Othello councilman wants to end newspaper competition

Discussion of official newspaper

OTHELLO — Othello City councilman Ken Caylor asked the city council to support legislative efforts to end competitive bidding of newspaper advertising within Othello.

Caylor requested council consider putting additional limitations on the bidding process for legal advertising to eliminate competition from other newspapers who do not have an office within Othello city limits.

He explained he wanted to support The Othello Outlook newspaper because he wanted to support city businesses.

"They do have an office in Othello. We do have a business in Othello," he said.

Council awarded the bid to the Columbia Basin Herald April 9 with a 5-2 vote to advertise legal notices for one year. The Columbia Basin Herald's bid was less than half of the Othello Outlook bid.

Both initial bids by the Columbia Basin Herald and The Othello Outlook were rejected for failing to follow criteria during the bid process. After refinement of criteria by city staff and a second round of bid submissions, the council voted to utilize the Columbia Basin Herald.

Councilmembers Ken Caylor and Marc Spohr voted against the bid award because they wanted to continue service with The Othello Outlook.

To prevent newspapers without an office in Othello from bidding, Caylor asked the council to seek legislation to change state law.

"This is bigger than us," he said. "Let's get this put into legislature."

Caylor said he worried a newspaper from a city far away from Othello, such as the San Juan Islands might put in a bid for the city legal advertising and win the award because they are the lowest bid. Caylor said current legislation requires the city go with the lowest bidder.

"This situation is a little different," said Columbia Basin Herald Publisher Harlan Beagley. "You have two fine newspapers in Othello, the Columbia Basin Herald and the Outlook. Both are printed in Grant County and have owners outside of Adams County. We both gather news in Othello, publish it and deliver it to readers in Othello."

The Columbia Basin Herald is approximately 25 miles away from the city.

Some councilmembers disagreed with Caylor's proposed change.

"I thought in this country you have a freedom of enterprise," Councilmember Eleanor Brodahl said.

The city should be able to consider any newspaper who puts in a bid and maintain the right to choose the best one, she said.

"It's basically one local paper competing against another," Mayor Shannon McKay said.

Councilmember Dale Wyman said fair competition is necessary.

If council can't maintain the ability to choose the cheapest bid it may not be fair to city taxpayers, he said.

"When you put in exclusions with a paper, then I think you have some problems," Wyman said.

If the city is required to choose a newspaper solely based on if they have an office within the city, they might charge an enormous amount for legal advertisements and the city would be left with the bill, Wyman explained.

Caylor said he would prefer the Columbia Basin Herald had an office within Othello city limits.

"As the Columbia Basin Herald and the city of Othello grow I see us opening an Othello office in the near future," Beagley noted. "Maybe not the size of the Moses Lake office but one similar to the one we have in Ephrata."

Port of Othello Director Mike Beardsley said newcomers to Othello would not think to look for legal notices in the Columbia Basin Herald because they do not have an office in the city and said the rules need to be written differently to favor the Outlook.

"I don't agree with you," the mayor said.

"I don't either," Brodahl said.

"I am for the American way," McKay said about any competitive bid process among businesses.

Caylor requested city staff to send a letter to a lobbyist group to inquire what can be done to limit the bid process and if there are any other options to the city.