From the Charlotte Observer (4/22/11): Some well-meaning state legislators say they want to allow counties and cities to save money by posting legal notices - such as scheduled meetings or requests for bids on public construction projects - on Internet websites. From their standpoint it may even sound like a good idea - saving time and money by posting required legal notices where anyone can find it if only they know where to look.
But there’s the flaw: Not everyone has a computer or a handheld device capable of surfing the web. Not everyone who can use such devices normally looks at government-owned web sites. And a great many citizens who have relied on local newspapers to find out about government operations and upcoming meetings – particularly older citizens, the elderly and minorities – simply won’t know as much if the General Assembly adopts legislation allowing governmental units to merely post notices on some website. That’s why the bill should be rejected.
We know: This looks like an appeal to maintain current law so newspapers will continue to get revenue from the costs of printing legal notices. But the fact is that for many people, newspapers are the place where they learn about upcoming meetings, public contracts that may be let and a host of other events and processes that involve public resources and that affect how cities, counties and other governing units operate. Just as the public depends upon independent hard-nosed reporting to reveal how governmental units do their work and how well they do it, so the public also depends upon printed public notices required by law. This is no time to stop that practice.
Don’t get us wrong: It’s a good idea for governmental units and other websites to post electronic notices of upcoming meetings or bidding opportunities online. It’s also a good idea for governments to post minutes of meetings as well as audio and video recordings of debates, discussion and votes. Not many of them are willing to do that.