HomeMy WebLinkAboutNewspaper of Record Regular Agenda
Commissioners Office
JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Carolyn Gallaway, Clerk of the Board
DATE: March 11, 2024
SUBJECT: DISCUSSION and POTENTIAL ACTION: BID AWARD re: Official County
Newspaper
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
RCW 36.72.075 requires that the County call for bids for the Official County Newspaper each year and
approve a contract at the first meeting in April.
ANALYSIS:
A call for bids was published on January 8, 2024 which resulted in the submission of two bids. One was
received from the Peninsula Daily News and the other from the Port Townsend—Jefferson County Leader.
The two bids were opened and read aloud during the Board of County Commissioners' Regular meeting on
Monday, March 4, 2024. Attached is a memo detailing the two bids for consideration by the Board.
RECOMMENDATION:
Make a determination to award the bid for the Official County newspaper to either the Peninsula Daily News
or the Port Townsend—Jefferson County Leader so that a contract can be drafted for approval on or before
the first meeting in April, as required by RCW 36.72.075.
REVIEWED BY:
Mark McCauley, my Administrator to
MINI Mark McCauley
NT
( *Po 1820 Jefferson Street
PO Box 1220
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Port Townsend, WA 98368
Kate Dean,District 1 Heidi Eisenhour,District 2 Greg Brotherton,District 3
1`S�II N G;
To: Board of County Commissioners
From: Mark McCauley, County Administrator
Carolyn Gallaway, Clerk of the Board
Date: March 11, 2024
Re: Bid Award -Official County Newspaper
On March 4, 2024 Clerk of the Board Carolyn Gallaway read aloud two bids received regarding the
Official County Newspaper. Below is a comparison table of the two bids:
2024 BID ITEMS The Leader Peninsula Daily News
Font Helvetica Helvetica
Font Size 8.5 pt. 7.2 pt.
Cost per Column Inch $10.00 $7.90
Column Width in Inches 1.58 1.07
#of Columns per page 6 9
Published times/week 1 6
Wednesday Monday (online),
Tuesday-Saturday
(online and in print)
Number of days legal notices must be submitted 3 days 3 business days
prior to publication date
Legal notices must be received by which method: Email Email, UPS
legals@ptleader.com
Time of day legal notices must be received 12:00 p.m. Monday 2:00 p.m.
Other items included in Bid Price:
• County logo Yes Yes
• Location map w/specific notices Yes Yes
• 2 free subscriptions Yes Yes
• Online subscription code Yes Yes
• All departments and offices are eligible to Yes Yes
submit Press Releases to the newspaper
at any time
Optional Items: This part not filled in Jefferson County may
• General advertisements, or employment submit any number of
advertisements in a section of the press releases to be
newspaper other than the legal notice considered for publication.
Ansection. These advertisements will be y non advertisement-legal
coordinated through the Countyrgedat$9.00 will ber
g charged at per
Commissioners Office. column inch. Legal notices
appear on
peninsuladailynews.com
and our statewide
association's website,
wnpa.com at no additional
charge
Phone (360) 385-9100 Fax (360) 385-9382 mmccauley@cojefferson.wa.us
TOTAL PRINTED CIRCULATION The Leader Peninsula Daily News
Copies per Geographical Area: Deliveries/ Newsstand Deliveries/ Newsstand
98368— Port Townsend 2,702/1,341 490/224
98325—Chimacum 218/140 33/120
98339— Port Hadlock 203/252 52/20
98365— Port Ludlow 373/118 78/16
98376—Quilcene 99/45 27/7
98320— Brinnon 25/26 14/0
98382—Gardiner 35/63 1,785/0*
98358— Nordland 111/12 28/0
98331 — Forks (West End) 0/0 153/130
Subtotal 3,766/1,997 875/517
Totals: 5,763 1,392*
% of the total County population reached through 17.24% 4.1%
deliveries and newsstand
*Note from PDN: Gardiner has 1,785 deliveries, but they are unable to breakout further.
In 2023, they noted this was due to the Sequim zip code in that area.
ELECTRONIC CIRCULATION & READERSHIP The Leader Peninsula Daily News
Number of paid electronic subscriptions (not
included with paid print subscriptions above): 10,966 3,910
Newspaper's Website:
• Are legal notices posted on your website? Yes Yes
• If so, can they be viewed for free? Yes Yes
Newspaper's Website—Monthly Average:
• Number of hits 230,000 1,447,164
• Number of unique visitors No answer 198,308
Legal Notices in particular—Monthly Average:
• Number of hits 96,000 401*
• Number of unique visitors No answer 138*
*2023 legal notice
electronic data is stated
above, as Sound
Publishing transitioned
to a new classified
website in February
2024. 2024 data is
unavailable at this time.
Social Media: No Yes
• Are legal notices posted on social media? Facebook:
If so, please describe what social media, 29,990 followers,
and any metrics on number of visits: 162,000 reached,
119,700 post
engagements
Twitter(X):
6,606 followers
43,692 impressions
206 post engagements
Instagram:
3,838 followers
34,421 impressions
1,453 post engagements
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Do you also list your legal notices at:
https://www.wapublicnotices.corn? Yes Yes
Please include with your bid: A proof and a quote Sample#1: Sample#1:
for two sample legal notices Cost to run once: Cost to run once:
$417.50 $204.18
Sample#2: Sample#2:
Cost to run twice: $90 Cost to run twice $79.68
plus$10 each run to
publish logo
Additional bid package items received: No other items No other items
In making a decision for bid award, the Board should consider the following:
• RCW 36.72.075 requires the contract to be awarded to the best and lowest responsible bidder,
giving consideration to the question of circulation in awarding the contract, with a view to giving
publication of notices to the widest publicity.
• RCW 36.72.075 requires that at its first April meeting,the County legislative authority shall let a
contract to a legal newspaper qualified under this section,to serve as the Official County Newspaper
for a term of one year beginning on the first day of July.
• The Leader reaches 17.24%of County population and the Peninsula Daily News reaches 4.16%of the
County population (2023 Population estimate is 33,425)
• The print circulation of the Leader in Jefferson County is over 4 times greater than the circulation of
the Peninsula Daily News.
• The Peninsula Daily News has greater electronic circulation and readership than the Leader,
although it is unknown what percentage of the metrics can be attributed to Jefferson County.
During the March 11, 2024 Board of County Commissioner meeting,the Board will discuss the two options
for Official County newspaper. Once consensus is reached, the Board should direct staff to prepare a Bid
Award to either the Leader or the Peninsula Daily news,for adoption on the Consent Agenda on March 25,
2024.
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