By MARTY GROHMAN, Special to the Gazette

Our municipal employees are the backbone of our communities. They plow our streets at three in the morning during snowstorms. They respond to service requests, maintain our infrastructure, and keep our cities running smoothly day after day. These dedicated public servants often work with limited resources, facing growing demands while dealing with staffing constraints and aging technology systems.

We owe it to them to provide every tool that can make their jobs easier, safer, and more effective. Artificial intelligence isn’t about replacing these hardworking people—it’s about giving them support so they can focus on what matters most: serving our residents.

Starting Small: Meeting Minutes and Administrative Tasks

The simplest place to start is often the most impactful. Consider the countless hours municipal employees spend transcribing meeting minutes, summarizing discussions, and producing reports. In Gray, Maine, Communications and IT Director Kyle Hadyniak has embraced this exact opportunity.

Gray uses Microsoft Copilot to create meeting recaps of Town Council sessions much faster than manual transcription would allow, with the AI automatically generating timestamps and natural language summaries that help Hadyniak turn around news articles in just an hour or two. This means residents get information about their local government faster, and it means one less tedious task weighing down a small municipal staff.

Gray adopted a formal AI policy in the summer of 2025 that requires staff training before receiving access to AI tools and emphasizes that AI outputs must be treated as draft material requiring human review. This responsible approach recognizes that technology should augment human judgment, not replace it.

The impact goes beyond time savings. When communications staff can produce meeting summaries quickly, they have more time for community engagement, answering resident questions, and improving accessibility. Hadyniak noted that small municipalities in Maine with fewer than ten full-time staff members would particularly benefit from AI tools to handle smaller administrative tasks.

Making Our Streets Safer and More Efficient

Syracuse, New York, demonstrates how municipalities can use technology to enhance essential services while maintaining transparency and community oversight. 

For snow removal operations—a critical service in upstate New York—Syracuse’s Department of Public Works has implemented GPS fleet tracking and AI cameras on trucks. These systems don’t just monitor employees; they protect them. Cameras provide visual documentation of road conditions and can help verify crew safety and accountability. Real-time GPS tracking allows operations superintendents to optimize routes, respond to service requests more effectively, and ensure no streets get missed during storms.

Think about the worker driving a plow truck for twelve hours straight during a blizzard. That technology means their supervisor knows where they are, can send help if needed, and can verify their route is safe and efficient. It means fewer callbacks to streets that were already plowed and better coordination across the entire fleet.

Looking Forward: Smarter Services, Better Communities

The next generation of municipal AI applications will transform how cities deliver services:

Route Optimization for Waste Collection: AI can analyze traffic patterns, construction zones, and historical data to create more efficient garbage and recycling routes. Drivers spend less time in traffic, trucks use less fuel, and residents get more consistent service.

Predictive Infrastructure Maintenance: Machine learning can identify patterns in service requests and sensor data to predict when a water main might fail or when a road needs repaving—before it becomes an emergency. This helps cities budget more effectively and prevents those frustrating situations where the same street gets dug up multiple times.

Intelligent Website Navigation: Many municipal websites are difficult to navigate, especially for residents who aren’t familiar with government terminology. AI-powered search and chatbots can help residents find the right form, understand a regulation, or get connected to the correct department without spending hours clicking through menus or waiting on hold.

Smart Permitting Systems: AI can review permit applications for completeness, flag common errors, and route them to the appropriate reviewers automatically. This speeds up processing times for residents and businesses while freeing up permit staff to handle complex cases that need human expertise.

A Commitment to Our Employees

Our municipal employees didn’t sign up for endless paperwork and administrative burden. They chose public service to make a difference in their communities. We need to innovate to keep our taxes down, and every minute we can give back to our hardworking employees through smart automation is a minute they can spend on more meaningful work—and providing the personal touch that no algorithm can replicate.

As we move forward, the question shouldn’t be whether to embrace AI in municipal operations, but how to implement it responsibly in service of the dedicated people who serve our communities every day. They’ve earned our support, and technology is one more way we can show we value their contributions.

The future of municipal service isn’t about choosing between people and technology—it’s about using technology to empower people to do their best work. Our employees deserve nothing less.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Marty Grohman of Biddeford is a former Maine State representative and former mayor. He has served as the Executive Director of E2Tech, a clean energy trade association, and built a successful manufacturing business in southern Maine.

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