I've spent much of my career working in and around local government.
I've served as an elected County Supervisor, worked as a city manager, and spent years alongside clerks, department heads, board members, and administrative staff. I've attended countless public meetings, responded to public records requests, managed budgets, dealt with regulatory compliance, and faced the same challenges local agencies encounter every day.
One thing I've learned is that local government is often asked to do more with less.
New laws, new regulations, new reporting requirements, new technology expectations, and new compliance obligations continue to arrive year after year. Many of these requirements are well-intentioned. Some are necessary. Others may be debatable. Regardless, local agencies are expected to comply while operating with limited staff, limited budgets, and increasing public expectations.
I've always believed taxpayer dollars deserve a higher level of scrutiny than our own personal spending. Government isn't spending its own money. It's spending money entrusted to it by the public. Every dollar spent on unnecessary complexity, inefficiency, bureaucracy, or administrative overhead is a dollar that can't be spent on roads, water systems, parks, public safety, infrastructure, and other essential services.
I've never liked waste. The little things matter. The big things matter even more.
Over the years, I've watched local agencies struggle with expensive software, bloated systems, costly consultants, and unfunded mandates that consume time, money, and resources. I may not be able to stop every new law, simplify every regulation, or eliminate every unfunded mandate, but I can do something about the tools local agencies use every day.
That's why we created CivAssist, CivReader, and CivSite.
Not because we wanted to create another government software company. And certainly not because we wanted to add another expensive subscription to an agency's budget.
We built these tools because we saw talented clerks, administrators, and public servants struggling with systems that were too expensive, too complicated, or simply not designed for the realities of small and mid-sized agencies.
Our goal is simple:
We're doing our best to help you do your best.
That means creating practical tools that improve transparency, accessibility, public engagement, and compliance without adding cost, complexity, or administrative burden.
Local government is complicated enough. CivAssist, CivReader, and CivSite help agencies improve transparency, accessibility, and public engagement while respecting the reality of limited staff, limited budgets, and increasing public expectations.
We may not be able to stop every new mandate or simplify every regulation, but we can help make the work a little easier for the people responsible for carrying them out.
And that's exactly what we intend to do.
— Jon Kennedy
Founder & CEO