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St. Louis Startup Makes AI Listen to Government Meetings So You Don’t Have To | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

February 5, 2024

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click to enlarge COURTESY PHOTO Former Kansas City Chief of Staff John Stamm’s new company is Hello Citizen. As the former chief of staff for Kansas City Mayor Quenton Lucas, John Stamm knows just how tedious local government meetings can be. But he’s also aware of just how important they are — and that’s why his brand-new startup is aimed at cutting through the tedium and getting people the information they need about what their government is up to.Stamm’s company is called Hello Citizen, and the premise is pretty simple: He trains artificial intelligence to listen in on the meetings of local government, many of which are now helpfully posted online. Then, for subscribers willing to pay a monthly fee, Hello Citizen will send a succinct report with all the highlights.A simple premise, yes, but suffice it to say, it’s not nearly as easy to execute as simply training ChatGPT on the Board of Aldermen and letting it strut its stuff. Says Stamm, “A really tricky part of figuring this out was that the original version would mistake the time spent on a topic for its importance. I had to train it to focus on a little more important items.”Stamm does not see Hello Citizen replacing journalists — beyond the fact that many government meetings don’t even have journalists attending them in this cash-strapped age for the newspaper industry, the reports are relatively brief. They’re meant as an aid to cue people to the areas they want to know more about, not replace a human actually listening to the key points. Because of that, it could actually end up a useful tool for journalists more than the general public. “It’s just taking the long hours spent in this really boring meeting and boils it down to, ‘Here’s the points of conflict,'” Stamm says. “‘Here’s what you’d want to pay attention to on this recording.'” He adds, “It takes a lot of grunt work out of reporting so you can focus on higher value tasks, like talking to a councilmember about the issues.” Ultimately, though, the target audience is less gadflies and the handful of people who genuinely care about the business of government than a potentially more lucrative client base — companies that spend money to monitor what’s happening the halls of power. Law firms and lobbyists with an interest in what’s happening at City Hall often send junior staffers to sit through meetings, as do related government agencies. Hello Citizen could save those staffers a lot of time.Stamm notes, for example, that a few days before reporters got wind of the plan to park the Rams’ settlement money into an endowment, he read a report with that same information thanks to Hello Citizen. “These may be things that are discussed in public meetings and later shared widely through official reports, but official reports take time to come out,” he says. “If you have Hello Citizen sit through this meeting, you’ll know it sooner.”Hello Citizen launched on January 17 with coverage of St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County, University City, Kansas City and four other jurisdictions. Plans start at just $2 a month, with the next tier (which gets you to access to many more meetings) and $15 a month. “It’s pegged to the price of Netflix,” Stamm says.Stamm is a Kansas City native who was living in St. Louis when a politician friend he’d volunteered for years before, Lucas, decided to make a run for mayor. At age 27, and with no experience running campaigns, Stamm moved back to Kansas City and guided Lucas to an unexpected victory. Stamm then signed on as the new mayor’s chief of staff. “I was at the Chiefs first Super Bowl, and I was thinking, ‘This is the best job in the world.’ Then COVID hit, and it was the worst job in the world,” he says. Making it even harder was the fact that his wife had a job at Wash U. After being long distance for two years, he moved back to St. Louis in 2022.Since then, he’s dabbled in consulted and served as interim executive director at the Central Reform Congregation. He also started a tea company. But the idea for Hello Citizen was always on his mind. “I knew I wanted to get into AI,” he says.Now he’s looking to bring that AI far beyond the initial launch cities. “Once we iron out the errors and the bugs and the kinks in the process, there’s a short list of cities I’m looking to be in next,” he says. “We do plan to roll out pretty rapidly across the country.” Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters.Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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