TMCnet News
EDITORIAL: Public notices shine a light on governmentOct 09, 2010 (Daily Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Public notices are required to be printed in the newspaper for one reason -- accountability. Public notices help keep government officials accountable by keeping the public informed, whether the government be city, county, village, planning commission, school district, park district, township, library, fire protection district or drainage district. Public notices about budgets, spending and other actions give taxpayers information they need to know -- that they have a right to know -- about what governments are doing. Just ask the people of Bell, Calif., whether they wish they had kept a closer eye on local government. Bell is the city fleeced for huge, six-figure salaries by its elected and appointed officials, some of whom face criminal charges. During National Newspaper Week, people should consider how public notice advertising keeps them informed while helping keep public servants honest. Some public notices are easily seen. Around election time, large specimen ballots are printed, along with information on voting dates, schedules and polling places. Sometimes legally required notices can run for pages, such as those that list quadrennial reassessments or tax delinquencies. Some notices are small, such as the ones you find in the classified ad section of the newspaper. They are just as important, as they give notice of governmental actions, decisions, audits, budgets and upcoming annual meetings. Some governmental units have expressed the desire to move all their public notice advertising to the Internet. Such a move, they believe, would save money. Perhaps. However, it also would put more people in the dark about what their government is doing. If public notices are placed only on a government's Web site, how many citizens would take the time to find those sites and read the notices? Too few, we expect. Therefore, most would be totally unaware of their government's activities as communicated through public notices. The idea behind public notice laws is to place government information in the most accessible form possible -- and that is the local newspaper. By the way, we do upload those notices to our Web site, saukvalley.com, and they appear on publicnoticeillinois.com. The wide reach of newspapers makes public notice advertising available to the widest audience possible. In the end, it's all about maintaining transparency in government, which promotes the public's trust and confidence. As you read the newspaper, look for public notices every day. Keeping your eye on them helps you keep an eye on government. That kind of accountability is good for everyone. To see more of The Daily Gazette or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.saukvalley.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, Daily Gazette, Sterling, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544). |