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Councilor Brown indicated his agreement with Councilor Taylor <br />Councilor Clark said he had agreed with the staff recommendation for support because of the cost to the <br />City, the fact the websites being discussed were publicly available, and there were a number of small <br />towns in Oregon without a newspaper. Those communities had no choice of a newspaper. <br />Responding to a question from Councilor Zelenka, Ms. Wilson reviewed the notice provisions in current <br />law. She said the proposed bill would give public agencies the flexibility to determine the best way to get <br />notice to the public. It did not prevent a community from putting notice in all available media; that was a <br />local decision. She said that the notice in question could be placed on any web site managed by a <br />member of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters, such as television web sites. The City could not host <br />a legal notice on its Web site. <br />Councilor Zelenka expressed concern about the impact of the bill on the financial status of The Register - <br />Guard. He acknowledged more and more people, particularly young people, got their information from <br />the Web. He was somewhat torn, and for that reason would support the committee's recommendation. <br />Councilor Pryor suggested the bill would increase timely notice to more people. It took away the <br />exclusive rights of newspapers to be the source of such notices. He agreed that increasingly, people <br />turned to the Web for information and the change could give more people information about public <br />events. While he did not want to hurt newspapers, he supported the staff and committee recommendation <br />and believed it was appropriate to consider new technology in such cases and broaden notice to match the <br />new age. <br />Councilor Poling agreed with the remarks of councilors Zelenka, Clark, and Pryor. He clarified that the <br />committee's 2:1 recommendation was to monitor the bill. <br />Councilor Ortiz thought the City should look to the future and support the bill. She agreed people got <br />their information in different ways. She wanted the City to continue to provide notice in the local <br />newspaper even if the bill passed. <br />Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to substitute the motion with a <br />motion to change the City's position on House Bill 3184 to Priority 3 Support. <br />Councilor Clark believed the bill spoke to the issue of local control by allowing each community to <br />determine how to give public notice. <br />Councilor Zelenka believed the manner in which the legislature was structured would eliminate the <br />requirement for newspaper notices. Ms. Wilson concurred that was possible. She did not think it was <br />the intention of the bill's sponsors, however. <br />Councilor Clark and Councilor Ortiz declined a friendly amendment offered by Councilor Zelenka to <br />support the bill if the bill's title was amended by substituting the following text and posted on <br />website maintained by state association of stations or broadcasters." <br />Councilor Pryor appreciated Councilor Zelenka's remarks. He did not want to cripple newspapers but it <br />was not the council's responsibility to support newspapers, and he hoped that they would be a large part <br />of any communication strategy. The core element for him was flexibility, and he hoped those who <br />MINUTES — Eugene City Council March 14, 2011 Page 6 <br />Regular Meeting <br />