At a time when our president is striving to reverse the trend toward more secrecy in government that began after 9/11, we find it appalling that the State of California is considering a bill that will send open government back to the Stone Age for cities and counties in this state.
The bill, AB 715, if passed, will allow city and county clerks to post all newly enacted ordi?nances on the agency”s Web site, instead of following the long established law of publishing them in a newspaper of general circulation. The city of Clearlake has already voiced its support of the bill.
We make no bones about the fact that one of the reasons for concern about passage of this bill is that California newspapers will lose some of their revenues. In the midst of a horrible reces?sion, that would not help an industry that is already reeling from the impacts of the poor economy and other industry related issues. We feel strongly that newspapers are an important ele?ment of a free society and need to be supported, not squelched.
But, that aside, the most important reason that AB 715 is bad for the residents of California is that it will mean that local government news that has long been mandatorily published for the benefit of the citizens will only be available on the Internet. How many people will actually go looking for the information? How many people don”t have access to a home computer to go looking for the information? Only a fraction of the people who have always read this information in their newspaper will seek it out and actually read it online.
Residents can file a written request to receive notice of an ordinance”s passage through the U.S. Mail. We believe this places an undue burden on California residents by requiring them to specifically “opt in” for what has always been readily available.
Moreover the cost to an individual to cover the city”s expenses to print a multi-page ordinance can easily exceed the 50 to 75 cents that it would cost to purchase a newspaper.
Supporters of the proposed legislation say that the bill is a “streamlining and cost-saving measure at a time when all gov?ernment budgets face devastating cuts.” The truth is that the average annual cost to a California city to have this information published in the local newspaper is just $5,736. That is a pittance when you consider an annual city budget these days.
We are hopeful that the Senate Committee on Local Government, chaired by Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) will see this bill for what it is, a step backward, rather than the progres?sive move it is touted to be, and kill it in committee.
Don”t forget to write!
The Clear Lake Observer*American welcomes letters responding to articles and opinions that have appeared in this newspaper, as well as on topics of general interest. Letters can be sent to ObserverAmerican@gmail.com or mailed to PO Box 6200, Clearlake, CA 95422. Please include complete name, address and telephone number. Anonymous submissions will be discarded.
