Dear council members,
I urge you to remove the newspaper rack permit fee of $373, plus the $233
per year newspaper box fee, from your proposed master fee schedule
.
As noted in an article published today
,
Embarcadero Media Foundation has more than 40 boxes in Menlo Park to
distribute The Almanac and Palo Alto Weekly, trusted local news sources.
The proposed fees would cost Embarcadero between $10,000 to $12,000 a year,
according to Publisher Adam Dawes. He said the fees could force the two
publications to decrease their newspaper distribution in Menlo Park.
Newspapers, especially locally-run ones, serve an important role. They
employ journalists who gather credible, accurate information to the
citizens about issues that affect them in a time when AI posts, which are
becoming more and more realistic looking as technology rapidly advances
,
on social media threaten to mislead the public.
As noted in the staff report, Menlo Park would be the only nearby city to
charge such fees. I would presume other cities dont impose these fees for
a reason: newspapers across the country are already struggling
.
Theres
no need to impose further financial stress. Nix these proposed fees.
Sincerely,
Angela Swartz
Former editor/reporter for The Almanac
Burlingame, CA
--
Angela Swartz
