‘Notice’ bill would weaken trust in local government

By Ron Peterson

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I'm the publisher of an Iowa daily newspaper. As is the case with most American dailies, my corporate owners do not live in my city. Consequently, they require a great deal of accountability from me.

I routinely tell my bosses more than they require me to disclose. It's in my best interests to do so. I have nothing to hide.

Local governments are similar to my newspaper in that their “owners” are not present on a daily basis to observe the decisions that are made and how their taxpayer dollars are spent. For that reason, every state in the country requires local governments to disclose the details of all financial transactions, budgets and decisions made affecting the “owners.”

Public notices are an inexpensive, effective transparency tool to hold local governments accountable.

I've watched in puzzlement and dismay as taxpayer-supported groups like the Iowa School Board Association, the League of Iowa Cities, the Iowa State Association of Counties and others introduce bill after bill to weaken this vital tool.

In recent years, they have tried to move public notices from newspapers to local government websites. Lawmakers rejected this bad idea for several reasons.

First, statewide readership research shows that more than half of Iowans have never visited a local government website for any reason.

Second, many local governments have no website.

Third, research shows that public notices are read in newspapers as much as farm or national sports news.

Fourth, statewide readership research and Google Analytics show that Iowans prefer to read notices in newspapers by a ratio of 70 to 1.

Finally, and most important, turning this tool over to local governments would lead to a perceived if not a real conflict of interest.

Local government organizations are now backing House Study Bill 72. It would require that all notices be published at a maximum $25 fee. Should it pass, many newspapers would simply refuse to publish them at such a deep financial loss. Then the notices would either go away or be briefly posted on local government websites where few people would see them. Could this be the real point of this legislation?

While it's true the bill would result in a cost savings for local governments, the savings would amounts to less than a rounding error in their members' budgets.

This is a bad idea that would lead to a distrust of local governments and should be quickly discarded.

Ron Peterson, publisher the Sioux City Journal, is president of the Iowa Newspaper Association. Comments: www.siouxcityjournal.com/app/contact_us/