Friday, July 11, 2003 | 8:58 a.m.
Hidden inside the free weekly Shopper delivered throughout Boulder City is a new news publication called "BC Free." Its editors say it is a City Hall watchdog, but city leaders call it divisive and misleading.
"We want to empower the people in Boulder City to make informed decisions," said Lindy Casey, a midwife who runs the all-volunteer staff of BC Free with a retired magazine editor Linda Henry-Schrick. Casey said the publication, which runs as a paid ad in the Shopper, will examine various issues but probably focus on financial matters.
"Things like the salary issue and the golf course figures. It could be as simple as the cost of any little thing like striping the sidewalks," she said.
"If nothing else I want them to feel like they're being watched," Casey said of the City Council.
Casey would not say how much BC Free is paying for the pages in the Shopper, but Mike Gallucci, Shopper sales manager, said typically a full-page ad costs $295. The price goes down for long-term contracts, but Gallucci said he didn't know how much BC Free was paying.
Because of the wide circulation of the Shopper, Casey said the two-page BC Free is able to reach many people she thinks aren't reading the local newspapers. The Shopper is delivered free on the weekends to 7,000 homes and 2,200 businesses in Boulder City.
BC Free, which will come out with its third edition this week, fills a void, Casey said. The local weekly newspaper, Internet forums on city politics and various websites about the city don't fully inform residents, she said.
"It's the powers that be against the citizens that live here," said Henry-Schrick, a former associate editor at Muscle & Fitness magazine who writes under the byline Linda Henry, co-editor.
Mayor Bob Ferraro makes no secret of his opinion of the publication, which in its second issue said "rumor is there is talk of a recall."
"I think it's meant to be divisive," Ferraro said, adding the writers and editors are frequent City Hall critics. "If they would only channel their energy into something productive we would all be better off."
City Attorney Dave Olsen said another article in the second issue, which compared the total compensation of top Boulder City administrators to base pay of administrators in Las Vegas and Henderson, was misleading. The figures were not comparable, he said.
"They're doing a marvelous job of getting their point of view out," Olsen said. "They're disappointed with the City Council and the city staff."
Olsen sent BC Free a letter to the editor making his argument, which Casey said the editors plan to publish along with a response in a coming edition.
Casey said she stands by her reporter, who she said got the information on the compensation for Henderson and Las Vegas administrators from a Review-Journal article. Casey said the staff did not independently verify the information because she trusts the Review-Journal and her reporter.
The reporter who wrote the story, Richard Mills, a 60-year-old semi-retired publishing consultant, said the comparisons in the story may not account for exactly the same costs for each municipality.
But Mills said his article is accurate "based on the source documents used."
Casey also took offense to the charge that the BC Free will have a negative impact on the community.
"We're not going to break down the city. This is not to be insulting to them. This is to protect Boulder City," Casey said. "The truth was not being presented to the public. I hope this newspaper changes that."
Casey was particularly critical of the Boulder City News, which she said does not cover enough City Hall news, but News Publisher Tim O'Callaghan deflected the criticism.
"They have First Amendment rights and they can say what they want," O'Callaghan said.
"We report fair and balanced ... Sometimes you'll agree with us, sometimes you will not," he said. O'Callaghan is the son of Mike O'Callaghan, Sun executive editor and chairman of the board.
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