Published 5:00 am Saturday, September 12, 2026
Contractors for the city of Beaverton will soon be reminded of the city’s rules around using generative artificial intelligence.
(Kalena O’Connell/The Times)
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Contractors for the city of Beaverton will soon be reminded of the city’s rules around using generative artificial intelligence.
Beaverton Mayor Lacey Beaty is moving to close the gap on how AI is used by those who do business with the city following some downtown businesses protesting a local business advocacy group for AI use in its advertising.
The city adopted a policy on the subject in October 2024 stating parameters city staff — and anyone who does business in the city — must follow. However, city officials want to make sure everyone is clear regarding what those rules are and who they include.
Recently, business owners operating Mutts Coffee Roasters and Syndicate Wine Bar have publicly objected to the Beaverton Downtown Association’s creation and use of AI images.
One example is the illustration of Beverly the Beaver, which the organization has used over the years in its advertising. They also objected to depictions of food created for a “Streets Eats” poster, that the association — a nonprofit focused on revitalizing, promoting and preserving the historic core of downtown Beaverton — created.
“Our concern is simple: Generative AI has no place for an organization touting its support of local artists,” David Anderson, Syndicate Wine Bar co-owner wrote in an email. “The hypocrisy couldn’t be any more glaring.”
Kirsten Agard, board chair of the Downtown Beaverton Association, doesn’t dispute many of the AI-use accusations but issued several caveats, saying Beverly the Beaver was based on an illustration created by a local artist with Al-assisted Adobe tools used only for “sharpening and colorization.”
“The original Street Eats poster was created using generative AI after volunteer design support fell through close to the event deadline,” she wrote in an email. “A subsequent Street Eats post was created in Canva using actual food photos from the participating restaurants.”
An online program, Canva provides graphic design platforms using premade templates and stock photos with optional artificial intelligence tools that can be used.
Everyone needs to know AI parameters
Recently, Mayor Beaty posted a video telling viewers that the city expects its staff to be subject matter experts in the areas they are creating content in and holds them accountable for the content they create.
“But what I think is missing as the mayor is we’ve yet not expected this of our contractors and people who are receiving municipal funds,” she said. “So I’m going to work with the city council about getting this language added to our contracts going forward.”
In a Sept. 3 phone interview, Beaty said she plans on bringing up the matter at the Tuesday, Sept. 15, Beaverton City Council meeting, asking the interim city manager to make sure anyone who is contracting with the city is reminded of the city’s AI policy.
Policy language says that the city’s AI policy applies to all “city elected officials, employees, contractors, consultants, interns and volunteers who may be using the city’s AI systems.”
The mayor also said she has asked the city’s top information technology employee to research what the “best practices” are for including language involving nonprofit groups and consultants when it comes to AI use.
Still, the city’s current AI policy does not prohibit the use of generative AI, but specifically spells out what must be included when using it.
In part, the policy states: “All content produced by Generative AI (writing, datasets, graphs, pictures, etc.) must be thoroughly reviewed by an individual with expertise to evaluate such content for accuracy as well as general proofing and editing.”
BDA claims social media blocks aren’t because of AI discussion
Jaclyn Leedy, co-owner at Mutts Coffee Roasters, criticized the Beaverton Downtown Association, which received more than $68,000 in city funding this fiscal year, saying the use of AI results in artists and graphic designers having their work outsourced to AI tools, adding that the whole idea of “support local” should be extended to local career artists.
“Essentially the human functions of operating a nonprofit are now being outsourced to AI which makes communication less authentic and meaningful,” Leedy said.
Meanwhile, both Anderson and Leedy claim they, along with local artists who spoke up about the AI flyers created by the Beaverton Downtown Association, were blocked from the organization’s social media accounts.
Leedy said Mutt’s has been blocked on the BDA’s Instagram account as well as others.
“I predict between 20-30 other accounts have also been blocked and some of them are longtime Beaverton residents, business owners and other key stakeholders,” Leedy said.
Agard says that isn’t true.
“The decision followed an ongoing pattern of interactions that we determined had moved beyond constructive criticism and were inconsistent with the BDA’s Community Interaction Standards,” she said. “The decision was based on conduct, not viewpoint.”
