Guide
Lancaster’s AI Blueprint for Resident Engagement That Actually Delivers
Author: Mary Frances Coryell, CGCIO
Mary Frances Coryell stands at the forefront of government technology as Chief Revenue Officer at Citibot, an AI-powered chat solutions leader serving government agencies nationwide. She brings nearly a decade of experience driving municipal digital transformation and fostering trust between governments and residents. Coryell's work has facilitated data-driven improvements across California and beyond, earning recognition for advancing innovation in resident engagement, accessibility, and operational efficiency.
Key Summary
This white paper shares what the City of Lancaster learned while implementing Citibot Ask Andy across city operations. Working directly with Larissa De La Cruz, Assistant City Manager, and Patti Garibay, Community Development Director, the Lancaster team discovered that AI chat works when treated as infrastructure for staff to use, not as a replacement for them. Over months following launch, departments embraced the technology, residents accessed information around the clock, and data emerged about what the community actually needs. This paper offers concrete recommendations for other city and county managers considering similar moves: five key practices that made the difference in Lancaster and why they matter for your agency.
Key Conclusion
Staff concerns about job displacement disappear when employees are brought into the design process and see firsthand that AI chat amplifies their impact. Transparent communication with each department head moves organizations from skepticism to genuine enthusiasm. The real magic happens when you connect the chatbot to your outdated content problem, using resident questions to identify what needs refreshing first. Multilingual support directly addresses equity and reveals community composition data you cannot get any other way. Finally, measure what matters most: volume of questions handled after hours, languages spoken, and categories residents care about, so you can justify investment and plan improvements strategically.
Key Quote
“When you can deliver on the wild idea that your council had, it is the most beautiful feeling in the world."
This sentiment captures why we championed Citibot's deployment in Lancaster and why this story matters for government agencies everywhere. The idea of an AI system answering calls in the mayor's own voice, connecting residents with information any time of day, seemed bold at first. Then it became real.
In 2024, the City of Lancaster faced a challenge that resonates across municipal governments everywhere. Residents struggled to find current information on the city website. Staff answered the same questions repeatedly, shift after shift. There was no easy way for residents to reach the city after office hours or on weekends. Mayor Rex Paris and the council pushed the organization to innovate. With a Deputy Mayor of Innovation and Technology and a genuine commitment to making the government feel modern and accessible, Lancaster decided to explore an AI chat solution.
"Integrating Citibot changed everything we do."
The city wanted technology that could serve all residents, including the many who speak languages other than English at home. Citibot's approach resonated because it promised integration with existing systems, real time translation across 75 languages, and most importantly, a way to augment staff work rather than replace it. Ask Andy, the chatbot, went live on Lancaster's website and opened up entirely new ways for residents to interact with city government. What surprised the team most was not the technology itself, but the organizational change that followed.
RECOMMENDATION ONE: Bring staff in from the start
The biggest internal concern Lancaster faced was straightforward and honest. Staff feared the chatbot would eliminate their jobs. In government, this concern runs deep because many employees measure their value by the work they do, the calls they handle, and the residents they serve. Lancaster addressed this head on by treating staff as partners, not obstacles.
The city asked each department head to nominate a point person, a representative who would help test the chatbot, shape its responses, and serve as the internal champion in their department. These individuals became invested in Ask Andy's success. They tested the system with real questions, flagged errors, and refined answers so they reflected how city staff would actually respond. Training sessions explained not just the mechanics of the tool, but why it was built and how it would change what teams could accomplish.
What shifted everything was when staff saw the chatbot in action. Larissa noted that the initial concern among staff was direct: "Will I be replaced by a bot?" But as implementation progressed and staff began to understand their role in shaping the tool, that fear transformed. "Through collaboration, it went from fear to pride," Larissa observed. Staff began to recognize that answering basic questions is exactly the kind of repetitive work that AI excels at, freeing people to do complex, judgment driven work that requires a human touch.
"What we've realized is that Citibot actually helps augment the things that we do, providing insight into common questions and allowing us to streamline information"
Lancaster noted. A permitting specialist can now spend time guiding residents through complicated applications rather than answering the tenth caller of the day asking where to submit forms. A community services representative can focus on residents with real problems, knowing that Ask Andy is handling the volume of calls about holiday closures and program hours. Patti added a crucial observation: "There wasn't any additional work that our staff needed to do."
For your agency: Before launch, meet with every department head. Show them how many routine questions their team answers each week. Be specific about goals: reducing hold times, extending service access, not cutting staff. Ask for their help in testing and training. Make them agents of change rather than subjects of it. When staff see they are shaping the tool rather than being replaced by it, resistance transforms into advocacy.
RECOMMENDATION TWO: Fix your content problem while implementing the chatbot
Lancaster discovered something crucial during preparation. The chatbot is only as good as the information it draws from, and much of the city's website content was outdated or buried under layers of pages. When Ask Andy ingested the site, it revealed a problem that had been creeping up for years.
"We discovered how outdated our website information was, doing our residents a disservice and creating frustration."
This became an unexpected opportunity. Rather than just launching a chatbot, Lancaster launched a content refresh. The city looked at which pages Ask Andy was pulling from most frequently, which questions appeared most often in chat logs, and where accessibility issues appeared. This data told them exactly where to focus limited resources. A section of the website getting hundreds of duplicate questions in the chatbot became a priority for updating and clarifying language.
Lancaster prioritized pages that drove the most traffic, affected the most residents, and had the most outdated information. The result was a website that worked better for everyone, not just chatbot users. Citibot helped by using AI to flag redundant information, inconsistent tone, and compliance issues across the site automatically. Instead of time intensive manual review, the city got a roadmap for improvements.
For your agency: Do a content audit before or immediately after launching your chatbot. Ask the vendor to show you data on which pages the bot is pulling from most. Treat content refresh as part of implementation, not a separate project. Use the chatbot data to make the case for IT resources to support this work. You will find that stakeholders are more willing to invest in updating a page when they can see it is generating dozens of duplicate calls. The data transforms abstract complaints into concrete evidence.
RECOMMENDATION THREE: Leverage multilingual capability as an equity tool and data source
Lancaster is a diverse city. Residents speak English, Spanish, Armenian, and dozens of other languages at home. Historically, the ability to serve those residents in their preferred language depended on hiring bilingual staff or scrambling to find translation services, both resource intensive and imperfect solutions.
Citibot's real time translation across 75 languages changed this entirely. Residents can now type in Spanish, Armenian, or any of dozens of other languages, and Ask Andy responds in that language, including official documents and PDFs. The city does not need translators on staff. The content stays in English on the backend, but residents access it in their own language instantly. This is not just a convenience, it is a commitment to equity in action.
"This transformation has empowered City of Lancaster residents to access vital information anytime, alleviating common frustrations and ensuring better service delivery."
The data from this capability is equally valuable. The city can now see which languages residents are using to interact with city services. If a spike occurs in Armenian language queries about a particular service, that tells them they need to ensure materials in that language and possibly adjust how they reach out to that community. Lancaster discovered gaps in service accessibility they did not even know existed. The multilingual data became a lens through which to see their own community composition and service gaps.
For your agency: Make sure multilingual support is a priority from day one, not a phase two feature. Ask your vendor to show you language usage data in your community so you can understand where the need is greatest. Use this data when presenting to your council and community about digital equity. Multilingual residents notice immediately when the government starts speaking their language, and it builds real trust. The equity argument is compelling; the data argument is decisive.
RECOMMENDATION FOUR: Build data governance into your operations
One of the most powerful aspects of Ask Andy has been the data it generates about resident behavior and city service gaps. Every question asked, every language spoken, every time of day a resident reaches out, all of this becomes a permanent record of community needs in action. This is civic data at its most granular and honest.
Lancaster now tracks questions by volume, language, and category. This data has driven decisions about everything from website updates to community outreach campaigns. When the city sees large numbers of residents asking about a specific program in multiple languages, that tells them their outreach is insufficient or their program pages are confusing. When the volume of after hours requests for a particular service spikes, that signals where they might need to extend hours or automate more functions.
The key is building this into regular operations. Do not treat chatbot data as a one off report that sits in a folder. Have someone responsible for reviewing it monthly. Share summary findings with department heads so they understand how their services look from the resident perspective.
"Understanding what residents want to know, when, and how they ask about it is crucial for driving data governance and proactive service delivery." Use the data to make the case for content updates, staffing changes, and budget priorities.
RECOMMENDATION FIVE: Design the rollout to show quick wins
When Lancaster launched Ask Andy, the team did not expect overnight transformation, but they did expect to see results that mattered to staff and residents quickly. The city focused its initial rollout on the highest volume service areas, the ones where residents call most often with straightforward questions.
Permitting, park hours, trash collection, facility hours, event information, these became the initial focus for Ask Andy. The city wanted staff in these areas to see immediate relief from the volume of routine inquiries. They wanted residents to experience the difference of getting an instant answer at 9 p.m. on a Saturday rather than waiting until Monday morning. Both constituencies needed to feel the value early. The phased approach worked. After the first few weeks, when staff and residents could see the benefit, Ask Andy's reach expanded across more departments and more complex services. This built momentum and gave the team time to refine responses and resolve issues.
For your agency: Launch with your highest volume, most straightforward services first. Show quick wins. Let word of mouth build enthusiasm. Do not try to integrate every system on day one. Give staff a few weeks to see the benefit before asking them to feed data into the chatbot or change their workflows. This phased approach builds trust and momentum for the harder work ahead. The psychology of early success matters more than you might think.
What comes next for Lancaster and the broader opportunity
Lancaster is excited about the possibilities ahead. The city is exploring deeper integration with its service request system so residents can not only ask questions but submit permits and service requests directly through Ask Andy. The team is testing voice capabilities so residents can call a city number and talk to Ask Andy in natural language, with complex questions routed to staff automatically. They are expanding to text messaging so residents who prefer that channel can reach the city there too. Each extension starts with the same principle: meet residents where they are, in the way they prefer to communicate.
The real success at Lancaster has not been the technology itself, but how it has changed the relationship between the city and its residents and among city staff. Lancaster is more responsive. The city is more equitable in how it serves people who speak different languages. Information gaps are clearer and easier to address. The city is building a culture where data about residents shapes how decisions are made. That culture shift is what matters most.
FOR YOUR AGENCY: The blueprint and why it works
The Lancaster blueprint is not a rigid plan but an invitation. Every government agency has its own constraints, culture, and community. But the core ingredients visible here are within reach of any city or county ready to let AI help deliver on the ambitious ideas that residents and councils bring to the table.
Start with your people. Bring staff in from the start. Make them agents of change, not subjects of it. Fix your information. Let resident questions guide content updates and priorities. Put equity at the center. Multilingual support is not nice to have, it is how you serve all residents. Measure what matters. Use the data to understand your community and justify investment. Let quick wins build momentum. Do not try to do everything on day one.
If Lancaster can do this in a city of 170,000 with finite resources and all the complexity that comes with government work, your city can too. The wild ideas your council has about serving residents better are only as good as the people and systems you put behind them. Citibot helped Lancaster build that foundation. We hope this paper helps you build yours.
The future of government is not about replacing staff with technology. It is about giving staff better tools to focus on the work that matters most: serving residents with dignity, accessibility, and responsiveness. That is the promise of AI resident engagement done right. That is what Lancaster is proving is possible.