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Show Series Explains Public Notices Public notices, or legal advertising adver-tising appear in this and other newspapers regularly, as provided pro-vided under the laws of all of the states. These notices are a part of the basic right of the peotle to know what their government gov-ernment does with tax money under the American system. Copyright 1960 By James E. Pollard LIMITED ACCESS HEARING (No. 3 in a Series) In a large Midwestern city a public hearing was held in city council chambers in connection with the establishment of an important new viaduct as a limited limit-ed access project. The news paper story on the hearing said it was "just a formality since it had already been determined the viaduct would be limited access. But there was more to it than this. Actually the hearing legally legal-ly cleared the way for the city to appropriate nearly a score of properties required for the project proj-ect right of way. At the time, the city was still negotiating for four valuable railroad properties that were necessary to the project. proj-ect. As of that moment the city and the railroads were nearly $1,000,000 apart on a price for these properties. If negotiations did not lead to agreement the hearing made it possible for the city to proceed to condemn the properties. In time, however, the problem was solved and the city got the necessary property without with-out condemnation. Public hearings on proposed budgets, the letting of contracts and other meetings concerning public business are often poorly attended or get little attention. But this is the fault of the public and not of the law. As with public notices, or legal advertising, such hearings are part of due process. Both are important to the public as well as to the parties immediately immediate-ly concerned. Their use, as required re-quired by law, is a matter of protecting public or individual rights, or both. |