53-11 Modify 107.01, posting public notices

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PLACED ON 1ST READING & REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE 11/21/11. SECOND READING 12/5/11. ORDINANCE NO. 5~3-11 BY: Anderson, Juris, Madigan, Nowlin, Powers, Smith. AN ORDINANCE to take effect on January 1, 2012 provided it receives the affirmative vote of at least five (5) members of Council, or otherwise to take effect and be in force after the earliest period allowed by law, modifying Section 107.01 of the Lakewood Codified Ordinances to modernize the posting of public notices to the citizens of Lakewood. WHEREAS, on November 8, 2011, Lakewood voters adopted Issue 70, which revised Article III, Section I2 of the Second Amended Charter of the City of Lakewood by giving Coun- cil more flexibility in determining how and where to post notices of official city actions; and WHEREAS, on January 1, 2012, Article III, Section 12 of the Second Amended Charter will permit City Council to "prescribe the manner of giving public notice of the enactment of any and all ordinances, resolutions or other acts, procedures, statements, including financial state- ments, or reports required by law to be published or given; provided, however, that such manner prescribed by Council shall require that notice be given for a period of not less than fi$een (15) days"; and WHEREAS, Article III, Section 12 of the Second Amended Charter previously required that Council determine at least five of the most public places in the City for the posting of public notices, the fulfillment of which requirement has become unnecessarily costly and burdensome; and WHEREAS, Council first made its determination that the five most public places in the City were city hall, the police headquarters, and the three fire stations by the passage of Ord. 56- 59 in 1959, long before the advent of the digital age; and WHEREAS, the fire stations, when their firefighters are called into duty and at other times, are locked and not generally open to the public, and thus are not conducive to the public's viewing of notices; and WHEREAS, city hall, when its employees have long gone home each evening and for the weekend, is locked and not open to the public, and thus is not conducive to the public's viewing of notices; and WHEREAS, city hall nevertheless remains the seat of city government in Lakewood, housing all three branches within its walls, and thus may appropriately be considered an exceed- ingly public "public place"; and ~i~