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In Plain Sight

Filed — JUNE 28, 2026  |  Washington, DC

The fine print of DC government, in plain sight.

Civic tools that make the fine print of DC government easier to read, search, and trust. The laws, but also the budgets, contracts, programs, and open data.

§ 01

About

Hi, I'm Philippa! I work in government oversight. I spend my days reading the dense, fine-print documents that quietly run a city.

In Plain Sight is where I share the tools I build to make that material usable. Not just laws and regulations, but procurement, programs, budgets, and the open data behind them. The rules that govern us should be readable by the people they govern.

Everything here is built for the District, in the open, and mostly for the joy of it. The tools are made to be forked, so other cities can build their own. If something helps, breaks, or you just want to say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

§ 02

The Index

3 entries
  1. 01

    DC Laws — But Better

    In the works

    A friendlier way to read, search, and track the District's laws and regulations. See what changed, when, and why, without needing a law degree.

    LawRegulationChange-trackingOpen data
  2. 02

    On the workbench

    Coming soon

    Another tool is taking shape on the workbench. Same idea as always: take something dense and official, and make it make sense. I'll share it once it's useful.

    Coming soon
  3. 03

    Your idea here?

    Coming soon

    Got a document, dataset, or rulebook that should be easier to use? Or want your own In Plain Sight for another city? I'd love to hear about it!

    Open invite
§ 03

Foundations

2 sources

I didn’t build In Plain Sight in a vacuum. It’s made to sit alongside the civic tools people are already building for DC. Josh Jacobson’s open explorers for the District’s budget and regulations are part of the foundation I built this on and around. Where his tools already make a corner of DC legible, I link out to them instead of rebuilding what already works.

  1. DC Budget Explorer

    Built by Josh Jacobson

    An interactive walk through the District’s proposed budget. Agencies, Council committees, federal grants, procurement, and line items, with the whole dataset downloadable in one file.

    BudgetOpen data
    Visit

  2. DCMR Explorer

    Built by Josh Jacobson

    A searchable, browsable copy of the complete DC Municipal Regulations, every title, chapter, and section. It turns a sprawling legal code into something you can actually find your way around.

    RegulationsLegal record
    Visit

More of Josh’s DC tools, from zoning to elections to the city’s pools, at districtjosh.com ↗