Small newspapers have always held a watchdog role in their communities. Suffice it to say, however, that a reporter can’t be at all places at once. Lucky for readers, then, that counties and cities have long been required by law to publish legal notices about important matters of record in their community.

For the resident who can’t make every committee meeting and doesn’t have a hotline to City Hall, the legals act as an up-to-date, official window in the affairs of local government and opportunites for public comment. In sum, if you want to know what your cities, fire departments, local taxing districts and tribes are up to, you look in the legals.

But that window could get shuttered because of the recession. State legislators are looking for ways to pare down a budget deficit projected to be $4.6 billion in 2011–13, and ease recessionary burdens on local governments. Two new bills, Senate Bill 5360 and House Bill 1478, would allow cities and counties to place public notices on their websites instead of publishing them in their local newspapers. The idea: to save local governments the cost of publishing those notices in print.

But those savings would be minimal, particularly compared to the resulting disintegration of the public’s access to information about what their government is doing.

The publishing of public notices in newspapers of record dates to 1789, when the first Congress required publication of its bills, orders, resolutions and votes in at least three publicly available newspapers. The purpose was to require government to report its actions to its citizens in a medium that is independent of government.

Publishing public notices in a newspaper of record ensures that decisions related to public debt, laws, policy, taxation and quality of life are made in the open. It empowers the public to get involved. And it contributes to a reservoir of archived material in a form that cannot be altered, changed, hacked, hidden or manipulated after the fact.

If government websites become the sole source of public notices, there would be no way to secure that verification and it would be more difficult for the community to monitor accuracy and compliance with applicable laws.

Let’s keep our window on government open. Let your legislator know you want the public notices provision of SB5360 and HB1478 removed:

• State Sen. Cheryl Pflug, (R-Hobart). P.O. Box 40405, Olympia, WA 98504-0405. (360) 786-7608; pflug_ch@leg.wa.gov

• Rep. Jay Rodne, (R-Snoqualmie). P.O. Box 40600, Olympia, WA 98504-0600. (360) 786-7852; rodne_ja@leg.wa.gov

• Rep. Glenn Anderson, (R-Fall City). P.O. Box 40600, Olympia, WA 98504-0600. (360) 786-7876; anderson_gl@leg.wa.gov