The Craven County Board of Commissioners will consider a new contract that will expand use of services that track citizen issues and other items on Monday. This comes after they decided to stop video recording the petition of citizens portion of the meeting on general topics and limiting comments on social media.
Two years ago, the county commissioners decided to acquire services from Polimorphic and approve a budget amendment in the amount of $10,500 during a meeting in New Bern, NC. The company specializes in “Government Customer Relations Management Systems and automation using Artificial Intelligence,” according to the meeting agenda.
The Craven County Board of Commissioners agreed to acquire services from Polimorphic and approved a budget amendment in the amount of $10,500 during a meeting in New Bern, NC on Feb. 5, 2024.
The company specializes in “Government Customer Relations Management Systems and automation using Artificial Intelligence,” according to the meeting agenda.
During the meeting, County Manager Jack Veit said he believed almost every commissioner met with Polimorphic or has demonstrated the product. He said, “In our industry there is a growing demand for public information and citizen issue tracking.” He said the product would “give it a streamline approach where that’s taken in, it’s noted there’s action on it, and it comes back to a resolution.” He also said it would allow them to track resources that go along with it.
Vice Chairman Bucher said, “While it may not save us any people at the beginning, it would probably help us not add people as we go down the road because the efficiency. It’ll be the current people will be able to do the job even as the county grows, complaints grow, whatever grows, this product will allow the current number of people. Not so much saving up front but saving as we go down the road.”
Commissioner Howard said for folks listening, “When someone calls for an issue, whether that’s recycling, trash, water, whatever, they’re still getting a person. This is only a system that’s going to allow the tracking and consumption of information in orderly fashion. I would not support one of these AIs you call up and you’re talking to some computer, and it takes you 20 minutes to get a person. That’s not what we’re talking about.”
The county manager said, “we’ll probably start with those three and then see how it goes, maybe it applies to the Sheriff’s office at some point for those folks.”
Commissioner Smith said that she saw it as “a public relations issue because people, when they ask for something to be done, they like to know that we’re listening and we do it quickly. So, when we address an issue a little quicker it builds better feelings toward the commissioners.”
Commissioner Mitchell saw it as a “tasker tracking system.”
Chairman Jones said it was just a trial to see if it works.
“Cutting-edge AI and customer service solutions”
The Craven County Board of Commissioners will consider approving a new contract with Polimophic on July 6, 2026 at 6 p.m. at the Craven County Administration Building, 406 Craven Street, New Bern, NC, according to the meeting agenda.
The proposed contract is one of six items that will be lumped into one item – the consent agenda — and voted on without discussion. The public will have an opportunity to provide input at the beginning of the meeting during the Petition of Citizens before the consent agenda is approved, according to information in the meeting packet.
The packet information says the county’s current contract is for “cutting-edge AI and customer service solutions for citizens” and the county aims to expand its use of services in fiscal year 2027, “which will require an additional $10,000 on top of the current budgeted amount of $30,000.”
An article on the tech company’s website, “Poli on the Road: Learnings from North Carolina,” says their team visited Craven, Duplin, Gaston, Pineville, Polk, Rowan counties and met with government agencies. It says there is an opportunity for “Implementing an AI voice line for inbound calls could alleviate the pressure by automatically responding to status requests or simple inquiries.” The article also talks about systems that handle “single food or Medicaid application” and said there is an “opportunity” to introduce multilingual AI and interview bots to handle intake and triage nutrition and food benefits.
NewBernNow.com reached out to the county officials earlier today and asked what services will be included in the new contract? We also asked if the Sheriff’s Office is included in the current contract?
One-way communication?
In June 2026, the Craven County government limited who can comment on their social media page. This came after they privately decided not to video record part of their public meetings — the Petition of Citizen period on general topics.
The day before America’s 250th celebration, the Craven County Sheriff’s Office decided to “temporarily disable comments on all social media posts for a 30-day evaluation period. Due to an increase in profanity, personal attacks, and conversations that do not contribute to constructive public engagement in our comment sections, we are reviewing our social media practices…,” according to the post.
AI data storage
NBN reached out to county officials and asked where the data is being stored, who has access to the information; and if there were any hyperscale data center or crypto mining facility in the works locally but have not received a response by press time.
By Wendy Card, editor. Send an email with questions or comments.