PublicReceiptBeta

Policy, people & public money

Clear public records.
Better public choices.

Most people want similar things: a home they can afford, a community where they feel safe and welcome, and a fair chance to build a good life. Public services that work. Places worth sharing.

We believe these goals are achievable. But understanding what government promises, how it spends our money, and what it delivers is harder than it should be.

PublicReceipt brings clarity to those choices. We explain the policies we favor and why, examine how candidates’ commitments and records align with those positions, and make government budgets easier to understand and scrutinize.

We explore the evidence, share our reasoning, and invite you to make your own judgment.

Explore the work

Two ways into the public record

01 Policy & candidates

An imagined Santa Monica neighborhood with mid-rise homes, mature shade trees, a cycling corridor, and separate pedestrian paths.
A possible future neighborhood in Santa Monica.

Santa Monica · City Council 2026

What would a better city feel like?

Explore the policy areas, the reasoning behind our positions, and where City Council candidates align or differ. See the choices, tradeoffs, and evidence behind the assessment.

Draft guide and candidate assessments for review

Explore Santa Monica Compare candidates

02 Government budgets

Reading the public record

  1. 01
    What was approved?Budgets & commitments
  2. 02
    What was spent?Accounts & audited results
  3. 03
    What was delivered?Services & outcomes

Follow the money. Examine the results.

Three questions to ask of every public budget.

Featured analysis · Santa Monica

What does public money deliver?

Examine what the city spends, how much it can change, and what the records reveal about dedicated funds and public services. Separate approved funding from spending and results.

Draft analysis for review

Explore budget analysis Inspect the sources

Recent analysis

From the Santa Monica guide

Santa Monica

Housing and homelessness

Helping people find and keep an affordable home, how much and where we build new homes and density, leave homelessness, and share public space with dignity.

Evidence as of
Draft for review

Our approach

Our positions are explicit.
Our reasoning is open to inspection.

Explain the judgment.

State what we favor, its tradeoffs, and what could change our view. Agreement with a policy and the quality of a candidate’s public case are separate questions.

Show the record.

Connect assessments and findings to their sources. Separate facts, estimates, and assumptions, and make uncertainty visible.

Follow delivery.

Distinguish commitments, approved funding, actual spending, and demonstrated results. Let the evidence challenge the policies we favor.

How we assess policy and candidates