Are Our Public Notices Doing Their Job?
By Angela Parker, AICP
How well are our public notices doing their job? Many people don’t bother purchasing newspapers, relying instead on the Facebook page of their local newspaper for information. Or, they just watch TV to get their news. Wyoming State law requires that any public meetings/notices be published in a local newspaper as part of the legal notice requirement. For instance, for a special district budget hearing, a notice has to be posted in the paper no less than two weeks before the hearing. No other notice is required. The special district has to pay whatever price the newspaper charges for the ad, which has a specified format that the newspaper is familiar with. Do these legal notices really fill the intent of the law, which is to provide notice to the entire community when something is being decided? The intent of these public notices is to give everyone an opportunity to participate in the process, but if nobody is reading the notice, how can they know what is going on?
Recently, several proposals have come through the Wyoming Legislature in an attempt to remove the requirement to publish legal notices in the paper. Who is against these proposals? The newspapers of course, because they stand to lose a lot of money if the ads are no longer required to be published in the physical newspaper. A recent court case in Casper, Wyoming illustrates this point. Two press organizations, The Casper-Star Tribune and the Wyoming Press, filed a lawsuit to stop two smaller communities (Bar Nunn and Mills) near Casper from being exempted from the state requirement to publish legal notices in the newspaper. The attorney for the two communities said that they are still publishing notices in the newspaper, but the exemption allows them to consider other options such as posting notices in a library, fire station or post office. He also stated that he hasn’t heard any complaints in the community that the public is not being notified.
The judge reviewing the lawsuit dismissed it, stating that the two press organizations did not prove they have standing in the situation. According to the article explaining the situation, the organizations’ attorney has stated that he will refile with stronger arguments showing that they do have standing, pointing out the requirements in state law that notices be published in a “local newspaper of general circulation.” The attorney for Bar Nunn and Mills noted, “When the statute was written there was likely only one definition — the physical stack of paper that arrived on your doorstep or for sale in a newsstand. These days a newspaper could also be an online publication, such as Oil City News” (Wyoming Business Report, “Public notice petition dismissed” November 11, 2021 by Ellen Gerst; access at https://www.wyomingnews.com/wyomingbusinessreport/industry_news/legal_and_courts/public-notice-petition-dismissed/article_54148a88-433a-11ec-9442-7337f029d3d6.html).
In a time where newspapers are struggling to find content and advertisers to help offset their costs, this is an understandably big deal. But as planners, we are required to ensure the planning process includes “everyone”. If reaching “everyone” requires broadcasting notice through sources other than the newspaper, how do we accomplish an equitable process if our only requirement is to publish in the newspaper? Many planners have found other ways to try to include “everyone”, such as maintaining a Facebook page to provide information, or going to local community meetings like PTA, volunteer groups and others who may be able to inform their members of the planners’ activities. As planners, we should be past the point of being required by law to post our notices—our goal should be to get as many people involved in the planning process as we can, however we can. We should be motivated by our efforts to be equitable and ethical rather than simply doing it because we’ve “been told” to.
There are countless ways that planners can engage community members in the planning process. In Alaska, we posted notice for public meetings in fire stations, libraries, etc. to discuss some rezoning to be done near the army base. Notifications were mailed to any person living near the proposed rezoning project. This was the most economical and effective way to get participation from the community, and there was good turnout at the public meetings. In Arizona, as part of a project to revamp and reorganize the zoning ordinances, the same mail-out method was used but received very little participation. Why the difference? What else could be done? This is a subject that has gotten a lot of attention over the last decade or more, but there is no concrete, one-size-fits-all answer. Each community must figure it out themselves—what works for one may not work for another.
In order to fulfill our professional and ethical obligations, it is essential to be a part of the community you are working in—this entails talking to the people you see and the people who aren’t seen. Find out how they inform themselves about community happenings and then try to work those communication methods into your planning process. Technology has given us access to easy ways to stay in touch with our communities, and we should take advantage of them as much as we can. We may have to adapt for different messages; we may have to move away from purely one-way or transactional communication. Here are a few, but again, avoid applying a broad-brush-one-size-fits-all-style approach. Always check to ensure your state’s legal requirements are met.
Collect email addresses and notice.
Maintain a planning Facebook/Instagram or other social media page and update it regularly.
Create a calendar on your website with upcoming projects, deadlines and other needed information.
Include occasional surveys to gauge interest/activity among the community when it comes to the available sources of information.
Send out notices with the utility bills.
Provide electronic meeting availability to those interested in virtually attending.
Use outdoor signs, sidewalk chalk, yard signs.
For consistently scheduled meetings, print off business card-style adverts with the day, time, location and distribute those easily around town.
Static laws, similar to the one in Wyoming, requiring public outreach via physical newspapers, are common in the West. While these laws could benefit from updates that require more dynamic outreach in communication methods more common in our day, these laws are somewhat beside the point. We need to look beyond the law and identify the “right” way to reach out, which will transcend the legal requirements of state law. If our goal is to provide the community with knowledge and access to our public meetings, then we need to elevate our focus from simple legal compliance to dynamic community engagement.
About the Author
Angela Parker, AICP is the President of the Western Planner Resources board. She is a Certified Floodplain Manager and previously worked as the Platting Officer with Fairbanks North Star Borough Community Planning in Alaska. She also serves as President of the Wyoming Planning Association Board.