Letters: Chantel on Nebraska open meetings

Dear Editor:

It has come to my attention that there was a proposed legislation regarding publishing public notices in newspapers.

The Constitution clearly states that all proposed amendments are to be published three times.

Nebraska Senators, such as Bill Avery, argue that publishing notices is costly and they want to redirect this information to a government website.

In actuality the cost of publishing public notices in 2010 was only $86,000 which comes out to be a measly nine cents per voter! That’s less than printing off a homework assignment at your local library!

This bill is dangerous. It will allow the legislature to bypass the neutrality and broad base of readers of newspapers and use only a government website.

This is a clear conflict of interest. The legislature would be the sole publisher of the website.

Nearly 40 percent of Americans have never even visited a government website.

Removing newspapers from the loop would leave Nebraskans who don’t own computers, or use the internet frequently ill-informed.

We as American citizens and voters have the right to be educated and well-informed about our government’s decisions.

—Chantel Sullivan,
sophomore of Mullen