Fresno City Hall is pictured behind copies of The Fresno Bee, The Business Journal and the city’s public notices section — all central to a debate over a proposed ordinance that would save $50,000 annually. Newspaper image via the Fresno Bee/Composite by Israel Meave / The Business Journal
A proposed change to how the city publishes legal notices quietly made the Fresno City Council’s agenda Thursday before getting pulled from the consent calendar. Here’s what to know.
What is the city proposing?
The Fresno City Council is considering an amendment to Section 2-603 of the Fresno Municipal Code that would change where the city is required to pay to publish legal notices. The current code specifically names The Fresno Bee as the primary publication for such notices, and then The Business Journal if a second publication is required by law. The proposed ordinance removes both publications and replaces that language with the generic phrase “newspaper of general circulation.”
Planning officials say that would give more options for meeting their public notice requirements.
The Fresno Bee and The Business Journal are the only two newspapers of general circulation in Fresno. Fresno County Superior Court issued its decree of The Business Journal as such on March 4, 1911. The Fresno Bee received its court “adjudication,” as its called, on Nov. 28, 1994.
Why is the city doing this?
The Planning and Development Department was directed by the council to find budget efficiencies. This ordinance was one result of that exercise. The projected savings: $50,000 annually.
What kinds of notices are we talking about?
Legal notices are formal public announcements that government agencies are required by law to publish. They exist for one reason: to inform the public about decisions, actions and opportunities that may affect them — before those actions take effect.
In Fresno, that means notices about things like proposed housing developments, environmental impact determinations, federal funding availability and public hearings where residents can weigh in. These aren’t bureaucratic formalities. They are often the only advance warning residents get that something is changing in their neighborhood, their city or their local government.
California law requires these notices be published in an adjudicated newspaper of general circulation — a paper that has met specific legal standards for reach and regularity. The requirement exists precisely because a government website, which requires residents to go looking, is not the same as a notice that lands in front of readers.
So how many people are actually reading print legal notices right now?
Not many — and that’s a concern for public agencies. Current print circulation figures, reported city officials:
Fresno Bee Sunday edition: 2,800
Business Journal Friday edition: 1,100
Combined: roughly 3,900 print copies in a city of 500,000
The Business Journal publishes three times per week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday. As part of our public notice package, The Business Journal also publishes each issue’s notices on our website as well as our digital edition, delivered to inboxes each Friday.
What did the council say?
Councilmember Miguel Arias pulled the item from the consent calendar — where it would have passed without debate — and moved to table it. He wants it folded into the broader Planning and Development budget discussion.
Arias wasn’t sold on the cost-cutting rationale. He argued the $50,000 savings should be found elsewhere and raised a pointed equity concern: most of these notices affect communities of color and general residents, not just business owners and executives — The Business Journal’s target audience, he said.
“I don’t want us to be blamed for notifying less people,” Arias said.
Planning Director Jennifer Clark raised separate concerns about the direction of print media broadly and said the city needs more flexibility in meeting its legal notice obligations going forward.
What does this mean for the Business Journal specifically?
City officials noted The Business Journal charges roughly half the cost per column inch compared to the Bee, which could actually work in the publication’s favor in a competitive selection process.
What happens next?
The ordinance is tabled for now. It will return during Planning and Development budget hearings. No timeline has been confirmed. The Business Journal will continue covering it.
Want to weigh in?
Contact the Fresno City Council at fresno.gov/council or attend an upcoming budget hearing.