Yes, what the city did is legal, but that doesn’t make it right. The legal postings should be where they are most likely to be seen. They shouldn’t be hidden in type so small that it’s virtually unreadable and buried in the back of the paper.”

John McLoone

The Cottage Grove City Council on Wednesday refused to act on a request by the Cottage Grove Journal to discuss a staff recommendation to continue to place the city’s public notices in the St. Paul newspaper.
Cottage Grove Journal Publisher John McLoone appeared before the council at its Jan. 3 meeting. The designation of the city’s newspaper of record was tucked into the unanimous consent agenda. Appearing in the public comment portion of the meeting, McLoone asked the council to reconsider a “rubber stamp” on staff recommendation.
Council members ignored the request and voted the measure in with other items on the consent agenda.
“This is the third consecutive year the city has chosen to ignore the Cottage Grove Journal. At first, we were told we had to build up our circulation. As our circulation has grown and daily newspaper subscriptions are plummeting, staff pivoted. They now use the rationale of it being more convenient to publish in a daily newspaper,” said McLoone. “Public notice shouldn’t be what’s easiest for city staff. The purpose is to notify the public of vital city actions and hearings, and that should be done in the local newspaper.”
The action is despite promises from Mayor Myron Bailey when the Cottage Grove Journal was started that the local paper would be designated as the city’s official newspaper.
The Cottage Grove Journal is published with its sister newspaper out of an office in Hastings.
“Yes, what the city did is legal, but that doesn’t make it right,” said McLoone. “The legal postings should be where they are most likely to be seen. They shouldn’t be hidden in type so small that it’s virtually unreadable and buried in the back of the paper. The word ‘notice’ in ‘public notice’ obviously means something. This is a matter of transparency, not what’s easiest for city staff.”
The Journal started in Cottage Grove in late 2020. Statutes dictate the newspaper be in business for a year when it’s eligible to be certified by the Minnesota Secretary of State to run public notices. The Cottage Grove Journal hit that milestone in October 2021.
Bailey sent the following email promise in late 2020.
“I spoke to our City Administrator. We have the authority to switch from the St Paul Pioneer Press to the Cottage Grove Journal once you have all the specifics in place as required by law. We are required to publicly approve who is the official newspaper prior to January 1st, based on the law. Please keep me posted on the status of the requirements and you will become our official newspaper!”
Following are the full remarks of McLoone to the Cottage Grove City Council on Jan. 3.
“Mayor Bailey and Members of the Cottage Grove City Council, my name is John McLoone. I’m the publisher of the Cottage Grove Journal. I’d like to talk to you about an item on your agenda tonight. It’s Consent Item F: Designate St. Paul Pioneer Press as the City of Cottage Grove’s newspaper for official publication in 2024.
“I’m hopeful that you’ll reconsider a rubber stamp of staff recommendation.
“We started our newspaper during the pandemic. It’s a lot of work, but we’re dedicated to helping the community any way we can.
“We work hard to be a good corporate citizen. We donate to and promote local causes. We’re an active member of the Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce. We had so much fun at the Cottage Grove Community Showcase the last few years where countless people stopped by our booth and thanked us for bringing a newspaper back to Cottage Grove. We can’t do it alone. We’re nothing without the community.
“We publish weekly. For generations, the City of Cottage Grove recognized the importance of its weekly newspaper, bestowing it as its official newspaper. This city was built on items that had to be posted in a weekly newspaper, and looking around the community, I’d say that didn’t pose too many problems or obstacles for city staff.
“The intent of statutes governing public notices isn’t convenience. They’re meant to notify the public in the place they’d be most likely to see them. That undoubtedly is the Cottage Grove Journal. Unlike many newspapers, we’re on a steady growth trajectory. And I will admit this would certainly be as much a shot in the arm for us as it is a kick in the backside every year to see these notices go to Saint Paul.
“We work hard to serve our communities. We take public notices very seriously. We bend over backwards to help our municipal partners. Deadline for public notices is when our paper goes on press each week. If something comes in late, we’ll get it in.
“The City of Cottage Grove is the only municipality I can think of that doesn’t designate the local newspaper as its newspaper of record.
“Can we change that tonight?
“Please give us a try. As your city attorney will tell you, if it doesn’t work out, you can make a change at any time during the year.
“I’ll admit we don’t have an average circulation of 30-some thousand readers in Ramsey, Dakota, Washington and Anoka Counties and Western Wisconsin every day. To me that doesn’t matter. We target Cottage Grove.
“And we’re proud of that.”