“We’ve got to have some kind of teeth in something to make sure the pickups continue,””

Mobile Baykeeper Executive Director Casi Callaway

“We’ve got to have some kind of teeth in something to make sure the pickups continue,””

Mobile Baykeeper Executive Director Casi Callaway

Daphne’s city council narrowly approved a new ordinance aimed at limiting the impact of handbills being distributed within the city, namely the Gulf Coast Life advertising circular published by the Mobile Press-Register.

City leaders said residents had complained for years about the circulars that were thrown in their driveways every week and local environmental groups were concerned about the papers’ impact on local waterways.

A representative from the Press-Register asked the council members to vote down the ordinance, as he said their team had instituted changes that would render the ordinance unnecessary.

“We made a commitment to the city of Daphne to address this and we’ve put rules in place that will stay in place,” the representative said. “We don’t think legislation of any kind will help us do the job we need to do.”

Mobile Baykeeper Executive Director Casi Callaway said though she had met with the team distributing the Gulf Coast Life advertising circular and thought they had been doing a better job lately, she still felt the ordinance was a necessary step for the city to take.

“My question is ‘Is this going to last?’” Callaway asked. “I think if they’re going to do it perfectly, an ordinance will not step in their way. And, if in a year you find you don’t need it, then you can take the ordinance away.”

Callaway said discarded circulars from the company had been making their way into the area’s rivers and streams, as well as Mobile Bay, and she urged the council to take action.

“We’ve got to have some kind of teeth in something to make sure the pickups continue,” Callaway said.

The ordinance would allow a municipal judge to levy a fine of not more than $500 for each paper found in a city right-of-way or in storm drainage. The city would fine the person throwing the papers for not following the ordinance.

Councilman John Lake said he felt the ordinance was a slippery slope for the city to take, one that could limit freedom of speech.

“What this will do is effectively stop a small startup newspaper or organization from being able to compete,” Lake said. “Even though some people don’t like the papers, I think it might be a violation of some people’s freedom of speech.”

Councilman Randy Fry said the ordinance would not completely stop the distribution of handbills or papers but limit them to specific areas.

“It will allow them to leave something on private premises, so we’re not prohibiting distribution as long as it complies with the ordinance,” Fry said.

Councilman Robin LeJeune asked the council to consider postponing the vote in order to possibly negotiate a contract with the Press-Register team, as he felt it could be unfair to those throwing the papers.

“We’d be punishing the poor person throwing the handbill,” LeJeune said. “Even if they’re only fined $5, the court costs will be well over $200 per paper and that could be difficult for them to pay.”

Councilman Ron Scott pushed for a vote, however, because he said he felt having an ordinance on the books was important to the city’s residents.

“For us to just vote it down, we’ll have no leverage at all as we negotiate,” Scott said. “It’s been a serious enough issue for some time now and we need to take some sort of action.”

The ordinance was passed with a 4-3 vote of the council, with Councilmen Lake, LeJeune and Pat Rudicell voting against.