City council asks manager for report after residents say new website and agenda system reduced public access

Multiple councilors and the city clerk told the Worcester City Council on July 24 that a recent switch to a new agenda-management platform and website integration has removed or hidden functionality residents used to access, including searchable vital records, clear agenda posting times and older boards-and-commissions materials.

Councilor Jenny Pacillo said residents and councilors cannot readily find meeting times, past agendas and boards-and-commissions documents using the new public site. “If you were to search speed hump under agenda... they give you different results than if you search speed humps,” she said, adding that many agenda postings now require a document download to see posting times.

Worcester’s city clerk told the council the old “homegrown” Citrix applications used to provide direct links to vital records and meeting materials; those integrations were lost in the migration. The clerk asked for a follow-up report with an inventory of missing functionality and a timeline to restore search, archival and agenda-management features.

Councilors said the problems create practical barriers for residents trying to find meetings, file public records requests or research local land-use items. The city manager said IT and the clerk’s office are working with the vendor and that the new platform (an agenda-management product referenced in the meeting) will take additional configuration; staff are compiling a list of issues and will report back to the council.

Why it matters: Transparent, searchable public records and easily accessible agendas are basic civic services for residents who want to track council business, file comments, or look up property and vital records. Councilors asked the city manager to provide a report on which features were lost, whether the lost features can be restored or re-integrated, and when residents should expect full functionality to return.