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In Plain Sight

AUGUST 9, 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, trust, and work for you. Laws, budgets, contracts, programs, services, open data, with more always on the way.

§ 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

6 entries
  1. 01

    DC Rentals

    Live

    Plain Sight Rentals — a renter's operating system for the DC, Maryland, and Virginia market. Personalized listing sweeps scored on your priorities, an application packet built before you tour, plain-language tenant-rights coaching keyed to your jurisdiction, and outreach drafted in your voice. The rental process favors owners; this evens it up.

    RentersTenant rightsHousingDMV
    Open
  2. 02

    DC Trash

    Live

    Trash Tracker — check your DC trash and recycling pickup day, see live DPW delays, and report a missed collection. Piloting in ANC 1E03, built to grow.

    DPWTrashANC 1E03Open data
    Open
  3. 03

    DC Laws

    In the works

    DC Laws — But Better: 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
  4. 04

    DC Records

    Live

    DC Inform+ — a plain-language window on the District's records-retention rules: how long each kind of government record must be kept, and when it can be destroyed or sent to the Archives. Browsable, filterable, free to download, no login. The first tool graduating from a wider build that mirrors the UK's LG Inform Plus for DC.

    RecordsRetentionOpen dataOversight
    Open
  5. 05

    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
  6. 06

    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 ↗