How this works

Portland City Council publishes every agenda, ordinance, resolution and report. Civic Digest PDX reads those public records after each meeting and explains each decision in plain language.

Who writes the summaries

An AI model (Claude, by Anthropic) writes each summary from the official record only. A second, separate check compares the summary with the record, and every number must appear in the record. Summaries that pass are published; the others wait for a person. A person also reads a random sample of published summaries and every error that readers report.

Translations

Translations are made by AI from the English summary and checked automatically for changed meaning. Pages say when a translation was also reviewed by a native speaker.

What we do not do

We do not take sides. We say what was decided, how council voted, and what changes for people who live and work in Portland. Every summary links to the official record, so you can check it.

Your email and address

We use your email only to send the digest you asked for. We do not share it. Every email has an unsubscribe link. When you look up your district, we do not save your address.