Another hypercritical resident. I think Benest is largely correct. Talk to almost any city official in neighboring communities. They shudder thinking about the challenges of working in this environment.

The real pity is that most citizens in Palo Alto are not represented by those who are the most hypercritical. Somehow, those who want to stick their nose in every corner of government have managed to find a way to dominate the discussion here.

I wish the newspapers would ask for comments on issues from those in our community who are NOT a part of the gadfly crowd that populates city hall for every little meeting.

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Yes and they also did a Survey of the Fire Department.

Lets compare this one to that one

It's the media again. If they weren't so picknitty we wouldn't have these messes all over in the papers for everybody to see.

Or could it be that Palo Alto city staff and council and commissions really do screw up more than elsewhere? Might the local Nattering Nabobs of Negativism have it right?

If City employees didn't steal from the city and did their jobs with reasonable competence, we wouldn't have things like the Utilities Scandal and the awful website to be negative and hypercritical about.

If what goes on here is accepted without criticism or comment in other cities, we have yet another reason to be grateful for an informed citizenry and vigilant press corps.

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Alyssa,

Feeling Guilty??

It's so obvious. With local press resources lessening, the impact as stated by knowledgeable people is: less oversight of/reporting on local government. I highly value the local press covering city hall.

This is considered a major loss in that local press oversight has tended to keep local government fraud/misbehavior in check and/or uncovered it on occasion. Citizens need to know what's going on with their tax money and about new policies/decisions. Local politicians and municipal staff NEED to be scrutinized!