Hamlet · Five big cities
Ayearincityhall
Every meeting we read in five cities, on its own date.
01 — The first meeting we read
Los Angeles · City Council34.05° N · 118.24° W
October 24, 2025
Each dot is one meeting we read, lit on its own date, drawn at its city's City Hall: the map shows when, not where. Every one opens its video and our page.
One light for every meeting we read.
By October 9, 2026: 2,257 meetings in five city halls, every one with its video.
At the meeting · Jun 9, 2026
Oakland
“I said when we had our, our last council meeting that I was going to try to add back the $50 million that I heard so many of our public speakers ask for. And I did that in my budget amendments to the mayor’s budget.”— Carroll Fife, Member · Community and Economic Development Committee
At the meeting · Jun 11, 2026
New York
“I’m voting no on Intro 55A. The requirement to post signage in city buildings including schools promoting sanctuary city policies is inappropriate and politicizes the immigration enforcement.”— Vickie Paladino, Council member · New York City Council
At the meeting · Aug 12, 2026
Los Angeles
“Briefed on this a couple weeks ago, and I have Dodger Stadium in my district, so I want to make sure I get through them. Um, what happens if LA28 dissolves before costs incurred by the city are paid?”— Eunisses Hernandez, Council member · City Council
At the meeting · Sep 3, 2026
San Francisco
“When I think about a Good Neighbor Program, I’m actually thinking about the people whose minds and hearts have changed because they’ve connected or understood better all the challenges that go into addressing homelessness in this incredibly expensive city that is hard to do.”— Bevan Dufty, Commissioner · Homelessness Oversight Commission
At the meeting · Oct 5, 2026
Chicago
“Do you actually think that’s fair? Do you actually think that that’s fair, that the mayor’s office has the final determination on what projects move forward as it relates to TIF projects with CPS?”— Anthony Beale, Member · Committee on Finance
Hamlet · Five big cities · October 24, 2025 to October 9, 2026
A year in city hall
- meetings read, each with its video
- 2,257
- officials we can identify by voice
- 661
Every dot opens its meeting video. Every quote plays at the second it was said. Each city's meetings are drawn at its City Hall: the map shows when, not where.
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We transcribe the public meetings of five of America’s biggest cities, since Oct 24, 2025. See what each city hall spent its time on and who spoke. Every number has a source, and every quote plays at the second it was said.
12 findings across the five cities
Cite this page
Hamlet, “A year in city hall: five big cities.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
San Francisco
98 people spoke on San Francisco’s 2025 fire code update, more than on any other agenda item we counted.
New York
At New York City Council hearings, the public waited a median of at least 1 h 42 min to testify.
Chicago
Property taxes came up in 41% of Chicago’s meetings, compared with 14% in New York and 8.4% in Los Angeles.
Oakland
Illegal dumping came up in nearly 3 in 10 Oakland public meetings and nearly 1 in 38 in San Francisco.
Los Angeles
Pacific Palisades came up in 3 in 10 Los Angeles public meetings.