Compiled by City-Times Staff

City-Times staff members work hard throughout the year to bring you the very best in ultra- local news in an unbiased, straight-forward manner. Since our transition from a weekly to a daily publication in late 2012, we’ve obtained volumes of off-the-record comments, witnessed ridiculous back-biting between elected officials and encountered absurd bureaucratic red tape in our own news gathering efforts. Below we’ve compiled our annual airing of grievances for 2013 (feel free to list yours in the comment section), listed in no particular order:

• Lengthy School Board Meetings: In 2013 the school board opted to no longer hold committee meetings, instead dealing with all matters during its regular monthly meetings- which are now held every two weeks- and they average 5 1/2 hours in length each. Constant bickering, arguing principals and semantics and disputes about meeting format and agendas have slowed this current board down to an embarrassing snail’s pace. The board’s constant nitpicking and inability to compromise has now forced the city to stop airing board meetings on the city’s Community Television channel. If the board truly operates with the best interest of students in mind, they would move heaven and earth to ensure these meetings were capped at the 2-3 hour mark so parents attending these fiascos could get home in time to tuck said public school students into bed. Board Members: If you folks can’t get it together the public will respond to your inadequacies in the next election, which is just around the corner.
• Bad Landlords & Dirty Contractors: We’re heard some stories about great landlords and great contractors over the past several weeks. We’ve also heard about the bad apples in the Stevens Point Area. We’re coming for you in 2014.
• Buying Facebook ‘Likes’: Facebook has an option for organizations/businesses to “boost” their audience by purchasing an ad designed to increase the number of “likes” on their page. While the entire ordeal is a bit infantile, City-Times is proud to note that 100 percent of our “likes” are completely organic: we haven’t spent a dime on our “likes”. It’s kind of like buying a friendship and that smacks of questionable ethics for any news organization.
• Politically Correct Answers: Some people are so worried about offending someone, stepping out of line or in some other way appearing human that they aren’t able or willing to answer a straight answer with a straight question. Community Development Director Michael Ostrowski and County Board Chairman Phil Idsvoog can flip this “P.C. switch” on and off depending on the question they are posed; Mayor Andrew Halverson and Portage County Executive Patty Dreier seemingly can’t.
• Code Red & Crime Alert Network: These two entities provide urgent breaking news via email, text and phone relating to missing persons, public hazards and extreme weather events- for a price. While it’s a small cost ($4.99/year for Code Red and $12/year for Crime Alert), whatever happened to having personal, no-cost relationships with law enforcement and other emergency officials in your own hometown?
• Poor Speeding Enforcement/Crossing Guards on County HH: County Highway officials compare part of County HH to a stretch of Church St. between Patch & Heffron because both are highly- traveled, extended thoroughfares which run through a mix of residential and commercial areas. School crossing guards along both roadways have complained about speeders. Both segments of roadways need additional traffic signals because clearly, too many drivers either don’t see or don’t care about posted speed limits. But the similarities end there: a school crossing on Church St. has a student cadet, an adult crossing guard and usually a squad car parked at the intersection. But a school crossing at HH & School St. has none of those, keeping police presence “out of sight, out of mind” along that stretch of road. It’s amazing nobody’s been killed along HH, which is home to one heavily- used portion of the Green Trail. The school crossing at School St. has no adult guard, no student cadet and no visible squad unit regularly parked anywhere, and Village of Whiting officials have asked families on the north side of the road to either drive students or have them ride the bus to avoid the unmanned walk.
• Distracted/Uneducated Council Members: On too many occasions it appears at least some Council Members don’t read their hometown newspaper. Some Council Members ought to be embarrassed for not doing their research prior to committee or Council meetings, instead trusting the word of whoever happens to be presenting information. Too many aldermen/women are woefully disconnected from their constituents, too many ask questions already extensively answered by local media, and too many keep their backs to residents who address the Council, instead looking through their notes, cell phone, or picking at their fingernails. A reminder to Council Members: we’re watching you– and so is all of Stevens Point.