Weston’s Board of Aldermen adjourned its Oct. 13 meeting and rescheduled it for Oct. 19, saying it would wait until meeting minutes were completed. Alderman Greg Hoffman was absent. He said he skipped the meeting to protest what he described as a months-long absence of minutes from board packets.

“I saw the packet again this month with no meeting minutes,” Hoffman said in a written statement to The Weston Chronicle. “I decided I need to draw a line somewhere.”

Hoffman said he had tried to address the issue with City Hall staff. He said Mayor Kim Kirby and the other aldermen knew about his decision to miss the meeting.

City minutes show the board removed approval of minutes from its Oct. 13 consent agenda. With three aldermen present, the board voted 3-0 to adjourn until minutes were completed and reschedule the meeting for Oct. 19.

The Oct. 19 agenda packet included minutes from the Sept. 21 and Oct. 13 meetings, each marked approved on Oct. 19.

During public comment, the board declined to respond to questions about Hoffman’s absence. Kirby said, “I don’t believe that we have a comment at this time. Maybe in the future.” 

Mers offered to respond but was told by Kirby that the reporter had addressed the aldermen and her response was not appropriate.

As of Oct. 15, the city’s agendas and minutes page linked to the Board of Aldermen minutes through March 30. It listed agenda and minute headings for later months but did not link to minutes after March 30.

City Hall provided hard copies of minutes from the Jan. 6, 2026, and April 1, 2026, special meetings but did not provide minutes from the regular Board of Aldermen meeting in April.

Local citizens have also raised concerns about access to timely public information.

Weston resident Hilary Buford, who leads community discussions surrounding the city’s Flock Safety program, said she cannot independently verify through the city’s official minutes the discussions, decisions and votes surrounding the Flock Safety camera program earlier this year. 

The issue drew public opposition. In April, the board voted to halt further installations and begin canceling the contract; the city later removed the camera system.

“Transparency is not a courtesy extended to the public; it is a fundamental obligation of public service,” Buford said. “When meeting minutes are so delayed that our own Board of Aldermen cannot conduct its scheduled business, we have an accountability problem that deserves serious attention.”

“Residents should not have to rely on personal recollections, unofficial notes, or secondhand accounts to reconstruct the actions of their own government,” she said.

Missouri’s Sunshine Law requires public bodies to take and retain minutes of open and closed meetings. The minutes must include the meeting’s date, time and place; members present and absent; and a record of votes. The law does not set a specific deadline for posting minutes online. A separate provision requires public-records requests to be acted on as soon as possible and no later than the end of the third business day after receipt, though production may take longer for reasonable cause. See RSMo Section 610.020 and RSMo Section 610.023.

Dan Curry, an attorney with Brown, Curry & Duggan LLC, said the Sunshine Law does not set a deadline for completing meeting minutes or require them to be signed. 

He said a delay of six months could conflict with the law’s intent to maintain minutes, though the statute does not specify a completion timeline. Curry said Robert’s Rules of Order provides for approval of minutes.