Everyday assumptions about democracy and its limitations shape alternative public participation practices and interpretation of community interests. This case study examines how participants in a multi-stakeholder visioning process designed a storytelling initiative to update their city's general plan based on community values. By framing public participation as a discursive practice, this analysis uses discourse tracing (LeGreco & Tracy, 2009) to demonstrate how participant discourses shaped communication design in enabling and constraining ways. Findings show how an autonomous city...