We believe civic information should be genuinely accessible.
Why Townline exists
Local government is, in theory, the most transparent level of government. Town council meetings are open to the public. Meeting minutes are published. Zoning decisions are on the record. Permit filings are available for anyone to see.
In practice, almost nobody can access any of it.
The minutes are buried in PDFs on a municipal website that hasn't been updated since 2012. The hearings are three-hour YouTube recordings with no timestamps and no summary. The zoning code reads like it was written for lawyers — because it was.
The result is a system where local government information is “technically public” but practically inaccessible. Only insiders, lobbyists, and people with unlimited free time know what's really happening in their town. Everyone else finds out after the fact — when the construction starts, when the taxes go up, when the decision has already been made.
Townline exists to change that.
We monitor every public record your town publishes. We process it, organize it, and translate it into clear, everyday language. We deliver the parts that matter to you — whether you're a resident who wants to know what's happening on your street, or a professional who needs to understand the regulatory landscape of a town you're building in.
We don't editorialize. We don't take sides. We don't tell you what to think. We just make sure you have the information you need to participate in your own community — without having to make it a full-time job.
What we believe
Comprehensive, not selective.
We monitor everything — not just the hot-button issues or the headline-grabbing decisions. The most important information is often buried in the details nobody reads.
Objective, not political.
We present facts and context. Never spin, never editorialization, never sensationalism. Trust is the foundation of everything we do.
Clear, not dumbed down.
We translate bureaucratic and legal language into clear, everyday language, but we never strip away the substance. You get the full picture, explained in a way that respects your intelligence.
Sourced, not generated.
Every piece of information on Townline comes from official public records. Every answer, every summary, every alert links back to the original source.
Where we're headed
We started with one town. We're building toward a future where every resident in every municipality has access to clear, comprehensive civic intelligence — where no one is blindsided by a zoning change, a new development, or a municipal decision that affects their property, their business, or their neighborhood.
Civic participation shouldn't be limited to the people with time to attend every meeting. Townline makes sure it isn't.