OAKLAND, CA – Today, Tuesday, November 5th the Oakland City Council Special Meeting (Agenda Link) will begin at 4:30PM in Council Chambers on the 3rd floor of Oakland City Hall. There will be a special presentation from the Mayor – the State of the City Address.
There will be two overflow Hearing Rooms open for the meeting. Hearing Room 3 which allows for food consumption and Hearing Room 1. The Finance Department will be available to answer questions people may have regarding the vacant property tax implementation ordinance.
Also at Tuesday’s Oakland City Council Meeting, President Kaplan is asking her colleagues to place a measure on the ballot which would eliminate obsolete requirements for designating the city’s official newspaper. (Link to Item)
Kaplan stated: “I am not proposing to do away with public notices – but rather – to allow for change in where they are posted to use options that exist now given the changes to the media landscape. For example – we have multiple diverse and useful weekly newspapers in Oakland serving many communities – but no longer a local daily. So our requirements of where notices are posted need to accommodate reality and reach all of our communities.”
The American media landscape has changed dramatically in recent years and continues to change, with significant reductions in daily newspapers. The estimated total U.S. daily newspaper circulation (print and digital combined) in 2018 was 28.6 million for weekday and 30.8 million for Sunday, down 8% and 9%, respectively, from the previous year. In addition, as a City, it is best to explore how best to include local and culturally based newspapers with a diverse readership. By having the Council, through a public process, be able to respond to changing media conditions and ensure inclusion of our communities, our noticing systems can become more inclusive. This legislation allows the City to adapt our noticing provisions to accommodate changing circumstance and practices.