Sidebar: S-J publisher says 'public got cheated'
Hillsboro Star-Journal publisher Bill Meyer said the newspaper regrets not being selected to publish Hillsboro city legals. "But, it will hurt the people more than it will the newspaper," Meyer said.
He said the council's decision did not provide for properly informing the public.
The S-J bid sheet, sent to the city council on Monday, clearly pointed out a price of $5 per column inch "in any size type they prefer," Meyer said.
The Hillsboro Free Press bid price was 80 cents per line of 6.5 point type, which (according to their proposal), yields 10 lines per inch. Meyer said, "That's eight dollars an inch, or three dollars (60 percent) more than our bid."
Meyer also pointed out that the circulation of the S-J in Hillsboro is more than 1,000 while Joel Klassen of the Extra stated a total circulation for that newspaper of 135 copies.
"This may become a matter for the court to decide," Meyer concluded. "We bid in good faith, but the cards were stacked against us."
Meyer said that, in his opinion, the Extra "doesn't comply with Kansas law as a 'general circulation' newspaper. "People don't grab for it when they want city news, they look to the Star-Journal."
Mike Kleiber of Ag-Power said he is a Hillsboro property owner and looks to the Free Press Extra for information about city business.
Meyer said he also owns property in Hillsboro, has Tabor College and Hillsboro High School graduates on the staff, "And we want to be a part of this community."
He said the S-J is a good newspaper, growing in size and circulation.
He pointed out that in larger counties where smaller "legal notice" publications skirt the law, important business is often published again in the larger newspaper to avoid having a lawsuit.
City attorney Dan Baldwin advised the council that they should be aware that if a court case results, and the Extra is found to be in non-compliance, "you'd have a problem with notices that had been published there."
