The Public’s has a Right to Know
Monday, August 06, 2007
Bill's Point of View
In Monday's (July 30th) Philadelphia Inquirer a legal notice advertising the Synopsis of 2006 Report of Audit of the City of Gloucester City appeared in the classified section of the newspaper. The notice was signed by Paul J. Kain, City Clerk. The notice was missing the legal fee, which is required under State Statue. Also required under state regulation is for the legal to be printed in a newspaper that is published and circulated in the county where the municipality is located. The Synopsis was approved by City Council at the July 19th Caucus meeting.
My first thought was what was Gloucester City trying to hide? Remembering of course last year's administration holding a special meeting on a Sunday afternoon in October to approve bond ordinances totaling $5.3 million. I also wondered how many other legal notices besides the audit has the City published in The Inquirer that I didn't see. And I wondered if any other local government in our area is also using the Inquirer for their legal notices.
Then I remembered that there is a legal battle playing out in the courts over the issue of whether or not the State law governing the advertisement of legal notices can be ignored.
Earlier this year the powers to be in Camden County sought competitive bids from newspapers for advertising legal notices at discounted rates. The county accepted the bid in March, awarding The Inquirer a two-year contract. Other municipalities and authorities in Camden County, as well as Gloucester County, can "piggyback" on the bid, printing their ads in The Inquirer for the same price.
*The Courier-Post sued Camden and Gloucester Counties and the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority earlier this month, saying it's illegal for them to run ads in an out-of-state newspaper. In the July 30 Inquirer besides the City's legal there were two legal notices authorized by the Camden County Freeholders pertaining to bids for services.
"The point is that any legal notice that appears in The Philadelphia Inquirer could be an invalid notice," said the Courier-Post's attorney, Daniel Haggerty. "Being invalid, it would allow anyone to claim they didn't receive proper notice. There's just a whole plethora of issues."
John O'Brien, the executive director of the New Jersey Press Association, agreed.
He said the standard for determining where a newspaper is published is the location of its principal business office.
"From what I see, the office of publication for The Inquirer is 400 N. Broad St. in Philadelphia," he said.
O'Brien also said the law that sets the rate newspapers can charge - on a sliding scale based on circulation - does not allow a price "in excess or below" that rate.
Camden County and its municipal utilities authority have run legal ads in The Inquirer, but Gloucester County officials are waiting for the courts to rule before placing their ads in the newspaper. The City of Camden, originally a defendant, was dropped from the suit after officials there decided not to publish in The Inquirer, Haggerty said.
Camden County expects to save $1 million in advertising fees by placing the legal notices in The Inquirer. The amount is a pittance when you compare it to the County's overall budget.
On Thursday's when The Gloucester City News hits the streets, the paper has more circulation in Gloucester City then the Courier Post and or The Inquirer. If our leaders in Gloucester City were serious about keeping the public informed then they along with the Camden County Freeholder Board would reconsider their stance on this important issue.
Legal Notices are published in the local newspaper (s) so the public is kept up-to-date on how their tax dollars are being spent. Our local and county officials should realize by advertising important information in an out-of-state newspaper they are giving the public the impression that what they are doing is surreptitious.
How many of us would think to look in a Philadelphia newspaper for a notice about Gloucester City finances being audited. It was only by chance that I came upon the City's audit. I bet you can't find another person in Gloucester City who can say that he or she saw it.
In my opinion the Camden County Freeholder Board and the Mayor and Council of Gloucester City, along with any other local body that places legal notices in a Philadelphia newspaper, is doing a disservice to the public.
We the public have a Right to Know! Placing advertisements in a newspaper that has very little circulation in South Jersey is a violation of that right.
By the way, the cost to advertise the City's audit synopsis in the Gloucester City News, only $122.