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OUR VIEW
This opinion piece was prepared by The Courier’s editorial board.
Elgin residents, your city government is trying to make it harder for you to learn how your tax dollars are spent and to follow important issues at City Hall.
The city wants to post legal notices currently and conveniently found in The Courier to an online site only. For decades, state law has provided guidelines that protect and preserve the public’s right to know by requiring government legals to be printed in a newspaper where everyone can see them.
On Nov. 4, Elgin bureaucrats want voters to approve Prop L on the Home Rule City Charter Amendment election. This is one of 14 propositions before the electorate, but it’s a move which — if approved — limits government transparency.
Those casting a ballot in the election should vote “no” on Prop L to ensure their right to open governance and easily accessible information.
Prop L is a shortsighted policy that saves the city only a few thousand dollars but hampers public access to government, not enhances it.
Don’t buy the argument this measure trims taxpayer costs.
Texas statutes call for newspapers to print public notices at the lowest published classified rate, so residents are getting plenty of bang for the buck with just pennies on the dollar.
Newspapers and the legal notices they print are reliable, portable, shareable, permanent, tamper-proof and withstand the test of time.
In Elgin’s case, if Prop L is OK’d, the online data would only be available for five days, according to city documents. Even worse, a recent check of the Elgin website could not be conducted because of a broken link. Not very reliable if you’re trying to find information online.
Why run the risk of that happening? With a newspaper, the information is always at your fingertips.
Even more alarming, online data can be erased, hacked, altered or retroactively changed if it doesn’t fit a changing narrative at City Hall, unlike the legal notices of city business that appear in the timeless format of a printed newspaper.
Printed legal notices keep government officials honest. As the Texas Press Association and other media experts note, public notices printed in a newspaper keep residents informed about governmental actions and intent. The Texas Constitution and many Lone Star State laws require them.
What’s more, newspapers publish notices both in print and online.
Traditionally, readership of newspapers — both print and online — outpaces other mediums and makes broad connections appealing to those wanting to reach a mass audience. Studies also show that no matter the market size, audience engagement with a newspaper’s online resources is usually much higher than the analytics of a government website.
In addition, lower-income residents may not always have access to internet sources, but they easily can pick up and read a newspaper to stay in the know.
Legals in the pages of a newspaper are the most trusted, verified and digestible sources of information residents need to know about, including annexations, bids, zoning changes, school attendance- zone revisions, tax increases, bond issues and large governmental purchases or projects such as landfills that could have an environmental impact.
Try reading all of that on a tiny phone screen. You’ll get a headache.
The Founding Fathers stressed the need for a free press to hold the government accountable, which is why we have the First Amendment.
Newspapers and the legal notices they print provide an independent, third-party system free from government interference to hold the powerful accountable. Printed notices cannot be manipulated, unlike digital databases.
In addition, online governmental notices are notoriously often hard to find, even requiring several deep clicks to access the desired information. Perhaps that’s by choice from bureaucrats who don’t want the “people’s business” easily found.
In addition, the fees for legals published in a newspaper help keep a local business thriving — in this case, your trusted Courier. They defray the costs of paper, ink, delivery and personnel laboring to bring you comprehensive stories and advertising.
While a loss of the legals won’t destroy the Courier, does anyone really want to cripple a newspaper that has dutifully served this community for more than a century?
However, even if Prop L does meet with voter approval Nov. 4, we hope the city will continue to follow state law and keep its residents fully cognizant about the goings-on at City Hall through printed notices.
Don’t let the city turn off the lights and leave you in the dark about your taxes and the “people’s business.” Keep legal notices in The Courier and vote “no” on Prop L.
