Don’t let the city of Palo Alto remove our newsracks
You may have seen the ads we’re running that express our fear the city of Palo Alto will remove our newsracks on University Avenue.
On Dec. 9, 2024, City Council received a report from the Public Works Department, headed by Brad Eggleston (link), which calls for widening the sidewalks on University Avenue at a cost of $40 million. Under the heading “New Term Improvements” on page 8 it says: “Staff will also be working on consolidation of these newsracks.”
Consolidation is another word for reducing the number of things into one.
Later under that bullet point, it says, “For the longer-term streetscape project, staff will work with stakeholders on optimal news rack locations.”
We’re concerned that the city will reduce the number of newsracks and put the remaining racks in difficult-to-find places.
Also, none of the illustrations presented to council showed a single newsrack. The illustrations did show restaurant tables, benches and bike racks. None of those objects enjoy Constitutional protections like newsracks.
If council approves the $40 million plan, the sidewalks will be wider — 17.5 feet in some places — certainly enough room for newsracks.
It’s the position of the Daily Post that the newsracks should remain in their current locations and that more should be added.
When the newsracks were assigned to publishers in 1998, there was a scarcity of spaces. Now, a quarter century later, many publishers have stopped delivery to these racks, abandoning them. That should free up locations for newspapers like the Post, which would like to have more locations.
The newspapers have a legal right to distribute using newsracks (See the U.S. Supreme Court case Lakewood v. Plain Dealer, 486 U.S. 750 (1988)). We expect to keep all of our newsracks in any redesign program.
Newsracks belong in places where it is convenient for the public to grab a newspaper. We don’t want to have newsracks shunted aside into alleys or places where it is hard for people to find.
The public appreciates the ability to get a free paper. Our advertisers, who mostly are locally-owned independent businesses, depend on our ability to reach consumers. When a city reduces a newspaper’s distribution, the city is also harming the hundreds of local businesses who use the newspaper to advertise.
Please ask the city council to keep our newsracks in their present locations and to uphold the First Amendment in Palo Alto.