Municipal Newsletters
(from Maine Townsman, November 1990)
By Jo Josephson, Assistant Editor

Citing a lack of coverage, inconsistent coverage, incomplete or inaccurate coverage of municipal affairs by the local press . . .

Citing the need more than ever to communicate with their taxpayers about such complex issues as solid waste and budgets and revaluations and drinking water and sewers and . . .

Cities and towns in Maine are getting into the business of producing newsletters.

Be it through a single typewritten page prepared and photocopied by a volunteer and dropped off for pick-up from the countertop of the local store . . .

Or a six pager edited by a consultant, delivered "camera ready" to the local printer and mailed to each and every resident . . .

The municipal newsletter is coming of age in Maine.

So much so that the phenomenon caught the eye of the daily press a few months ago and appeared as a front page story in the Portland Press Herald under the headline: "Extra Extra: Communities publish their own news."

Front page? No controversy? It must have been a slow day at the paper," quipped Falmouth Town Manager Doug Harris, during a recent interview with the TOWNSMAN.

The publication of his town's first newsletter: The Falmouth Focus was the focal point of the Herald's article. Also cited were newsletters published by the towns of Washington and South Berwick.

Like a growing number of other municipal officials in Maine, Harris and his council are acting upon what they have recognized and understood for years: that there are limits to what you can expect from the press; that what a municipality considers "newsworthy" differs from what the daily press considers newsworthy and hence writes about. Except perhaps on a "slow" day.

While the daily news may do a fine story on the town's new leaf composting project, the nitty-gritty details of it, such as the availability of the biodegradable bags and the pick-up dates that residents need to know about, will not necessarily be included in the story, given space constraints and a lot of other editorial decisions.

And while the local weekly may have more space for such "news" there is still no guarantee it will be read. Gone is the day when everyone reads the paper or the same newspaper.

Enter the municipal newsletter, the one-stop information source, with its special breed of news.

This article takes a look at seven municipalities currently producing newsletters. One has been publishing for six years; some have just begun. One is written by a paid consultant, three are put together by volunteers in the community; three are produced by the town manager.

All but one use the mail to distribute their newsletters. All but one that use the mail have purchased bulk mail permits. Only one uses advertising to help cover costs. At least three typeset their newsletter using a desktop publishing software on a computer; one uses a typewriter.

And as for the bottom line, cost, for those that use the mail, the most typical cost is about 40 cents a copy. For those that don't, the cost is as low as 5 cents a copy.

The article also looks at Bath's recent unsuccessful attempt to publish a newsletter featuring its tax cap and the questions raised when a town uses a newsletter to advocate a particular position.

Finally, the article provides some useful tips to think about whether you should consider starting up your own newsletter.

Falmouth: Uses A Consultant

Falmouth, located in Cumberland County, has a population of 7,000 plus. It is covered by two dailies and one biweekly.

It's a large town covering 35 square miles, with no one center, lacking the cohesiveness of smaller towns, requiring more of an effort to communicate with its taxpayers, is how Falmouth Town Manager Doug Harris describes the town.

It's also a town that is "well-to-do," receives little in the way of state funding (less than 5 % school subsidy), and has a lot going on, including a tax revolt.

It published its first issue of the Falmouth Focus in the summer of 1990 as a six-month follow-up to its January town report. Unlike other municipalities that attempt to publish once-a-month or quarterly, Falmouth's plan is to publish a once-a-year supplement to the annual report and to publish occasional updates when necessary.

The first issue of the two-color, six-page newsletter on heavy, cream-colored paper included a graphic presentation of the budget recently passed, highlights of the recently renewed solid waste collection contract, an update on the plans for a new fire station, a report from the hunting committee that was subsequently transformed into a hunting ordinance, and biographies of recently elected school and municipal officials. There were a total of 20 articles plus a table of contents.

Rather than try and publish it themselves, the council budgeted for money to hire a consultant-editor to guide them through their first issue.

"We decided that if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right; we wanted to be sure that it was attractive, interesting and informative," says Harris.

Harris notes that the town has a history of commitment to high quality publications. It consistently wins the MMA's annual report competition. The town's printing and publication budget this year totaled $13,000, including $5,000 for printing 3,000 copies of its town report. It also publishes an attractive "New Resident Information Packet."

The cost of the first issue of the newsletter came to about $2,800 including bulk rate mailing to 3,500 households. That figures out at about 80 cents per issue.

Linda Hertell of Linda Hertell & Associates of Auburn, the consultant who was hired, charged $35 an hour. She reports spending about 30 hours designing the format, editing copy, interviewing department heads writing the articles, locating a typesetter and printer, and shepherding the whole project through to completion.

The eight hours of typesetting came to approximately $210; the printing came to about $1,000; the bulk mailing (carrier route, pre-sort), at about 11 cents each, came to another $300. Falmouth also bulk mails its town report.

Another town publication, Falmouth Update, appeared early this fall, focusing on the town's recyling efforts. It was a four-page, folded flyer, designed to be posted on a refrigerator or other visible spot. Its total cost came to about $1,600, including $600 for the consultant who spent 15 hours at the job.

As to why it makes sense for some municipalities to hire a consultant, Hertell says, "it may never get done without one." It's not top priority, given all the other work facing the town office. Given the fact it takes about a week to put togther, how many towns can afford that amount of uninterrupted time, she asks.

Time aside, most municipal employees do not have the writing and design skills necessary, observes Hertell, adding that an outsider (consultant) can catch the assumptions, biases and jargon that can slip into municipal copy.

The consultant knows the importance of keeping articles short and other techniques for keeping the copy "reader friendly," says Hertell.

The consultant can also help keep the costs down because they know the "ins and outs" of printing and mailing; they can also put you in touch with inexpensive typesetters with desktop publishing who will produce attractive camera ready copy, she adds.

Washington, a so-called "Tier I Town" in Knox County, has a population of a little over 1,000.

While considered a fairly tight-knit town, its residents have diverse reading habits when it comes to the news, according to a recent comprehensive planning committee survey. They have access to two local dailies one tri-weekly and one weekly, not to mention the Boston Globe.

This would have made it difficult, if not expensive, to advertise notices of the comprehensive planning committee meetings, according to committee chair David Martucci, who says that as a result, the committee began publishing its own newsletter.

Written by members of the committee, and edited and typeset by Martucci, who is a computer consultant training people in the ways of desktop publishing programs, the newsletter is called The Washingtonian.

The total cost for publishing 500 copies, one page, both sides came to about $150, reports Martucci. That's 30 cents a copy.

Most of the money goes for the first class mailing. Because four different post offices serve the residents of the town, it is not possible to go with the less expensive postal patron distribution, explains Martucci, who also opted not to go with a cheaper bulk rate, saying it was too slow.

Martucci stresses the importance of an attractive format. "If it is not real attractive, people will not spend the time reading it; You need good graphics and layout. You need good, bold, short catchy headlines," he says.

Martucci sees the newsletter continuing long after the committee has completed the town's plan and submitted it to the state. To ensure that it does, the committee has written the newsletter into the town's plan, to be published at key intervals, probably four to five times a year.

"One of the benefits of the planning process (comprehensive planning process) is that towns will become eligible for grants to implement their programs; we plan to apply for monies to continue publishing the newsletter," say Martucci.

As for now, the next issue will devote itself to two proposed ordinances up for a vote at the December town meeting: a mobile home ordinance and a gravel mining ordinance.

"We plan to print opposing points of view; if the purpose of your newsletter is to provide food for thought, then you have an obligation to present multiple viewpoints; you get the best results that way," he says. (see sidebar, Making and Writing News)

Located In Kennebec County, Mt. Vemon has a population of a little over 1,000.

Its newsletter was started six years ago as a monthly publication by one of the selectmen because of what was felt at the time to be a lack of sufficient coverage by the three dailies and one biweekly newspaper in the area. At that time it was called the Selectmen's Newsletter.

Since then, coverage of major events by one of the daily newspapers has greatly improved, says resident Alice Bloom, who took over the coordination of the whole affair when selectman, founder and editor Deanne Jones left office this year. Bloom spends about four hours a month editing articles and typing the newsletter.

Despite the improvement in daily coverage, the newsletter, which is now called the Mount Vernon Newsletter, continues to thrive on its own breed of news: committee meetings, calendar items and bean suppers. The newletter has recently begun to include the minutes of the selectmen's meetings; it also includes a regular "Odds and Ends Column" from the selectmen.

Selectmen say the importance of the newsletter is that it puts people in touch with each other and everyone in touch with what various town offices and organizations are doing.

The number of pages has recently increased from a single page (both sides) to four (both sides) to include the selectmen's minutes.

No longer a project of one member of the board of selectmen, it is now written by everyone in town including the selectmen, says Bloom. And there is no editorializing. "People didn't like it when Deanne tried it; they groused and said who asked for your opinion?," she says.

The newsletter is mated to every residence at a monthly cost to the town of $65 to $75 depending on the number of newsletters sent. In the summer, distribution rises to 680, and in winter it drops back to 620. Photocopying, stapling and folding, done at a local copy center, comes to about $180 an issue. Total cost per issue comes to about $250, or 40 cents each. Total cost per year (12 issues) comes to about $3,000. Money for the publication comes from the selectmen's administration fund.

Randolph, with its population of slightly more than 1,000, was another town to recently make the daily news because of its newsletter.

Its Randolph Review was featured earlier this year in the Kennebec Journal. Ironically, it was begun in 1989, in response to some people's opinion that the town was getting poor coverage by the KJ, its one local daily newspaper.

It is the brainchild of newcomer Peter Coughlan, a member of the town's budget committee and planning board. Coughlan also heads up Maine's Local Roads Center at the Department of Transportation, where he publishes the quarterly Maine Local Road News.

Coughlan brought the idea of the newsletter to the selectmen; they brought it to town meeting where it was approved with a $1,300 annual budget.

Coughlan gathers the news and typesets it on his own computer, using a desktop publishing software purchased by the town at a cost of $100.

The cost of producing and distributing 800 copies comes to about $400 or about 50 cents each. That includes bulk rate (carrier route, pre-sort) mailing costs of 10 cents each and printing costs of about $250. This year that cost includes a $75 stipend for Coughlan. The newsletter is published three times a year.

Located in York County, Wells has a population of about 9,000. It is covered by two dailies and one weekly.

Although not much larger than Falmouth (population 7,000), its municipal officers felt that it would be too costly to mail its quarterly newsletter to every household, according to Fran Clark, secretary to the town manager. Instead, 1,500 copies of the Wells News & Views are left on the countertops of three local stores.

The town manager serves as the editor. Clark types the copy onto a computer disk. It is then shipped out to be typeset and photocopied. The cost of typesetting the single legal size sheet (both sides) comes to about $40; the cost of photocopying comes to about $40 per issue. Because there is no mailing cost, the cost per issue is very low at 5 cents each!

To date the town has published two issues. The first issue, published this past summer, noted that its intent was to "update Wells citizens and guests to local current events and views in our community." Hence, its title: Wells News & Views.

Contents of the first two newsletters have focused on the town's recycling program, including tonnage figures and an update on the dredging of the harbor; reports from the various town departments come under the headline: Bits and Pieces.

The fall issue devoted much space to the two local referendum questions facing Wells voters on November 6: one to replace the board of assessors with a single assessor; another to change from a calendar to a fiscal year. Following a detailed explanation of each question, the selectmen went on record and recommended a "yes" vote.

Greenbush, in Penobscot County, has a population of 1,000 plus. It is in the circulation area of one daily and two weekly newspapers.

Now in the fourth year of publishing the Greenbush Newsletter, town manager and editor Robert Littlefield, gets out the four-page (11 by 17 folded in half) newsletter every other month.

The total cost comes to about $160 an issue, 50 cents a copy or about $1,000 a year, reports Littlefield. That covers the cost of printing 300 copies and mailing them direct via a bulk mail permit six times a year. The town spends about $1,400 a year on its annual report.

Littlefield says that because the town is covered by four different post offices, carrier route sorting isn't practical. Littlefield says he would like to get out of the mailing business. "It's just one more step; it takes too long," he says. His alternative is to drop off copies at the local stores. However, he says people have come to expect it in the mail, so he doubts he will go that route.

Advertising mostly from local contractors pulls in about a dozen ads per issue. At $5 an ad, it pays for about half the cost of producing the newsletter.

South Berwick, located in York County near the New Hampshire border, has a population of approximately 7,000. It is covered by two daily newspapers, "poorly," according to Town Manager James Kotredes.

Now in its third year of publication, the Town of South Berwick Newsletter is written by department heads. It takes two solid days for Kotredes to edit the material.

It has gone from a quarterly to a bimonthly publication; the number of pages is growing, up from four to eight, ready to leap to 12, says Kotredes.

The cost of typesetting, printing and folding the last eight-page issue of 2,400 copies at the local print shop came to $426. The cost of bulk mailing to "Resident, South Berwick," at 11 cents a copy came to $240. Total cost per issue comes to about 30 cents. The annual budget for printing and mailing comes to $2,200.

Making and Writing News

Should those who make the news, write the news?

Of course not say some, with images of censorship and totalitarian states dancing in their heads.

It all depends on what you define as news, say others, as they attempt to tread the fine line between education and propaganda, defending the right to advocate what is in the best interest of the town.

The question is food for thought when it comes to publishing a municipal newsletter if it contains more than the notices, minutes and looking for volunteer-type news.

When you begin to deal with educating the citizenry on controversial issues, using their money to do so, you'd best familiarize yourself with the foundation of all good newspaper reporting: fairness, the act of presenting all sides of an issue, and practice it, lest you be accused of using taxpayer money to advocate only one side of an issue, or appearing to do so.

If you don't, you could find yourself in the kind of situation municipal officials in Bath did recently, as reported by the daily Times Record.

"Council kills newsletter on spending cap" . . . "Candidate charges 'politics' over Bath city newsletter," read the headlines in the October 24th and 25th issues of the paper.

According to the two stories, a proposed newsletter on an upcoming vote to exempt the county tax and capital improvement expenditures from the city's two-year-old tax cap was seen as a "political ploy" by one opponent of the proposed exemptions, Herbert Caverly II. Caverly was one of four candidates for a councilor at large seat that was to be filled on November 6.

While the newspaper reported that most of the Council, which was split over the exemption issue, "liked City Manager Duncan Ballantyne's idea of establishing better communications with residents," . . . they reportedly agreed that the "explanations" in the newsletter "emphasized the more favorable aspects of the proposed exemptions to the tax cap."

The paper quoted one councilor saying "great pains have been taken to scrub it clean of any opinions . . . but none of the downside issues are presented."

Ballantyne was quoted saying, "I believe the city has a role to educate the citizens and to provide information on an issue." He reportedly charged that the opponent of the newsletter had made his comments without seeing the newsletter and that if he had, he would have seen that the key questions brought up at a recent public hearing were addressed in it.

Ballantyne also noted that the newsletter was to have contained information about other city issues and a form that residents could send back to City Hall to air their gripes, complaints or questions.

While the council members nixed that particular issue of the newsletter—it was to have been the first—at the same meeting they did so, they also gave their blessings to future ones. The "first" one is to appear early next year.