Community Corner
State Senator Pushes To End Newspaper Mandate
If this bill passes, Waterford can save lots of money by printing their legal notices online.
This article was written by Jessie King.
State Sen. Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) made a special appearance at Wednesday’s Ledyard Town Council meeting, saying she is fighting against a mandate to force municipalities into buying newspaper ads.
Osten said that if the measure is adopted, municipalities will only have to pay for a short description of required public notices in a newspaper ad and simply direct readers to the town’s website for the full notice. Also, the act would permit towns to print legal notices to a weekly publication distributed in that town (rather than a daily), which could provide a more competitive price.
Legal notices are often lengthy and expensive; that cost would be reduced significantly if it is allowed to only print a few lines about the meeting. Obviously, newspapers will miss the revenue from those long legal notices and are opposed to the bill.
This proposal has been around for some time. I found an old ad coming out against the proposal published in the Connecticut Daily News website, which makes reference to Gov. Jodi Rell, who served Connecticut from 2004 to 2011.
According to the ad (paid for by the Connecticut Daily Newspapers Association), “public notices are an important tool in ensuring an informed citizenry. They have helped develop America into a participatory democracy for hundreds of years and where it counts the most: how your tax dollars are spent, how policy is made and how our futures are charted.” The ad goes to to say that fewer people visit town websites than read the paper and that paper provides a permanent and archived record.
Public notices are an essential tool, best described on the Hartford Courant’s public notices section: “The publishing of public notices and announcements in newspapers protects the rights of people in a democracy to know about opportunities and decisions being made that can improve their involvement in their state and community.”
State Sen. Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) made a special appearance at Wednesday’s Ledyard Town Council meeting, saying she is fighting against a mandate to force municipalities into buying newspaper ads.
Osten said that if the measure is adopted, municipalities will only have to pay for a short description of required public notices in a newspaper ad and simply direct readers to the town’s website for the full notice. Also, the act would permit towns to print legal notices to a weekly publication distributed in that town (rather than a daily), which could provide a more competitive price.
Legal notices are often lengthy and expensive; that cost would be reduced significantly if it is allowed to only print a few lines about the meeting. Obviously, newspapers will miss the revenue from those long legal notices and are opposed to the bill.
This proposal has been around for some time. I found an old ad coming out against the proposal published in the Connecticut Daily News website, which makes reference to Gov. Jodi Rell, who served Connecticut from 2004 to 2011.
According to the ad (paid for by the Connecticut Daily Newspapers Association), “public notices are an important tool in ensuring an informed citizenry. They have helped develop America into a participatory democracy for hundreds of years and where it counts the most: how your tax dollars are spent, how policy is made and how our futures are charted.” The ad goes to to say that fewer people visit town websites than read the paper and that paper provides a permanent and archived record.
Public notices are an essential tool, best described on the Hartford Courant’s public notices section: “The publishing of public notices and announcements in newspapers protects the rights of people in a democracy to know about opportunities and decisions being made that can improve their involvement in their state and community.”
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