From:
To: Mary Gourley
Subject: Public comment: EIFD analysis created by Chat GPT Date: Friday, November 28, 2025 2:41:08 PM
Attachments: EIFD analysis created by Chat GPT.pdf
Hi Mary,
The attached public comment may be the most interesting. Just as my prior comment made the point there are too many big initiatives underway that have been created largely by the City Council. Even I don't have the bandwidth to analyze this EIFD report and identify all the issues that should be considered and ensure they have been addressed in the staff report or the attached analysis.
I loaded the staff report and attachment into ChatGPT and asked for an analysis. I was surprised at the excellent critical thinking skills manifested by ChatGPT. It identified the key issues, provided questions that still need to be answered and organized all of this into a list of questions and a checklist. My investment in time was reading the staff report and reading the output from Chat GPT. The output provided me with insights that helped me better understand the proposal and what still needs to be done. A lot.
The most interesting idea I got from the analysis is how ChatGPT (AI) can be used by city staff to save time and increase the effectiveness of any issue analysis. I recently fed ChatGPT the data from the analysis of our streets condition report and got back a CIP plan that increased our PCI from 50 - 80 over five years spending less money than the current plan that projects maintaining the current PCI.
From a city staff point of view ChatGPT could have been used when you received the first draft of the EIFD report. The feedback might have resulted in modifications of the report to answer key issues. You can also ask Chat GPT to write staff reports for city council. It actually recognized that the questions were related to city and offered to write resolutions and staff reports for me. You can feed it an example and ask it to use that to format the report based on the city standard.
City Council members could use the analysis to help them identify issues that are important to each of them based on their own perception of the project. Although I didn't use it for this analysis, one can ask more questions of ChatGPT. For example, one might be interested in what kinds of projects other EIFD programs have completed. It might be interesting to know what kinds of public projects have had the most impact on property tax growth. Instead of hours of google searches, the answer returns in minutes. It also does complex math. You could feed our long-term budget forecast and ask ChatGPT to assess the financial impact of giving up 25% or 50% of the property tax increase?
AI and Chat GPT can make mistakes, so before using it for something important, it is critical to check the data and recommendations being offered. It is a great way to make a deeper dive into an issue without a huge investment of time.
Given all the challenges facing City Staff, I don't believe EIFD is a priority. It seems like it might actually be a good idea, but for a time when the budget is balanced without taking money from water rate payers and staffing is sufficient and qualified to do it right. The proposed list of projects needs to be analyzed to assess if they can grow property values and property tax revenues at a rate greater than is being taken away from the city's general fund. Maybe I will ask ChatGPT. Maybe the job descriptions in planning need to include expertise in low-income housing, HUD policies funding Homekey projects and ChatGPT use!
Lee