In an effort to take away accountability and transparency in government, some members of the Michigan Legislature are moving to end requiring local governments placing public notices in newspapers. House Bill 4183 is veiling the transparency issue as a “cost” savings to local governments, by letting government officials to place notices online. We know of a half dozen local governments who do not have websites? How many more throughout the state are with out websites. It is also estimated that 25% of the population does not have the internet in their home.
The bill fails to show a cost of implementing and maintaining local government websites.
“The cost to our local governments to post notices in our pages is very small,? Sherman Publications Assistant Publisher Don Rush said. ‘But the issue really isn’t about saving the tax payers a few thousand dollars a year. It is really about keeping the public informed by an independent third party. Do you trust everyone in government to always do the right thing? Would you like the United States Constitution to only be a digital copy. It’s really easy to change digital content.?
The House is expected to vote on this bill this Thursday (March 19) and Rush has encouraged everybody to contact their legistlator to vote against.
Below is an editorial written by Fred Jacobs, another article about Link Rot, where internet content just “disappears,” and more info on the bill.
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The madness of lame-duck session politics just won’t go away.
? In December, we saw our Michigan legislators frantically ramming through impulsive legislation before the start of a new legislative session in January.? That lame-duck session brought us the upcoming May 5 road improvement ballot.? In true lame-duck fashion, though, our legislators turned it into a Christmas tree ballot with plenty of other gifts under the tree for special groups and agencies who will help get the vote passed just so they can get in on the additional funding.
? Fortunately, lame-duck bills that never find wings go in to the legislative wastebasket, but that doesn’t mean the idiocy is necessarily over. Inane resolutions can be re-introduced in the next session and, like the black cat with nine lives, we’ve now learned that House Bill 4180 is lurking in the alley.
This piece of proposed legislation, known as HB 5560 in December’s lame-duck session, may not seem to be as serious as the defective road funding proposal, but it ultimately affects every citizen’s right to information and that’s where newspapers must sound the alert.
If passed into law, HB? 4183 would allow local units of government to phase out the required publication of public notices in newspapers by 2025 ?- just 10 years from now. The bill would allow those public notices to be placed on websites run by municipalities, out-of-sight, out-of-mind, and out-of-the-way communication for many citizens that I think would become detrimental to taxpayers. With so many more serious issues facing our state at this time, I question why this unnecessary bill is topping the list of legislative actions.
On the surface, the issue may not seem serious to most, but to those of us who have dedicated their professional lives to the publishing business it is an obvious reduction in government transparency. It reminds me of something that a former township supervisor once told me.
‘I wish you wouldn’t publish so much information about what were doing,? said this government leader, ‘it makes it hard to govern.?
Last year, when I appeared before the House and Senate during committee hearings on the issue, I reminded legislators about the importance of using local community newspapers to publish the legal documents that keep the electorate informed on issues. I reminded them how newspapers have always considered themselves the watchdogs over government action at every level and are best suited to keep the public informed.
We’ve filled township halls, county board and school board meetings over issues that were made public due to details found in legal notices in our publications.
It’s not just citizens concerned about issues with which their representatives are dealing who benefit, though.? Even the government bodies benefit from the same legal notices published in and read by citizens in their local newspaper.? Government at every level today struggles with transparency, with projecting an image of integrity and of trust.? The publication of those legal notices helps it do just that, it’s an indication of a board’s intent to be open with the public it serves.?
Currently, newspapers are required to print, verify and keep on file all notices published in our newspapers.? House Bill 4183, sponsored by Amanda Price (R-Holland), will create the ‘Local Government Public Notice Act? to phase-in, by January 2025, new legal protocols.? When the bill is fully implemented, the act will allow units of government to handle legal notices by electronic dissemination and archival protocols via the Internet on government-run websites with little or no oversight as we have today.
According to Price, the proposed legislation will reduce expenses for local units of government by allowing them to post the notices on their local websites rather than publish them in their local newspaper. Yet, according to a recent position paper released by Michigan Press Association, which represents nearly 200 weekly newspapers and 50 dailies with over 5 million readers, local governments are spending miniscule amounts of their budgets to keep the public informed.
In Niles, the government paid more for youth baseball umpires ($5,500) than for published public notices, which amounted to $2,622.11.? In Three Rivers, which is working with a $4 million budget, the local government paid only $680 ? or .00017 percent of its budget ? on published legal notices in a given year. In Barry County, our county commissioners paid approximately $2000 last year to keep the public informed. Not much when you consider the county operates on a nearly $24 million budget.
So, is it really about the money or is it about allowing government officials the freedom to control legal notices on some governmental website that most taxpayers wouldn’t even think to look at?
? I find it hard to believe that many residents would consider the website high on their list of things to do in today’s busy environment.?
? Electronic communication is a wonderful thing, but the Internet is a highway.? In Barry County, there are still people who do not use that highway or who don’t use it often or carefully enough to study local issues for which they should have some concern.
? When legal notices are published in the local newspaper, not only do our readers have a chance to keep up on local issues, they have a tangible record to which they can return for a more careful read or study.? Even our news staff uses published legal notices to monitor, examine, and keep up on issues facing our local taxpayers that, otherwise, may not even have come to its attention.
Published legal notices keep the fox out of the hen house, because that’s what newspapers do best by working hard to keep readers and the community up on what’s going on in local government.
I believe the most egregious issue of HB 4183 is the ability it would give to unscrupulous or incompetent elected officials to conduct the people’s business with little or no oversight.? It’s hard enough now to make sure public officials are doing their best to keep the people informed. If legislators allow local units of government to move away from the printed word to a more electronic form of legal communication, it will jeopardize transparency.
? It’s this newspaper’s position to bring as much information as possible to our readers by keeping them informed and interested on what’s going on with their local governments. The money we generate from legal notices pays for publishing and preparing notarized affidavits along with a copy for each legal item we print.
? Moving away from print publications does sound reasonable in the high-tech environment in which we find ourselves today, but there’s still no better way to reach a large number of people in a given market than through the local newspaper.
A recent news release from Community Papers of Michigan confirms that.
‘Collectively, community papers have maintained 99 percent of their readership since the millennium,? the release states.
CPM is a community newspaper trade association based in Lansing, which represents over 100 different weekly publications covering over 2.1 million homes and businesses throughout the state. Current statistics from a national auditing firm, Circulation Verification Council, also shows that, ‘there are over 2,673 community newspapers and shopping guides that offer a combined weekly circulation of 65,187,292 households nationwide. These publications maintain an amazing 97.1 percent receivership and 76.9 percent readership, which 74.4 percent of readers making buying decisions based on information derived from these weekly publications.?
? According to the Michigan Press Association, a number of governmental agencies support passage of the bill. Organizations like the County Treasurers Association, Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Townships Association and the Association of Counties could all benefit from keeping the information on their own websites. Yet, are they more concerned about the money or controlling the message?
? As part of the Digital Age, getting more information in a more timely fashion is important, yet the local newspaper plays an important role in connecting the government to the people. Most of us are using a combination of newspapers, television, radio and the Internet for information about burning issues of the day. That reality reminds me of something Col. Robert M. McCormick editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, once said.
‘The newspaper is an institution developed by modern civilization to present the news of the day,? said McCormack, ‘to foster commerce and industry through widely circulated advertisements and to furnish that check upon government which no constitution has ever been able to provide.?
In this high-tech, constantly connected society we’ve become, sometimes the simple, time-tested methods still work the best. Stand up and be heard, say ‘No? to HB 4183.
? It’s in your best interest.
Fred Jacobs, CEO
J-Ad Graphics, Inc.
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Link rot could eat public notices
By Sara DeForge Hough
The average lifespan of a web page is 44 days, a statistic often repeated in discussions of digital preservation. However in an ironic twist, the source of this statistic is no longer available on the Web.
This loss or removal of content at a particular Uniform Resource Locator over time has a name: “link rot.” Its troubling existence as a pothole on the World Wide Web has begun to enter into discussions of public notice, and the role of government websites.
The topic of link rot was recently examined in an article by Sarah Rhodes-“Breaking Down Link Rot: The Chesapeake Project Legal Information Archive’s Examination of URL Stability” first published in the Law Library Journal.
In the article, Rhodes used a range of research to find that link rot is not only pervasive, but can be found in a myriad of places such as scholarly articles, judicial decisions and on government websites.
In her analysis of government websites, she concluded that “despite the perception (emphasis added) that resources published to government domains are more stable than those published to websites hosted by commercial entities” the government sites are equal or, in some recent studies, have an even greater frequency of link rot than other top-level domains such as .com, .org or .edu.
At a time where state legislatures around the country are contemplating proposals to move public notices to government websites, Rhodes’ conclusions make an argument for a reconsideration of this option to ensure an archive of the notice is preserved.
Rhodes found that state government top-level domains have the highest incidence of link rot as compared to other top-level domains. She wrote, “It is clear that content at state top-level domains appears to be the most at risk for link rot, content at seemingly stable organization and government top-level domains is also vulnerable to link rot, and this vulnerability increases with the age of the resource.”
The project was made possible by the Chesapeake Project, a collaboration started by three law library members of the Legal Information Preservation Alliance.
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Legal (public) notices could one day be posted online instead of printed in newspapers if HB 4183 is enacted. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Amanda Price (R-Park Twp.), was reported by the House Local Government Committee this week. MTA will continue to advocate in support of this change as it would streamline the public notice process and help townships save money. Currently, there are over 250 separate laws requiring local municipalities to publish notices regarding meetings, assessments, zoning, elections, ordinances and more. These public notices must be published in local newspapers at varying costs to local units. Under HB 4183, a tiered system would be created for legal notices that would gradually phase out print publication notices and phase in online notices over a 10-year period. Public notices would fall into one of three categories with Tier A requiring the longest publication period, which would include notices affecting issues such as property, taxes and finances. By Jan. 1, 2025, electronic notices would be allowed on township websites for 14 to 30 days, depending on the type of notice. An amendment was added by the committee to require notices be mailed or emailed to newspapers for notification purposes if the measure is enacted. Townships would also be required to keep a printed copy of the notice at the township office for public inspection. If 10 percent of the unit’s electors sign a petition, the local unit would have to submit a ballot question that would require public notices be published in a newspaper for five years. HB 4183 now moves to the full House for consideration.