Face The State Staff Report
The City of Longmont is closely evaluating its contracts with the city's largest newspaper, the Daily Times-Call, and could move some or all of its advertising to another venue. While both the city and the newspaper's publisher say no action is imminent, at least two members of city council have inquired about the current contract, prompting staff research on the city's options in the arena.
Lehman speaks to city councilCity of Longmont
Municipal advertising is a significant money-maker for local newspapers, including the Times-Call, which brings in nearly a quarter-million dollars from the city annually. According to a Longmont staff memo (PDF), the Times-Call is awarded some business through competitive bidding, and other ads are placed under a "sole-source" justification given the paper's dominant place in the local market.
Longmont's charter requires certain notices of city business or legal proceedings be published in a "newspaper of general circulation." Publications qualify as having "general circulation" under existing case law not by meeting a certain numerical threshold but rather by maintaining a sufficiently broad base of readership in a given community. Generally speaking, trade publications, advertising circulars and other niche publications do not qualify. In Longmont, the Times-Call competes with the Denver Post and, to a lesser extent, the Boulder Daily Camera, two newspapers that could be competitors for the city's business.
Lehman Communications Corp., parent company to the Times-Call, also prints a variety of special mailings and pamphlets for the city. One such publication, the newly-created "Longmont Life" newsletter, is published bimonthly and in many ways resembles a newspaper in its own right.
"City council felt like we were lacking the community outreach with residents," said city spokesman Rigo Leal of the decision to create the new paper. "It’s absolutely a PR thing."
Lehman prints Longmont Life, but the company exerts no editorial role in its production. Each issue costs roughly $10,000 to produce and mail to 39,700 addresses.
At least one city councilman sees moving advertising now run in the Times-Call to the new publication. "Sean McCoy brought up moving the legal notices to the Longmont Life paper, [and] asked staff bring back options," Leal told Face The State.
Dean Lehman, the Times-Call's publisher, says he's aware of the council's interest in the contract. "[McCoy] raised the issue at a public meeting, and possibly councilwoman Karen Benker also, and there may have been other areas of discussion," he said.
McCoy and Benker were unavailable for comment.
Moving legal notices in-house would not be without significant logistical challenges, though discussion at city council has also focused on the Times-Call's circulation as compared to that of the Camera and Post. Lehman spoke during public hearing at the June 2 city council meeting to correct numbers in a May 12 staff briefing (PDF) that put the Post's circulation in the city at 16,000; that figure has been updated to 6,182 daily, compared to the Time-Call's circulation of 17,577.
State law sets a maximum rate for publicly-funded legal advertising, but it's possible the city could solicit lower bids from other papers with sufficient circulation in Longmont. Such a scenario could be particularly advantageous for the Post as the paper plans re-introduction of "zoned" regional editions, according to a recent interview with publisher Dean Singleton in The Colorado Statesman.
A representative from the Denver Newspaper Agency, which handles business affairs for the Post, was unavailable for comment by press time.
City staff will present information about Longmont's spending on legal notices and advertising at this Tuesday's city council meeting. A memo included in the meeting packet is marked, "Information only."