Public records
AI prompts, outputs, and the files behind them can become records. You need to know where they live and how long they are kept.
1.3 Data quality and governance
For cities and counties
Give your council a straight answer on AI.
The AI Readiness Assessment grades a Colorado city or county on its records, its security, its direction, and its staff, then delivers a scorecard and a roadmap you can present at a work session.
Questions councils and managers ask
- Are staff already using AI tools, and on what records?
- Can an assistant surface files it should not, including personnel or legal matters?
- How would we answer a records request that touches AI output?
- Who approves a new tool, and against what standard?
- What should we fund first in the next budget cycle?
Four pressures that are specific to local government
The rubric is the same one companies get. For governments we add notes on records, open meetings, and public trust where a finding touches them.
Sensitive information
Permissions built up over years of reorganizations decide what an assistant can read. Personnel, legal, and public-safety files need to stay put.
1.4 Security and access control
Direction and accountability
Council and the manager need one answer on where AI helps residents, who owns it, and how success will be reported.
2.1 Strategic intent and use cases
Policy and training
An acceptable-use policy that staff know, plus short training by department, closes most of the gap for a small team.
3.3 Policy and change management
What your team walks away with
- A scorecard council can read
- The same ten sub-scores and letter grades every client gets, with a one-page summary written for a public meeting.
- A readout for a work session
- We present the findings to council or the county board in a work session, and answer questions in public.
- A roadmap sized for a budget cycle
- Each fix is sized in weeks and cost range, so you can place it in the next budget or a grant application.
Residents do not need to hear that we are using AI. They need to hear that we know what it can reach.
Three weeks, about six hours of staff time
Scheduling works around council calendars and packet deadlines.
- Week 1
Step 1: Discovery
Interviews with the manager, clerk, IT, and two or three department heads, plus a review of your records systems and Microsoft 365 tenant.
- Week 2
Step 2: Analysis and scoring
Ten sub-scores graded A to F, with the evidence for each and a note on where records and open-meeting rules apply.
- Week 3
Step 3: Readout and roadmap
A public work-session readout, the scorecard, and a roadmap ordered by what moves your grade fastest.
Led by someone who sits where you sit
Tracy Engerman leads the local-government practice. She is the mayor of Castle Pines and serves on the board of the National League of Cities, so she knows what a council will ask and how a work session runs.
Her elected role is a reason for care, not a shortcut. The firm does not engage with the City of Castle Pines.
Questions from city and county staff
We are a small town with one IT contractor. Is this for us?
Yes. Small staffs have the most to gain from a short, ranked list. The assessment takes about six hours of your time in total, and most fixes are policy and permissions work, not new software.
Do you give legal advice on records and open meetings?
No. We flag where a finding touches records retention or open-meeting rules and recommend you confirm the requirement with your city or county attorney.
Do you sell software or take referral fees?
No. That is how we can tell you a tool is not ready for your data without a stake in the answer.
How is the work procured?
The assessment is a fixed fee, quoted on the readiness call. We can provide a scope letter and references for your procurement file.
Can we present the results in public?
Yes. The scorecard and readout are written to be shown at a work session or posted with the packet.