How silly is this: Newspapers fight electronic posting of public notices

with permission from Beaufort Observer
HOW SILLY IS THIS: NEWSPAPERS FIGHT ELECTRONIC POSTING OF PUBLIC NOTICES

April 22, 2013

There are two stories, at least, here. First, the obvious one.

A group of legislators, mostly from the western part of the state, decided that public notices required by law should be able to be published electronically rather than as has been required by law since before the internet was invented, in certain newspapers. Boy did it stir up a ruckus. The N. C. Press Association went bonkers. But who can blame them. It's a cash cow for many local struggling newspapers.

So a number of publishers (the ones who make money with newspapers) are lobbying the salons heavily to kill the bill, even though it does not even apply to the counties of some of those pitching a hissy fit. They see it as handwriting on the wall, no doubt.

Click here to download and read the bill. (Fair disclosure: The Observer office gang has a pool going to see who can most accurately guess how many times it will be downloaded. We are each trying to get the lowest numbers).

Now, here' the second, and to us, more interesting story here. It is a perfect example of biased journalism by the Elite Media. In this case it is a piece written by Bob Ashley, the editor of the Durham Herald-Sun. We'll let it speak for itself: Click here to go to the original source.

Commentary

This is about as silly a scrap as we've seen in recent years.

First, nobody reads this junk. It is only intended to allow government officials to say "we'll we published it in the paper" whenever anyone complains they didn't know about something the government was doing, and that hardly ever makes any difference anyway.

Secondly, it is sad and shameful that these newspaper people are so desperate to hang on to this revenue. Of course they are going down the tubes and to be sure they realize that paid public notices are not going to save them. Craig's List has already annihilated their want-ad gig and advertisers are flocking away from them. Subscribers are fleeing and no amount of public money for these silly ads is going to save the newspaper industry.

Certainly it makes more sense for the public notices to be posted on the government's website.

But if this dude from Durham wants to argue that the notices should be posted where they are more likely to be seen by more people then they should be put on websites like the Beaufort Observer. While we don't particularly care about having to mess with them, it is ironic that we have three times more readers every day than does the local "newspaper of record" that publishes the notices. We publish the important ones, free of charge, and we know how many people read them. It would be a shame and a sham to take taxpayer money for publishing these notices.

So we think the bill should be passed. And we think the dinosaurs with ink running in their veins should just suck it up and join the times.

Surely our legislators have more important things to do.

How silly is this: Newspapers fight electronic posting of public notices

How silly is this: Newspapers fight electronic posting of public notices

Great article from Beaufort Observer online in regards to public notice bill that is working it's way through the legislature

NC Senate gives initial OK on legal notice options - FOX Carolina 21

NC Senate gives initial OK on legal notice options - FOX Carolina 21

Next reading on the public notice bill is today and if it passes then on to house side of North Carolina State Legislature. Great news and hopefully it will be a 26-23 vote today.

Rhino Times Nails It in Regards to Our Local Paid Paper, N.C. Press Association Listen Up

John Hammer in this weeks edition of the Rhino Times Nails it again in a article titled "Wade Bad News for TECAN&R and CO."
In the article here is more in regards to the public notice bill #287 that our Guilford County Senator Dr. Wade has introduced for the senate that is on calendar for this coming Monday. Here is what was said:


The article and editorial had little to do with the White Street Landfill, but have a lot to do with hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue that TECAN&R stands to lose if Wade is successful in passing Senate Bill 387 that eliminates a law that virtually requires the City of Greensboro, Guilford County and other local units of the state government to buy ads from TECAN&R.

Wade's bill – allowing local governments in Mecklenburg, Wake, Guilford, Burke, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain and Union counties to post public notices required by law on their own websites rather than buying advertisements in paid circulation newspapers – passed the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday, April 9, causing an uproar in the paid circulation newspaper industry.

Imagine what a great law that would be, regardless of what business you are in, if it required the city and county to do business with you. What if the state passed a law that Greensboro had to buy all of its coffee at a national chain of coffee shops that originated in Washington State and has a mermaid on its cups. Or what if the state had a law that all gasoline used by city vehicles had to be purchased at gas stations owned by a franchise that was started in Pennsylvania and sounds like a bad word mispronounced.

Can you imagine the outcry from the other coffee providers and gas stations? But the unbiased daily newspaper in town believes that local governments should be required by law to advertise public hearings, tax delinquencies and other such matters in the News & Record.

That is the kind of law that TECAN&R and every other major newspaper in the state has working for them. The law doesn't state that the City of Greensboro has to advertise in TECAN&R, but the way the newspaper where Greensboro has to advertise is defined, there is only one that meets all the criteria.

Wade's bill allows local governments to meet the legal requirement for advertising by placing a notice on its own website. It doesn't prevent any local government from running as many ads as it wants about anything, but local governments in Guilford the other counties will no longer be required by law to advertise in their local paid circulation newspapers.

The North Carolina Press Association is treating this bill like its First Amendment rights are being violated. But what the bill does is remove a government-sanctioned monopoly.

Since far more people have Internet access than subscribe to the daily newspapers, it seems like it is a way to reach more citizens. One of the arguments against the bill is that it is unfair to poor people because many can't afford a computer and don't have Internet access. That is true, but it is also true that not many poor people and very few homeless people subscribe to the daily newspaper.

This is a bill that will allow local governments to save hundreds of thousands of dollars. The other forms of notifying the public with signs on property to be rezoned and letters to nearby property owners remain unchanged. The bill only effects advertising in paid circulation newspapers.

The local government is free to experiment with notifying the public. In Greensboro a billboard on Battleground Avenue has attracted a lot of attention lately. Maybe that would be a good place to advertise an upcoming public hearing. Perhaps radio advertising would work, or even advertising in a free newspaper that is picked up and read by people all over Guilford County.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Well said Mr. Hammer and on a side bar the state bill is #287 not #387 that Mr. Hammer said in article. The N.C. Press Association  is having a conniption over this bill and here is a link to their effort to keep their government subsidized gravy train intact click on PATHETIC

Senator Wade's Public Notice Local Bill #287 Passes Committee With Some Fireworks from N. C. Press

In todays North Carolina Local and State Government Committee was Senate Bill #287 which will allow local governments in certain counties to use their government web sites to send out public notices which is what needs to be done and at same the time save taxpayers money.

As Triadwatch has said before in plenty of post on this subject of
HERE   HERE   HERE   HERE   HERE   and a great one annotating the North Carolina Press Association HERE

In this taxpayer funded government subsidized gravy train it is time to start thinking about the future of public notices it is not 1949 it is 2013 and how we reach the masses while at the same time saving taxpayer money to boot. Advertising in local paid papers is way too expensive and does not reach the audience needed especially when subscriptions are falling faster than Mayor of Greensboro Robbie Perkins bank account.

We also learn that there was some fireworks in regards to the committee meeting today here is what was reported from the Raleigh News and Observer post out today

The committee passed the measure by voice vote. Bussian, the press association lobbyist, said the committee voted 6-5 to reject the measure. Tucker, the chair, rejected a subsequent appeal for a show of hands and declared the meeting adjourned.

At that point, Hal Tanner, publisher of the Goldsboro News-Argus, approached Tucker. He told him he thought the vote was handled in a manner inconsistent with Republican stands for open government.

“I said, ‘We just got through dealing with Jim Black,’ ” Tanner later recalled, referring to the former Democratic House speaker jailed on corruption charges.
“I’m not Jim Black, I’m not Jim Black,” an angry Tucker replied. Senate rules prohibit roll call votes in committee.

Later, in an email to members, the press association quoted Tucker telling Tanner: “I am the senator. You are the citizen. You need to be quiet.”

Tucker disputes the quote.
“I said something to the effect that, ‘I’m the senator here, let me finish,’ ” he said. “I just took offense to it because he impugned our integrity. And I took it personally.”  The North Carolina Press Association needs to take off it's blinders to this whole public notice issue and understand that they are motivated by the greed of the taxpayer money and not even thinking about the public because it they did then we would not see all this backtracking on saying now they will start putting public notices online free of charge . The N.C. Press and all of it's blowhards should have provided this information online by themselves to inform the public not after the fact as we see in them having a bill to have them put notices online.  The irony from the North Carolina Press Association having 3 Wake County house representatives provide the dumb bill of the year in House Bill #723 with   Rep. Marilyn Avila (R)-Raleigh; Rep. Jim Fulghum (R)-Raleigh  are sponsors of this bill where we find out that Raleigh North Carolina has passed a bill over 10 years ago in regards to public notice laws. The triadwatch post this titled "Electronic Notice is Good for Cary,Apex,Garner,Knightdale,and Raleigh is Good for Every other City in this State "  What is good for Raleigh is good for every other city and county in this state and it is time we pass these new public notice laws . Thanks to all the Senators who stood up to the bully pulpit from the BLOWHARDS from the North Carolina Press Association.

WAIT A MINUTE WAIT A MINUTE THE NORTH CAROLINA PRESS ASSOCIATION HAS A MEMBER ALERT MEMBER ALERT WATCH OUT here come the bullies and their talking points.

 

Equal Opportunity For Beer Drinkers, Rhino Nails It on Public Notices in Guilford County

Equal Opportunity For Beer Drinkers

John Hammer from Rhino Times nails it with part of article in regards to public notices . Here is what he had to say:

April 11, 2013

We don't qualify for government-required advertising in newspapers because we don't have paid circulation, so we don't have a dog in the fight over Senate Bill 186 that state Sen. Trudy Wade is sponsoring. The mainstream media, which gets all of that government-mandated advertising, is going nuts because they see the money river is going to be diverted away from them.

The current state law requires that advertisements required by the state to be placed in a newspaper of general circulation – such as public hearings and tax liens – also have enough paid circulation to qualify for a second class postal permit. Since The Rhino Times doesn't have much paid circulation, we don't qualify for advertisements that state law requires local governments run.

The bill sponsored by Wade would allow governments to advertise on their own websites instead of in a newspaper, saving local governments thousands of dollars, but also costing local newspapers thousands of dollars in lost advertising revenue, since it seems to be accepted that local governments advertise in newspapers because they are required to by law, not because they believe it is a good idea.

The law requiring advertisements in local newspapers was passed in 1940, before the advent of television, and before the internet was even conceived.

One of the major arguments made against allowing local governments to advertise on their own websites is that not everyone has a computer.

That is absolutely true. Not everyone has a computer, but the News & Record, which gets most of the government-required advertising in Guilford County, has a daily circulation of about 50,000. Guilford County has a population of right at 500,000. So 10 percent of the people in Guilford County subscribe to the newspaper where governments are required to run their ads.

But newspapers are not just read by one person. The accepted multiplier for daily newspapers is 2.5. So the N&R can count 125,000 readers in Guilford County. But that is still only 25 percent of the population. So the N&R advertisement is available to 25 percent of the population. According to a Google search, 76 percent of Americans own computers. So an online notice would be available free of charge to 76 percent of the population.

In neither case can you count on someone actually seeing the advertisement or notice. But in the case of the newspaper advertisement someone has to pay for the newspaper. It might not be the reader, but someone pays for the subscription.

For someone without a dog in this fight, the better choice seems obvious. Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to go after 25 percent of the population when you can spend nothing to go after 76 percent doesn't make sense. You also have to consider that of the 24 percent who don't have computers, a good percentage have access to computers or the information on computers.

The idea that is being promoted is that people who can't afford a computer would not have access to the information. But how many people who can't afford a computer have a newspaper subscription?

It looks like what they call a no-brainer to me. 

N.C. Press Association Trying To Save Their Taxpayer Funded Gravy Train Otherwise Known As Public Notice Laws in North Carolina

 

 

HAT TIP CAROLINA PLOTT HOUND and link to a press release from the N.C. Press Association who are in a fight to keep their taxpayer funded paid paper monopolistic government subsidy on the books in the State of North Carolina. Below the fold we will do a little annotating in red against this letter from the N.C. Press Association.  

__________________________________________________________________________________

From the NC Press Association:

Senate Bill 186 comes up for a hearing next Tuesday, April 9, at noon at the Statehouse in Raleigh. PLEASE contact your local senators on this committee and ask them to vote AGAINST this bad bill.

Please also be ready, if you are able, to travel to Raleigh on Tuesday to help us fight this bill – we’ll watch for changes in the timing of the hearing and keep you posted. But if you can, please let me know if you CAN come to Raleigh next Tuesday! 

NCPA is preparing to file a piece of our own legislation next week aimed at ending the battle over public notices – for a while, at least. We’ll be sending details. But in the meantime, call and email your senators.

Oh boy cannot wait to see what legislation the NCPA is going to offer the citizens of North Carolina. Hopefully they will say we will provide these public notices for FREE since it is so important to the citizens . We will probably see some dumbass bill that will not save one bit of taxpayers money but will allow the newspapers to finally put public notices online like we see our neighbors to the west with the Dumbest Legal Notice Bill Yet , Newspapers Must Put Notice Online which Saves No Taxpayer Money and Mandates Nothing New.  

Here’s is NCPA’s stand on this bill

At a time when fellow Republicans are offering bills strengthening public records laws and opening the government to more transparency, it’s surprising and disappointing to see lawmakers take a stance that undermines one of the basic rules of open government – the people have a right to see what their government is doing in their name.

There is a new sheriff in town and he is not beholden to the liberal newspapers all over this state.

· Public notices need to be public. Putting them on an obscure government web site – and most are – suggest the public has no right to know what the government is planning. 

These obscure web sites are as easy as typing in your county or city into a google search which is not hard to do.

· Legislators many decades ago made it a legal requirement to run public notices in newspapers because newspapers were then and are now the first place the public looks for information about its government. . Newspapers run legal ads on their web sites as well these days – at no extra charge to the government, FYI – which adds a whole new audience.

This is not 1949 but 2013 these public notice laws were made well before the internet ever came into existence and having laws that say you have to be in a "Paid Paper" for a public notice is as outdated as these public notice laws are.

· Legislators also wanted the law to mandate running such ads to prevent back-room behavior – keeping business practices in the sunshine and under the watchful eye of the public, which pays the bills.

Now we have plenty of places where ads can be run from each city or county web site or some places in the State of North Carolina have a government access T.V. station that can provide this information without having to spend  additional taxpayers money in a paid newspaper.

 

· Many, many thousands of North Carolinians still don’t have affordable, easy access to internet service – how will THEY see these notices?

Many, many thousands of North Carolinians do not subscribe to the local newspaper as well , how will THEY see these notices?

· A government website is not free to the taxpayers, and running ads on government websites could COST taxpayers MUCH more. It requires the governmental body to spend time and money to ensure that the site is secure. The notice must be handled in an error-free manner and posted for the proper amount of time. Verification procedures must be in place. Affidavits may need to be provided in some cases. These are services that newspapers now provide to public notice customers.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to post a public notice on a government web site and the cost is very minimal compared to how much money flows to the monopolistic paid papers and this government subsidized state law. Look at what the Wilmington Star News has planned and to get your public notice will not be free and cost you $119.40 for digital and home delivery $207 a year.A newspaper is not free either and only if you are a 7 day a week subscriber then you might miss that most important notice in the paper because the newspapers do not tell you when they are going to file a public notice it just shows up in back section of newspapers.

· What happens when a government entity runs a notice incorrectly? Lawsuits are sure to follow, and for smaller governments – that’s an unfunded mandate that carries a huge liability for government employees and the local residents.

What a complete crock of crap that talking point is. What has happened in past where newspapers run a notice incorrectly, please enlighten us on how many lawsuits have happened in the past 50 years because of a wrong public notice. 

· Who will monitor these ads to assure they comply with the law, and police them if they don’t? The government cannot police itself. History has proven that time and again.

What is there to police it is a public notice ad in a outdated form of notification called the "paid newspaper" which cost taxpayers in this state millions of dollars. Just in one county Guilford we have one public notice on one day that cost taxpayers $97,000 here is a link to that post CLICKHERE

 

Please let us know what you hear back – and as always, thank you for taking this fight on yet again! This is the sixth straight year and we have won over and over. That’s a streak worth fighting for!

Hopefully that streak is coming to a end and we will see the North Carolina Legislature start thinking it is now 2013 not 1949, it is time do away with these outdated public notice laws that were made well before the internet was invented and save taxpayers money in the process. 

Question for the Bankrupt Mayor of Greensboro N.C. Robbie Perkins?

  DEPARTURE OF DIRECTORS OR PRINCIPAL OFFICERS; APPOINTMENT OF PRINCIPAL OFFICERS.

 

(b)          On October 16, 2012, Robert V. Perkins gave notice of his resignation from the Boards of Directors of NewBridge Bancorp (the “Company”) and NewBridge Bank (the “Bank”).

 

Mr. Perkins indicated that his decision to resign is due to increased family and business responsibilities, including his position as Mayor of the City of Greensboro, all of which have caused him to reduce his activities in other areas. Mr. Perkins’ decision to resign was not the result of any disagreement with the Company or its management.

 

The Boards of Directors of the Company and the Bank express their sincere appreciation for Mr. Perkins’ service to the Company and the Bank.

 

3

FROM N&R AND COURT DOCS:

The judge’s order said Perkins “deliberately” lowered his income by resigning from the NewBridge Bank directors board.

Robbie Perkins responded, saying he had to resign because he could not pay the home equity line owed to the bank for the couple’s house.

 

WHAT GIVES ?  

News & Record : Update: Greensboro mayor declares bankruptcy

News & Record : Update: Greensboro mayor declares bankruptcy: An Example Description

digtriad

from rhino times
According to the lawsuit filed by Carole Perkins in April of this year for alimony and child support, Robbie earned an income of over $459,000 a year from 2006 through 2010. The lawsuit asks the court to establish "child support to meet the reasonable needs of the minor child based upon her standard of living."

Public notice proposal is bad for city residents, Mount Airy News Running Scared from Senate Bill #186

Public notice proposal is bad for city residents: This afternoon, the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners will consider a resolution supporting North Carolina Senate Bill 186, which would allow local governments to stop publishing public notices in...

Mount Airy News and will probably see more editors all over the state try to bash this great bill introduced by Guilford County Senator Dr. Trudy Wade. The article talks about how this law has been a part of North Carolina for generations , well now we need people to understand that during these generations we have the introduction of the Internet which can house and show public notices for the future and at the same time save taxpayers money that does not need to be spent. 
Will post more articles in future once we see this bill go to committee and am sure the N.C. Press Association will be pushing hard to defeat this bill. The great thing that the Senator did was also have a local bill filed just for Guilford County so that if the major bill does not pass we have a local bill just in case. 

Guilford County Rep. Jon Hardister Files Public Notice Bill #504 in House Side of North Carolina Legislature on April 2, 2013

 

Guilford County North Carolina State Representative District #59 Jon Hardister is a primary sponsor of House Bill #504 titled "local electronic notice". This bill on the house side along with the help of another Guilford County Representative in Senator Dr. Wade with her being a primary sponsor of bill #186 then to be safe she also filed a local bill in regards to public notice bills for Guilford County in bill #287 .

 

The House Bill #504 is a local bill and will only be a part of counties consisting of BUNCOMBE, GUILFORD, HENDERSON, MECKLENBURG, MITCHELL, PERQUIMANS, STANLY, SURRY, WAKE.

 

Triadwatch has devoted a lot of time to this issue trying to help save taxpayers monies that does not need to be spent. As I was quoted in a news article in the Greensboro News and Record on Monday April 1, 2013 in regards to the tax delinquency bill we pay in this county that cost us for one day close to $97,000, here is what I had to say;

 

"“It’s not 1949 anymore, it’s not 1969, it’s 2013,” Brown said Friday. “This information is already available online 24 hours a day from the tax department instead of one day a year in a newspaper advertisement that costs $97,000. Anyone who doesn’t have a computer or Internet can go to their local library and see this information.”

 

I would like to thank Rep. Hardister for being a primary sponsor on this bill and we see a change for the better in regards to public notices in this state and at the same time saving taxpayers monies on not having to publish in paid newspapers. If you would like to see more on this issue here are a few post

CLICKHERE

 

CLICKHERE

 and

HERE

 

and it also looks like the gloves are off and the N.C. Press Association has their

RED SIREN BILL ALERT in regards to House Bill #504 and Senate Bill #186 and they might need to know about Senate Bill #287 as well.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens but I urge all residents of any county in North Carolina to get in touch with your representative to let them know it is time to save tax money and pass these bills.

To get in touch with your representative you can see this interactive map titled

WHO REPRESENTS ME?

 

 

 

 

 

 

News & Record : Guilford fees cover most costs of printing late tax lists

News & Record : Guilford fees cover most costs of printing late tax lists: An Example Description

I would also like to add that i do not care if you are a tax delinquent or pay your bills ahead of time this North Carolina law that states you have to advertise this in paid paper is a complete waste of taxpayers money and needs to go away. Thanks for the questions Joe Killian.