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Controversy, local cost stall bill to move Alaska public notices online

Pat Forgey

JUNEAU -- A bill that could take legal notices out of Alaska's local newspapers is being called a danger to local communities, their newspapers, and the public's right to know.

And that's by the bill's co-sponsors, or in some cases former co-sponsors.

Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, originally sponsored House Bill 275, which he said would cut the cost of government. One cost-cutting move would allow local governments to post legal ads on their websites instead of printing them in the community newspaper.

Rep. Ben Nageak, D-Barrow, signed on as the bill’s first co-sponsor.

The bill won quick praise from city representatives statewide, who said the newspaper notices were unnecessary and that they were already close to their residents and didn't need to be forced by the state to keep them informed.

That's especially true in small communities, said Alaska Municipal League Executive Director Kathie Wasserman.

"There is very little you can get away with, people know what is going on in city hall," she said. "If something is not posted correctly, you will suffer for it mightily, as well you should."

Wasserman is a former mayor of Pelican, on Southeast Alaska's Chichagof Island, current population 79.

But some saw another agenda at work.

Anchorage Daily News reporter Rich Mauer suggested at a press conference earlier this month that the real motivation for the bill was anger by Hawker at an Anchorage Daily News story about the expensive Anchorage Legislative Information Office remodel.

Hawker chaired the Legislative Council, which handled the LIO negotiations. He called such linkage "patently ridiculous" and "connecting dots that just simply don't exist."

He said he simply reintroduced a bill that had faltered two years ago and which he thought was good public policy.

On Tuesday, Hawker said Mauer's public questions about his motivations were "ludicrous."

"He's smoking Colorado cigarettes," Hawker said.

Nageak joined Hawker's bill as a co-sponsor following an angry denunciation of Anchorage media on the first day of this year's legislative session. That followed coverage of the Arctic Slope Regional Corp.'s ample dividend to its shareholders, and a story in the Anchorage Daily News suggesting that some dividends would be spent on bootlegged alcohol.

Nageak didn't like how that reflected on his community.

"We were already condemned for doing things we hadn't even done yet," Nageak said.

He said he was putting the media "on notice" that they were wrong, and that the money was actually well spent. His passionate address was greeted with cheers from fellow lawmakers.

A week later, Nageak signed on as a co-sponsor of Hawker's bill, its first co-sponsor.

Nageak said the two actions were unrelated.

"That never even crossed my mind," he said.

While Nageak first said he had "no reason" for sponsoring the bill, he later said it was the cost-saving provisions in the bill -- unrelated to the legal notices exemption -- that had him add his name to the legislation.

The bill at first got little notice, and moved quickly through the House of Representatives process, getting unanimous "do pass" recommendations in two committees and taking barely two weeks to reach the House floor.

But in the meantime, the Juneau Empire, one of Morris Communications’ several Alaska newspapers heard of the bill. Publisher Rustan Burton told Juneau radio station KTOO that he'd asked Capitol reporter Jennifer Canfield to set up appointments with legislators to help lobby against the bill, which could cost Morris advertising revenue.

After she refused to facilitate the meeting, she was fired, though Burton told the radio station the two actions were unrelated.

The attention to the Empire's ethical rift subsequently drew attention to the bill, and several legislators said they heard from local newspaper publishers, who were concerned about the possible loss of revenue and community notifications that passage of the bill might entail.

"This would hurt the area in terms of getting information from the paper about a lot of the stuff that's going on," said Nageak, who withdrew as a co-sponsor.

Several lawmakers said the financial hit to newspapers was also a concern.

"The concern is with the fiscal health of these rags," said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage.

Rep. Chris Tuck, D-Anchorage, said he was more concerned about the loss of public information. Posting notices on rarely-visited city websites is not an adequate substitute to keep the public informed, he argued.

"This is huge, this is turning 'public notice' into 'public search,'" he said.

Other former supporters, including Reps. Neal Foster, D-Nome, and Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, D-Sitka, said they now regret their "do pass" recommendations in committee.

With passage of the bill in doubt, it was pulled from a floor vote this week, and sent to the Rules Committee.

Hawker told the Associated Press that action was to prevent bill supporters from having to cast votes that would be unpopular with their local publishers, but it is not clear enough votes ever existed for passage.

The Rules Committee in which the bill now sits can be bill purgatory, where legislation resides until sponsors can round up enough support for passage or until the session ends and the bills die a quiet death.

Supporters may also revive the bill with less controversial provisions -- like one that aimed to hold down the printing costs for annual reports -- as the focus.

Nageak wouldn't say how he came to co-sponsor the bill, but didn't enjoy the controversy that led to him withdrawing his co-sponsorship. "People blew this out of proportion," he said.

The controversy may have also provided an education in journalism ethics for the Juneau Empire.

Legislative sources say publisher Burton, rather than the paper's new Capitol reporter, is now arranging his own lobbying appointments.

Contact Pat Forgey at pat(at)alaskadispatch.com