A friend of the newspaper called us this week. He was concerned. "How are you going to react to the City's proposed ordinance to regulate and control newspaper distribution boxes?" he asked. "We're not going to react all all," we replied. "Who cares?"
What our friend was referring to is a proposed new law that would require newspaper publishers to apply to the City Manager for a permit for each and every on-street distribution box. Sponsors of the ordinance say that similar laws have stood up in court in other cities. After all, even if our City officials can't seem to figure out how to repair our sidewalks, control of how public sidewalks are used would seem to be within their scope of responsibility.
But such a regulation will not really apply to Key West The Newspaper. Our distribution has traditionally been inside stores, offices, restaurants, hotels, government buildings and other off-street locations. We only have a few on-street boxes, so the burden of permitting would not be very demanding for us. But, frankly, we would rather eat dirt than ask for City Manager Julio Avael's permission to continue to use our boxes! It ain't gonna happen, Bubba!
But such an ordinance could likely be an absolute nightmare for papers like the Citizen and the Miami Herald. They have hundreds of on-street boxes. And, for each one, they will be required to go through an elaborate permitting process— which includes a completed application, a photo of the box showing its location, plus, perhaps, a small gift for the official responsible for approving or disapproving the application. If a box is replaced or added, the process must start all over again. If a registration sticker gets torn off, the City can arrest the box and take it to jail.
The proposed ordinance also includes stringent restrictions on where the boxes can be placed. These restrictions are likely to decrease the convenient availability of your morning newspaper.
Let's watch together to see what happens.