Glenview Responds to Editorial Claiming Residents Kept In the Dark

The following Letter to the Editor is from the Village of Glenview:

The editorial by 22nd Century Media in the July 24, 2014 edition of the Glenview Lantern made some bold and troubling accusations that would be alarming if they were true.

Instead of the Village of Glenview “keeping residents in the dark,” it is the Lantern that did not divulge its interest in how the Village complies with Illinois’ public notice laws. The state requires municipalities to put public bid and legal notices “in a paper of general circulation” in the area, and Glenview has consistently met that mandate.

The reality is the Lantern has actively, and with limited success, sought the Village’s public notice business. The bid and legal notices that governments across Illinois, including Glenview, are required to purchase are a source of revenue that newspapers covet.

The Village last fall made a request for proposals from all of the area’s newspapers, and qualified three publications for the year: the Pioneer Press (which includes the Glenview Announcements), Chicago Tribune and 22nd Century Media (which includes the Glenview Lantern). Given the varying deadlines and circulations for each, the Village wanted the flexibility to choose between them on a case-by-case basis, based on readership, price and market area to attract the most competitive bid prices for advertised services. The process was similar to that undertaken for any vendor with which the Village does business. When comparing similar distribution areas of the weekly newspapers, 22nd Century Media’s prices were equal to or above the Pioneer Press, while the daily Tribune offers the opportunity to publish more quickly.

The annual treasurer’s report that the Lantern alleges could not be viewed by Glenview residents was published in the Glenview Announcements on June 19, 2014. It was also posted on the Village’s website, where all annual treasurer reports since 2005 are linked. If the Lantern believed that the report was vital for taxpayers to know about, it was free to assign a reporter to read it and write a story about it. The information was readily available and village officials always respond to questions. Instead, 22nd Century Media misled its readership by inferring that publication of a legal notice anywhere other than the Lantern leaves Glenview citizens uniformed. Behind all the rhetoric is the simple fact that the Village did not pay the Lantern to publish the report.

Let’s be clear. Publishing state-required bid and legal notices are but one way to inform residents about how Glenview operates. Every notice mandated by the state and much more information is available on Glenview’s website at glenview.il.us. There is a quick-link at the top of the home page called “Transparency” where visitors can find Village bond and bond rating documents, audits, monthly financial reports, business plans, annual goals, employee compensation and details about local Tax Increment Financing districts. Meeting agendas for boards and commissions are posted that date back to the 1980s. The Glenview Municipal Code is accessible, as are building regulations and building and engineering standards.

The Village has put a lot of effort into making its business transparent. We’re pleased to have received a transparency score of 89.5 (out of 100) from the Illinois Policy Institute this year. The institute is an independent research and education organization that works to improve government transparency. In fact, Glenview was among the 62 winners of the Institute’s Sunshine Award, out of nearly 7,000 taxing bodies in Illinois.

It’s entirely appropriate for the media to ask questions about the way the Village is run. But let’s be transparent about the purpose of this editorial. This wasn’t so much about “a Village that continually violates the spirit of democracy” or an administration that “continue(s) to flout the spirit of the law” as it is about a newspaper that wants the Village’s business – and wants special treatment to get it.