Going......Going
About one week ago, the Plain Dealer newsstand boxes weren’t being refilled with the morning paper. Then printed notices stating “Out of Service” appeared in the boxes. And as of this Thursday morning, the boxes themselves were gone in most Lakewood locations.
Suddenly there are no Free Times boxes (those were removed several days ago) and no Plain Dealer boxes at your local RTA stop.
Twenty years ago, almost to this date, the United States Supreme Court decided against the City of Lakewood and in favor of The Plain Dealer in a classic case of local government powers versus First Amendment rights.
The Plain Dealer always had newsstand boxes in commercial areas along Madison and Detroit Avenues, mostly at bus stops and wanted to expand box placements to bus stops along Clifton Boulevard which is residential.
Mayor Anthony Sinagra felt that this was unacceptable and wanted to “protect the zoning integrity of Clifton.” Sinagra said, “we used a 1930’s ordinance which gave the Mayor discretion to approve location of boxes. And I did not approve of these locations.”
The Plain Dealer sued the City, resting on its rights under the First Amendment that “Congress shall make no law…” asserting that Lakewood had no power to make any law about newspapers.
Sinagra added, “at the same time, the New York Times was trying to enter the Lakewood market and put up newsstand boxes along Clifton. They actually chained the boxes to the bus shelters!” he pointed out. We had the police go out and cut the chains and remove the boxes as evidence.
The former four-term Lakewood Mayor said that finally he received a call from Alex Macheske (future publisher of the paper). “Alex asked me if I was as tired as he was of paying lawyer fees on this case. I said I was and we met at Pier W for lunch to work out a settlement.”
In that agreement the Plain Dealer basically agreed to keep its boxes limited to commercially zoned areas and paint them brown to match the RTA bus shelters. In subsequent years the boxes did multiply at bus stops along Clifton.
A call to the marketing department of the Plain Dealer did not receive any response as to the paper’s reasons for removing the boxes.
Tony Sinagra has some satisfaction in finally having those boxes removed—twenty years later. Tony sounded like a law professor as he readily outlined the principles of the case and its many routes up to the highest court in the country.
Asked if he had any final comments on this bit of Lakewood history, Mayor Sinagra said, “case closed.”
What do these changes portend for Lakewood? Is one less paper and less availability of the major daily a reflection of Lakewood and the Northeast Ohio region?
And, do these changes place a greater importance or responsibility on citizen journalism such as the Lakewood Observer?
