About SF Civic Atlas
An independent, educational project to make San Francisco's governance legible to residents — the laws, the budget, the institutions, the news, and the ballot.
What this is
City government is large and its documents are written for lawyers and administrators, not residents. This site collects public information about how San Francisco is governed and pairs it with plain-language explanations so anyone can understand it — while always linking back to the authoritative source.
Sources
- Laws & ordinances: The San Francisco Charter and Municipal Code, as published by American Legal Publishing for the City Attorney's Office at codelibrary.amlegal.com.
- Budget & spending: The city's open data portal, DataSF.
- Elections: The San Francisco Department of Elections and other public records.
How the summaries are made
Summaries, plain-language rewrites, and the “complex” / “controversial” / “could be simpler” flags are generated by a large language model (Claude) from the official text, and reviewed periodically. They are aids to understanding — not legal interpretations — and the original text is always one click away.
Disclaimer
SF Civic Atlas is not affiliated with the City and County of San Francisco or any government body.
AI-generated summaries may be incomplete or inaccurate. Nothing here is legal advice. For authoritative law, always consult the official Municipal Code and a qualified attorney.
Flags identifying sections as complex, controversial, or simplifiable reflect an automated analysis and editorial perspective — they are starting points for discussion, not statements of fact.