their job(s).

Do you, blogger Dan Valenti, realize that Donald Trump's mass deportation programs will cost large sums of federal funds?  Will the U.S. Congress pass legislation to pay for his costly policies?  Will there be due process of law in the state and federal court system for the illegal immigrants?  These are unanswered questions?

I agree with you that Massachusetts is a one-party state, but with the caveat that there are a lot of corrupt politicians, greedy lobbyists, pot kings and queens, vested interests, and special interests in Massachusetts who only say that they are Democrats to stay in the favor of the ruling elites in Boston.  In Pittsfield politics, GE lobbyist Peter Larkin and Pittsfield's Pot King Luciforo are two illustrations of Republicans in Democratic clothing; Greed-ball lobbyist Dan Bosley long has been and is Boston's big businesses' best friend, as well as the state lottery SCAM's biggest booster.  Please do not get me started on PAC Man Richie Neal (D - Insurance companies and K Street lobbyist firms in the Swamp).

You, blogger Dan Valenti, by calling Governor Maura Healey and her supporters "The Leftist Loons", are supporting the far right politics of not only Rinaldo Del Gallo, but also, Donald Trump.  "Common Sense Politics" would be a government that worked together to find common ground to serve the American People instead of the career politicians, greedy lobbyists, and so on.  Donald Trump stands for CONFLICT, while Maura Healey stands for RESISTANCE.  I proudly support Governor Maura Healey!

Best wishes,

Jonathan A. Melle

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Blogger Dan Valenti wrote:

What makes it worse for the bedraggled residents of the People’s Republic of Massachusetts is the open hostility our governor has shown toward the president-elect and his common-sense policies with respect to criminal aliens, those illegals who–being deported by other states–will come to Mass. in even greater numbers. Our kids get no help because they work hard and have a few dollars, God forbid. But the illegals comes here and immediately get free housing, loaded EBT card, free Uber, free laundry, free health care, free education, $64 per day in meal money, and much more. It cost Mass. taxpayers $1 billion+ in 2024. Expect double that in 2025. The sad part is that the radical Leftists who have hijacked the governor’s office, the house, and the senate, DO NOT REPRESENT WE THE PEOPLE. WE THE PEOPLE want “Common Sense Politics.” The Leftist Loons want “Identity Politics.”

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November 17, 2024

Are you writing to us that the Orange Jesus is NOT the real Jesus?

We must be SHOCKED, SHOCKED that the 78-year-old Donald Trump and his spineless Republican Party are really sex perv's, have a minimum of 3 wives a piece, pay their mistresses hush money, preach their moral hypocrisy to the masses, serve the wealthy and powerful elites with historically huge federal tax cuts, make false promises to help the common people who have been falling behind for over 5 decades now, call us non-believers of the MAGA (equals Nazi) propaganda horrible names, wants to abolish the U.S. Dept. of Education, wants Big Oil to run the U.S. Dept. of Energy and EPA, loves authoritarian dictators, especially oil and natural gas rich Saudi Arabia, promises peace around the World by pasting Wings of Pigs to make them fly over the Swamp, and are promising to persecute illegal immigrant families and dish out retribution to their so-called political enemies.

Wait just one minute.  The Orange Jesus sounds NOTHING like the real Jesus!

Jon Melle

P.S. Governor Maura Healey for U.S. President in 2028, please!

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November 22, 2024

I wrote an online message to Governor Maura Healey thanking her for standing up to bullies like Donald Trump.

I wrote to Governor Maura Healey that I do NOT like child abuses in any way, shape or form. The system(s) fail vulnerable children in Massachusetts and New Hampshire alike (& beyond), which was illustrated by the tragic case of a 4-year-old girl named Harmony Montgomery who was murdered by the hands of her father, Adam Montgomery, who is spending the rest of his life in NH State Prison.

As a persecuted person myself at the hands of Pittsfield/Bitchfield's Luciforo since I unfortunately first met Pittsfield's Pot King (of lawsuits) Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior when I was 20-years-old during the Spring 1996, I support Governor Maura Healey for protecting persecuted immigrants that are being used to make the Orange Jesus, 78-year-old buffoon look like an authoritarian dictator.

If Donald Trump wants to persecute people, then I request to be first in line by him cutting my 100 percent service-connection permanent and total VA benefits.  I am willing to sacrifice myself, again, as a persecuted person to another corrupt and disgraced politician who practices retribution in the government that is supposed to serve the American people, including the Have-NOT named "Jon Melle".

We live in an otherwise cruel world, but we also have GOOD people and politicians like Governor Maura Healey to make our lives on Earth a little less cruel.  I hope that Governor Maura Healey will be a future U.S. President.

Jonathan A. Melle

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November 22, 2024

My favorite politicians are: Andrea Harrington, (the lovely) Linda Tyer, and Maura Healey.

My NON-favorite politicians are: Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and Andrea "Luciforo".

The U.S. National Debt went over $36 trillion today (Friday, November 22nd, 2024).

https://usdebtclock.org/

I wonder who will pay off the U.S. National Debt?  Will it be Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, or Kufflinks and his secretive Slush Funds?

Jon Melle

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“We may be entering a very challenging time:” Retiring Southern Berkshire state Rep. Pignatelli wraps up long tenure

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Josh Landes - Published December 9, 2024

This month marks the end of Massachusetts State Representative Smitty Pignatelli’s more than two decades representing the Southern Berkshires on Beacon Hill. The Democrat announced in February that he would not seek a 12th two-year term. The rare opening in the Berkshire legislative delegation saw a four-way race to replace Pignatelli that ended with November’s general election, with Great Barrington selectboard Vice Chair and fellow Democrat Leigh Davis winning the seat. With Davis preparing to be sworn in next month and the curtain call coming on his long career as a legislator, Pignatelli has yet to confirm his next steps. He spoke with WAMC about his reflections on what’s next for his district, the coming second term for President-elect Donald Trump, the outcome of the race to fill his seat, and more.

PIGNATELLI: No surprise to me at all. I mean, I had two very viable people running for this seat. I think Leigh ran a very aggressive campaign, raised a lot of money, and she ran to win. So, my hat goes off to her. I saw her just yesterday and gave her kudos again, and we're hoping to get together. I'm working on a transition memo as we speak to help her kind of hit the ground running when she gets there in January. But no, it's a good result. She worked hard, a good clean campaign, and that's we need more of.

WAMC: Now, when you think about preparing that to do list for Leigh Davis as she settles into the 3rd Berkshire seat, what is on your mind? As you look into 2025, and beyond, what should be at the top of her list.

Well, I think the constituent work has always been my number one priority. That's been the staple of my tenure in the state house, and building relationships. So, you kind of go down there thinking you know an awful lot, which I did 22 years ago, but I quickly learned I had a lot more to learn. So, building relationships and building coalitions, I think are going to be very, very important. And I think Leigh has a personality to do just that, but just to remember- It's a marathon, not a sprint. So, you’ve got to take your time, pace yourself, and just pay attention to what's going on. And in light of the presidential election and the concerns about what the federal government will be doing to cut federal programs, the next couple of years in Massachusetts could be a really serious financial challenge. So, we have to keep our Ian the ball of maintaining services and responding to our constituent work, but time will tell. But I'm very confident that she'll hit the ground running with whatever advice I can give her, but she's a smart woman anyway, so I'm not too concerned about that.

Can you draw on your experience back in 2016 during the first Trump presidency, and maybe offer some kind of guide to your fellow legislators who have not before experienced a transition that is likely to be quite as sharp as that between the Biden and Trump presidencies?

Well, like I say, it's a marathon not a sprint, and the economy goes through cycles. I remember when I first got elected, took office in 2003- Mitt Romney was our governor, we realized that we had about a $3 billion budget gap with five months ago in the fiscal year. So, we had to struggle through those situations. We saw the economy go up, we saw it tip down in ’08, ’09, ’10. So, it's a very cyclical cycle, but in President Trump's first presidency or first term, obviously, they were starting to cut federal programs like the LIHEAP program, Low Income Heating Assistance Program. So, Massachusetts could have ignored that, or we could have found a way to find the money to keep that program going- And that's exactly what we did. The questions we're going to have this time around is that the President Trump's agenda appears to be breaking down the Department of Education. That will have some serious consequences on education not only in Massachusetts, but across the country. The challenge that Massachusetts is going to have is, do we have the financial wherewithal to replicate or substitute those dollars that the federal government may cut from us? That's going to be the challenge because, as you know, the last couple of months, we have failed to meet our benchmarks for revenue. So, we may be entering a very challenging time. And long before the presidential election, I remember my one-on-one meeting with the chairman of Ways and Means for the budget. He said, we'll be fine for this fiscal year, I'm more worried about the next two fiscal years. That's what we're leading into, starting in January, with the new president and a new legislative session. So, I think the challenges were being anticipated anyways. They may be compounded for this new president.

I'm also interested in your impressions of Governor Maura Healey as you prepare to leave office. What are your thoughts on the governor's performance so far, and what are your thoughts on the kind of administration that Leigh Davis will be experiencing in this seat for the years to come?

I think Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll have kind of hit their stride now, which I think is great. They're more engaging than they were when they first entered into the process, which is understandable, but I think they’re clicking on all cylinders, and now that this presidential election is behind us, I think we need to focus on Massachusetts and try to provide those services. As you know, I've been a huge advocate of horizontal infrastructure improvements out here in the rural parts of Massachusetts. Economic development in Boston is how many cranes are in the air and the vertical construction. Out here, it's roads, bridges, sewer, water that we have to pay attention to. The bridges are getting a lot of attention here in the Berkshires that have been ignored for too long. We need to play catch up with that. So, I think making targeted investments in providing regional equity are what this administration is starting to do, and I think the legislature has to follow suit.

One of the major issues we heard about in this campaign – and we've heard about it throughout Berkshire County – is that of housing and the incredible crunch with available properties, qualities of those properties, expense of those properties. You're leaving office as the $5 billion Affordable Homes Act from the Healey administration starts to crank into operation- What are your thoughts on where Berkshire County, and especially the Southern Berkshires, are when it comes to housing as you prepare to leave office?

I think housing in the Southern Berkshires is more of a challenge than any other part of the Berkshires. The Berkshires as a whole has issues, but I think it's even worse in South Berkshire County. So, what I'm doing- I think the legislature and the governor stepped up in a big way with a five plus billion-dollar housing bond bill. So, monies are there. Cities and towns and regions need to develop plans. They're not just going to be there with their hand out and expecting a check from the state. Develop a plan, develop a product, and I believe the state will be there to support those initiatives. Look at what Egremont’s doing. I really admire what Egremont’s doing on a much smaller scale with some home ownership and some rentals. More and more towns could be replicating that in a smaller basis. I don't think there's one community anywhere in Berkshire County, certainly not in South Berkshire, that would want a 500-unit development in their town. But if we can do it patchwork – 25 here, 50 there, 35 there – I think we can achieve that goal, provide safe, clean housing affordability, and that is going to be a tremendous injection to fill our workforce needs as well, because those two are running on a parallel track. Workforce and housing, they're on the same path. If we can solve one, I think we're going to solve the other one.

Another major is through line from your time in office concerns the Housatonic River. I'm interested, this controversial and ongoing cleanup plan brokered by the EPA- With Lee Zeldin – who ran for governor in New York, of course, most recently, the Republican – being appointed head of the EPA by incoming President Donald Trump, any thoughts on how that might impact the settlement in the Southern Berkshires? Are you concerned at all that changes at the federal level might impact this downstream, so to speak?

That I don't at this point. I don't know a lot about Lee Zeldin, other than we get that New York news when he ran for governor. But the settlement is agreed upon. All five towns and then Pittsfield have a settlement in place. I mean, the EPA- I have biweekly calls with them. GE came out with a transportation plan that nobody liked. We went back to the drawing board, and we advocated for trains over trucks. They've responded in a very positive way. So, I think the agreement is in place. I think the new EPA administrator would be foolish to try to lessen that or make it more advantageous to the corporations and not to the people of Massachusetts. I think we need to keep an eye on it, but I'm not as concerned as some folks may be. It's in place, it's moving forward, and there's no reason in my mind to put the brakes on it yet.

You were opposed to Question 1 on the Massachusetts ballot, the push by State Auditor Diana DiZoglio to audit the state legislature. It was ultimately a very popular question. It passed with almost 72% of the vote, something over 2.2 million Massachusetts residents backed it. What are your thoughts on that, where seems like the people have spoken in this back and forth between Democrats on Beacon Hill over transparency in the legislature?

If she feels that they need to audit the books of the legislature, I don't think it should be that big of a deal. It probably will be settled in the courts, to see what happens. But yeah, no, people overwhelmingly- no surprise to me om that vote. In fact, if anything, I'm surprised it wasn't bigger, because I've always said that people like their legislator, but they really don't trust the legislature. So, with that in mind, I thought the vote would be much bigger, but I am of the belief that if you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to worry about. So, if there's some legal mechanism to open up the books, then go for it. I don't think there's much to be worried about, and certainly nothing she's going to be surprised at. The non-disclosure agreements, I think, are a very sensitive area that, that has been her staple of trying to have greater transparency. I think that could be very controversial, and I think we need to be protecting the reputations of the people who actually signed those two parties, signed a nondisclosure agreement, and I don't want her to be leading only with that. I think that's a difficult issue, but the transparency side- If you’ve got nothing to hide, you got nothing to worry about. So, open the books.

What were your other major takeaways from election day? Obviously, Question 2, the removal of the MCAS as a graduation requirement, another big conversation. Any thoughts on that or other ballot questions this election cycle?

Well, I've never, never been a big fan of the MCAS test as the sole requirement for graduation. The question now is going to be, what will the legislature do? So, it's not just the people voted, it's a mandate- What will the legislature do with it? This is what the new legislative session is going to be about, and the new state rep is going to have to address that as well. The people have voted. Let's see what the legislature actually does with it. As you remember, we through the ballot initiative they legalized recreational marijuana, but it took the legislature almost four years to fine tune it, make sure it was a legal document. So, these ballot initiatives, which I'm never a big fan of, it's a government by petition, I think shows weak government- But I’ve never been a big fan of MCAS. I think it's a poor sole barometer to graduation. I think it's a good way to measure the effectiveness of a school district, but to hold a young person accountable to, you can only graduate if this happens, I think is wrong. The legislature is going to have to address that, and I'm hopeful that that could be eliminated.

Again, looking into sort of the end of another chaotic year, I'm interested if you have a message to Southern Berkshire County about ways that they might best express themselves to Leigh Davis, your successor. You're sort of famous for your outreach to constituents- How do you think constituents can best shape their own governance by communicating with their representatives? What's your guide to that?

Well, I think with me – and I don’t think Leigh will be any different – is, not afraid to show up. Listen to people. You got two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak. But hear different ideas. My dad always told me to talk to as many people as possible. Someone may have an idea that you've not thought of, so if you're going down to Boston thinking you know it all, you're going to get it all figured out, you're in for a short term. So go down there with an open mind and an open heart and be responsive to the people that actually hire and fire you, and that's the people in the district. I've been in that State House for 22 years, and I have yet to find a single person that ever voted for Smitty Pignatelli on Election Day, because the people that vote for you, that hire and fire every two years, live in the district, not on Beacon Hill. So don't get Beacon Hill-itis. Make sure you come home, show up at events, listen to people, and I think she'll have a very successful run if she does that.

I asked you this earlier in the year when you announced your decision to not run for reelection, but I'm interested in your regrets from this experience. What are things that you think you didn't get right, or things you wish you'd approached [differently]- At the end of the day, what are some of those open doors that you wish you'd walked through over the last 20 plus years?

I really don't, I honestly don't have any regrets. I came in with an amazing delegation that I learned from. I wish there was more mentor, mentee type relationship, so I don't see that as much at the State House as when I first started. But honestly, I have no regrets, no second thoughts. I've had a good run. I can stand by every vote that I've taken – right, wrong, or indifferent – and it moved forward. And I'm very proud of my time in the State House and the people that I've represented. I think they knew where Smitty was, and it was Smitty. It wasn't representative this or senator that, or chairman this or chairman that, it was “call Smitty.” And I'm really proud of that fact. So, no second thoughts, no regrets. Good run, and I'm very proud of the work that I was able to accomplish.

What is your message to constituents as America moves into likely another- This is obviously a deeply Democratic part of a deeply Democratic state, we’re moving back into the leadership of a deeply controversial and polarizing figure in Donald Trump. Do you have a message for your constituents moving forward without [your] familiar face into this era to offer some sort of advice or comfort or any- Any message come to mind?

Let's agree to disagree, and let's disagree without being disagreeable. Social media has created a monster in so many ways with our interacting with our elected officials. Pick up the phone, stop them at the street corner, stop them at the gas station, and engage in dialogue. You can learn by talking to other people and not be overzealous on Facebook or some other social media form. So, I'm more of a personal type person, and let's engage with that, and just don't venture anger through a letter to the editor or through social media. So, don't be afraid. That's what I love about the House of Representatives- As you know, I've had three opportunities to run for the Senate in Berkshire County. All three times I said no, because I enjoyed the House of Representatives. We are the representatives. We are closer to the people. Nobody should be afraid to approach Leigh Davis or Smitty Pignatelli, and Leigh Davis and Smitty Pignatelli should never be afraid to approach them because they have a different point of view. And I think if we had more of that dialogue in politics, I think our narrative nationwide would be much better than what it is today.

I'm interested in your thoughts on the state of democracy in Massachusetts. It's a commonwealth that has so many uncontested races, and often so little interparty debate over these ground-level runs. This was such a rare opportunity with your departure to see a really contested primary. What are your thoughts on the state of democracy in Massachusetts? Are things healthy here, or are you concerned about the lack of contested races throughout the commonwealth?

Well, I think they're healthy, but I think they could be healthier. And I say that from the standpoint that, people should have – and here I am saying this on the way out the door, that there should be more contested races – but I mean that from the standpoint that these jobs in government, and you're seeing it at the local level as well, are not as attractive as they once were. And why is that? And I think it's got to do with the scrutiny, the 24/7 media cycle that goes on. They're watching every turn you take. I think people are feeling, you know what, I can make more money working in the private sector, being home on weekends with my family instead of going to a chicken dinner in some remote town on a Saturday night in March. I just think it's getting harder and harder because of the personal attacks that are being made to government. When I was younger and my dad was running, the issue was against his opponent himself. Now they bring in the family, and I think that's disheartening to a lot of people who are saying, you know what, I can do more on the outside of politics. Public service is an honorable profession. We need to bring back the mutual respect that we’ve had, that we can agree to disagree. Until we do that, I think you're going to see fewer and fewer races. Now, would I have had opposition if I decided to run again? Maybe, maybe not. It's an open seat, but I was so glad that, what, four people, four people in the Berkshires had an idea that they could run for state representative. And Leigh Davis is the victor, but we're not seeing the next generation of people getting involved locally as a stepping stone to maybe running for statewide office at some point. That's the part that concerns me going forward, is the quality of the people running for office and the ability to engage in intellectual debate and having disagreements without being disagreeable.

And lastly, anything I've not thought to ask you, Smitty, that you want to communicate to the constituents in the Southern Berkshires as you prepare to leave? What's your farewell message to the people who have supported you for over 20 years now?

Well, it's- You can't build a bigger font for me to say thank you. I've been blessed, I've worked hard, we've done some good things, we built great relationships, but there's more work to do. The work never ends. It's just time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life. And hopefully, Leigh Davis will pick up on some of my things, but surely have the ability to shape her own path, which I think is good as well. But I think- I'm very proud of the work that we've done, and to receive 93% of the popular vote in my last contested election two years ago I think is an indication that, you know what, I did pretty well in the people's minds. And the reception I got on Veterans Day down in Sheffield was quite humbling, that even my way out the door, people were very appreciative and making nice, positive comments that, we're going to miss you. So, like I say, I think I've done good work. We've done, we’ve worked hard, we've accomplished a lot of things, but you know what? The work never gets done, and I'll be there to help out Leigh if she wants. I'm going to not put my nose in her business, but if she wants help or some guidance on anything, my phone call is just a phone call away.

At this point, is there any clarity about what your next steps might be?

No, not yet. A couple irons is in the fire, nothing definitive yet. As you know, I took on the interim town manager job, which- I offered to help out that for a couple months. Lenox is now finalizing a contract with Jay Green from Adams to be the permanent town manager, so, I was happy to help out, but this is something I definitely do not want to do. But a couple other irons in the fire, which hopefully will be shaken out the next few weeks, one of them positively.

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December 11, 2024

Hello blogger Dan Valenti,

Please read Smitty Pignatelli's online radio interview.

What did he mean that: "Social media has created a monster in so many ways with our interacting with our elected officials."?  Is Smitty Pignatelli against FREE SPEECH?  Is Smitty Pignatelli for RETRIBUTION?  Smitty Pignatelli sounds similar to Mayor Peter Marchetti when he said he is not a fan of social media and blogs, and that he wanted a 90-day grace period free from criticisms of his then new mayoral administration back in early-2024.

What did Smitty Pignatelli mean when he said that the state auditor's looking into the ("cooked") books of the state legislature will lead to public seeing the "sensitive" settlements in the nondisclosure agreements?  Why don't we know how much state tax dollars went into settling state lawmakers' respective inappropriate behaviors with others who work in the Boston Statehouse?  Who are these state lawmakers who have cost state taxpayers money, and what did they do?

What did he mean that when he was first sworn in as a State Rep. in Boston, he was part of an amazing delegation?

The Berkshire delegation back in 2003 consisted of the then corrupt State Sen. Andrea Nuciforo, Jr., who is a disgraced double-dipper with the big insurance companies in the Boston area, and Nuciforo is the owner of the marijuana company "Berkshire Roots"; State Rep. Dan Bosley, who is a pro-big- business greedy lobbyist in Boston; State Rep. Peter Larkin, who has long been a GE lobbyist who made a small fortune for himself by selling out Pittsfield with the GE settlements that led to the flawed capped leak landfills, which Smitty Pignatelli supports in Lee (Mass.); and Shaun Kelly, who went to work as a clerk in the Berkshire state courthouse system.

Please follow-up with Smitty Pignatelli.  I would like to know why people writing on social media have created a monster in his mind, please.  I would like to know if he thinks that we should know about the costly nondisclosure agreements in the Boston Statehouse, please.  I would like to know why he is so fond of Nuciforo, Bosley, Larkin, and Kelly, please, given that they are all greedy in their respective post-Statehouse careers.

Best wishes,

Jon Melle

https://www.wamc.org/news/2024-12-09/we-may-be-entering-a-very-challenging-time-retiring-southern-berkshire-state-rep-pignatelli-wraps-up-long-tenure

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"An honor to serve"

By Smitty Pignatelli, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, December 19, 2024

As I reflect on the past 22 years serving as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, I do so with immense pride and gratitude. Together with my colleagues, I have had the privilege of contributing to landmark legislation that has defined our commonwealth, from marriage equality to health care for all — both of which became national models.

I’ve worked on major environmental, economic development and housing bond bills that continue to benefit the Berkshires and will for years to come.

Of course, none of this was accomplished single-handedly. The legislative process is a team effort, and I have been fortunate to serve alongside dedicated colleagues who have always put the interests of Massachusetts first. When I first entered the House, I thought I knew a lot, having spent years in local and county government. But I quickly realized I had much more to learn. I was lucky to have the guidance and support of Reps. Peter Larkin, Dan Bosley and the entire Berkshire delegation [also, Rep. Shaun Kelly, (the disgraced) State Senator Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior], who took me under their wing and set me on the right path. I was proud to team up with them 20 years ago to create the first-in-the-nation Cultural Facilities Fund that has delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to our local economy.

Throughout my tenure, we’ve faced the ups and downs of local, state and global economies. Yet I’ve always believed that when we work together, no challenge is insurmountable. The 22 communities I have represented over the years have demonstrated time and again the power of collaboration to make the Berkshires — and what I like to call “BesternMass” — a thriving, vibrant region.

The Statehouse is steeped in tradition with its formal titles and protocols: “Representative this” or “Chairperson that.” But I’ve always reminded my team that while my job may be important, I never felt important. I entered the House as Smitty, and I’m proud to leave it the same way — simply Smitty.

Growing up, politics in my household was never a dirty word, and politicians were not seen as bad people. Those early lessons grounded me in the belief that public service is about representing the needs of others, not yourself. I’ve carried that belief with me every day in the House, never forgetting where I came from or the people I was there to serve. Representing the 4th and now 3rd Berkshire District — my home — has been the greatest honor of my life. I wasn’t always successful, but I gave my best every single day. After nearly 50 years in public service, I retire as a public servant, not a politician.

One of my greatest concerns is that public office today risks becoming more about “self-service” than “public service.” We need people at all levels to stay engaged, hold public officials accountable and demand better. I’ve always set a high bar for myself and those around me. I’ve never been afraid to admit failure or celebrate shared success, and I’ve tried each day to lead with the same passion, vision and integrity my family instilled in me.

The words of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy have always inspired me: “The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” They remind me that the challenges we face are ongoing, and progress is built step by step. I also think of my father’s wisdom: “The issues never change, only the faces. In order to know where we’re going, you need to know where we’ve been.” While there will be a new face representing this great district on Jan. 1, the issues and challenges will remain.

I leave the House proud of all we’ve accomplished together. I am profoundly grateful for the trust you’ve placed in me to represent our community in “BesternMass.” Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli represents the 3rd Berkshire District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

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Our Opinion: "A lawmaker's farewell and a legacy of service"

The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, December 19, 2024

When state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli gave his farewell speech this week on the Statehouse floor, it was pure Smitty. We feel confident his constituents will know exactly what that means: He spoke far more about those around him than himself, centering the people who have supported him and the issues-based coalitions he’s worked with rather than individual achievements and milestones.

That certainly tracks with what we’ve observed during the two decades Rep. Pignatelli has represented Southern Berkshire County in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He showed up. He listened. Not only did he know what was going on in all the small towns he served, he cared and brought that care to bear in the bustle of Beacon Hill business that too often overlooks Western Massachusetts’ needs and interests.

That service has shaped a legacy that will continue benefiting Berkshire residents and Bay Staters everywhere even after Rep. Pignatelli steps down in the new year. From marriage equality to health care reform, South County’s legislator has lent strong support to landmark legislation that promised progress for our state and a model for our nation. If and when the state’s passenger rail moonshot better connects the commonwealth in regionally equitable form, Rep. Pignatelli will deserve a lot of credit for his advocacy and his push to think “West-East rail” rather than “East-West.” Legislation aimed at blunting the opioid epidemic’s brutal toll came closer to becoming law this week, including measures to increase access to overdose-reversal drugs like naloxone that save lives — a cause that Rep. Pignatelli has tirelessly championed to mitigate an addiction scourge that has disproportionately hit rural areas like the Berkshires.

In addition to those accomplishments measured in publicly invested dollars and thoughtful policies, Rep. Pignatelli also left his mark in less-tangible but no less important ways. When a group of frustrated Great Barrington residents sought to draw attention to the disruption and uncertainty caused by bridge outages, their state representative was right there with them. Rep. Pignatelli wasn’t there because he could single-handedly solve this localized chapter of a systemic infrastructure crisis for small towns; he was there because he knows that when it comes to the big problems where we most need government’s help, we can only begin to address them when we come together in common cause and our leaders listen to the affected.

That’s a lesson that Rep. Pignatelli has not only learned but lived through decades of public service, including the last two representing South County in the Statehouse. At a time when our public institutions face threats of cynicism from within and distrust from without, we need more public servants who exemplify the profound axiom put so simply in Rep. Pignatelli’s farewell speech: “It’s about representing the needs of others, and not your own.” That, too, is pure Smitty — a model for the class, care and character that the 3rd District, the Berkshires and all Bay Staters deserve from their representatives.

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