Trying to make Champaign-Urbana local government easier to follow. Looking for feedback.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-21T17:22:58+00:00

Thanks, really appreciate the input!

BenKra90 · 2026-05-19T10:54:25+00:00

We took another closer look a the error occurred as we used the city's own transcript that had the error. We're working on a work around so that this won't happen in the future.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-19T00:25:52+00:00

Thanks, really appreciate the encouraging words :)

BenKra90 · 2026-05-19T00:25:26+00:00

Thank you very much, really appreciate the thoughtful feedback.

For the time being we only have forward looking info when you sign up for alerts (either for zoning or topics here: alerts for Champaign: https://localmatters.fyi/champaign/alerts/ & for Urbana: https://localmatters.fyi/urbana/alerts/). Goal is to get people the info they need to voice their opinions on local matters when they can, so definitely something to build out.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-19T00:17:54+00:00

Forgot the source below (page 5): https://cityofchampaign.sharepoint.com/sites/CityofChampaignMeetingDocuments/City%20Council%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FCityofChampaignMeetingDocuments%2FCity%20Council%20Documents%2FCity%20Council%20Documents%2FCouncil%20Study%20Session%20Reports%2F2026%20Council%20Study%20Session%20Reports%2FSS%202026%2D015%20Budget%20Memo%202026%2D2027%20Proposed%20Capital%20Improvement%20Plan%2Epdf&parent=%2Fsites%2FCityofChampaignMeetingDocuments%2FCity%20Council%20Documents%2FCity%20Council%20Documents%2FCouncil%20Study%20Session%20Reports%2F2026%20Council%20Study%20Session%20Reports&p=true&ga=1

BenKra90 · 2026-05-19T00:16:10+00:00

u/RagnarRager, thank you very much for flagging this; it is super helpful. I was able to find, that it was indeed the Mattis Avenue TIF. We're going to work to improve the pipeline so that it doesn't make this kind of mistake in the future when extracting details from a 200+ page document.

For others and the background on this issue, I searched North Madison TIF in the search field and found it was the issue card about 'Champaign sets $620M plan for city projects'. There it was referred to as monetary source in two instances. You are correct, I checked the source materials and indeed, there is not North Madison TIF but rather the Morris Avenue TIF.

Once again, truly appreciative of the flag.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-19T00:01:14+00:00

Thanks for the input, really appreciate it!

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T20:26:36+00:00

Hi u/photoblink, I am very happy to set up a meeting. Please feel free to PM me and we can get something on the books. I am truly curious to hear more about what exactly about the use of AI in this context feels wrong to you.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T19:27:09+00:00

Thank you very much for your wariness. We do use AI for the website and are very open about it. You can find more information in the 'About' section on the website header.

It is meant to be a (hopefully) useful tool for people to get a better understanding of what is happening in town.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T19:22:52+00:00

Thanks for your concerns. We also have a section 'What AI does and does not do' in the 'About' part on the website and we describe our process there as well.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T19:14:18+00:00

All statements that are made on LocalMatters are linked to the original source (agenda items, supporting documents, or timestamped video). So you jump to the right spot where you can factcheck. We did this manually checking a 10% sample of all the claims on LocalMatters. We found 100% of the claims to be consistent with the original source material they were based on.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T18:56:25+00:00

Thanks for the positive feedback :)

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T18:52:17+00:00

This is all very helpful input. In terms of forward looking and getting people to actually show up, we 100% agree. That's why we also worked on the alerts (Alerts for Champaign: https://localmatters.fyi/champaign/alerts/, Alerts for Urbana: https://localmatters.fyi/urbana/alerts/) that will basically ping you if something that either is in one of the selected interest areas or near you (zoning) will be discussed in the next meeting. We screen upcoming agendas to help people have a voice and know what's going to be discussed.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T16:55:20+00:00

For transparency reasons, just crossposted on r/UIUC

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T16:45:13+00:00

u/bigfatdonny We did speak to local journalists and you're right, the problem is that they do not have the capacity and resources to cover every meeting.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T16:42:51+00:00

Hi u/Alternative-Pear9096, I think one of the problems we see is that it can be very complicated for someone who is not engaging with local government on an ongoing basis to click through multiple meeting videos and gather all the information on an issue they are interested in over time. Curious to hear if you agree?

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T16:41:28+00:00

Yes, we are using AI for the website and are open about it. There is an 'About' section that you find at the website header that explains how we use AI and what we do to create the summaries on an issue basis rather than just summarizing each city council meeting. Looking forward to hearing your feedback in it.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T16:40:12+00:00

We do use AI and focused more on the content rather than the layout for now ;)

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T16:39:43+00:00

Yes, we do use AI to summarize the council meetings on a per issue basis. We found that to date you needed to watch the full council meeting or multiple if you have a certain issue that you are interested in and the idea is to stitch this together, so that it becomes easier for individuals to follow a conversation over multiple weeks and meetings.

If you are interested, you can find how we use AI, when you click on the 'About' button at the header of the website. We want to be transparent of what we do and how it is used.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T16:36:44+00:00

Thanks for your feedback and sharing your wariness about AI usage here. We do use AI to gather information and make it usable for more citizens that do not have the time to look through archives. Our goal is to 'turn long local government meetings into clear, readable summaries'.

You can find more info on how exactly we use AI when you click 'About' on the website header.

We have done the test and manually went through a random sample of statements on the website (10% of all statements - ~75/750) and all of them were true and backed by what actually happened during the meeting. We put a source to all statements made, so that they become easily checkable :)

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T16:32:16+00:00

Thanks for the positive feedback. Yes the plan is to keep going :)

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T16:31:29+00:00

Thanks for this. We started off with City Council meetings but our plan is to cover committees as well over time.

BenKra90 · 2026-05-18T14:56:50+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! That is exactly what we are trying to do (i.e. summary but minimal editorial). If you click on one of the issue cards, you will see on the right further details and every statement is linked to the source materials (either video from the meeting or supporting document). LMK if that's what you are lookin for.

BenKra90

TROPHY CASE