Senate Bill 1006 allows cities to post local government notices only on websites, not in printed newspapers.
Larson Newspaper sedona red rock news and camp verde journal Both are official papers of record and publish these public records for local governments, non-profit organizations and businesses. Readers rely on these notices to know what local authorities are doing.
The bill was drafted in advance of the session by Arizona Senator John Kavanagh [R-District 3]was not a friend of public accountability. In 2016, Kavanagh sponsored a bill that would allow towns and cities to refuse to enforce public records they deemed “burdensome.” — So if you want a record of how much city officials paid for travel, or want to see all complaints about bad cops and corrupt officials, the town can simply say ‘no’.
that same year, Cabana wanted to ban videotaping police officers in public; when he faced criticism with clear suggestions Withdrawn because it is unconstitutionalhe tried to again in 2021but Republicans Attorney General Mark Brunovich said he would not prosecute anyone because the law was unconstitutionalA federal judge agreed and the law was repealed. Cabana has introduced other bills that make it harder for citizens to access public records, obtain government reports, and hold officials accountable.
SB1006 is a bad bill overall. Cities and towns will now be able to place advertisements only on their websites, resulting from publication of advertisements in recorded newspapers that are permanently stored in public libraries and online and accessible to all without requiring a reservation. You will be able to avoid public scrutiny. From the Town or City Clerk.
The false claim that SB1006 saves towns and cities money is a farce. Towns and cities are already required to pay staff to draft, write, copy-edit and format public notices and upload them to town and city websites. The cost of publishing records in newspapers is negligible. A similar bill proposed by Rep. David Stevens in 2012 [R-District 14] would cost the taxpayer $500,000hundreds of times more than statewide newspapers charge for the same public service.
Public records are no longer available in newspapers or public libraries where the general public can read them at any time, but towns and cities are legally required to keep them ready. , power outages, computer hackers, glitched website updates, and disgruntled city officials can permanently delete records, and towns and cities destroy public records and keep the public a secret. You will be responsible for
If you’re tempted to think, “Surely no public official would try to remove public records from the good people of Sedona,” consider the following. instead of the “16%” under discussion. Our journalist reported verbatim what she said, which was consistent with the City of Sedona’s own video her transcription service. Williamson asked us for a correction. We gladly obliged and printed it in our next edition. The appropriate response for city officials was to amend the video transcript to correct the error. Instead, city officials removed not only the entire video transcript of the conference, but all transcripts of all other conferences, stating: Please remove it while we investigate other alternatives. ”
That was a month ago. So far, no transcription replacement service has been implemented. Perhaps through the whim of one city of Sedona official, the transcripts simply disappeared, leaving hundreds of Sedona residents who are deaf or hard of hearing unable to access the city’s public records to find out what was going on in Sedona. have relied on their transcripts. their local government.
The city doesn’t have a sign language interpreter, so these citizens don’t know what’s going on at the conference. They are now denied the right to be heard by elected officials.
If another City Council member or city employee in Sedona or elsewhere in Arizona may dislike certain public records that make them unsightly, consider yourself to undertake to destroy said records. , No need to stretch your imagination. can.
Simply put, people do not rely on government websites as their primary source of information. Dear readers, I cannot tell you how many times our readers have called to complain that the five cities we cover did not notify us of their projects, developments or meetings. in government websites. People don’t scour the city’s website every day, but they read the newspapers, as you do now.
SB1006 has already passed the Arizona Senate by a vote of 16-13 and faces debate in the House. Although amended to only affect Maricopa County, Congress used that gateway tactic earlier to later target smaller, rural counties like ours. It’s time to urge you not to waste time and money duplicating services that have worked flawlessly for decades. Now is not the time to make changes to efficient and cost-effective systems. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
