What city hall talked about.
We read 2,257 meetings in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Oakland and Los Angeles. What came up, counted and checked: every count was read in context, and every chart has clips you can play at the second.
Los Angeles brought up the Olympics in 241 of its 497 meetings, two years out. The other four cities: under 2%.
Meetings where the Olympic or Paralympic Games came up (said by anyone), by city, of 2,257 transcribed meetings. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “Los Angeles brought up the Olympics in 241 of its 497 meetings, two years out. The other four cities: under 2%.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#olympics. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
“Can you hear me?” In 31% of big-city meetings, someone had to ask (or was told “you’re on mute”)
Meetings where it came up (said by anyone), of 2,257 transcribed meetings in five cities. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 40 of 40 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “‘Can you hear me?’ In 31% of big-city meetings, someone had to ask (or was told ‘you’re on mute’).” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#tech_trouble. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
San Francisco supervisors spent almost 28 hours on commendations, more than a fifth of their full-board meeting time
Minutes of ceremonial recognition, by meeting; 36 of 37 transcribed full-board meetings had a commendations slot. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “San Francisco supervisors spent almost 28 hours on commendations, more than a fifth of their full-board meeting time.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#sf_commendations. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
San Francisco’s school board adjourned after 10 p.m. at 10 of the 12 meetings where the time was announced; two ran past midnight
Adjournment time announced by the chair, SF Board of Education, 12 of 13 meetings. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 17 of 17 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “San Francisco’s school board adjourned after 10 p.m. at 10 of the 12 meetings where the time was announced; two ran past midnight.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#sf_school_board_late. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Data centers came up in 1 in 13 big-city meetings this summer, up from under 2% last fall
Meetings where data centers came up (said by anyone), by quarter: 37 of 465 meetings in Jul–Sep 2026, up from 8 of 442 in Oct 24–Dec 2025, of 2,257 transcribed meetings in five cities. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “Data centers came up in 1 in 13 big-city meetings this summer, up from under 2% last fall.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#data_center. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Robotaxis came up, said by anyone, in nearly 1 in 13 San Francisco meetings and nearly 1 in 26 in Los Angeles
Meetings where Waymo, robotaxis or driverless cars came up (said by anyone), by city, of 2,257 transcribed meetings. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “Robotaxis came up, said by anyone, in nearly 1 in 13 San Francisco meetings and nearly 1 in 26 in Los Angeles.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#waymo. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Rats came up most in New York and Chicago (too close to rank); potholes most in Oakland and Los Angeles (too close to rank)
Share of meetings where rats/rodents or potholes came up (said by anyone), by city, of 2,257 transcribed meetings. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Rats: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this. Potholes: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “Rats came up most in New York and Chicago (too close to rank); potholes most in Oakland and Los Angeles (too close to rank).” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#rats_potholes. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
AI came up in 1 in 6 big-city meetings, and 1 in 5 in San Francisco
Meetings where artificial intelligence came up (said by anyone), by quarter, of 2,257 transcribed meetings in five cities. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “AI came up in 1 in 6 big-city meetings, and 1 in 5 in San Francisco.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#ai. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
San Francisco talked Super Bowl in 21 of its 73 meetings the month of the game
Share of San Francisco meetings where the Super Bowl came up (said by anyone), by month, of 762 transcribed meetings. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “San Francisco talked Super Bowl in 21 of its 73 meetings the month of the game.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#super_bowl. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
The World Cup came up in 1 in 4 Los Angeles meetings
Meetings where the FIFA World Cup came up (said by anyone), by city, of 2,257 transcribed meetings. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “The World Cup came up in 1 in 4 Los Angeles meetings.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#world_cup. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
The longest meeting we could time ran 11 h 13 min. Seven of the 10 longest were budget hearings.
Longest single meetings, first word to last, of 2,257 transcribed meetings. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: we read the start and end of the 15 longest transcripts. 12 run as one sitting; the other 3 are held from the ranking (listed below). Held from the ranking: NYC Finance, Jun 10 2026: the video stops mid-testimony at 11 h 25 min, so the hearing ran longer; length unknown; NYC Education, Mar 23 2026: the video stops mid-testimony; the hearing continued in a second video; LA City Council, Jun 17 2026: the stream runs on into a fitness program after the meeting closes
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “The longest meeting we could time ran 11 h 13 min. Seven of the 10 longest were budget hearings.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#longest. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
ICE came up in 88 of 290 Chicago meetings and 144 of 497 in Los Angeles
Meetings where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement came up (said by anyone), by city, of 2,257 transcribed meetings. Window: Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
Checked: 20 of 20 mentions read in context were about this.
Cite this finding
Hamlet, “ICE came up in 88 of 290 Chicago meetings and 144 of 497 in Los Angeles.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings#ice. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.
The numbers as CSV files
Every number in the charts above, and each city’s signature, with what every column means. Each city’s own files are on its Data page.
Findings, five cities · findings.csv
Download findings.csv (203 rows)One row: One number behind one finding on /findings: a bar, a point on a line, or a total. Only findings the page publishes (each with a clip to play). Counts are of meetings we transcribed, one body on one day, where the topic came up at least once, said by anyone.
City signatures · signatures.csv
Download signatures.csv (5 rows)One row: One city's signature: the topic its city hall brings up that the other four don't, as its hub and the front page draw it. A signature shows only when its source is a checked finding or story and the city's 90% range clears every other city's; a city with none has no row.
Cite this page
Hamlet, “What city hall talked about.” https://cities.myhamlet.com/findings. Data as of Oct 9, 2026 (version 9637340); meetings Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 9, 2026.