WESTSIDE — Had it passed, a proposed city resolution attempting to exempt Gentry from state law requiring publishing of new ordinances or bylaws in the local newspaper (A.C.A. 14-55-206) would have felt like a slap in the face after the hours of time put in to cover Gentry and promote it in the Courier-Journal and now the Westside Eagle Observer. It essentially would have said Gentry no longer has a local newspaper even though I still live in Gentry and spend long hours each week in Gentry covering meetings and events, taking photographs, writing articles and building pages for the Westside Eagle Observer.
A far bigger issue with the proposed resolution, however, is the law, its intent and the right of the people to know what their government is doing and what new laws it has adopted. It may be possible to skirt the intent of the law with an exception, but that certainly is not the right thing to do for the residents of a city who depend on the newspaper to keep them abreast of what their city government is doing. Posting of ordinances alone in five locations around the city rather than in the newspaper would likely have meant few would ever have read the city's new ordinances until they happened to violate one of them.
Unfortunately, many cities are circumventing the intent of the law to save money by adopting ordinances or resolutions like the one which was rejected by the council on Monday night. They attempt to use an exception written into the law for cities not served by any local newspaper - really, it’s an alternative to accomplish the goal of the law in the only way possible when there is no local newspaper available to a city’s residents.
Gentry - as well as Decatur, Gravette, Highfill, Springtown and Sulphur Springs - is still served by a community newspaper.Coverage of Gentry meetings has not ceased or declined since the main newspaper office was moved to Gravette. I attend and cover Highfill meetings and am working on better coverage for Springtown. Dodie Evans and Janelle Jessen cover city meetings in other cities in our coverage area.And most of the Gentry area articles are still written in Gentry, on my laptop or in my notebook, whether at home, at a meeting or another location in Gentry where I can sit down and write.
Another item to be considered in regard to such resolutions and ordinances is the provision in state law (A.C.A. 14-55-206) which allows it to be a sufficient defense to any suit or prosecution if proper notice as provided in the ordinance was not given. Had Gentry adopted the proposed resolution and opted not to publish new ordinances and bylaws in the newspaper, people could have contested charges, fees, fines and penalties because Gentry has a local newspaper - a combined edition of the Gravette News Herald, Decatur Herald and Gentry Courier-Journal - and the ordinance was not published in the local newspaper as required by law. If I were a defense attorney, I'd sure use that argument and think I could win. I’d be willing to try it in other towns, too, and I expect it would work there as well.
And, of course, if a judge rules one ordinance is not binding because it was not published according to the law, every other ordinance not properly published could come into question. Legal fees could quickly exceed any publication costs.
Perhaps what is needed is a legislative clarification of the law to close the loopholes and keep the people informed. I would certainly be supportive of an amendment which clarified the exception so that it only applied to cities with no regular newspaper coverage and circulation available.
Do newspapers have an economic interest in this controversy? Yes, they do, even if it is small, because of payment received for publication of legal ads.But it should also be noted that newspapers are not supported by taxes and are not eligible for other government subsidies. They are businesses supported by subscriptions and paid advertising. They serve the communities they cover and seek to promote business and keep residents informed of news, events and government actions.
Without them, cities die and governments are not held accountable.
I am thankful Gentry’s city council chose to follow the law's intent and not try to circumvent it to save on publication costs. I commend the council members for their wisdom and their desire to have open and honest government and to keep their citizens informed.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be reached by e-mail at rmoll@ nwaonline.com.
Community, Pages 6 on 02/09/2011