To some, that dual role presents a clear conflict of interest. "The newspaper's traditional role is one of watching the activities of government," says Dave Bennett, of the Illinois Press Association. "In my view, it would be difficult to balance those interests if you were the publisher of the paper and mayor of the town."
But Osborne's wearing of two hats hasn't caused any problems, according to Linda Lindus, publisher of the Herald & Review, Decatur's daily paper. "We feel that if the community were concerned, he wouldn't have received two-thirds of the vote," she says.
State law prevents mayors who run businesses that normally contract with their cities, such as banks or road builders, from accepting city business. Osborne's case "is not a conflict of interest pursuant to statute, since the city doesn't contract with the newspaper to print the news," says Ken Alderson of the Illinois Municipal League.
In fact, because the Tribune's classified rates are cheaper than the Herald & Review's, its pages used to be home to most of the city's legal notices. No more. Although the Decatur mayor's salary was recently doubled to $8,000, Osborne says, "those notices amounted to more than what I'm being paid as mayor. They can't say I'm doing this for the money."
