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Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, establishing a policy governing the use of the County's name, facilities, and services, and setting guidelines for approval of endorsements by the County and advertising on County property, mailings, and publications.
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WHEREAS, the use of advertising on County mailings or property runs the risk of wrongly implying a relationship between the advertiser and the County;
WHEREAS, County Council, in conjunction with the Chief Executive, is in the best position to determine what advertisements could disparage the County's reputation;
WHEREAS, selling advertisement opportunities and using County property and services raises a number of First Amendment issues best addressed by the Law Department;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1.
It shall be the policy of the County that no County Officer, County Official, or representative of the County shall facilitate the use of advertisement or endorsement of a non-County entity, function, or service without a resolution approving such action that shall adhere to the following guidelines:
I. The County shall accept only commercial advertising of for-profit entities for posting on County property, County publications, and County mailings.
II. Advertising shall not be obscene, unlawful, misleading, libelous, or fraudulent. Advertisements that are non-commercial that appeal to prurient interests, that are or may be offensive, that glamorize or otherwise promote violence, sexual conduct, alcohol, or tobacco use, that are political in nature or contain political messages, or are reasonably determined not to be in good taste shall not be accepted. Advertisements that could be viewed as a conflict of interest shall also not be accepted.
III. Endorsement of a non-County entity, function, or service shall follow the same guidelines and shall be proven to be of benefit to the County.
SECTION 2.
Any and all revenues received from advertising or endorsements authorized by resolution of this Council shall be deposited in the General Fund of the County.
SECTION 3.
Advertisers shall be selected by process of sealed bid with the highest responsible bidder being selected for such space. Any advertisement accepted by the County shall include a mandatory disclosure statement as follows: “Allegheny County does not endorse this product or provider. This advertisement shall not be construed to imply any type of special relationship between Allegheny County and advertiser.”
SECTION 4.
All prospective advertisements and endorsements are subject to review and acceptance or rejection by the County and shall be determined in compliance with the guidelines set forth in this ordinance. Once certified as the highest responsible bidder by the appropriate County officer, the advertisements shall be submitted to the Law Department for review to determine whether said advertisement is eligible for acceptance according to the established guidelines. Requests for endorsements shall be submitted in the same manner. Those advertisements or endorsements found to not be in conformance with the guidelines set forth in Section 1 shall be rejected in writing, with such rejection being conveyed to the County Council, Chief Executive, County Manager, and requesting official.
SECTION 5.
If a prospective advertiser is rejected for non-conformance to the established guidelines, a review of the Law Department's decisions can be requested of a three-person review committee consisting of a Council Member designated by the Council President, the County Manager or designee, and a designee of the Chief Executive. Such review shall include presentation by the Law Department of the basis for its decision and reasons for the appeal by the prospective advertiser. The decision of the review committee is final.
SECTION 6. If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.
SECTION 7. Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Ordinance.