Councillor Ian MacLeod agreed, saying, "Nobody cares how pretty it is, just as long as they can read it."
Councillor Larry Mitchell said that he could not support either paper's bid, because the municipality was asking them to bid on two different things due to the size difference of the pages. He said that council should re-tender the advertising contract using a fairer bid method that states the exact size of the ads to be bid on.
He made the analogy to asking contractors to submit a bid on the price of a vehicle for the municipality, where one contractor was asked to give a price for a smaller vehicle than the other. With such a size difference, he said, it would be easier for the contractor bidding on the smaller vehicle to submit a lower price.
Councillor Ward made the motion to award the advertising contract to the Promoter. The motion passed by a 5-1 vote, Councillor Larry Mitchell opposed. Councillor Gary Taje was absent from the meeting.
Buddy Slapak, Editor of the Pass Herald, has written about this issue and the newspaper's response to it in this week's editorial, available on Page 6. He notes that the Pass Herald will continue to give full local coverage to municipal news and events, will continue to employ local individuals, and will continue to provide affordable advertising to local groups, businesses, and individuals in the Crowsnest Pass. The Herald, he says, will also keep its current office hours to provide convenient advertising services for the community.