North Utica neighbors ask council to post neighborhood association flyers on city website; IT declined

Members of the North Utica Neighborhood Association asked the Utica Common Council to allow neighborhood association flyers and meeting notices to appear on the city website to improve transparency and civic engagement.

Bodan Rabarski, who identified himself as one of four organizers of the North Utica Neighborhood Association, told the council he had requested that the city post association flyers online. After consulting IT, he said the department advised the city could not post those flyers because the website is limited to “directly related city official business.” Rabarski said the neighborhood page already lists seven neighborhood associations and that adding a link or a flyer should be straightforward: “All we're asking for is a link to the associations, nothing more,” he said.

Council members discussed the request and suggested the city might need to limit content that resembles candidate or campaign materials, noting a potential concern with “meet the candidates” content. One council member advised Rabarski that staff would follow up with IT to determine whether a simple link or meeting announcement could be posted without political content.

The transcript shows council members expressed support for making neighborhood information more accessible but also requested staff check the website’s policies before a change is made. No formal vote or directive was recorded; the council asked staff to revisit the request and report back.