RDOS taking statutory advertising in-house

With its newfound liberty to advertise public notices as it sees fit, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen is turning away from newspapers and embracing its own distribution channels.

For decades, local governments in B.C. were required to advertise statutory notices — such as upcoming public hearings — for two consecutive weeks in a local newspaper.

With amendments to the Community Charter that took effect Feb. 28, local governments can now choose to advertise those statutory notices as they like, provided the medium is reliable, suitable and accessible.

Without any comment, RDOS directors on Thursday gave tentative approval to a pair of bylaw amendments that would see statutory advertisements distributed by email and posted on the RDOS website, rather than published in local newspapers.

The practice of also posting those advertisements on a bulletin board at RDOS head office in downtown Penticton would continue.

In his report to the board, RDOS planning manager Chris Garrish suggested the cost of newspaper advertising “exceeds the benefit,” and can be problematic if errors are made.

“In terms of accessibility, the ability of the local newspapers to make a broad audience aware of land use applications in their area is unclear and thought to be limited,” continued Garrish.

“In comparison, the regional district’s website is accessible to anyone with either a computer or mobile device connected to the internet, and is significantly easier to update with new or corrected information than is a newspaper advertisement.”

After using The Herald as its preferred advertising supplier for three years, the RDOS in 2019 awarded its advertising contract to Black Press.

The RDOS spent $75,000 with the company in 2021, according to its most recent statement of financial information.

Penticton city council dealt with the same subject matter in July and voted to split its statutory advertising between newspapers and online news websites.