Vibe-Coding Civic Infrastructure: How I Built a Municipal Event Manager in One Weekend

I work in local government, which means I spend a lot of time thinking about things like "Certificate of Insurance expiration tracking" and "vendor conflict detection across multiple community events." Riveting stuff, I know. But here's what most people don't realize about municipal event planning: it's basically full-stack project management under regulatory constraints with public money. When our village runs 15+ community events a year-from farmers markets to holiday parades-the spreadsheet chaos gets real. So I did what any AI-trained government analyst would do: I vibe-coded a solution in Firebase Studio. The Problem: Event Management in Government Isn't Like Private Sector When a tech company throws an event and something goes wrong, they eat the cost and move on. When a village throws an event and something goes wrong, it's a line item in next year's audit and possibly a question at a council meeting. The stakes are different. The requirements are different: Budget transparency: Every dollar needs to be tracked from "potential" to "paid"Vendor compliance: COIs expire. If a vendor's insurance lapses before your event, you're liableConflict detection: You can't book the same vendor for two events on the same day (ask me how I know)Revenue share tracking: Some events involve sponsorships with predetermined splits between the village and event coordinatorsAudit trails: Everything needs to be exportable, timestamped, and defensible Budget transparency: Every dollar needs to be tracked from "potential" to "paid" Budget transparency: Vendor compliance: COIs expire. If a vendor's insurance lapses before your event, you're liable Vendor compliance: Conflict detection: You can't book the same vendor for two events on the same day (ask me how I know) Conflict detection: Revenue share tracking: Some events involve sponsorships with predetermined splits between the village and event coordinators Revenue share tracking: Audit trails: Everything needs to be exportable, timestamped, and defensible Audit trails: Existing event management tools are built for conferences or weddings. They're not built for the weird intersection of public finance, regulatory compliance, and community programming. The Solution: Eventide (Event + Tide... get it?) I built Eventide in Firebase Studio using Google's Genkit framework. The goal was simple: create something that could replace our Frankenstein's monster of shared Excel files, email chains, and post-it notes. // Server Actions for data mutations // Using Next.js App Router + TypeScript

export async function createEvent(formData: FormData) { const eventData = { title: formData.get('title') as string, description: formData.get('description') as string, date: formData.get('date') as string, location: formData.get('location') as string, totalBudget: parseFloat(formData.get('budget') as string), status: 'Active' as EventStatus }; const newEvent = await addEvent(eventData); revalidatePath('/'); return newEvent; } // Server Actions for data mutations // Using Next.js App Router + TypeScript

export async function createEvent(formData: FormData) { const eventData = { title: formData.get('title') as string, description: formData.get('description') as string, date: formData.get('date') as string, location: formData.get('location') as string, totalBudget: parseFloat(formData.get('budget') as string), status: 'Active' as EventStatus }; const newEvent = await addEvent(eventData); revalidatePath('/'); return newEvent; } The beauty of Next.js Server Actions is that I don't need separate API endpoints. The client calls server functions directly, mutations happen server-side, and the UI auto-refreshes. For a solo government developer working nights and weekends, this is gold. The Budget State Machine This is where it gets interesting. In government, budget items don't just exist-they transition through states with specific rules: type BudgetItemStatus = 'Potential' | 'Waiting' | 'Confirmed' | 'Paid';

interface BudgetItem { id: string; eventId: string; category: string; vendor: string; estimatedCost: number; actualCost?: number; status: BudgetItemStatus; poNumber?: string; // Only exists when Confirmed or Paid invoiceLink?: string; // Added when converting to PO notes?: string; }

function calculateBalance(budget: BudgetItem[], totalBudget: number) { const estimated = budget.reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.estimatedCost, 0); const actual = budget.reduce((sum, item) => sum + (item.status === 'Paid' ? item.actualCost! : 0), 0); return { estimatedBalance: totalBudget - estimated, actualBalance: totalBudget - actual }; } type BudgetItemStatus = 'Potential' | 'Waiting' | 'Confirmed' | 'Paid';

interface BudgetItem { id: string; eventId: string; category: string; vendor: string; estimatedCost: number; actualCost?: number; status: BudgetItemStatus; poNumber?: string; // Only exists when Confirmed or Paid invoiceLink?: string; // Added when converting to PO notes?: string; }

export async function analyzeConflicts(event1Id: string, event2Id: string) { const event1 = await getEvent(event1Id); const event2 = await getEvent(event2Id); return await runFlow(conflictAnalysisFlow, { event1: { title: event1.title, date: event1.date, location: event1.location, vendors: event1.vendors.map(v => v.name) }, event2: { title: event2.title, date: event2.date, location: event2.location, vendors: event2.vendors.map(v => v.name) }, includeArchived: false }); } import { defineFlow, runFlow } from '@genkit-ai/flow'; import { gemini15Pro } from '@genkit-ai/googleai'; import { z } from 'zod';

export async function analyzeConflicts(event1Id: string, event2Id: string) { const event1 = await getEvent(event1Id); const event2 = await getEvent(event2Id); return await runFlow(conflictAnalysisFlow, { event1: { title: event1.title, date: event1.date, location: event1.location, vendors: event1.vendors.map(v => v.name) }, event2: { title: event2.title, date: event2.date, location: event2.location, vendors: event2.vendors.map(v => v.name) }, includeArchived: false }); } Real-world example: We had a summer concert series and a farmers market that both used the same sound equipment vendor. The AI caught that the concert was scheduled 2 hours after the market ended, but flagged it as a travel-time conflict because the venues were 25 minutes apart. We adjusted the concert start time by 30 minutes. Crisis averted. Real-world example The Revenue Share Automation This feature is oddly specific but incredibly valuable. Some of our events (like sponsored 5K runs) have revenue-sharing arrangements. When a sponsor pays, the money gets split 50/50 between the village and the event coordinator. interface Sponsorship { id: string; eventId: string; sponsorName: string; amount: number; deliverables: { rcvdLogo: boolean; formToNabila: boolean; formLink?: string; invoiceSent: boolean; invoiceLink?: string; rcvdPayment: boolean; }; revenueShare?: { villageShare: number; coordinatorShare: number; }; }

import { getEvent } from '@/lib/actions'; import { Tabs, TabsContent, TabsList, TabsTrigger } from '@/components/ui/tabs'; import BudgetTab from '@/components/BudgetTab'; import TasksTab from '@/components/TasksTab'; import VendorsTab from '@/components/VendorsTab'; import SponsorshipsTab from '@/components/SponsorshipsTab'; import GraphicsTab from '@/components/GraphicsTab';

export default async function EventPage({ params }: { params: { id: string } }) { const event = await getEvent(params.id); const { estimatedBalance, actualBalance } = calculateBalance( event.budgetItems, event.totalBudget ); return ( {event.title} {event.location} • {event.date}

Budget Tasks Vendors Sponsorships Graphics ); } // src/app/events/[id]/page.tsx

import { getEvent } from '@/lib/actions'; import { Tabs, TabsContent, TabsList, TabsTrigger } from '@/components/ui/tabs'; import BudgetTab from '@/components/BudgetTab'; import TasksTab from '@/components/TasksTab'; import VendorsTab from '@/components/VendorsTab'; import SponsorshipsTab from '@/components/SponsorshipsTab'; import GraphicsTab from '@/components/GraphicsTab';

export default async function EventPage({ params }: { params: { id: string } }) { const event = await getEvent(params.id); const { estimatedBalance, actualBalance } = calculateBalance( event.budgetItems, event.totalBudget ); return ( {event.title} {event.location} • {event.date}

Budget Tasks Vendors Sponsorships Graphics ); } What's Next Current version uses in-memory storage for rapid prototyping. Next steps: Firebase Firestore integration for real persistenceMulti-tenant architecture (other villages have asked to use this)Email notifications when vendor COIs are about to expireCalendar integration (iCal export for event schedules)Mobile-responsive task management (currently desktop-optimized) Firebase Firestore integration for real persistence Multi-tenant architecture (other villages have asked to use this) Email notifications when vendor COIs are about to expire Calendar integration (iCal export for event schedules) Mobile-responsive task management (currently desktop-optimized) The code is functional. The architecture is sound. The value is proven-we're using it for real events right now.