COUNTY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE - R. ESPINOSA

Request for Board direction to develop state legislative request to State House and State Senate representatives for alternative options specific to San Benito County for the posting of public notices and publication of the same in newspapers of general circulation in adjacent county jurisdictions.

SBC FILE NUMBER: 119

As reported to the Board at the regular meeting of September 13, 2016, the County has experienced difficulties with publication by the local San Benito County newspaper of general circulation, even for those publications that were submitted in a timely manner.

It should be noted for the record that the Freelance is the County's only newspaper of general circulation. 

To be considered a newspaper of general circulation, publications must meet the criteria set forth in California Government Code Section 6008 as follows:

6008.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a newspaper is a "newspaper of general circulation" if it meets the following criteria:   

(a) It is a newspaper published for the dissemination of local or telegraphic news and intelligence of a general character, which has a bona fide subscription list of paying subscribers and has been established and published at regular intervals of not less than weekly in the city, district, or judicial district for which it is seeking adjudication for at least three years preceding the date of adjudication.   

(b) It has a substantial distribution to paid subscribers in the city, district, or judicial district in which it is seeking adjudication.   

(c) It has maintained a minimum coverage of local or telegraphic news and intelligence of a general character of not less than 25 percent of its total inches during each year of the three-year period.   

(d) It has only one principal office of publication and that office is in the city, district, or judicial district for which it is seeking adjudication.    For the purposes of Section 6020, a newspaper meeting the criteria of this section which desires to have its standing as a newspaper of general circulation ascertained and established, may, by its publisher, manager, editor, or attorney, file a verified petition in the superior court of the county in which it is established and published.

Alternative news outlets such as the Mission Village Voice and Benitolink that do not meet the traditional definition as outlined in the statute, but which nonetheless provide legitimate reporting of events of local interest, need to be explored as a potential options for providing notice to the public.