Last week I wrote about a Pittsfield official telling the City Council that the City of Pittsfield had “elected” not to comply with state-mandated environmental monitoring regulations in an effort to save money. In case you think this is an isolated incident, let me tell you about a few things that happened over the course of the last couple weeks and are still going on. Read more…
20
Jun
Posted by - Bruce Winn : Category -
General,
Pittsfield City Government
Why is it that people, whether in an office in Pittsfield or on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, always think they understand public safety issues better than the regulators. Recently, Bruce Collingwood, Pittsfield’s Commissioner of Public Works and Utilities, stood before the city council during budget hearings to discuss the mayor’s new budget. Mr. Collingwood was asked by a councilor to explain the fact that his department had asked for $106,000 for environmental monitoring but had received only $30,000. Why did this happen and what were the implications of the mayor not putting the full amount in Mr. Collingwood’s budget the councilor wanted to know.
Mr. Collingwood explained that the city had “elected” not to do this monitoring although it is required by the state.
Read more…