09/01/2026
Hi everyone, I am being put in a position to take this public, so please be patient with me here.
I’ve been blocked for disagreeing with an organization’s continued use of AI, that is fundamentally hurting the businesses they exist to serve. This organization also takes Beaverton city tax dollars so there is an extra layer of transparency needed.
To give a little backstory, there is an organization called “Downtown Beaverton Association (BDA)” that exists to serve the community within the district my business is located in. They host a few annual events, maybe you are familiar with some of them, like Boba-dash and Boo-verton.
When we opened, we did feel support from the current director, at that time. They have had high turnover of directors since and the ones who followed, we never felt support or inclusion. Mutts has always been an outsider, metaphorically, and physically but physically we are located on a very quiet street so when we did see a representative of BDA, it felt like an obligation more than anything. Like checking something off a to-do list. They’d historically gravitate to their “favorite” coffeeshop and restaurant, evidenced by their social media posts.
Our last collaboration was the Beyond the Labels event and it was a complete disaster with us having to do all of the communication pushes to make the event happen, even though BDA was suppose to help facilitate the marketing.
After that, I unfollowed BDA on social media and went my own way.
Recently, I started seeing posts from peers that BDA was using AI and that when they tried to speak up, their comments would be deleted or the comment section would be disabled.
Yesterday, Evelyn for Beaverton shared a post and you can read the comments exchanged there if you’d like.
There has been so much feedback, not just in the comment section, but emails have been sent and yet they continue to use AI, just as recent as this morning.
Instead of acknowledging our concerns, BDA blocked my business account. At first I thought, maybe they just temporarily disabled their account while they congregate and discuss solutions. No, their account is very much active, it’s me who can’t access it
