Committee forwards contested official-advertising designations after Examiner delivery change

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on June 2 advanced resolutions on the city's official and outreach legal-advertising newspapers to the full Board after hearing that the San Francisco Examiner will stop publishing on Saturdays and limit home delivery to Thursdays and Sundays.

Chair Supervisor Aaron Peskin opened the discussion and asked Purchasing Department staff to explain changes to the bid evaluation after the Examiner notified the Clerk that its print schedule and home-delivery pattern would shift in July. Mark Roseann, principal in the purchasing department, said, "the examiner advised that in July, they will stop publishing on Saturday and will switch to Sunday," and that home delivery in San Francisco would be limited to Thursdays and Sundays. Purchasing staff said they adjusted point totals on the bid evaluation to reflect reduced delivery and that, despite a narrowed lead, the Examiner remained the top scorer.

Public comment highlighted competing community interests. John Sauer, Classified Sales Manager at the San Francisco Chronicle, urged supervisors to consider the Chronicle, stressing its seven-day paid home delivery and community ties. Paul Ingenari, vice president of advertising for the Examiner, argued the Examiner offers lower prices, broader free distribution and 24/7 online access to public notices, saying the paper has a staff dedicated to legal notices and "plans to earn the city's business with each notice that you place." Several representatives of smaller community papers, including El Reportero, said they had experienced notice or timing problems and asked the Board to maintain outreach designations that reflect long-standing service to immigrant and minority communities.

After discussion of the delivery change and notice-timing implications raised by the Clerk and the Budget Analyst's Office, Chair Peskin moved to forward Item 1 (designation of the official newspaper) to the full Board without a committee recommendation; the motion carried by unanimous consent. On Item 2, the committee modified the outreach designations and forwarded that item with recommendation to the full Board, proposing El Reportero for the Hispanic outreach slot and naming China Press/AsianWeek/Sing Tao, the San Francisco Bayview, and BAR/Bay Times for other outreach categories.

The committee's action preserves local policy discretion for the full Board while flagging an operational issue: the Examiner's change in publication days could require clerks and departments to adjust the deadlines and procedures they use to ensure legally required public-notice timelines are met. The full Board will consider both the official designation and the amended outreach list at its next meeting.