A factual account of what happened, what didn't, and what's been corrected since.
Setting the Record Straight: CiviClick, AI, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District Campaign
Summary
In February 2026, a Los Angeles Times investigation accused CiviClick of using artificial intelligence to flood the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) with fake or inauthentic public comments. The accusation is not accurate. AI was not used on that campaign. Every message reflected a real person who filled out a form, reviewed the content, and chose to put their name on it.
The story has been used to push California Senate Bill 1159, a new state law that would create penalties for AI-generated comments to government agencies. CiviClick publicly supports SB 1159 and the transparency goals behind it. The CiviClick platform already complies with what the bill proposes.
On April 8, 2026, Tribune Content Agency, the syndicate that distributes Los Angeles Times editorial board columns to newspapers nationwide, issued a formal correction to the column that drove most of the second-wave coverage. Tribune asked publications that ran the column to correct or remove it. Santa Monica Next was the first to append a formal editor's note acknowledging CiviClick's position.
This page exists so that anyone researching CiviClick, the SCAQMD campaign, or California SB 1159 can find the on-record facts in one place.
What CiviClick Does
CiviClick is a nonpartisan grassroots advocacy software platform headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in Los Angeles. The platform helps organizations build campaign pages where real constituents can contact their elected officials and regulatory bodies with personalized messages. CiviClick serves clients across the political spectrum, including corporations, trade associations, nonprofits, conservative groups, and progressive groups.
The product is straightforward. A client sets up a campaign page. Real people visit the page. They fill out a form with their name, address, and phone number. They review a message about a policy issue. They choose whether to put their name on it. If they do, the message is sent to the appropriate official or agency. If they don't, nothing happens. No message is generated, modified, or sent without a real person actively choosing to take that action.
CiviClick has been recognized with multiple AAPC, Pollie, and Reed Awards for advocacy technology. Founder and CEO Chazz Clevinger is a thirteen-year veteran of civic technology and previously served at the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives.
What Actually Happened With the SCAQMD Campaign
In the spring of 2025, the South Coast Air Quality Management District was considering proposed regulations that would have imposed new fees on gas furnace and water heater installations across roughly ten million households in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and Los Angeles counties. The proposed fees would have raised the cost of replacing or installing standard household heating equipment for working families across Southern California.
Over approximately six months, thousands of Southern California residents used a CiviClick-built campaign page to communicate with the SCAQMD board about the proposed rules. The workflow was simple. A user came to the campaign page. The user filled out a form with their real name, address, and phone number. The user reviewed a pre-written letter explaining concerns about the proposed rules. The user chose whether to put their name on the letter and submit it. Each message was the choice of a real person who took the time to engage.
The proposed rules failed in a 7-5 vote at the SCAQMD board meeting in May 2025.
Who Opposed the SCAQMD Rules
The opposition to the proposed SCAQMD rules was broad and would have existed regardless of any technology platform. The coalition opposing the rules independently of CiviClick included:
- Nearly 40 local governments across the SCAQMD service area
- A Democratic candidate for governor of California
- Approximately 100 business and community organizations
- The United States Attorney for the Central District of California The federal involvement is a detail that is largely missing from most published accounts.
The day before the SCAQMD board vote, U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli sent the board chair a written warning that his office was prepared to file a federal civil action if the proposed rules passed in their current form. Multiple SCAQMD board members publicly cited the federal threat as a factor in their 7-5 decision to reject the rules.
The picture of the SCAQMD vote that emerges from the public record is not a story about a technology platform manipulating a regulatory outcome. It is a story about a regulatory proposal that drew unusually broad opposition from local governments, advocacy organizations, businesses, federal officials, and the residents who would have paid the new fees.
The AI Question, Answered Directly
The core accusation in the original Los Angeles Times investigation was that CiviClick used artificial intelligence to generate or personalize the messages submitted to SCAQMD. That accusation is not accurate.
To be precise: AI was not used on the SCAQMD campaign. No artificial intelligence, no machine learning, and no automated text generation touched the messages submitted in that workflow. The messages were written by the consultants running the campaign. Advocates filled out a form with their name, address, and phone number. They reviewed the pre-written letter. They chose whether to put their name on it. There was no dynamic personalization. There was no AI tool generating message variants. There was no machine learning identifying or targeting individuals. Each submission required an affirmative action by a real human.
We understand where some of the confusion comes from. The CiviClick platform does offer AI-powered message personalization as a product feature, which the company markets publicly. The platform's AI tools allow clients to deploy custom-question architectures that adapt message language based on user input. That capability exists today. It is part of how the platform works.
But the existence of an AI capability is not the same as the use of an AI capability on a specific campaign. The SCAQMD campaign did not use AI personalization in its workflow. The messages were static, pre-written by the consultants, and submitted by real people who reviewed them.
CiviClick has communicated this distinction in writing to multiple reporters since February 2026. Some of those reporters have updated their stories. Some have not.
The Tribune Content Agency Correction
On April 8, 2026, Tribune Content Agency, the national syndicate that distributes Los Angeles Times editorial board columns to newspapers across the United States, issued a formal correction to the column that has driven most of the second-wave coverage of the SCAQMD story. The column had falsely attributed AI use to a separate California advocacy campaign that never used artificial intelligence at all.
Tribune asked every publication that had run the column to correct or remove it. Some have. Notably, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published a corrected version of the column, which is publicly available at star-telegram.com/opinion/us-viewpoints/article315344445.html.
The Los Angeles Times itself has not issued a correction to its original news investigation or its editorial board column at the time of this writing.
Outlets That Have Updated Their Coverage
The shift in the public record is ongoing. As of the publication of this page:
- Santa Monica Next appended a "Story Update" on April 15, 2026, acknowledging that CiviClick disputes the AI characterization and linking to the Star-Telegram corrected version. Santa Monica Next was the first outlet to formally append an editor's note.
- Multiple Tribune affiliate newspapers that ran the syndicated editorial column have either corrected the piece or removed it from their archives following the April 8 Tribune correction.
- Additional correction conversations are in progress with national and regional outlets that originally covered the story.
We update this page periodically as additional outlets append corrections or editor's notes.
CiviClick's Position on California SB 1159
California Senate Bill 1159 would create new penalties for AI-generated public comments submitted to state agencies. The bill was introduced the day after the Los Angeles Times investigation was published.
CiviClick publicly supports SB 1159 and the transparency goals behind it. The CiviClick platform is already in compliance with what the bill proposes. Our position is that transparency around AI use in civic engagement is a reasonable and appropriate framework, and that civic technology platforms should support that transparency rather than resist it.
Our concern with the legislative discussion around SB 1159 is narrower. It is that the underlying factual record being used to argue for the bill has, in part, been formally corrected by the original publisher's syndicator, and that California legislators considering the bill should have access to the corrected record before final passage. That is a procedural concern, not a policy disagreement.
Why This Page Exists
CiviClick is a real company with real clients, real employees, and a real product. The platform serves diverse organizations across the partisan spectrum. The mischaracterization of the SCAQMD campaign has the potential for real reputational damage that could adversely affect our ability to serve those clients and continue building the product.
This page is intended to provide accurate, on-record information for anyone researching CiviClick, the SCAQMD campaign, California SB 1159, AI in public comments, or the broader question of how civic technology platforms work. It is not a press release. It is not a marketing document. It is a factual record.
If you are a reporter, researcher, legislator, or member of the public with questions, the company welcomes inquiries. Contact information is at the bottom of this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. AI was not used on the SCAQMD campaign. The messages were written by the consultants running the campaign. Advocates filled out a form with their name, address, and phone number, reviewed the pre-written message, and chose whether to put their name on it. There was no AI, no machine learning, and no automated text generation in that workflow.
Yes. The CiviClick platform offers AI-powered message personalization as a product feature. That capability exists today and the company markets it publicly. The distinction is between the existence of a capability and its use on a specific campaign. The SCAQMD campaign did not use AI personalization in its workflow.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District was considering proposed regulations that would have imposed new fees on gas furnace and water heater installations across approximately ten million households in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and Los Angeles counties. The board voted 7-5 to reject the proposed rules.
Nearly 40 local governments, a Democratic candidate for governor of California, roughly 100 business and community organizations, and the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California all opposed the rules independently of CiviClick. U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli sent the SCAQMD board chair a written warning the day before the vote threatening federal civil action if the rules passed.
California Senate Bill 1159 would create new penalties for AI-generated public comments to state agencies. CiviClick publicly supports SB 1159 and the transparency goals behind it. The CiviClick platform is already in compliance with what the bill proposes.
On April 8, 2026, Tribune Content Agency issued a formal correction to the Los Angeles Times editorial column that had driven much of the second-wave coverage of the SCAQMD story. The correction acknowledged that the column had falsely attributed AI use to a separate California advocacy campaign. Tribune asked publications that ran the column to correct or remove it.
No. As of the publication of this page, the Los Angeles Times has not issued a correction to its original February 2026 news investigation or its April 2026 editorial board column.
Yes. Santa Monica Next appended a formal "Story Update" on April 15, 2026, acknowledging CiviClick's position. Multiple Tribune affiliate newspapers have corrected or removed the syndicated editorial. Additional correction conversations are in progress.
Chazz Clevinger is the founder and chief executive officer of CiviClick. He is a thirteen-year veteran of civic technology and previously served at the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. He has been recognized with multiple AAPC, Pollie, and Reed Awards for advocacy technology.
The Tribune-corrected version of the relevant editorial column is publicly available at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The Santa Monica Next Story Update is publicly available at santamonicanext.org. The U.S. Attorney's pre-vote warning letter to the SCAQMD board chair is a matter of public record. Reporters or researchers seeking additional documentation are welcome to contact the company directly.
On the Record: Chazz Clevinger, Founder and CEO
“CiviClick is a nonpartisan advocacy technology platform. AI was not used on the SCAQMD campaign referenced in the LA Times investigation. Thousands of working Californians used the CiviClick platform over approximately six months to send messages to the SCAQMD about proposed regulations that would have raised the cost of household furnaces and water heaters. Each person filled out a form, reviewed the message, and chose to send it. The proposed rules were genuinely controversial. Nearly 40 local governments, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, roughly 100 business and community organizations, and U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli of the Central District of California all opposed the rules independently of CiviClick. Multiple SCAQMD board members cited the federal threat of legal action as a factor in their 7-5 vote. I personally support California SB 1159 and the transparency goals behind it, and the CiviClick platform is already in full compliance with the proposed law.”
About CiviClick
CiviClick is a nonpartisan grassroots advocacy software platform headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in Los Angeles. The platform helps organizations build campaign pages where real constituents contact their elected and regulatory officials with personalized messages. CiviClick serves clients across the political spectrum, including corporations, trade associations, nonprofits, and issue advocacy organizations. Founded in 2023 by Chazz Clevinger, the company has been recognized with multiple AAPC, Pollie, and Reed Awards for advocacy technology.
For media inquiries, please contact our communications team through the Contact page.