Removing public notices from view
When Marietta City Council meets Thursday, it will be asked to consider an update to the Citizen Participation Plan that will make its operations more opaque and citizen participation in its own government a little more difficult.
It’s true, a recently passed Ohio law allows for public notices to be posted on municipalities’ websites, rather than in full view in a printed newspaper. That law was passed with almost no prior notice in the wee small hours of the morning of Dec. 23. Though Gov. Mike DeWine had the opportunity to veto it, he chose instead to sign it and other legislation that will damage Buckeye State residents’ ability to keep tabs on public activity.
House Bill 315 was designed with the primary intention being removing access. In fact, the options included were local governments’ own websites and social media accounts, and another website to which most local residents would not have access.
Until now, there was certain public information deemed so important to be kept in the taxpayers’ view that it was required by law to appear in the most widely distributed and accessible format possible — the newspaper of record in each community.
Soon, elected officials could have the power to decide what is seen and what is not. Keeping those folks accountable will be much more difficult.
Consider for a moment the number of people adversely affected should Marietta City Council choose to remove public notices from view. Do you and everyone you know have reliable internet access, the tech savvy to know where and how to search for notices and the motivation to seek out municipal websites to find out what is happening and how your money is being spent?
For now, public notices are delivered to you regularly (or can be picked up at the newsstand) and can be found in more or less the same printed pages every time a reader looks. Should you prefer a digital approach, they are visible on our website via our e-edition, too. They come to you, rather than you having to seek them out and trust that everything you and your neighbors need to know has been posted by the government.
Perhaps another incentive for seeking approval of the change is to save a few dollars. There are other ways to save — they know that. Meanwhile, members of council no doubt want to avoid the slippery slope of allowing elected officials to be guardians of the public’s information and reducing access to that information.
They and their constituents know it is essential public business be carried out where the public can see it.