There's a fascinating piece in this weeks' Southwest Journal about the
Minneapolis Charter Commission being hamstrung in repealing out of date laws
(such as places for selling straw).
Seems the laws run to 50 pages, and publishing them in ballot form (so
voters could decide) would be prohibitively expensive. The City Council can
repeal them by a 13-0 vote, but the laws still have to be published in the
city's official newspaper (is it still Finance & Commerce?), also too
expensive. Therefore, the city might go to the legislature (almost certainly
next year at the earliest) to get an exemption from the publishing request.
When/if the city does go to St. Paul, they should ask that the legislature
allow them to substitute web publishing for paper publishing. That way,
interested readers can see the text, just online instead of in the paper.
I know what some of you are thinking - "what about the digital divide?"
Well, folks, lets be real: how many of us see Finance & Commerce anyway? My
bet is more folks have web access! Even those who don't can get it a public
library almost as easily as finding Finance & Commerce on the street.
And as a further compromise, the legislature could insist that the web
address of the outdated-law document be published to alert citizens where to
surf.
I wonder if newspaper lobbyists would oppose this as a precedent to the
lucrative official-document publishing monopoly? But as a taxpayer, I think
it's time as come! Beyond cost, the web is more available than some of these
obscure official publications.
David Brauer
King Field - Ward 10
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