Residents decry Richmond Hill’s move to drop ads in The Liberal newspaper

'Things aren’t forthcoming. We’re an afterthought about making things look good'

Yorkreigon.com
February 11, 2020
Sheila Wang

Richmond Hill’s plan to discontinue advertising public notices and events regularly in The Liberal newspaper has drawn a public backlash over concerns of being “uninformed.”

City council voted on Jan. 28 to slash its advertising budget by $101,200 and put an end to its two-full-page “Bulletin Board” in The Liberal, the only community newspaper in Richmond Hill.

It was one of the moves the city made at this year’s draft budget deliberations in an attempt to cut costs.

Council is expected to make a final decision on the 2020 budget at the Feb. 12 council meeting.

“I was really, really surprised and pretty disappointed,” Oak Ridges resident Carolyn Trebell said. “Now how are people going to find out about those things?”

The longtime resident who reads The Liberal every Friday morning before work said she relies on the bulletin board to keep abreast of what’s going on in Richmond Hill, particularly upcoming land developments in the neighbourhood and community events.

The city has been advertising a wide range of city-related matters in the local newspaper on a weekly basis for decades, from open houses on controversial development proposals to winter parking restrictions.

A staff report shows Richmond Hill published an average of 700 advertisements each year between 2016 and 2018 in the newspaper that reaches more than 51,000 homes across the growing city.

It recommends the city stop publishing the ads that are neither statutory nor mandated in the paper, including upcoming meetings, community events and consultations.

Meanwhile, staff also suggest in the report dropping notices of statutory public hearings in the newspaper and publishing them on “a dedicated webpage” instead.

“It's so wholly undemocratic,” said Carol Davidson, one of the organizers of the Richmond Hill Council Accountability Group (CAG), calling the move an “insult” not just to the paper but to the residents.

“My concern would be that certain pieces of information would slip through the cracks,” said Janice McGurran, who views the newspaper as a “lifeline” for many residents who can’t get information about the city otherwise, especially the senior community.

Census statistics show residents aged 65 and older accounted for about 15 per cent of Richmond Hill's population in 2016.

“They’re being worked out of the equation,” said Kathrine Mabley, a community event organizer who argues the bulletin board is a way to “reach a huge audience for a small cost.”

“I personally use The Richmond Hill Liberal, along with other mediums, for advertising to ensure residents without online access are aware of city activities,” said Regional Coun. Joe DiPaola, who supported cutting the advertising at the budget meeting.

He stressed the need to constantly review the effectiveness of all media sources -- electronic and print.

Staff says the city has increased its digital presence and its use of social media over the last several years when the provinces amended requirements for newspaper advertising of public notices.

Mabley, who found the city's website “not pretty” and hard to navigate, isn't convinced.

Others cast doubt on the true intentions.

“Does it get easier to quietly publish a tender? It just seems the most known way of advertising is being cut off,” Davidson said.

“It seems to me that council is trying to hide information from the residents,” Trebell said.

Despite steep cuts to advertising, the city will continue to publish mandatory notices about official plan and zoning bylaw amendments as well as development charges in The Liberal on an as-needed basis, the report notes.

Staff says there is “no reasonable or cost-effective alternative” manner to inform people of these notices other than through the newspaper.

Coun. David West, who voted against the cuts, said the sporadic ads would be difficult to find in the newspaper.

His proposal to continue publishing the bulletin board in the newspaper for a year was outvoted at the budget meeting despite support from Mayor Dave Barrow and councillors Karen Cilevitz and Godwin Chan.

“Things aren’t forthcoming. We’re an afterthought about making things look good,” Mabley said.