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NJ SIERRA CLUB: Bill That Attacks Right-to-Know and Newspapers Could Come Back  

 

NJ Sierra Club press release/December 29, 2016

Senator Sweeney may try to bring back the Electronic Publication of Legal Notices Act S2855 (Sweeney) that permits publication of legal notices by government agencies and persons on official government notice websites instead of newspapers. The Sierra Club will be prepared to continue to oppose this bill in the new year that was held in the legislature in a victory for the democratic process.

The bill allows local, county and state governments to meet publication requirements for legal notice through postings on official government Web sites. We believe that this will disadvantage the poor, elderly, and disabled people who don’t have access to the internet and would essentially undermine democracy. Jeff Tittel, Director of New Jersey Sierra Club released the following statement:

 

“In the new year, we are concerned that Senator Sweeney may try to push through the bill that would make it more difficult for many people to get important information from newspapers. This is a terrible bill because it will undermine the democratic process. This bill is equivalent of New Jersey’s legal notice equivalent to the voter identification law. A lot of people rely on getting this information from their print newspaper and won’t be able to instead get it online. It will disadvantage citizens without means such as those who cannot afford internet, the elderly, and the disabled. Even citizens with internet access may not check their town’s Web site on a regular basis to find out about important notices regarding contaminated wells, local development, and zoning changes. People who have a newspaper delivered are more likely to check the legal notices than go on the internet.”

 

“We will continue to fight this bill and keep a look out if it comes back to haunt us in the new year. We feel this bill will lead to citizens lacking information that affects their lives, property, and families. Removing print access will create a loss in revenue for papers, causing local papers to close. This means there will be no oversight on local government actions. The more government does without public scrutiny, the more it undermines the public perception of government and government itself.”

 

“In a legislative victory, this bill was held, but we must stay vigilant. We are concerned that this bill is part of an ongoing process to not only weaken environmental protections, but to also take away the rights of citizens to be informed about what their government is doing. The costs of placing these advertisements in print are minimal, especially compared with how essential they are for many people to be able to find this information. In any given year we follow planning board, ordinance changes, and other changes in over a hundred different communities. Local news is how we know about issues such as one changes in South Brunswick or quarry developments in Bloomingdale. Groups like the Sierra Club can’t monitor every website in the state."

 

“From clear-cutting for a solar film in Jackson to affordable housing to the Bloomingdale re-zoning, we rely on print media. The Sierra Club supports the posting of legal notices on official Web sites so citizens with internet have an additional ability to learn about potential government actions. However, we are concerned that this method of notification in many cases will take the place of published notices in a local newspaper, eliminating the right of citizens without internet to know what their government is doing. The newspaper comes to you every day but by only posting the information online, it makes it more difficult to locate and retrieve. Replacing print notifications with web-only ones would close the door on open government. We must continue to work together to block this bill from moving forward in the legislature."

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