City to bid out official newspaper spot

By Dan DuChene
Dec. 23, 2008    ·    11:56 a.m.

The City of Ypsilanti will be issuing a request for proposals to select a newspaper of record.

City Council had unanimously selected the Ann Arbor News as the paper of record at its organizational meeting in November. However, because no formal bid process was done, City Manager Ed Koryzno recommended the action.

“It’s in the spirit of transparency of government,” Koryzno said.

The city’s newspaper of record is the publication the city uses to publish announcements and legal notices. State law and the city charter both require the city to publish certain information to inform the public.

The News has been Ypsilanti’s official newspaper of record since 2005, before that it had been the Ypsilanti Courier. A paper is chosen by City Council at every organizational meeting, which is held the first meeting after a general election.

It was a complaint from Courier Editor Austen Smith that alerted Koryzno to the slip up. City Clerk Frances McMullan said Smith had submitted information to the city during the summer regarding ad rates and circulation, but that information never made it to City Council before they chose the News last month.

“They had submitted a lot of documents,” McMullan said. “They wanted to be considered.”

Smith said he was upset when he heard the decision had been placed on the consent agenda. When it was eventually pulled by a councilmember, they had no information from the Courier and asked the staff writer covering the meeting for information.

“I didn’t think it was very open,” Smith said. “I don’t think we got a fair shake.”

Koryzno said a paper used to be selected after a formal bid process, but could not remember when the last time one had occurred. He said the practice must have fallen by the wayside somewhere, but since there are competing interests an RFP should be issued.

Smith said there has not been an RFP since he came on as editor in 2005, but is happy that one will be issued after the holidays.

“That is fantastic,” he said. “That’s how it should be done.”

The Clerk’s office will be creating and issuing the RFP. Koryzno said it will be based on advertising rates, circulation numbers, deadline information and frequency of distribution.

The Courier is a weekly publication from Southgate-based Heritage Newspapers. The News is a daily publication from Grand Rapids-based Booth Newspapers.

Both papers have seen shrinking or relocating staff and downsizing in the wake of current trends inside the newspaper industry. Both papers used to have offices downtown, but the News staff now works out of Ann Arbor and the Courier staff now work out of Belleville.

Smith said nobody, including himself, was happy about the office closing downtown, or about the downsizing taking place in the newspaper industry. He said the Courier still works to put out quality.

“We work week to week to put out a good newspaper with limited staff,” he said. “We are the community newspaper for the City of Ypsilanti.”

City Attorney John Barr said that while state and city law do require publication for ordinances, the city is not required to select an official newspaper of record.

The city charter states, “…and shall publish the ordinance together with a notice setting out the time and place for a public hearing thereon and for its consideration by the Council.” It goes on to say, “As soon as practicable after adoption, the City Clerk shall have the ordinance and a notice of its adoption published and available.”

Finally, the charter states, “As used in this Section, the term "publish" means to print in one or more newspapers or equivalent media of general circulation in the City.”

The State of Michigan defines a qualified newspaper as having general circulation with a paid subscription or in publication for at least one year.

A call to the News was not returned.