Methodology
How Classification Works
Council decisions are not imported into the system automatically.
Each reviewed item is manually evaluated before entering the scoring framework.
The goal is not to classify every council motion ever recorded. The goal is to identify decisions with meaningful civic impact that can be reasonably compared against public priorities.
What gets reviewed
The system focuses primarily on substantive civic decisions involving areas such as:
- housing
- taxation
- transportation
- public safety
- governance
- land use
- infrastructure
- environmental policy
- affordability
- public services
Low-signal procedural motions, administrative approvals, duplicate records, ceremonial items, and technical housekeeping decisions are generally excluded.
One vote, one primary domain
Many council decisions affect multiple parts of city life simultaneously.
For scoring consistency, each reviewed item receives one primary civic domain classification based on its dominant direct impact.
This creates a stable and explainable framework for comparison over time.
Directional classification
Reviewed votes may also receive a directional classification:
Support
A Yes vote on this motion advances the civic interest associated with its domain.
Oppose
A Yes vote on this motion works against the civic interest associated with its domain.
Context Required
The motion cannot be defensibly simplified into a directional alignment signal without creating misleading conclusions.
Context Required votes remain visible as public receipts but do not contribute to alignment scoring.
Human review matters
The system intentionally avoids fully automated political classification.
Council decisions are often nuanced, overlapping, and context-dependent.
Manual review allows:
- duplicate detection
- contextual interpretation
- procedural filtering
- classification consistency
- auditability
The objective is not perfect objectivity.
The objective is transparent and explainable consistency.