About
What this is
Clayton Ledger follows local government in Clayton, Missouri so busy residents can find out what's happening without sitting through every meeting. After each meeting we publish a short, readable account of what happened: the decisions, the votes, the spending, and the context behind them.
Every factual statement we make is tied to a public record. If we cannot point to a source for it, we do not print it.
Why this exists
Local news has thinned out, and meetings that once had a reporter in the room now often have no one. We started Clayton Ledger to keep an eye on these meetings anyway. This isn't journalism, and it isn't a substitute for it. We don't interview people, dig past the documents, or hold officials to account the way a newsroom does. We just read the public record and explain it, plainly and with sources. Think of this more like open public notes, not reporting.
How we work
Each issue is built directly from the public record. We start with the official documents for meetings, agendas, minutes, transcripts, resolutions, and budgets. Our tools pull out relevant passages, and draft a summary in which every claim links to the source it came from. We use automated AI tools to help organize and draft each post, always working from those sourced passages. Quoted text is reproduced word for word, every fact is tied to a source, and a person reviews and approves every draft before it is published.
Those documents live in an open, searchable public-records archive, actalux.org, where every quote is citable down to the page or passage. Actalux is our sister project: its job is to make Clayton's public records findable and quotable, and ours is to read them and tell you what they say. Actalux adds nothing to the record and takes nothing away; the context and plain-language explanation happen here, in the newsletter. The code that runs Actalux is available for inspection. The links in our issues take you straight there, so you can read the original for yourself, and you can also read how the archive works.
What we cover
- Board and council decisions and the votes behind them
- Contracts, budgets, and the tax levy
- Policy changes and second readings
- Public comment
- The history behind a recurring item: what the board said about it before
Where we stand
We report what happened and what the documents say, and when we add context or interpretation we label it as such. We do not use loaded language, we do not guess at anyone's motives, and we do not imply wrongdoing that the record does not show. The goal is an accurate, sourced account that a resident, parent, teacher, or reporter can trust and check. We're local citizens doing our best, and we'll get things wrong sometimes. If we do, please let us know and we'll do our best to fix it.
What we are not
We are not the city council, the school district, or any other city board. We are affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. Their own minutes and records are the official account; we summarize them and link back to them. Nothing here is legal advice. We do not run campaigns or endorse candidates.
Support this work
Clayton Ledger keeps the public record free: every meeting's decisions — the votes, the dollars, and who spoke in public comment — are free to read, always. The deeper coverage — the full debate and the history behind each decision — is supported by members. Producing it takes time and money, so if you find it useful you can help: subscribe (free to follow along, or $5/month · $50/year to support the full coverage), or leave a one-time tip. Even forwarding an issue to a neighbor helps. However you pitch in, thank you.
Corrections
When we get something wrong, we want to fix it quickly and in the open. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct the record.