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Don Scott
Bedford How-To Guide
Choose a question on the left to see the plain-English answer and the Town Code language behind it.
How this was built
This Campaign Shows Its Work
This campaign is committed to showing its work, not just stating positions. When a tool or workflow helps clarify a local issue, it should be explained, shared, and made useful beyond the campaign. The instruction set used to analyze the Town Code and surface it into a useful and readable format is published here in full.
Purpose This is a structured system for turning a long municipal code document into a plain-English civic reference tool for residents. It is intentionally designed to: make local rules easier to understand surface the questions residents actually ask connect answers to specific Town Code sections separate code language from plain-English explanation identify the Town departments or parties residents may need to contact This system can be used for: municipal code guides resident help tools civic education projects local government transparency work Core Instruction Analyze the full Town Code document and identify the rules most likely to matter in everyday resident life. Prioritize questions about: homes and property permits and inspections dogs and animals garbage and recycling noise and leaf blowers parking and snow rules trees, wetlands, and drainage tax exemptions pools, sheds, and accessory structures Question Extraction Rules Focus on practical resident questions, not legal completeness. Good questions should sound like: Do I need a permit? Who do I call? What hours are allowed? What does the rule mean in practice? What happens before I act? Avoid questions that are too obscure, too technical, or unlikely to matter to a normal resident. Organization Group questions into clear topic sections. Each section should be easy to scan and should contain only related questions. Do not organize around the code's internal chapter structure if a resident would not think that way. Answer Structure Each answer should include: the relevant Town Code reference the actual code language or a close summary a plain-English explanation the department, board, official, or outside party likely involved a short reminder that residents should confirm details with the Town before acting Plain-English Rules Translate, do not oversimplify. Answers should be: accurate short useful non-legalistic honest about uncertainty If the code does not fully answer a real-world question, say so clearly. Interface Requirements Build the guide as an interactive reference page. The page should include: search topic categories clickable questions a readable answer panel mobile-friendly inline answers a way to suggest missing topics Search should include synonyms and common resident phrasing, not just exact code terms. Accessibility and Discoverability The guide should include: semantic HTML keyboard-accessible controls reduced-motion support FAQ schema crawlable fallback content for search engines and AI systems Transparency Requirement The page should explain that AI was used to help analyze, organize, and summarize the Town Code, with human review before publication. The tool should not pretend to replace the Town, a lawyer, or official code interpretation. Output Requirement The final guide should be: organized by resident need grounded in specific code references easy to search easy to update clear about its limits Closing Note This system does not replace the Town Code. It makes the code easier to approach, so residents can ask better questions and know where to start.