When Is A Publication Not a Local Newspaper?

When it doesn't provide  local news.
I have two publications on my desk.
One is The Auroran, the  little newspaper business  started by an Aurora   resident  against all odds, , with an Aurora address, employing local residents.and  consistently consisting of Aurora news.
This week's edition is thirty pages. 
It has  thirteen news stories related entirely  to our town. 
Coming community events spill  over from one to a second page. In small print.
Several  columns are  by Aurora personalities.
Six letters to the editor from Aurora residents on local issues
A cartoon  on an Aurora situation .
A scattering of generic material of common  family interest.
Pages of local sports news. 
The second  publication  is bulky. composed of several sections and pounds of advertising flyers. 
The first section is  entitled  "The Banner"
No  news stories from Aurora appear therein. 
Editorial page has two  lengthy columns. One on provincial. the second on Federal matters.
Of four letters to the editor; three  are from Newmarket, one from Keswick.
 A cartoon features teachers and  their dispute with the Provincial government. 
No upcoming community events are featured in this section.
Second section  of  twelve pages is identified as " Aurora Banner"
Upcoming events number 4;  in large print and  include a  single reference to a historic house.
There's a story about a student in a local school, a small picture of two councillors serving corn, a clip about free fitness  offered by the town  and  a couple of sports references. 
A full page in the twelve page section is taken up with the Town's Notice Board, I giess that's why the section is identified as "Aurora Banner"  It 's  paid for through an annual contract with the Municipality with public funds.
Exposure to the public has been a contentious issue in Council with most Councillors concerned  about  readership as opposed to circulation. 
This week, Council will be asked to  renew  the contract   with  the second publication  at a price of $30.thousand.
Apparently, in the bids, there was a difference of ten cents a page between the two publications. 
Also  , a readership audit, was part of the criteria to accompany the bid. 
.It occurred to me to wonder how exactly one goes about determining  readership.
So...I asked. 
What does that look like?  
In my own  practice,  the rubber band is seldom released from the second publication package.  Even as a politician I  expect to find npthing  related to town affairs  in the second publication.
It's been like that  for many  many years.
Rarely do I  engage  in  discussion  of a news items that fails  to appear  in the second publication.
Though, tumult in our political affairs  is regularly noted. 
Yet never a whisper emerges in the second publication.Closed doors might just as well be the rule of the day. 
Consolidated agendas ritually approved without comment.
Reporters come and go to the second publication  like moths to a flame. . But not to Council meetings. They watch tapes  apparently and are  hardly on the job  long enough to receive a return call. 
Residents regularly complain the town is not communicating  as we should.
We ae certainly expending substantial resources to accomplish the same. 
Yet here we are, with a recommendation to continue the practice of the past on the basis no doubt. of an obscure instrument such as a  "readership audit"
It seems  phone calls have solicited information about  publication delivery. . Hardly the same  as whether the publication  has been read.
Recommendation from the town's Executive Leadership Team is to  renew the contract for yet another two years with authority to extend  annually for a further two.  
Thirty days were not long enough for the first publication to organise a "readership audit"  The requirement is new. 
But  the question is not.
Readership has been  the concern of Council.
Still is ,as far as I 'm concerned..