St. Marks Blocks Public Access to Meeting Records with Broken Code | The Locally Times
For ten commission meetings in 2026, the city’s official website has displayed programming code instead of public agendas and minutes, preventing resident oversight of government proceedings.
The City of St. Marks is blocking public access to its commission meeting agendas and minutes, replacing the essential documents with lines of programming code on its official website. An investigation by The Locally Times confirms that for at least ten scheduled meetings in 2026, the city’s online portal for public records has been non-functional. The failure, first reported by The Locally Times earlier this year, has not been corrected, leaving residents unable to see what their elected officials are discussing and voting on. This systemic failure to post records online represents a barrier to civic participation and government accountability, leaving the public in the dark about city operations for most of the year. on multiple dates. A review of these records shows a consistent pattern of inaccessible information. Meeting records for March 12, April 9, May 14, June 11, July 9, August 13, September 10, October 8, November 1, and December 10 all present the same issue. Instead of links to downloadable agendas or minutes, the website displays only a single line with the meeting date and time, followed by a block of technical text. For residents, this means there is no official online method to learn what issues were on the commission’s agenda before a meeting, nor is there a way to review the decisions, discussions, or vote tallies after a meeting concludes. The online portal, intended as the primary tool for government transparency, serves only as a calendar of inaccessible events. ## Analysis of Malfunctioning Code An examination of the city’s website reveals a failure in the site’s content management system. The content field for each broken meeting record, such as the one for December 10, 2026, contains backend programming script that is malfunctioning and displaying publicly. The code confirms this section of the website is designed to manage meeting records, with one instruction reading `RZ.module = 'agendas_minutes';`. However, another command, `RZ.template = '*none*';`, appears in every faulty entry. This line suggests a setting may be actively preventing any document or template from being displayed. The exposed code also includes functions and icons for administrative actions. ## Consequences for Government Transparency The absence of accessible meeting records undermines the public’s right to oversee its government. When a government fails to provide agendas in advance, it denies residents the ability to prepare informed testimony or to know if a topic of personal importance will be discussed. Without access to minutes, citizens and journalists cannot track government spending, monitor policy implementation, or hold elected officials accountable for their votes. This information blackout means the online public record does not show what ordinances were passed, what contracts were approved, how taxpayer money was allocated, or what zoning changes were considered during this ten-month period. The city’s website, the most logical starting point for a resident, also offers no information on alternative means of accessing these documents, such as requesting physical copies at City Hall. The available documents do not explain whether this is a result of a persistent technical glitch, a lack of staff resources, or a deliberate policy choice. The individual or department responsible for maintaining the city’s website has allowed this condition to persist, creating a de facto suppression of public information. Until the technical issues are resolved and the records for these past meetings are uploaded, the business of the City of St. Marks will continue to be conducted, from an online perspective, in the dark.