A Free Market Bid

A t 11 am on Thursday, July 14, the Honorable William Acey, Columbia County Superior Court Judge, will hear a request from this newspaper to become eligible to publish legal notices in Columbia County.

The Times filed a request to be heard on Thursday, June 9, and made a brief appearance before the judge but he delayed a ruling on the matter. Instead, Acey ordered its publisher, Touchet Valley Publishing, to run a notice of a new hearing in the Dayton Chronicle twice before July 14.

We agree that this is only fair. The residents of Columbia County should know that the Times wants to have a chance to bid on a contract with the county and the City of Dayton to publish its legal notices.

The Times' attorney, Mike Hubbard, submitted the notice to the Chronicle last week.

The judge isn't being asked to decide who should run the county's and city's notices. That decision is up to the County Commissioners and the City Council, who would put out a request for sealed bids once there are two eligible newspapers.

Instead, Judge Acey is to rule on the Times' technical qualifications as a prospective newspaper of record for the county.

The state has a number of counties with two or even more newspapers that qualify to bid on legal notices contracts. Walla Walla County is a good example.

The Walla Walla Union Bulletin and the Times are both eligible to print the county's legal notices.

Each year, the county puts out a request for proposals and each year the Times submits one and, so far, has won the bid. That does not mean all legal notices are automatically published in the Times.

The contract pertains to county government entities only, not to private parties such as attorneys or businesses who are required to provide legal notices to creditors, run foreclosure notices, and so on. Many of them still prefer to run those notices in the Times, in part because the newspaper's rates are competitive.

And that brings us to the central theme of this column.

It's no secret that the Chronicle and the Times are competing news products in the Columbia County market place. For the Times, covering Dayton and surrounding communities is part of a long-range goal to be the premier source of news for the entire Touchet Valley.

We believe that this type of competition is healthy and represents a cornerstone of the kind of free-market society that gives consumers, in this case readers, advertiser and government agencies (the stewards of your tax dollars) choices.

On a personal note, this publisher worked as a reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer when it still produced a print edition that competed with the Seattle Times (the P-I is only on line now). Part of what motivated our newsroom to investigate and break stories that better informed the public was the chance to be first and beat the competition.

Our motivation here in the valley is to serve the communities where we live and operate with the kind of reporting and comprehensive news product they deserve.

What is true for news gathering is true for advertising and publishing legal notices. Though required by law for certain agencies, publishing legal notices amounts to advertising. At a time when taxpayers and government entities are strapped for cash, making the contract to publish legal notices competitive will save them money.

The Times, which has circulated in the county and covered its communities for a long time, has become even more active as a news source recently. Since late 2009, when the newspaper changed hands, its circulation has grown by more than 30 percent and much of that expansion has come from Columbia County.

The Times has submitted to Judge Acey the documents that support its request for eligibility. We believe we meet the requirements. All we ask is to be qualified to make a competitive bid for the legal notices business.