'Free competition is worth more to society than it costs'

By Rory Ryan
Publisher and Owner
The Highland County Press

If brevity is indeed the soul of wit, then what follows is certainly one of the more serious columns that I've written in the past 25 years.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said “Free competition is worth more to society than it costs.”

Hillsboro Municipal Court Judge David McKenna referenced Justice Holmes' quote in a November 2009 letter to the editor, following a newspaper competitor who admitted in writing to taking copies of The Highland County Press and instructing his employees to do the same. (Judge McKenna's letter is available at: http://www.highlandcountypress.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=829&SectionID=4&SubSectionID=87&S=1).

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Nevertheless, shortly after I purchased The Highland County Press from William Latham, a member of the First Families of Ohio Newspapers and owner of The Clermont Sun and Brown County Press, several public officials asked us to publish their legal notices.

For background, The Highland County Press had previously published legal advertisements (prior to my acquisition). At some point, it ceased to publish a paid newspaper, and as Ohio law stated back then, free newspapers did not qualify to publish legal notices.

Thus, The Highland County Press began exploring ways in which we would qualify. In February 2010, we renewed paid circulation. As I wrote then, I was tempted to make the single-copy rate 1 cent. After discussions with staff, we opted for 25 cents as a published single-copy rate. Furthermore, we began a voluntary paid circulation rate of $10 per year.

Many readers quickly sent payments, and we thank them.

Meanwhile, as state lawmakers continued to look for savings to all government entities, the state law on newspaper advertising changed. Under certain circumstances, unpaid newspapers would now qualify to publish legal notices. Many of the large corporate conglomerates were not happy. More on that in a moment.

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• On April 23 and April 24, 2015, I was contacted by two Highland County public officials – Prosecutor Anneka Collins and Sheriff Donnie Barrera – both of whom requested copies of The Highland County Press’ most recent circulation audit. I promptly emailed copies to them, as well as to Judges Rocky Coss and Kevin Greer, Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley and the Highland County Commissioners' Office.

Both Ms. Collins and Mr. Barrera stated they were approached by Gary Abernathy of The Times-Gazette. According to a now-public record faxed to me by Prosecutor Collins regarding The Times-Gazette, its publisher is Pam Stricker.

It is curious in many ways that The Times-Gazette’s stated publisher (from its September 2014 report) is Ms. Stricker. In 2005, she was publisher of The Wilmington News-Journal and the “group publisher” of The Times-Gazette.

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• In 2005, I was the publisher of The Times-Gazette. I also was the original editor of The Times-Gazette upon its first publication in 1996. I was its publisher from 2002-2009.

Ms. Stricker and I had a number of discussions related to legal advertisements and the rates that the newspapers should charge. Suffice it to say we did not always agree.

For general election advertising in 2005 alone, The Wilmington News-Journal, with Ms. Stricker as its publisher, and through its parent company, billed the Clinton County Board of Elections $59,169.33 for legal advertising costs. This was among the highest expenses to taxpayers in any one southwest Ohio county adjacent to Clinton County. A copy of that Expenditure Report – Detail Activity from Jan. 1, 2006-June 12, 2006, Page 29 of 34, is available at the Clinton County Board of Elections as a matter of public record.

For the same 2005 legal advertisement with the Highland County Board of Elections, I can state without fear of contradiction that the total was much less. Of course, the invoices on file at the Clinton County Board of Elections and the Highland County Board of Elections from 2005 speak for themselves.

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• Now, let's fast forward from 2005 to 2009. Shortly after leaving The Times-Gazette, I received a telephone call and a private email that Gary Brock, then publisher of the Washington Court House Record-Herald who reported directly to Ms. Stricker, had admitted – in writing – to taking copies of The Highland County Press, thus, in essence, stealing from our company and its advertisers.

Mr. Brock also admitted to instructing his staff to take our papers. His email was sent to Ms. Stricker and forwarded by her to her subordinates. The email stated: "The Highland County Press has shown up... There was a stack of them inside the entrance of one of our restaurants. I had the owner discard them. At {a} sales meeting this morning, I told everyone to be on the lookout for them and to be sure to take them all if they find them anywhere here."

At that time in 2009, I was given legal advice by my attorney, Kathryn Hapner, to consider filing a lawsuit. I informed Kathryn that I have had several occasions on which to file litigation, but I have never sued anyone in my life and wasn't planning to start.

Then, in February 2010, another theft of The Highland County Press occurred.

A woman was observed by store employees taking copies of The Highland County Press from Great Scot Supermarket in Hillsboro. At 12:02:50 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, at least two Great Scot employees witnessed a woman removing all copies of the Feb. 13, 2010 edition of The Highland County Press from the store. A store security camera video showed a woman entering the store, walking directly toward the newspapers, then turning around and leaving the store. The woman did not make any purchases, nor did she take any other publications that were available.

According to two employees, the woman took all the copies of The Highland County Press.

Perhaps ironically, a similar theft had occurred at Great Scot on Friday, Oct. 9, 2009.

Mr. Brock's email was sent on Oct. 8, 2009 and forwarded by Ms. Stricker the same day.

I met with Great Scot Store Manager Ed Bayless, and we watched the security video of the theft together. (See: http://www.highlandcountypress.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=2037&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=20&S=1)

The second theft was reported to Hillsboro Chief of Police Nick Thompson, and a request for the security video was made to the home office of Great Scot.

As I said, Hillsboro Municipal Court Judge David McKenna weighed in on the thefts of The Highland County Press in a letter to the editor. (May God bless the Hon. Judge McKenna for his courage – and encouragement.)

In November 2009, Judge McKenna wrote: … "Since I've been the judge who has umpired this kind of stuff in our community for the past 10 years, I'll offer a few thoughts.

“Ohio Revised Code section 2909.07(A)(1) states that: ‘No person shall: without privilege to do so, knowingly move, deface, damage, destroy, or otherwise improperly tamper with the property of another.’

“A person found guilty of this crime can be sentenced to 60 days in jail, fined $500, be ordered to pay restitution and complete up to 500 hours of community service, and be placed on reporting probation for up to five years. In less complicated terms, you can get into some serious doo-doo for messing with other people's stuff!

“Let me be clear about the law. Those papers were your (The Highland County Press') stuff. They were not garbage to be hauled off. Businesses from all over our community paid for the opportunity to advertise to our citizens in your publication. As you pointed out, your company paid employees to create the newspaper and you paid to produce the product.

“What is more disturbing and disturbingly ironic, is that the so-called leaders of the ‘free press’ would resort to criminal behavior to fight competition. I guess you have to conclude that the old-fashioned, American way of working harder just isn't as attractive as being a thief."

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• In 2011, I met with the Hon. Sen. David Daniels and the Hon. Rep. Cliff Rosenberger of the 129th Ohio General Assembly at a public forum at the Highland County Administration Building’s basement conference room.

This meeting was videotaped by Brandy Chandler, a former reporter of The Highland County Press. (See http://www.highlandcountypress.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=6790&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=20&S=1)

During the meeting, I submitted a letter to the state lawmakers. It read, in part:

"I take this opportunity to encourage you to amend Ohio law as it pertains to newspaper advertising of public (legal) notices. While some Ohio lawmakers have made recent attempts to address this substantial cost to Ohio taxpayers, their efforts have been, thus far, futile. Given the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars that have been, in certain political years, allocated to state-mandated legal notices, not to mention the thousands of dollars spent on the local level in all 88 counties, clearly it is time for serious reform. Granted, this may seem like a rather insignificant amount given the state’s multi-billion-dollar budget; however, as the old saying goes, 'A couple of hundred thousand dollars here, and a couple of hundred thousand there, and pretty soon we’re talking real money.'

"While the owners of the state’s largest newspapers will protest until their last barrel of ink, their arguments are self-serving – as well as baseless – when it comes to informing the citizens without placing an undue burden on taxpayers across Ohio.

"In 2005, a Wilmington newspaper (through its parent company) billed the Clinton County Board of Elections some $59,169.33 for legal advertising costs. (Copies were provided and are still available on request.) This was among the most exorbitant expenses to taxpayers in the entire state that year. According to public records provided by the Clinton County Board of Elections, that newspaper also submitted bills for $30,000 for printing costs and $13,275.42 for other legal advertising and inserts."

In 2010, Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley informed the Highland County Board of Commissioners that his office had received a bill of almost $13,900 from The Times-Gazette in Hillsboro for publishing the annual delinquent land tax legal notices. This was a significant increase over previous invoices for similar notices and exceeded the auditor’s budget. After The Highland County Press editorialized on this expense to taxpayers in its Feb. 20, 2010 edition, the legal bill was reduced by $4,196.40 to $9,632.

I also provided a copy of a letter from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine related to my request for a legal opinion on Ohio newspapers’ qualifications and requirements for the publication of legal notices.

“I’m happy to try to work on this issue," Sen. Daniels said. "I try to be very careful when I talk about what's a relatively small portion of the state budget pie, because it's still a dollar that's collected from the taxpayer one way or another. The issue becomes even larger, when you look at, not so much what state government has to do, but what local government has to do. When you start figuring out that their budget is smaller to begin with, for the most part ... $100,000 or $200,000 a year is a larger percentage. It actually hurts more down on the local level than it does on the state. It still hurts, don't get me wrong. I don't want anyone to think that a dollar saved isn't a dollar earned."

To their credit, the Ohio General Assembly did revise state law, and Gov. John Kasich signed the legislation. Lawmakers' intent was crystal clear: They wanted to expand – not restrict – the opportunity for competition among newspapers regarding the publication of legal notices.

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• During a telephone conversation on April 24, 2015 with Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins, I was told that the lower advertising rates provided by The Highland County Press have saved her office money, and that she has not budgeted for a return to the previous rates charged by The Times-Gazette.

On the same day, I also provided a copy of the prosecutor’s written statement of Aug. 29, 2011 that it is her opinion that The Highland County Press qualifies to publish legal notices. I also offered a copy of a written statement by Brown County Prosecutor Jessica A. Little, who voiced a similar opinion on The Brown County Press on Jan. 18, 2012.

Prosecutor Collins and Sheriff Barrera said in addition to the requester's seeking a record of The Highland County Press' circulation audit, disparaging insinuations were made against The Highland County Press. The prosecutor said other county officials also were contacted.

That's unfortunate. But given the documented history of the past five and a half years, it is not altogether surprising.

Moreover, on April 24, 2015, Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera told me The Times-Gazette now was offering to publish legal advertisements for $4 per column inch for its 3,138 circulation (per its September 2014 filing date provided by the prosecutor.)

The Highland County Press' average weekly circulation in 2014 was – and remains – 14,918. We charge $4.50 per column inch for legals. (By the way, when I asked how long the prosecutor had a circulation statement on file from The Times-Gazette, she replied: "It was just dropped off today." That was April 23, 2015.)

Prior to Sheriff Barrera taking office, the sheriff's sales were billed at a much, much higher rate. In the fall of 2014, Sheriff Barrera brought copies of recent invoices to The Highland County Press. That explained a lot.

The Ohio Revised Code stipulates that newspapers' government rate "shall not exceed the lowest classified advertising rate and lowest insert rate paid by other advertisers.”

From http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/gp7, we read:

7.10: “For the publication of advertisements, notices, or proclamations required to be published by a public officer of a county, municipal corporation, township, school, or other political subdivision, publishers of newspapers shall establish a government rate. The government rate shall not exceed the lowest classified advertising rate and lowest insert rate paid by other advertisers.”

Has The Times-Gazette or other such publications charged a higher rate for legal advertisements than their lowest classified advertising rate and lowest insert rate paid by other advertisers? Perhaps Prosecutor Collins and other public officials should seek that answer.

It is not at all coincidental that The Times-Gazette’s requests to Prosecutor Collins and Sheriff Barrera were made on April 23, 2015. That was the first time The Highland County Press – under present ownership – published legal advertisements for sheriff’s sales as placed by the Highland County Sheriff’s Office. Our newspapers returned from the printer, The Clermont Sun, around 1:30 p.m. on April 23. The prosecutor called us approximately one hour later.

For further background, after the election of Sheriff Barrera, The Highland County Press was contacted by the sheriff’s office. We were asked about our rates for legal advertisements.

Highland County Press Vice President Angela Matticks and myself met with Sheriff Barrera and Officer Swackhamer at the Highland County Justice Center.

We provided the most recent audit of our circulation, based upon documentation as follows:

• Our Internal Revenue Service filings.

• Our stated press runs from The Clermont County Press in Batavia, Ohio on their letterhead.

• Our annual payroll records for our Independent Carriers who deliver The Highland County Press.

• Our paid subscribers' list.

• And supporting private business information as attested to and notarized by the Hon. Thomas M. Tepe, attorney at law.

I am quite confident in our stated circulation and the accuracy of our records related thereto. I should be. For the past five and a half years, I have been directly involved with our circulation, delivering as many as 2,000 copies in some weeks, and averaging around 1,000 copies in most weeks.

In fact, we have many written testimonials from our paid subscribers. (And if anyone in county government would like to know about our circulation efficiency, please ask the Hon. Judge Kevin Greer and the Hon. Prosecutor Collins. Many more references are readily available.)

If anyone ever wants to see a copy of our annual circulation audit, please stop by the office. We have nothing to be ashamed of regarding our advertising rates, our circulation or our customer service. In addition, we also publish free obituaries and free public service announcements for churches, schools, civic organizations, etc., each and every week. We will continue to do so.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.