City Council - Regular Meeting

The Albany City Council meeting at 6 p.m. May 27, 2026. I'll call the meeting to order. Will you please all join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you very much. Eric, City Quarter, can you please do a roll call?

Councillor Smith? Here. Councillor McGee?

Present.

Councillor Newton?

Hey there.

Councillor Thompson? Here. Councillor Van Drommelen?

Here.

Councillor McLeod?

Present.

Mayor Johnson?

Here. Thank you. Council, next on the agenda is item three, adoption of the consent agenda. What would you like to do there?

I'll move for the adoption of the consent agenda as presented.

Second. I have a motion in three seconds. Thank you very much. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed say no. Thank you very much, council. Next on the agenda is presentations and ceremonies. Let's go with the Republic Services first because it's such a big presentation with the police department. You okay with that, police officers? Thank you. Republic Services summer schedule adjustment. Sarah Steen, verbal. See you there somewhere? I just saw her. Okay, because yours is going to be taking a long time.

Mr. Mayor, as a point of order, can we have them be quiet outside or shut the door or something?

So Peter, you had a request as well? You had a request as well before the police? Do you have a question earlier about something before the police started? So thank you for being flexible. There's such a big department piece. I want you to have your time first. So it's a Republic Services summer schedule adjustment request. Sarah Steen, municipal manager, correct?

Yes. Hi. Good afternoon, good evening, Mayor Johnson and the rest of the council. Thank you for having me here. So in years past, Republic Services has had the opportunity to start their shifts earlier at 5 a.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day because of the heat. And for health and safety reasons, we'd like to continue this but make it more of a permanent thing from Memorial Day to Labor Day, having our 30-ish people at our Albany Hauling Company be able to start at five and end about an hour earlier. They sit in those trucks and they get warm, they're hot, And, you know, we received, you know, approval from Linn County and also the city of Lebanon. And Mayor Johnson just wanted me to come here and just let you guys know. And if there's any other questions about Republic Services and, you know, number one priority is safe, safety, and making sure our employees go home at the end of the day hydrated and ready for the next.

Council, any discussion? Councilor McLeod.

Thank you. I think safety is of the utmost importance, and I think this is a great idea. I don't think it hurts anyone. It only has benefits. So I agree. Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other councilors have anything? Thank you very much. I think that, for me, it's a safety issue. Plus, I get up at 4 o'clock in the morning anyway, so I'll be already up. Do I have a motion? Go ahead.

I move to accept the schedule adjustment to begin at 5 a.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day on an ongoing basis.

Second. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed say no. Thank you, counsel. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next on tonight's agenda, Albany Police Department 2025 Annual Awards Presentation, Chief Marsha Herndon. Pages 18 through 19 in your packet.

Good evening, council. Usually we do this presentation during police week. We missed that due to. Okay. due to the me being out of town but i love to do these uh rewards in front of council i think it's important for you all to see how well your police department is doing and performing so i will commence into that uh presentation a number of people who can't be here tonight so because this is already a marathon evening for you i'm just going to move forward with right here tonight uh first i would like to invite uh victim advocate tara williams to come up So today we recognize Tara Williams, whose dedication and compassion embody the true spirit of public service. She's our victim advocate that is supported on a grant. Since joining the Albany Police Department in 2023, Tara has supported more than 500 victims. helped secure over $79,000 in restitution for victims and created a safe and welcoming interview space for children and adults in crisis. This also includes community donations from some of our local businesses that helped equip that room. Feels more like a living room than it does an interview space. Her commitment.

You're not as loud as you think you are.

Apparently I'm not as loud as I think I am. Use my mom voice here. Her commitment extends far beyond her role. Tara has coordinated care for vulnerable community members, including individuals experiencing homelessness and those suffering from dementia, working tirelessly with families, courts and partner agencies to ensure they receive the help they need. Within the department, Tara also street does communication and well being as a trustee coordinator, which is our peer support team. It's a team of individuals that support fellow 1st responders when they experience traumatic events. She contributed to countless community events while also taking on the bias crime reporting with professionalism and integrity. So one of the things that Tara does is every time we get a bias incident or bias crime in the city of Albany, Tara makes sure that those people are connected with the court system, with Oregon Department of Justice, and get all the support that they need. Tara's compassion, leadership, and unwavering service maker and exceptional public servant. And please join me in honoring Tara Williams with this year's public service. I'm gonna drop this mic at some point tonight. For a distinguished service, I'd like to invite up our two property evidence specialists, Kaylin Berlue McCann, I think I'm butchering that again, and Gretchen Westmoreland to come forward. So not here tonight is Officer Trevor Eaton. So both Caitlin and Gretchen are responsible for about our 38,000 pieces of evidence in our storage facility. The award is presented to them for their exceptional dedication and extraordinary work on one of the highest and largest identity theft investigations our department has ever undertaken. Over more than two years, Officer Eaton demonstrated remarkable persistence and professionalism, authoring search warrants, coordinating with detectives, conducting extensive follow-up with victims across multiple jurisdictions, meticulously analyzed hours of calls to uncover critical evidence, His commitment ensured that no detail was overlooked in a case involving overwhelming volumes of fiscal and digital evidence. Richard and Caitlin played an equally vital role. Their expertise and terrorist effort in processing, organizing and presenting an enormous amount of evidence were essential to the successful prosecution of this case. Their coordination with prosecutors, defense attorneys and the courts ensure transparency, accuracy and integrity at every stage. If anything gets a police chief trouble, it's evidence issues. So these are my guardians right here. Their combined efforts are instrumental in securing guilty pleas on all three cases, bringing meaningful closure to many victims impacted by this criminal enterprise. Their diligence, teamwork, and unwavering commitment to justice exemplify the highest standard of distinguished service. Please join me in recognizing Officer Trevor Eaton, Gretchen Westmoreland, and Kaylin Berlio- I'm going to- Oh, Bolio. Bolio McCann for their outstanding contributions.

All of you, so thank you.

Next up, I'd have to have to, or it's my pleasure to introduce to come up wherever it's hiding. I'm not the shortest, but he is the tallest. So, I always like. The Lifesaver Award is presented to Detective Ben Hatley for his decisive action, calm leadership, and extraordinary compassion during the critical incident on April 4th, 2025. While traveling to an interview, Detective Hatley noticed a woman on the edge of an overpass, visibly distressed and preparing to jump. Without hesitation, he turned the vehicle around, activated the safety lights, and approached her with steady and reassuring communication. Through patience, empathy, and exceptional crisis de-escalation skills, He built trust with her enough for her to allow him and his partner to move closer and ultimately step safely back over the railing. Detective Hadley continued speaking with her until additional units of medical personnel arrived, ensuring she received immediate care and was transported to safety. This quick thinking and compassionate approach prevented a tragedy and quite literally saved a life. This incident reflects the very best of public service, Detective Hadley's courage, professionalism, and humanity. made a profound difference in this woman's life and we are proud to honor him.

I would like to invite up Sergeant Joe Claassen and Officer Justin Felty.

Uh, not attending tonight is officer Adam or pay and officer David St Pierre. They'll be presented with the police star award. This recognizes superior tactics and response as Sergeant Joe, officer, officer pay and officers here demonstrated exactly that during a higher domestic violence incident on December 26, 2025. Officers arrived to find an armed suspect who assaulted his mother threatened to kill anyone who pursued him and returned to the home with a loaded handgun facing an eminent deadly threat. This team acted with exceptional coordination, restraint and tactical precision. Sergeant class and maintain lethal cover and work to deescalate situation while communicating directly with the suspect officers felt in St. Pierre deployed tasers at critical moments and officer pay provided lead to cover to protect them. Their combined actions subdued the suspect safely, preventing what could have been a lethal encounter. Their professionalism under extreme pressure protected the victim, safeguarded the community, and preserved life in the face of a deadly threat. Their teamwork and judgment exemplify the highest standards of the Police Star Award. Please join me in recognizing Sergeant Claussen and Officer Yes, you have to take your picture.

All right.

This is a really cool award. I'd like to have Officer Lawson Setzer and his friend White Adams come up. So Officer Setzer got hired by the Albany Police Department on January, I'm sorry, September 1st, 2025. On September 6th, 2025, he and Wyatt were driving off duty when they were traveling back to Albany and came upon a major collision where both vehicles were fully engulfed in flames. And one driver remained trapped inside. Without hesitation and at great personal risk, Officer Setzer and Mr. Adams approached the burning Jeep Pulled the injured driver from the vehicle and carried him to safety officers that are providing critical care, working to keep the driver conscious until medics arrived. Although this collision resulted in heartbreaking loss of 2 other lives, their courage ensure that 1 severely injured driver did survive their willingness to run towards danger. They're calm. under pressure, and their selfless commitment to preserving life exemplify the highest standards of valor.

And we're hiring, by the way.

We are proud to honor Officer Setzer and Wyatt Adams with this Lifesaving Award. And as a side note, I travel this road on a daily basis. I see the burn marks every day and am always reminded of the awesome thing that you did to save lives. All right, I'd like to invite Officer Jim Estes up and Officer Beth Huber up. These are events from December 20th of 2024, reflect both extraordinary heroism and extraordinary sacrifice. During a call involving a man running in and out of traffic on Pacific Boulevard, officers Estes and Officer Huber encountered a violent, unpredictable individual who posed an immediate danger to the public and the officers themselves. As they attempted to detain him for everybody's safety, the subject became aggressively combative. In the struggle, he fell directly onto Officer Huber's leg, breaking her ankle and pinning her beneath him. Despite severe pain and inability to stand, she continued to fight. dragging herself towards officer Estes to help as subjects struck her repeatedly, including a blow to the back of her head. Officer Estes faced the subject alone while sustaining multiple punches to his face, neck, head and shoulders. Even after being knocked to the ground, he continued to engage the subject, protecting his injured partner and public. Officer Huber, still on her knees, deployed the taser to give Officer Estes a critical moment to regain his footing. Ultimately, with the help of committee members who stopped to assist, Officer Estes was able to bring the subject into custody. Officer Huber's injuries were severe, requiring surgery and months of rehabilitation. And I'll recall going to the hospital that night and looking at her in the hospital bed. She probably doesn't remember, she was pretty high at the time. And her ankle was headed in a direction that doesn't normally match expectations. So she did have several surgeries, but her courage, perseverance, and refusal to quit, even while seriously injured, reflect the highest standards of service. For her sacrifice and the injury sustained in the line of duty, she is awarded the Purple Heart. Officer Estes' actions were performed under great personal risk and in presence of imminent danger and in the defense of both his partner and community. His bravery, determination, and willingness to continue the fight despite his own injuries make him highly deserving of the Battle of Valor. Please join me in recognizing both Officer Estes and Officer Huber for their work. I would next like to invite Sergeant Sam Pasuma to come forward. Sergeant Pasuma has demonstrated exceptional leadership and professionalism throughout the year, influencing nearly every operational area of this department. This is Supervisor of the Year. His impact on patrol, specialized units, tactical readiness, and officer development make him an outstanding choice for this award. As the supervisor of Patrol Team D, he provided steady, confident leadership during high-stress incidents, mentored officers in ways that strengthened both individual performance and overall team capacity. His presence on critical scenes consistently brought clarity and calm. Overseeing the Community Resource Unit, He united the traffic team, school, resource officers and community engagement specialists, creating a collaborative and effective approach to community policing that strengthen connections across the department. As an assistant commander, Sergeant sets the bar for tactical excellence, his commitment to rigorous training, operational preparedness, and the team wellness has built 1 of the most capable tactical teams in the state. It's all very high regarded. He has also advanced our training programs as firearms training coordinator and defensive tactics instructor, securing improved equipment and implementing new tactics that enhance officer safety and confidence. Across every assignment, Sergeant Pasuma is the leader officer seek out. He's knowledgeable, approachable, deeply committed to their success. His influence shapes the professionalism and preparedness of the entire department. He can even coach me. In an honor, it is an honor to recognize Sam as Supervisor of the Year for his exceptional leadership and unwavering dedication to the officers and Albany community. Congratulations. Next, I'd like to invite up Officer Chris Burby. Officer Ruby has distinguished himself as 1 of the most proactive and dedicated members of the operations division. He is the operations division employee of the year throughout 2025. he's led his patrol team in both self initiated activity and primary officer responses consistently demonstrating initiative drive and unwavering commitment to public safety. His work ethic sets the tone for his team and elevates the effectiveness of the entire division. His professionalism has been recognized directly by the community, including letters from right along participants, praising his candor, his humor and respectful interactions. His ability to build rapport with people from all backgrounds strengthens both his effectiveness as an officer and the reputation of our department. Officer is supportive teammate quick to offer to help with calls encouragement during difficult moments and thoughtful insights through discussions on search and seizure law. His positive influence even contributed to the successful recruitment of a new officer who joined the team this year. Even when tasks fall outside his normal responsibilities, he completes them thoroughly and with a positive attitude. Always got a smile on his face. uh his selection as a patrol canine handler reflects his dedication to personal growth and service to the community officer burby exemplifies productivity professionalism and genuine passion for policing his contributions strengthen his team elevate the operations division and reflect the highest standards of the albany police department as i often like to tell my folks every interaction with community is an ambassadorship for the profession and how we treat people matters and he exemplifies Next, I'd like to invite up Detective Jason Camillo. He is the Support Services Division Employee of the Year. Also always a smile on his face. He's been at Cornerstone Department since 2003. You're not that old. Serving as a patrol officer, detective and firearms instructor is work ethic, investigative skill and unwavering dedication have made him 1 of the most respected members of the support services division. This year, Detective Camillo was recognized as employee of the quarter for his exceptional work and the qualities highlighted then have only continued to grow. He consistently manages multiple complex investigations at once. They're approaching each with determination and the commitment to justice. His efforts to locate a convicted offender who fled the state exemplify his persistence. Through meticulous investigative work, he tracked the suspect to California and coordinated with prosecutors to pursue extradition in that case, whereas rarely granted. Detective Camillo has also stepped up to take on child abuse and sex abuse cases during staffing shortages. Every single one of our detectives, unfortunately, has been on child abuse cases. These are some of the most demanding and emotionally difficult cases to handle that take a toll on the investigators. He accepts every assignment with positive attitude and a smile, works thoroughly, and never hesitates to support his fellow detectives. This year, he played a major role in preparing the department for a significant trial involving an officer who was severely injured in the line of duty. His follow-up work and attention to detail were instrumental in ensuring the case was ready for court. This was the case where Officer Melissa was run over and dragged by the car. This is the detective on that case. but he'll tell you this is probably all teamwork, right? Absolutely it is. He's known for his selflessness, his willingness to take on difficult tasks, his reliability as an informal leader. Prosecutors consistently praise his thoroughness and drive and his peers know him as someone they can count on at any moment. For his sustained excellence and his dedication to victims and his outstanding service throughout his career, I'm proud to honor him with 2025 Come on. I just, I just want to note, there's a, again, a few folks that are here. I'll send it off to the council. So they get the proper recognition, but you should be very proud of the police officers and the work that they do throughout the city and how they interact with our committee members and the trust that they build every day. Not just me. It's them that build that trust every day. So thank you very much. Council. We'll get out of your hair. Just give a 2nd, get out and then we'll get some pictures and I'll go back and proceed with the.

We're going to give them time to vacate the premises, and then we'll reconvene in 10 minutes. We'll reconvene at 635. Thank you for joining us at the Auburn City Council meeting, 6.35 p.m. We're back from recess. Before I get started, if you are displaying a sign, either you put them down or I'll ask you to leave the meeting. Thank you. Next on tonight's agenda, adoption of the 2026-2030 City of Albany Strategic Plan, Deputy City Manager Kayla Barber and Sarah Singer-Wilson Consulting.

Thank you, Mayor.

Pages 20 to 63 in your packet.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to just do a very quick intro here because I'm going to have Sarah Singer Wilson, our wonderful facilitator who's walked us through this entire process, really take the bulk of this presentation. But what I will note is she will go over the changes from last time. I have asked her to skip over the parts that are repetitive information you've heard before in light of the fact that we have so many people here in the room. That being said, if you do have a specific question, please do not hesitate to ask us. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to you, Sarah.

Right. Great. Thank you, Kayla. And good evening, mayor and council. Um, I'm going to share my screen so we can walk through the presentation together. And this is an exciting moment for. This process, we've made it to adoption, uh, thanks to a lot of really wonderful engagement with the community with the organization. And hopefully this strategic plan will be able to serve as an excellent roadmap for city service delivery over the next five years. So for tonight, our presentation, as Kayla mentioned, we'll keep it pretty abbreviated. There's some slides in here for the strategic plan overview. So if anyone watching or listening are interested in the details of the process, that is available online for your review. And then we'll get to what the changes are and get to adoption and next steps in here. Just the goals we're establishing the long term vision, engaging and defining values, measuring and ensuring accountability and fostering a culture of strategic management with this plan. The project timeline, this has been underway for months, and we've made it to the adoption period. So, in the plan itself, as you've seen before, it includes the mission, the vision, the values, the vision areas, the goals, and the tactical objectives. None of these things have changed since the last time you saw the plan. They all remained intact. And what did change were some descriptions to add some additional context to the content. And so I just want to touch briefly on those polls and highlight where the changes were. So the vision areas, they outline Albany's priorities for the next 10 to 20 years. They're aligned with the new mission and the vision. They're aligned with the mission and help to advance the vision. The vision areas include reliable and sustainable infrastructure, a healthy economy, safe and resilient community, and connected and engaged community. And under each of these vision areas, there are goals that have been defined, and then within each of, or for each goal, there are also some tactical objectives that help to advance those. So again, all of this remains the same, as you saw in the last presentation by my colleague Ashley Sonoff, and where we did Add some additional context. There were some questions around. We did hear a lot about. Housing affordability growth. And high density in the Albany community, and there are several things underway at the city that will help to define that process further, including 1 of the most significant things is an update of the city's comprehensive plan. I believe it's not been updated since the 80s and that's really going to be a process by which you'll be able to dig into more detail to some of these topics and so in the plan. There there's a section in there that explains some of the city's long term planning efforts and those processes, so that it's clear that. people understand their comments were heard and there's going to be additional opportunities for engagement in those areas. There's also some additional content around the services that the city provides in the realm of public safety and services for the houseless population. And so again, that additional context was provided because there was a lot of engagement around those topics. So those are really the major changes since the last time you saw the plan. For implementation, this is the next step and a very important part. The engagement got us there. We've got the plan ready for you to review and adopt if you're ready. And then staff will be ready to get things moving and get it going. With implementation, we know accountability is really important, and so we've highlighted some goals for this part of the work, including providing two-way communication with the Council and the organization regarding any updates, challenges, opportunities as implementation starts to unfold, and also progress on the goals and the objectives. Throughout the implementation process, Um, it's important to keep the goals and objectives updated and relevant. So things may shift and change again as you continue working on some of those plans, like the comp plan update. You may find some additional direction from the community, and you want to update the plan and there's through this implementation structure. There will be a process for that. It's also important to sustain the engagement and support for the plan through regular communication and keeping people a rest of any emerging issues. So that, as I mentioned, it includes the council and the organization, but also the community. Again, we heard a lot from the community, and we want to make sure that that those engagement avenues are sustained and staff is prepared to do that. And then through this structure, it's also very important again for accountability implementation and transparency. So. That's all baked into into these roles and this framework for implementation. So, uh, the implementation rules include objective leads. So, as I mentioned under in each vision area, there are goals and then there are the objectives. Each objective is assigned, uh, someone to from staff to help lead and oversee that, um, that particular objective. And, uh, that person will help to assemble a project team, develop a project charter highlighting who's involved in the project with the timelines and milestones are. Um, be able to track measures of success and identify any resources needed, uh, keep the council boards and commissions, the organization, the community engaged and updated as implementation unfolds for those particular objectives. And then be able to again, do, uh, close that feedback loop report, progress, challenges, opportunities, and recommend any updates as needed as, uh, again, as the implementation takes place. As far as Council's role in this this implementation framework and you all will be receiving updates on the plan progress approving any updates that occurred to the plan so. Those leads will keep you informed of any recommendations for updates and then counsel get a chance to review discuss and approve anything that gets changed. And most importantly service champions for the plan again, your constituents help to inform it. So we hope that you'll continue to keep your constituents informed about how. their input was used and how things are being implemented and provide updates and continue to keep that dialogue going and to help inform future strategic plan updates. City staff as a whole, the organization will be charged with being familiar with mission, vision, values, all that the plan entails. They may serve on project teams to help move things forward and work on objectives and then, you know, be receiving updates on plan progress just as council will and share input on on the overall plan and suggestions for the annual update.

How frequently would we get updates? I'm just curious in what form would they be?

Yeah, I actually think she was going to get onto it here, but we are going to be doing quarterly updates with the alongside the financial update that you've been getting on the quarterly basis. That way you can see progress on the plan versus how budget execution is going.

Okay.

Yeah, down here, you're jumping right ahead. So down here at the bottom of the slide, it highlights every year includes a quarterly strategy, quarterly strategy and financial updates. annual reports on the accomplishments, and then annual department updates. So you can anticipate that each year and each quarter. The first year will be the launch and the implementation. So the strategic plan website and dashboard is going live. this summer. Department work plans will be built spring and summer 2026, so I think those are already underway. And then you will kick off your strategic budgeting process this fall. So the timing of this plan is important. Now, you know what the needs are, and you'll be able to use this to help prioritize and allocate resources coming up this fall. You'll have a touch base for the plan in winter 2027, and then you'll be adopting your next biennial budget in spring 2027. Year 2 will be the measure and refinement process. And then year 3, you'll get into making any adjustments and and continuing to deliver on the objectives. And then as you head into year four, it'll be time to start planning the next chapter. So it's an ongoing process, which is again, nothing new to Albany. You guys have had a strategic plan in place for a long time that's helped to guide city service delivery and provide a mechanism for ongoing engagement. And I think through this iteration And just making some refinements to the process, it will allow for even stronger engagement and and strengthen accountability so that's on an ongoing basis what that process and framework looks like. One thing I'll just mention, I don't know that we'll have time to talk a lot about it tonight, but the website is available for you to check out and be able to see the dashboard that staff has been working on. There's some really great content there that walks people through the process, again, the framework of the plan, the website's just really well done, and I hope that you'll get a chance to look at it later tonight. With that, I'll just highlight next steps would be plan adoption, then celebrate, begin implementation, the website and dashboard going live, and then those work plans will be underway and in progress this summer. And then again, that kickoff for your budgeting process in the fall. So I know you have a lot of things on your agenda tonight, but I want to stop and just see if there are any questions before you all move forward with this.

Council, any questions? Councilor Newton?

Yeah, I had a constituent email me just the other day, and he was wondering about the, he said he watched the survey presentation from previously, and he saw that there was overwhelming feedback asking for more single-family housing and less multi-family housing. Will this be included in the strategic plan? And I remember, I believe that Kayla, we were talking, you said the feedback we got was 50-50. Just wanted to highlight that piece of feedback I got from my constituent.

Yeah. And now that I've had a moment to think about it, just part of what Sarah was talking about earlier with the comprehensive plan, that's really the largest land use document that we develop. And that's really the space where those conversations can go more in depth about what does that look like moving forward, single family, multifamily, all of the different options.

Okay. When should I, I would like to invite him to participate. When do you anticipate us having this discussion?

It is in the plan. I don't remember the date off of the top of my head, but it is in that first period of the strategic planning period.

Okay.

But if you look at the dashboard, you can look it up and see.

Wonderful.

It's in reliable and sustainable infrastructure.

Okay. Sounds great. I will communicate that to them. Thank you.

I have a comment.

Go ahead, please, Councilor Smith.

In response to Councilor Newton's question, you might start by sharing with your constituent the information that Matthew Rutgers sent to us a few days ago about the last- It's been placed on each of your- Okay.

You might see my, they actually, it was kind of embarrassing. They imprinted off the email I sent. I was like, oh my gosh, did I have a typo? But no, you'll see my email and then Matthew's response, because I did have some questions and feedback about that.

Any other councillors have anything? Yeah, I do. Oh, please, go ahead.

Yeah, just to jump off, not so much on that, getting into the weeds of that topic, but it's just an example of how difficult it is for the folks compiling the strategic plan, the different wants and needs. And I think they did a good job to a degree. I had my questions in the past, and I still hold to those. I think that sentiment was captured better than it has been in a while. And I think it's in there. And I think it's only the best you could hope for. It's there. They captured the sentiment fairly. And now we move on.

OK. Council, what would you like to do of motion?

I'll move to adopt the updated strategic plan as presented.

Second. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed say no. Thank you, council. Next on tonight's agenda is a public hearing. The Economic Improvement District, EID, second public hearing. I declare the public hearing open at 6.49 p.m. Does the staff have a report? Oh, no worries.

Hello. Tonight is the second public hearing for establishing an EID as required by ORS. We've talked about this before in a previous public hearing on April 22nd. The rates are remaining constant. They're the same as they have been for the last few EIDs. We send out notices as required by ORS. And basically, this is an opportunity for the public to speak. And I think we have a couple people who did sign up. But I'd be happy to answer any questions that anybody might have at this point about this, unless you would like to wait until after public testimony.

Did anybody sign up to speak, Eric? Bless you. They're going to get these folks done and then we'll bring you back up.

These two. Okay.

Let's get the person on zoom first. Is there a name? Oh, yeah. Will Valinga. You have three minutes, sir.

Hi, thank you for hearing me today. Um, I was looking at this and I typed in affordable into the document, the 82 pages of today's agenda, and I found it came up once. And so I came here today to talk about the affordability. I really appreciate the attention to the housing issue. That is, I'm really appreciative that that was brought up and I also want to emphasize when you go to address downtown that we want affordable options to have fun as well. We want affordable options to hang out with people. The best place to go have a private space where a group of people can gather is like the library. It's affordable. And you can have like a more private setting there. But that's one of the few spaces that are like that. There are a few other options for hanging out in downtown and I appreciate those spaces, but I just don't want this to be all about the economic progress of businesses. I also want this to be about community and about making sure that the community can afford and enjoy their own space. So that's the primary message that I have today is just to remember that not everyone can afford to go downtown. And enjoy everything that's downtown and that affordable Community spaces, not just places to buy things not just shops, but also Community spaces to really enjoy I think are very much needed in Albany. So that's The main thing I wanted to address i'll admit that I don't fully understand all the context of what these numbers are showing. But. I just wanted to make sure that you guys are keeping that aspect in mind. Thank you very much. Thank you.

No clapping, please. This is not a time for that. We don't do that. I'm going to go back and read the paragraph. For those who wish to testify, there will be three options available which were described in the agenda. For those who registered to speak during the public meeting, during this called upon, we've already called on one of them. We will now take comments from those who did not register to speak. So I have one more person, Lona Capacci. Did I say that right? Yeah. Bless you. Allergies? Yeah.

Good evening, Mayor Johnson and members of the City Council. My name is Alona Capacci, and in addition to my role with the Albany Visitors Association, I'm also serving as the Executive Assistant with the Albany Downtown Association. Every time I come over the Ellsworth Bridge, my heart warms a bit at coming home to Albany. In the rainy winter months, the lights and snowflakes lining downtown greet me with a sense of warmth and welcome. In the summer, as I descend off the bridge, the flower baskets glow in the sunlight and the city feels cared for, vibrant and alive. Those things don't happen by accident. They are part of the visible impact of the Economic Improvement District and the continued investment in the vitality of downtown Albany. Beyond beautification, the EID also helps support the connections that make a downtown feel like a community, from business mixers and small business support to holiday traditions, parades, and events that create memories for families and children year after year. I'd simply like to thank the city council, the mayor, and participants in the Economic Improvement District for their continued support of historic downtown Albany. We're grateful for the investment in the ongoing vitality of downtown and for the partnerships that help keep it thriving. Thank you.

Thank you. We will now take comments from those who did not register. Does any member of the audience wish to speak about this item? If so, please state your name and make your comments you may have with the City Council and provide your information at the sign-up sheet. There was any other information at the sign-up sheet?

There's no other names on here.

I have to read this paragraph again. I got ahead of myself. You're attending virtually. Turn on your camera. We've already done this. And raise your hand to be called upon. If attending by phone, please unmute yourself and state your name, and you'll be called upon. We've already heard from Mr. Valinga. Does the staff wish to respond to any of the comments received?

One thing that I did want to emphasize is that this is a voluntary program. Property owners have the opportunity to opt out until the second hearing is completed. So currently we have about 22% of remonstrances. If there are more than 33%, then the district does not move forward. Again, it's voluntary. Property owners have the opportunity to opt out.

Thank you. I declare this public hearing closed at 6.56 PM. Does the council wish to discuss an item or ask additional questions of the staff? There is an ordinance for your consideration on pages 66 through 72 on the council packet. Will the city attorney please read the ordinance in title only?

An ordinance establishing the Downtown Economic Improvement District for July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2029.

Is there a motion to read the ordinance a second time in title only? Second. We have a motion and a second. Will the city recorder do a roll call? We can go ahead and vote. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed say no. Will the city recorder do a roll call vote? Wait, hold on.

Can you do it?

We're voting just to read the ordinance a second time, correct?

Right. I'm asking for a roll call because some people online have said they couldn't hear.

So will the city recorder do a roll call vote? Councilor Smith? Yes. Councilor McGee? Yep. Councilor Newton? Yes. Councilor Thompson? Yes. Councilor Van Grimmelen?

Aye.

Councilor McLeod?

Aye.

Was that unanimous? That was unanimous. Thank you. Will the city attorney please read the ordinance a second time on title only?

An ordinance established in the Downtown Economic Improvement District for July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2029. Is there a motion to adopt the ordinance?

So moved. And a second? We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you. Will the city recorder do a roll call vote, please?

Can there be any discussion?

Yeah, it would be proper to call for discussion.

Yeah. Yeah, I just want to make a comment. Will, I didn't catch Will's last name. I do think there is a kind of a connection. I know that there is. Will?

The first person that's Will?

Yes, Will. I did not catch his last name. I apologize.

Belinga. B-E-L-L-I-N-G-A.

Okay. I understand that having a healthy downtown is about making sure that it feels like a more welcoming space for everyone. for people to gather, spend time, participate in community life, not just go and spend money. I want to make sure that we continue. I know this is an effort of our downtown to make sure that people do not feel like they're priced out or that they continue to feel welcomed. So I feel like that is addressed in the EID, which is why I'm also very, I'm supportive of it. Just want to be clear, that is a goal of what this will be accomplishing.

Any other discussion? THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK. SO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, SAY AYE. AYE. THOSE OPPOSED, SAY NO. Will the city recorder do a roll call voice vote, please?

Councillor Smith?

Yes.

Councillor McGee? Yes. Councillor Newton?

Yep.

Councillor Thompson? Yes. Councillor Van Drommelen?

Aye.

Councillor McLeod?

Aye.

Motion passes.

Thank you. Mr. Mayor? Yes. As a point of parliamentary order, if your intention is to have us do a roll call vote, you don't have to call for the voice vote first. You can just call for a roll call vote.

Thank you for that. Here we go. Next on the agenda, item six is public comment. Has anyone signed up to speak?

Maybe one or two people.

So if you signed up to speak, and if you sent public comment, if you sent your information in, please do not sit and read a letter. We have a lot of people to get through. Make your important points, and we'll move on to the next person. OK? Thank you. OK. Oh, Lord. OK. All right. So Mr. Robert Morikow, are you online? He's not there? Okay, Elizabeth Rapp. I think she signed up for the earlier one we did with ARA.

She was here at ARA, correct.

Yeah, okay. John Schoenhals. Please state your name. John Schoenhals. Well, let me read my statement first, okay? I got a lot going on here today. Public comment is the time for residents to speak and for councilors to listen. The council won't discuss topics, respond to questions, or make decisions during public comment, but will take comments and requests under advisement. All persons in attendance at the public meeting should avoid conduct which is unreasonably loud, disruptive, or profane, rude, slanderous, or threatening remarks will not be permitted. Whistling, yelling, foot stomping, clapping, and displaying signs or speak out in order will not be permitted. Speakers are limited to three minutes and must follow the council's rules and observe the same standards of decorum. If able to do so, you'll be asked to step down and take a seat in the audience for the rest of the meeting. or moved if necessary. When we get to the microphone, please give your name and state whether or not you live in the city of Albany.

I'm John, and I live in the city of Albany. Thank you, John. I live and work in Albany, and I'm a veteran of the United States Army, and I'm here to speak against Flock. In addition to the law enforcement database, Flock collects their own database of anonymized data. This data consists of all the photos and videos taken by Flock cameras stripped of some identifying information like time, date, and location if FLOC is treating the data properly. We have no way of knowing if they are. FLOC says they use this data to train their identification software. But this is also all the data someone would need to build a profile on you with the click of a button. They'll know where you drive and what time of day, if there were others in the vehicle, where you stopped, and who else was there. And every FLOC camera adds to this database. Why would we trust any government agency with this level of mass surveillance, let alone a private corporation? And because Flock has this data, federal agencies can get a hold of it when they want to. The Oregon legislature set aside $5 million for something they call organized retail theft. Why are our tax dollars being used to protect the profits of big businesses while we are in a cost of living crisis? People are being forced out of their homes by the cost of rent. Our school budgets are stretched to the breaking point. For many people, decent health care is still out of reach. We don't need the state to spend our money on mass surveillance on behalf of private businesses. We have real problems to solve for the majority of Oregonians. For the safety of everyone in Oregon, AI-powered automated license plate cameras from any company should not be used. And I hope you will use your voice as a city council to demand our tax dollars be used to address the cost of living crisis instead. Thank you.

Thank you.

That's enough.

Knock it off. You got plenty of people to get through. All that clapping and stuff, you can take it outside. Thank you. Mark thinks or trinks?

I DON'T THINK SO. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I'M A CITY OF ALBANY RESIDENT. THANK YOU. I'LL KEEP MY CASE AS TO WHY WE DON'T NEED NOR WANT FLOT CAMERAS IN OUR COMMUNITY BRIEF. ALBANY'S CRIME RATES ARE FALLING IN ALMOST EVERY CATEGORY EXCEPT FOR CYBERCRIME. WHAT WAS YOUR NAME? I COULDN'T HEAR YOUR NAME EITHER. OKAY. ALBANY'S CRIME RATES ARE FALLING IN ALMOST EVERY CATEGORY EXCEPT FOR CYBERCRIME. WE ALSO DON'T SUFFER FROM A RASH OF CAR THIEVES IN ALBANY. This seems like a ploy to replace actual police with robots, and I don't want to live in a place like that, nor do any of my fellow citizens behind me. This also directly contradicts the slideshow around the community engagement and support focus area in the strategic plan. Number two flock in these cameras make mistakes. They use Ai algorithms to monitor license plates. license plates, bumper stickers, dents in the faces of you and your passengers, whether they do so today or will begin doing so in the very near future. There are at least a half a dozen lawsuits around the country already where an incident person has been arrested or yanked out of their car, suspected of a crime they did not commit because the algorithm mistook them or their license plate, a number or a letter, a zero for an O or vice versa. something similar erroneously lastly they can tell you today that they're not recording photos or videos but in the fall when they release new technology new capability just like the AI agents built into Google or Microsoft that you can now type in your chat BOTS in your Google Chrome searches it's just going to become a capability that is extended and of course folks are going to use it if it's there this does not sound like the kind of town I want to live in being consistently watched and tracked and quite possibly mistaken for one of the hundreds of F-150s in town because a private company's algorithm says that I did something wrong is not a place where I would like to live. I believe a better solution, APD is chronically understaffed by a two to one margin compared nationally. The little town where I come from in North Carolina has a 3.5 to one margin of police per 1,000 residents. We're two to one here. I would prefer to see us invest the money that we would have spent on cameras and potentially alienating residents and creating an us versus them mentality against our police force instead to institute more community policing programs. You'd have a chance to bring us closer together rather than driving us apart.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Matt O'Byrle.

Matt Aberly, resident of Albany. Good evening, councillors and Mayor Johnson. My name is Matt Aberly. I'm a resident of Ward 1 in Albany. I'm here tonight to urge you all in the strongest possible terms to please not authorize to turn on the flock cameras in our community. Flock is a private AI surveillance corporation. And while they may say otherwise, at the end of the day, they only answer to their own board and investors, not the people of our community. This is why it is so important for you all to take the stand now to stop this large tech company from surveilling us. because this is our last chance to maintain control of our own community. I attended the community conversation on May 20th, but there was no conversation to be had at all. We were forced to sit through a 40-minute propaganda presentation and were only given the option to write a limited number of questions on a single note card and hope it got addressed. They said we had a hard out after one hour, but there was nobody else coming to use the space after the meeting. This is because APD and the flock representative were too scared to actually listen to opposition from the community. The representative from Flock even said at one point that Flock is spending lots of money to counteract the vast majority of the public being opposed to ALPRs. She was admitting out loud, perhaps unintentionally, that the only way they can get these cameras into communities is by spending lots of money to force them on us. This is completely undemocratic and unacceptable. There was no community input on these cameras being put up in the first place. If the people of Albany had been asked, the overwhelming response would have been no. The idea that these cameras will actually prevent crime is also false. They, by design, can only identify cars on the road and hope that they catch a needle in a haystack and hope that somebody at the scene of the crime hopefully got enough of a license plate or a vehicle description. This also leads to profiling and pulling over people that maybe have a similar car to a suspect. This has also been shown to happen across the country and has led to false arrests and imprisonments. The only way flock and ALPRs can actually prevent crime is by putting us all in a state of fear that we're being surveilled at all times. How does this build community trust? We also have no need whatsoever for these surveillance devices in our community. APD's own 2025 crime statistics showed an extremely low crime rate, including property crimes. In fact, 2025 property crime rates were well below the running five-year average. So why again do we need these invasive devices taking photos of every car that passes into Albany? I will end with the most important question of all. How do you expect mass surveillance that none of us had any say in to help build community trust? For those of you on the council who previously voted to shut off these cameras, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you still feel the same way. To those of you who are on the fence, I hope these points brought up here help to show you the... Thank you. Yep, thanks.

This is not that meeting. Eric Tracy?

Hello, my name is Eric Tracy. I'm a citizen of a resident of Albany of Ward three. Thank you for Mayor Johnson and member council members. I will just keep this very brief since everyone has said everything that I could already say. Just I mean, look at this audience. You can see how much opposition there is to this. You know, these flock cameras. Why should we, even if we can have the securities and safeguards here in the state of Oregon, why should we participate in a system that will be used in other states for opposition to reproductive rights? There are just a plethora of reasons I was confronted with when I was trying to do research for my very RAMBLING SPEECH, SO I WILL KEEP THIS QUICK. WE SHOULD NOT DO THIS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU. OKAY. I WILL VACATE THIS CHAMBER. I THINK I'M PLAYING. I'M NOT PLAYING.

MR. MAYOR, I WOULD REMIND YOU THAT THE STANDARDS OF DECORUM APPLY TO YOU AS WELL. I AGREE. I AGREE. THANK YOU. HEY, NO. NO, NO. THAT WASN'T THAT. BUT WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.

I appreciate that. Thank you. Wen Eaton. Thanks.

Thanks, Counselor. We're going to change the topic here if that's what you want to do. We're talking about a totally different.

Sir, sir. You need to use a microphone.

It's for accessibility and public records. Right. Thanks, Wen.

Thanks, Wen. You have three minutes, sir.

Let me get organized here, Mayor. Anyway, thank you, Council and Mayor, for allowing me.

Can you speak into the microphone, please? You bet. Okay.

Well, thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Winn Eaton, and my wife, Norma, is here as well. And we own approximately 3.72 acres at 2215 Northwest Violet Avenue in North Albany. WE ARE HERE TONIGHT TO PRESENT THIS COUNCIL WITH A DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT UNDER RECENT LEGISLATION THAT THE GOVERNORS ENACTED IN THE END OF MARCH THAT PROVIDES A PATHWAY TO SOLVE SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THAT SARAH AND KAYLEIGH TALKED ABOUT EARLIER IN THE in the plan. As far as getting in some other comments about affordable housing, this is very, very important. I think it's quite relevant to these proposals. And we're asking the council to encourage our city manager and staff to move forward with our proposal under House Bill 4082, which will take effect on June the 5th here next week. At this point, the issue is not whether a legal path exists, it does. City staff has already confirmed, and that's Matt Rutgers I've been working with, that the obstacle is not legal compliance or entitlement question. The issue is whether the council is willing to support moving this proposal forward. We believe it should. This is a small edge parcel bordered on three sides by existing residential subdivision. In practical terms, it is already part of the surrounding community. It is not an isolated rural farm parcel. It is the kind of site that should be seriously considered for small modest housing that is designated around type B accessibility with grab bars and single story and accessibility for old folks like me. Norm and I are proposing housing that is designed to support long-term livability and aging in place. This location is especially well-suited for older residents. Medical care facilities, grocery stores, shopping, restaurants, and fitness facilities are all nearby. The area is walkable. Neighbors know each other and regularly interact. The property overlooks Horseshoe Lake and natural scenery to the north. THIS IS A PLACE WHERE OLDER RESIDENTS COULD REALISTICALLY LIVE WELL, REMAIN CONNECTED, AND AGE IN COMMUNITY. AND THAT MATTERS. AND IT'S EXACTLY WHY HOUSE BILL 4082 WAS ENACTED TO GIVE CITIES A WORKABLE PATH TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR OLDER PEOPLE. So the question tonight is not whether the development plan should be approved. The question is whether Albany is willing to use the tool that the legislature just gave us. And we want to work with the city. We want staff guidance. We want transparent process. And we want to understand what information the city needs from us to make this concept a reality. All the utilities are present either on or bordering the property. There's actually an 18-inch sewer Thank you very much. All right. Thank you very much, Mayor and Councillors.

And all of my comments are in the packet. Yeah, we appreciate that. Norma Eaton, you want to speak this evening?

Hello, my name is Norma Eaton. I just wanted to add that I don't think he ever used the word annexation. So we're looking to see an area that's in the urban, well, it's not even in the urban growth boundary. It's in the county to be annexed into the city of Albany for this purpose. And I happen to know I have personal friends that are on a waiting list to get into the kind of housing we'd like to set up on this site. So I know there's a need for it. And I think that's the need that the legislature was trying to address. And I would just be gratified to see you all support such a thing. And that's all I have to say.

Thank you very much. Remy Hill.

Hi there. My name is Remy Hill. I am a resident of Ward 3 here in Albany.

And I am scrolling down to the part where I actually have what I'm going to say.

There we are. Good evening, counselors. As you can see tonight, a lot of folks in the community care about automated license plate readers. Opinions vary on them, and I wrote you a letter on this topic also. But I want to say here tonight that I do not think it is the cameras that elicit such feelings. It is not the specific issue at all. It is the moment we're living through that makes this such a pressing question. In the age of the Donald Trump presidency, the post-Vasquez, Perdomo, post-Calais, Supreme Court of John Roberts, a lot of things we all assumed were solid started to erode under our feet. I feel under threat every day at my job or moving through the world simply for being a transgender person. I'm sure I'm not alone, that many people feel the same way for a variety of reasons. Federal law and immigration enforcement have been working overtime to make the lives of ordinary Americans a strained, imperiled exercise. Going to get groceries is no longer safe. Exercising your First Amendment rights is no longer safe. Dropping your children off at school is no longer safe. Seeking life-saving health care is no longer safe. And going to a scheduled court hearing is no longer safe. It's in this context that we consider this question. I think that ALPR cameras are, on the whole, perfectly fine. If they're handled appropriately, given strong data custody protections and appropriate regulations around their use, they can be a force for good. In the hands of trusted police agencies with strong, vital ties to the community, they enable the police to protect us better. In better circumstances and more certain times, they would be an asset. These are not those times. It's not that I don't trust Marsha Hardin as Chief of Police either. She's done great work for our community. She's a credit to us through her steadfast dedication to protecting our rights and upholding the law. Who I don't trust is Kash Patel, Director of the FBI, Todd Blanch, Acting Attorney General, Stephen Miller, Senior Advisor to the President, and yes, Donald Trump, the President of the United States. I don't trust them and I don't, even incidentally, even slightly want to make their lives or their work any easier. I've lived through many presidents with whom I disagreed before, but never have I lived through a president who frightens me. He does. And I don't want to even potentially give him or his cronies any more tools with which to spy police and threaten our collective well-being. I don't think now is the time to turn those cameras back on. It's the time to roll back those tools and rely on tried and true police protocols.

Taryn Borsch? Taryn or Taryn? No, Taryn. Taryn.

Good evening, Mayor and members of City Council. My name is Taryn Borsch and I'm a resident of Ward 1 This is my first time ever speaking at a city council meeting, which I hope conveys the seriousness of the topic at hand. I am here tonight to urge you to vote against reinstating the flock surveillance cameras. While we all share the goal of keeping Albany safe, mass automated surveillance is not the right path forward for our community. Reactivating these automated license plate readers presents major concerns. Firstly, the erosion of privacy. These cameras don't just target criminals, they passively track and log the daily movements of every innocent Albany resident going to work, grocery shopping, and dropping their kids off at school. These cameras collect data on millions of vehicles, regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime. These systems are marketed as indispensable tools to fight crime, but they ignore the powerful tools police already have to track criminals, such as cell phone location data, creating a loophole that doesn't require a warrant. Flock cameras are a serious risk to our privacy and civil liberties. These systems can continuously record your movements without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion. Additionally, Flock is a private third party corporation that stores our community's movement data in the cloud. We should not be outsourcing the surveillance of Albany citizens to a private entity with its own corporate interests and potential vulnerabilities. Once the data is out of our community, we will have no control over how it's used or what rules apply, leading to inevitable misuse. Once we surrender our expectation of privacy in public spaces, it is incredibly difficult to get it back. I ask you to protect the civil liberties of your constituents and vote no on reactivating the flock surveillance system. I want to be able to move freely around town without being stalked by an AI entity who is monitoring and documenting my every move. If I want to shop at WinCo at 1 a.m. or sit in a park by myself for hours, I don't want to have to think about Big Brother gathering searchable data and the patterns and generalizable conclusions others who will have access to that data might make about my movements. Do you as the city council want to endorse a decision today that will ultimately result in reduced privacy and freedom of movement for our community? Thank you for your time and your service to our city.

Thank you.

Ava Butler.

Howdy, y'all. My name's Ava Butler. I'm an Albany resident and a small business owner in the community. I'm not going to say anything that everybody else isn't saying. I think that bringing a big data broker into our town is just horrifying. You know, Flock is collecting all of this data that is just ripe for abuse. uh whether it's securely stored is a really open question and like yeah having this being accessible to federal law enforcement just puts a lot of people in jeopardy um everybody has said lots of really marvelous stuff tonight and i hope you all really take that to heart and listen um i appreciate your time and i'll keep this brief so we can keep moving and more people can keep saying the same thing over and over and over and over and over um but YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT I CAN SAY THAT AND KNOW THAT IT'S TRUE SHOULD REALLY TELL YOU ALL WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS SITUATION. THANK YOU, AVA.

KYLE, TYLER.

Greetings. My name is Kyle Tyler. And I'm a longtime resident of Albany. I'll keep this short too. I'm here tonight just to ask that you do not re enable the flock license plate reader cameras in Albany. block instead of themselves, they have a trust issue, many are in our Community and others around the country have voiced their concerns about the flock system. And many cities have decided to cut ties with the company, given that it appears that flock is prepared to spend a lot of time and a lot of money to repair their image. They send representatives to towns like ours to defend the company. They host trainings for police officers, such as how to speak to city councils, which preps them to defend Flock from city council and community members. Block says they have a poor public image because of misinformation. Those of us who oppose Flock in our community aren't misinformed. We've seen enough to decide that we do not want this technology here. Thank you.

Thank you. Matt Bennett. Still here? He might have left. May I apologize for the ARA? Pat D. Please state your full name and whether or not you live in the city of Albany.

Good evening. My name is Pat Duggan. I am a computer engineer and security consultant, and I've been living in Albany for going on seven years now. I am actually going to say some things people haven't said yet. I'm kind of surprised. From a technical point of view, flock cameras are a cybersecurity nightmare. There are over 50 major hardware-level security vulnerabilities found just in the last six months that, as far as I know, the company has not addressed in any way. The company, not just minor issues, these can be hacked with radios from the 50s. A little closer, please.

They can be, huh? We're recording.

A little closer. These can be hijacked by any teenager with a cell phone. Last week I got a chance to examine one of these devices. There was no trained bird like in the Flintstones who watched for a license plate or something that looked like a license plate and opened up the lens. It's always open because these are just high definition video cameras. They are on whenever they detect any motion whatsoever, which means they're always on because the radars in them are high def and therefore the wind can activate them. There were a lot of claims made about these cameras, that they can only read license plates, that they can never be hacked, that they can't do profiling, facial recognition, or AI analysis, and that local PD will have total control over what is shared. The truth is a lot less inspiring. Anyone who gains physical access to one of these devices with about five seconds can create an admin Wi-Fi network that allows you to control it remotely and do basically anything you want. I could run Doom on it. I could mine Bitcoin with it. They still use WPA2 Wi-Fi, which can be hacked by any modern computer in eight hours if you do it the hard way. Their products run Android 8 or 8.1, which stopped receiving security updates five years ago. Flock claims no facial recognition, but their own patent record says otherwise. They describe a system using the database we've already seen to track people and classify them by race, gender, height, weight, how they walk, and their facial expressions. Their own ads show AI searches for people based on vague descriptions. Their contract language hides their intentions by their definition. Anything on my phone is license plate data if I slap a sticker on it that says ALPR. they you just gave pd awards for exemplary service is there reward for that service to be given broken equipment that subjects them to legal and physical threats if this was just about giving a pd better equipment i'd be all for it but they have incredibly difficult jobs and they deserve good tools this is a bad tool if you know a device breaks and injures the last hundred people who bought it and you buy it anyway you are paying to be injured Do not do this. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Rose G. Hello.

Okay, I'm close enough. Awesome. We've had this as a repeat problem tonight. Rose Giacomini. I'm President of Albany for like eight years now, and I wanted to comment on the reactivation of the Flock camera on First and Ellsworth and three other cameras intended to be added to Albany's intersections. Like a lot of companies, Flock has gotten very confident selling their technology on what it might maybe do in the future instead of what it does right now. So what does Flock say that it could do? And what has it actually done? Number one, Flock says it's going to protect your children. Well, Flock has used footage of kids in Dunwoody, Georgia, without the consent or awareness of their parents, to sell products it's now trying to sell to the APD. This included cameras in a children's gymnastics room, a playground, a school, a community center, and a pool as of just last month in April. And the use of this footage only became public because a citizen like us requested the access logs. If not for that citizen's reporting, Flock would still be using the footage of those kids to sell their cameras right now. Number two, Flock says it's going to keep our data local and private, but Flock has already provided footage from Albany to another agency without APD's knowledge or approval. And Albany's stricter-than-state-law policies are what caught them after the fact. Our data could be requested by the FBI, ICE, Customs and Border Patrol, and because of Flock's nationwide network, those agencies can get their hands on it. In fact, if the current administration has its way, Flock's going to be part of a surveillance network that can and will be harnessed by the government. to persecute anyone that the current administration wants to get rid of. Immigrants, homeless people, queer people, someone trying to get an abortion in Texas recently, actually. And even if it stays within the department, there's evidence of officers using Flock to stalk their partners, their exes, and strangers. And it's those victims that have to report it for anything to happen. Flock does not catch it on its own. Number three, what about providing evidence for investigations? Flock markets their technology for solving violent and major crimes. We're talking stolen cars, missing people, serious offenses. So why did Chief Harnden argue that Flock can be used for running registration for vehicles to look for inspired insurance? This expensive equipment should not be acting as glorified traffic cameras. We have those already. It cannot solve crimes any bigger than minor traffic offenses consistently. So I guess... you know, if you use it for anything else, Phlox automatic license plate readers are also going to misinterpret the information and seize and get things wrong. In Columbine Valley, Colorado, a woman was accused by police of a package theft that her own ring camera and her dash cam proved that she couldn't have done. And the officer refused to look at the footage until the story was repeated in the news, until people got mad. There are no rules, there are no guardrails that will not be changed whenever Flock or the police using them see fit. I oppose any use of Flock in Albany. Our money could be better served supporting our homeless population, revitalizing the public transportation, keeping Albany children safe by funding our libraries and schools. As a resident, I am made no safer by surveillance, and as a taxpayer, I am confused as to why we would raise resources on a company this controversial and unproven to actually prevent the crimes it claims to track. You've already heard from me in the last week via phone and email. I thank all of the counselors and the mayor for their reply, especially the thoughtful responses from Stephanie, Chris, and Michael. Super appreciate that you took the time to read that and respond.

Thank you very much.

Awesome.

Susan Leonard.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Susan Leonard, and I am proudly and happily a member of the Albany community. I'm opposed to the flock cameras. What I'm going to say has already been said, so I'll make it as quick as I can. But I want to start out by saying that I have the utmost respect, trust, and confidence in Chief Harnden and in the Albany Police Department. and I feel the same way about AG Rayfield and the Oregon Department of Justice, but I do not have that same confidence in the current administration at the federal level, particularly the FBI, DHS, and DOJ. all I think can agree that we want criminals to be brought to justice, but the definition of criminal with this current administration is not always founded in what I would consider actual justice, because we have seen people who are immigrants, Trans people, women seeking reproductive care, being labeled as criminals. People like myself, activists, using our First Amendment rights to dissent, which I think is a patriotic responsibility, have been labeled domestic terrorists, even though everything I've done on the street has been completely nonviolent and never unruly. SO I DO NOT TRUST THE SECURITY OF THE DATA. I'M NOT AN EXPERT LIKE SOME OF THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE SPOKEN MORE CLEARLY ABOUT THAT, BUT I KNOW THAT I DON'T TRUST HAVING THAT IN THE HANDS OF OUR CURRENT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. YES, WE ARE ALREADY SURVEILED, WE KNOW THAT, BY OUR PHONES, SOCIAL MEDIA, BUT I DON'T SEE ANY REASON TO ADD YET ANOTHER LAYER OF SURVEILLANCE WHEN WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY STOP. So I am asking you to vote no on the flock cameras. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Cypress Clark.

Good evening, my name is Cypress Clark and I'm a resident in Albany in Ward 3. I sent you all a very long email on Tuesday describing in detail the issues with this technology, their lack of statistical significance in solving criminal cases, and how that the cost just really isn't worth the hassle due to legal liability. I have also repeated this evidence in this handout that I brought you if you wish. FLUX claims are either a legal trick or gross negligence in allowance of the data being used to target law-abiding citizens. Additionally, SB 1516 has massive carve-outs for anyone connected to the legal system and has many exceptions for holding data longer than 30 days and the accountability and punishment for not abiding to it is a may be liable to an unspecified fine. If a punishment for a crime is a fine, then it functionally becomes legal to do so if you have the money. It becomes the cost of doing business. And believe me, there is more money to be made selling data than any fine. But instead of just focusing just on flock, I want to focus on people, citizens, those of us in this room. 2026 has not been a great year for most of us. Even Oregon's economic forecast said that the only good thing that's happening right now is that corporations are gaining even more profit while removing jobs from the market just to keep unemployment rate down. And it has been an even worse year for trans people. Over half of all hate crimes against LGBT people are against trans people specifically. And earlier just this month, a student in Washington was stabbed 40 times specifically because she was a trans woman. The president himself has named being against trans people, including 34 executive actions specifically targeting trans people. Even in the 2026 U.S. Counterterrorism Report names that those who are pro transgender as a terrorist group and they that they plan to, quote, map them at home and use and, quote, use law enforcement tools to cripple them. The federal government has made it very clear who they are against, and they have already used these tools and systems to do targeted violence. Native American people were the first and immediately continued against black and brown people, those with disabilities, immigrants and their descendants, and those who are just inconvenient. OUR SOCIETY ACCEPTS VIOLENCE IF IT'S THROUGH BUREAUCRACY. AS LONG AS THERE'S AN EXCUSE, IT'S APPROVED. BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, IT IS STILL VIOLENCE. TO ALLOW FLOCK TO OPERATE IN OUR CITY IS TO ALLOW THOSE WHO HATE US, WHO WISH TO MURDER US, TO ACCESS US WITH EASE. DO NOT ALLOW THESE WEAPONS OF WARFARE TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE IN OUR CITY, OR ELSE YOU CHOOSE VIOLENCE AGAINST EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM, INCLUDING YOURSELF. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

Allen Murphy?

Allen? Dillon, I'm sorry. Well, that's a DY. Dillon Murphy?

Mayor, councilors, my name is Dylan Murphy and I am a resident of Albany. I'm here today to speak on my concerns regarding the city's use of flock cameras. The Albany Police Department recently held an event with flock intended to promote community trust. In my view, it did anything but. The city, instead of performing their own comprehensive analysis, has deferred to trusting a third-party sales team in their sales pitches, which is full of half-truths and dishonesty. As an IT professional of nearly two decades, including supporting systems that required me to maintain certification from the FBI to access CJIS, this concern does not come from a place of ignorance as Flock would like you to believe, but from an understanding of the important work our law enforcement does and how critical these systems are and how protected they should be. The question is blatantly posed and currently published on the City of Albany's website today. Has Flock ever been hacked? The city tells me that no, there has been no publicly confirmed incidents involving unauthorized theft of customer ALPR data. Because of flock's wanton disregard for cybersecurity, administrative APIs were left unprotected on production devices, allowing remote administrative access to video streams, logs, and files stored on device. The US government has recognized this vulnerability and assigned it a criticality score of 9.8 out of 10, a critical vulnerability. There are videos of exploits like these being used in the wild to view and download data, yet the city is attempting to tell me and publish that there are no concerns for our data being hacked. This particular vulnerability is being tracked by NIST, a US federal government program, and assigned vulnerability ID CVE-2025-59403. There are plenty of other critical vulnerabilities being tracked by this government organization, including passwords being stored in plain text, bootloaders being left unprotected, storage being unencrypted, et cetera. These put our data in jeopardy, and the city has not recognized any of them in their responses. Instead, they've been using the half truths that seem to be given them by flock sales team. I implore our city to perform its own analysis of the security and efficacy of these devices. As an IT professional, I've done my due diligence, and I would not trust deploying these devices in any environment I'm responsible for, much less in critical law enforcement purposes. You don't have to trust my word, though. Senator Wyden used his own congressional oversight authority to perform an investigation, and he came to the conclusion that flock cannot live up to its commitments to protect the privacy and security of organizations, and that the abuse of flock cameras is inevitable. At the end of the day, I want you, my elected officials, to scrutinize contracts, vendors, and other third parties, and hold them accountable for their failings, not be mouthpieces for their sales team. THANK YOU.

I BELIEVE LOGAN ASHER IS THE NEXT PERSON.

Good evening, Logan Asher, President of Albany, East of I-5. I attended the Public Safety Commission meeting at Albany Police Department last week, intending to keep an open mind to the proposed use of flock ALPR camera technology. However, I left the meeting with increased concerns about both the proposal itself and the process surrounding it. A central issue for me was the lack of clear, substantive answers regarding how data collected from Albany's cameras would be safeguarded from misuse, particularly by agencies operating outside local jurisdiction. While it was stated that Oregon law governs appropriate use, that assurance alone did not adequately address how misuse would be prevented or enforced in practice. This discussion focused more on potential disciplinary action if misuse is discovered after the fact, rather than on meaningful guardrails that would prevent misuse from occurring in the first place. Given the importance of accountability and law enforcement, more robust, proactive and transparent safeguards should be clearly articulated before moving forward. Additionally, I was troubled by what appeared to be a disconnect between commission members and the community members in attendance. A significantly larger than usual public turnout, largely composed of individuals expressing concerns about surveillance and civil liberties, were met with limited engagement on those points. It is important that public input, especially when it is both substantial and consistent, be meaningfully acknowledged and addressed. Some comments made during the meeting by commissioners suggested a willingness to expand surveillance in the interest of preventing crime, even at the potential expense of personal privacy. While public safety is undeniably important, it must be balanced carefully with civil liberties. Effective law enforcement in today's environment depends not only on tools and technology, but on maintaining the trust and legitimacy within the community it serves. At present, there appears to be a lack of trust in both the technology itself and the private company behind it. That concern is reinforced by public statements from Fox CEOs characterizing critics of the company's technology as terroristic. And such rhetoric raises legitimate questions about how dissenting views are perceived and whether community concerns will be respected as part of an ongoing public dialogue. Trust cannot be assumed. It must be earned through transparency, accountability, and demonstrated safeguards. Implementing a system like this without first addressing these concerns risks further eroding public confidence. Finally, I was concerned by the suggestion that once implemented, reversing the decision would require an initiative. That sets a very high bar for reconsideration and places the burden on the public after the fact. A more prudent approach would be to delay implementation until community questions and concerns have been thoroughly addressed and there's a clear consensus. In summary, while I recognize the goal of enhancing public safety, I believe that any solution should prioritize building trust within the community. At this point, that trust has not yet been established, and I respectfully urge the committee to vote against re-implementing this system at this time.

Thank you. Max McConnell.

Hello, my name is Max McConnell. I'm a resident Albany, Oregon. Most of my points have already been made by people much better at speaking than I, but I'm here tonight to urge you to reject the recommendation to reactivate flock safety cameras. While I support public safety, this technology crosses a dangerous line, transforming Albany's public streets into a dragnet of warrantless mass surveillance. Furthermore, the system strips away local control by handling public data over to out of state private corporations, centralized databases, and inherently vulnerable to leaks, hacking, and internal misuse. Neighboring cities like Eugene permanently disable this technology because they recognize the risk to civil liberties far outweigh the benefits. Additionally, under Oregon's Senate Bill 1516, our state has already established strict legal guardrails to protect residents from private camera vendor outreach, providing a threat to our privacy as a recognized statewide concern. Ultimately, you were elected to represent the citizens of Albany, not the financial interests of tech corporations. To public safety should never come to at the extent of our fundamental freedom. I urge you to listen to your constituents, stand up for the constitutional rights of this community, and vote no on the overreach. Thank you.

Thank you. Ron Close. Did I pronounce your name properly?

Thank you.

My name is Ron Close, and I'm a resident of Albany. And I didn't mean to hijack this meeting. That's not a flock of comments I have. First comment I want to do is I want to thank the council, the mayor, for installing the lights on North Albany Road. You know, that's listening to the community and addressing that. And the fact that you even have different time zones on it is excellent. So thank you very much. My main purpose here is that for Norma and Wynne Eaton on their proposal for the property. It strikes me as a concept that the city should at least be willing to consider. We're talking a small partial land and it's bordering three sides of existing residential property. And like when mentioned, it's near services, shopping, a gym, fitness, medical facilities, all things that would be very suitable for our seniors. And it's been presented as a modest senior orientated concept, not an oversized big project. We live in that area, a very safe area. We got many walkers, people walking dogs, walking couples. We got people on bikes, children, et cetera. So it's a really, really nice, quiet community. So, you know, I just wish that or hope that the city will give this a real honest review and an honest review and consider the staff take this initiative on. So thank you for your time.

Thank you, sir. Denny Halbert, is that proper? Yes.

I'm also gonna do a little interruption, same as Ron, supporting the Eaton's proposal for the city. Name's Denny Holbert, I live in Albany, resident here for 26 years. After discussion with the Eaton's, and some neighbors, I support allowing a small senior-only oriented housing concept in our community to receive serious attention. To reserve this for senior housing would be good use of the land and provide an attractive place for seniors to live. This somewhat unique proposal is not just about land use. It's about the community and providing housing for seniors, of which there are many in our community. As people age, they need places where they can remain connected with family and neighbors and the community they have known. This concept would allow just that. It's a small site bordered on three sides by a residential development. It's located in a pleasant, walkable, established neighborhood. It borders a wooded area with peaceful demeanor. I believe that most any family would be happy to have their aging family member and or loved one live in such a safe community that would encourage exercise and relationships with other seniors. I hope that you'll look at this proposal and give it fair consideration. Briefly, that's what I got to say. Thank you so much.

Charlotte Campbell.

I am Charlotte Campbell. I live in Albany. I agree with a lot of the things people are saying about the flock cameras. Just in general, I think that mass surveillance is bad. But my main reason I came to speak is because earlier in the year, I got a speeding ticket. was aware of these kind of situations where you would be surveilled as you're going past schools and stuff. So the light went in my eyes and I went, oh gosh, I got a ticket, I'm sure. So a couple of weeks later, I opened the mail and my blood ran cold. I was shocked because there was a picture of me Driving my car and my car with the license plate and everything. And I don't object to it because I know about it. I was told about it and I was given this to see it. But if we have these cameras out just surveilling everybody all the time, we aren't going to even know it. And that should make all of our blood run cold.

Thank you.

Is it Billy McGregor? Billy M. McGregor? Is it Billy? Okay, thanks.

Billy McGregor, Ward 1. Thank you all for your time. I also want to thank you for hosting more open forums at the Riverfront Community Center. We have heard many statements from police and flock representatives that the product doesn't do that. The point I want to make is it doesn't do that yet. Always remember that your children's location data and pictures from inside your home was sold by Pokemon Go to Saudi Arabia one year ago on May 29th. Thank you.

I'll show my Facebook page.

Ferris Burke. Is that correct?

Ferris Barker. I'm a resident of Albany. Thank you. I'm not going to say anything that anyone else hasn't said, but I would like to point out the people that have come and speak on this. I also work in cybersecurity. We've come up and every single IT person that has walked up has told you how we have concerns with the security and the availability of the data. As one of the people came up here mentioned, As when one of the people came up here and mentioned, whenever one of these systems gets breached, the worst that they might get is a fine. And these fines aren't very big, especially when it's something such as fraud. These companies make millions of dollars off of selling data every single day. It's how most of these companies make most of their money. what's stopping them from selling the data making a bunch of money and then just paying a fraction of it as a find it's just the cost of doing business i would also like to point out the amount of different people that came up here and spoke It's very obvious that the trans and other queer community is concerned. I left Texas because of the persecution of queer and trans people in Texas, and I came here. And since I've moved here, everybody at this city has been welcoming and very helpful. I do not want a repeat of what happened in Texas to happen here, where I feel unsafe and forced to leave. I can tell you as someone who works in cybersecurity that Flock will not make this city safer. It will make it much more unsafe. And who knows, in a year or two, they can and probably will change their agreement on what it does. And then are you going to vote at that point to take it down? Or are they even going to tell you? A lot of these places don't tell you. I guess my last thing is, I urge you to vote against it because we don't know what the future holds. But if you look at the history of these kinds of companies, they break their promises constantly. What's stopping them from breaking your promise again? Because the law sure isn't stopping them. Thank you.

Thank you. Hunter Hawthorne.

Thank you, Council. Good evening. My name is Hunter Hawthorne. I'm here tonight to voice my opposition to automated license plate readers as a whole, or otherwise known as ALPRs, not just FLOC, but ALPRs as a whole in Albany. I urge this body to take action similar to other jurisdictions in Oregon and permanently ban them. I WANT TO BEGIN BY SAYING THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS IS A DEBATE ABOUT THE CHARACTER OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE HERE OR ABOUT THE ALBANY POLICE DEPARTMENT AS A WHOLE. I BELIEVE EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM, REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY STAND ON THIS ISSUE, WANTS CHILDREN, FAMILIES IN OUR COMMUNITY TO BE SAFE. The question before us is not whether public safety matters, it's whether building permanent surveillance infrastructure is the right way to achieve it. And tonight's decision cannot just be about leadership we trust today. As many have said tonight, we must ask what this technology looks like 5, 10, or 15 years from now under different leadership that we may not trust. We've been told that there are safeguards under Oregon law, and I appreciate that protections exist, but laws change, policies change, leadership changes, and infrastructure remains in place. Once the surveillance system is established, history has shown us that it rarely remains limited to their original purpose. AS HAS BEEN ADDRESSED, CRIME IS ON THE DOWNWARD TREND IN THIS CITY, AND I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT. AND I THINK WE HEAR EMOTIONALLY COMPELLING EXAMPLES INVOLVING CHILD ABDUCTIONS, AND RIGHTFULLY SO, BUT THESE CASES heartbreaking as they are, we should not let public policy be driven by fear and statistically rare events alone. And you can look at the different Amber Alert data that's out there that shows that the overwhelming majority of abducted children have been recovered safely through community action and traditional police work even before this technology existed. While we may trust the Albany Police to use this responsibly, these systems do not exist in isolation. Data sharing expands risks, and the same infrastructure created for one purpose can later be used for purposes the public never intended or agreed to. Even with accountability policies in place, accountability can only occur after the harm has already been done. I think technology is often sold as a force multiplier because it's easier than building trust, staffing adequately, or addressing root causes. But we should ask whether surveillance is replacing human-centered public safety. Cameras collect data on innocent people, but they do not inherently solve crime, build trust, or strengthen communities. And I believe our policy should be grounded in effectiveness, not fear. I urge you. not only to keep these cameras offline, but to permanently ban ALPRs in Albany. Thank you so much, and thank you for everybody for being here tonight.

Thank you. Next is Ryan. Please state your name, full name, and whether or not you live in the city of Albany, Oregon.

My name is Ryan Barrett i'm a resident of Albany and i'm here today because i'd like to believe that, at least at the local level, the government represents the interests of the people. And I find it worrisome just seeing it roll down from the national level, basically, a surveillance and control grid that would make or well roll over in his grave. And it's all being funded by us, the taxpayers. And I don't think I've met a single person that has actually been in favor of this surveillance grid being rolled out. And I feel like as Americans, we get propagandized on levels close rivaling North Korea with fear mongering, pushing us to want to go to war with countries we have no business invading or even starting anything with. And I feel like the rollout of this surveillance grid, we are funding the walls of our own digital prison. It starts with your safety, but these are social and economic issues that can't be legislated to go away. These need to be addressed on grassroots levels and not by bringing in a police state that can find you without any representation. Because aside from the flock cameras, we're also having digital currency rollouts. You will have no control over your money. We are having these data centers, which they're not there for you to look up a new apple pie recipe. They're here to keep all of this data on all of us. And then on top of that, we are... Sorry, I'm not a good public speaker. But all of that in one is going to create the surveillance system. Because I have lived in other countries where this has been out. I've been to China and I have seen people being blacklisted from trains and other things because they have dissented from the government's opinion. And so when I see people... voting in favor of this, I have to wonder who they're representing. And I wish and would like to believe that all of you are here to represent the best interest of the people of Albany. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Deacon Cook.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Councilors. My name is Deacon Cook, Ward 1. And I wanted to echo a lot of the points that other folks have been making this evening. I was at the last week's ALPR community meeting, And I just wanted to remark on a little anecdote from that meeting. Chief Harnden was talking about the cameras and what kinds of pictures they take. And one interesting thing about the pictures that they take here in Albany is that they only take pictures of the back of your car so that you only get the rear license plate and you don't see through the windshield to a person's face. Now, Chief Harnden showed us the back end of this system, and we were immediately greeted with pictures of the front of cars with people's faces behind the windshield. And I have confidence that it's not Chief Harnden just lying to us. I think that this is because we share our data pool with other departments, and potentially those departments can share our data pool with federal agencies. And beyond that, we share our data pool with Flock, the company that hosts our data. And that is the biggest problem. Their terms of service currently say they're going to respect our freedoms and our rights and our privacy, but they have changed their terms of service and they can continue to at will in the future. I urge you to vote no against reactivating these cameras. Thank you so much. Thank you. Ben Lake.

Hello, my name is Ben Lake, excuse me, Ben Lake, and I work in Albany and I'm a resident of Linn County, but outside city limits. And I'm here tonight to also urge the council to not reactivate the flock safety cameras. I am also an IT professional of almost 15 years, similar to many people here, and I don't want to get too deep into the technical weeds because I think that's well-intentioned on many people's part, but not maybe that useful for most people. What I can tell you is the bottom line is this. If anybody has access to a computer system a bad actor can via that person who has legitimate access get access to it by means of deception coercion bribery all these things that every person is vulnerable to on some level so you know some of the most successful quote-unquote hackers in history have been basically con men if you if you want to look into that second um I would like to bring everyone's attention to the recently released last year National Security Presidential Memorandum 7. I know that's a mouthful. NSPM 7, you can look it up right now. It is the federal government's new operating definition of what constitutes a terrorist. And it is so expansive that it could literally include everybody on earth. It's ridiculously broad. So do I think that's going to be used to target every single person? No, but it could be used to target just about any person. So I think that bears consideration. We can't stop that stuff at the national level, happening at the national level here on the local level, but we certainly don't have to help it along. SO WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO MAKE THAT EASIER FOR THEM. I'VE HEARD A LOT OF COMMENTS THAT HAVE SPOKEN TO VARIOUS ISSUES THAT ARE BIGGER THAN US HERE, AND WHILE THAT MIGHT NOT SEEM PARTICULARLY RELEVANT TO A CITY COUNCIL MEETING IN A SMALL TOWN LIKE ALBANY, IT REALLY IS, BECAUSE WE DON'T EXIST IN A VACUUM, RIGHT? WE'RE PART OF A LARGER SYSTEM. SO WHILE WE CAN'T SOLVE EVERYTHING HERE, I think it bears consideration that we can at least take steps available to us not to aid private companies in bringing something into our community that does more harm than good by all the evidence. And lastly, just real quick, I'd like to point out that This issue of surveillance has been going on for a long time. There's cameras everywhere. And most of the capabilities that people are concerned about are not so much about the cameras themselves, but the software on the back end that can work through any camera, including just like ones in a grocery store or whatever. Thank you.

Ace Listro.

Hello, my name is Ace Lestrow. I am a resident here in Albany, and I am from Ward 2. I'd like to begin with a saying that you may all be familiar with, and that is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. No society has ever drifted toward totalitarianism to include mass surveillance of its citizens by first proudly proclaiming that that's the intention. In the progression toward totalitarianism, the means and mechanisms are always sold to the citizens in stages with appeals to public safety, order, and or national identity. History tells us that this trajectory is all too common and with sufficient momentum, almost impossible to stop and disastrous in consequence. History also tells us that many say they never saw it coming or that because it was already happening in some other form, that more of it was okay. In 2026, we are afforded the benefit of being able to learn from their mistakes. As a member of this community, I want to be able to proudly say that we helped stop history from repeating itself and putting into that trajectory. With that, I will end with a quote. Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin, thank you.

Thank you. Jim Davis. Is there a Jim Davis here?

First, thank the mayor and the council for allowing me to speak. And as I understand, oh, my name is Jim Davis, and I'm from Ward 3. Okay. Where's our Ward 3 representative? Okay. I'm going to be contrarian here, and I'm going to advocate the use of flock camera and ask that you reinstate it. There are a lot of concerns out there. They're not unfounded. And I would urge you, and as I understand it, the Albany PD is going to have a presentation again tonight. And I urge you to watch it because there's a lot of misinformation going around. And I had a whole bunch of notes written up here, but since Albany is going to give their presentation again, I'm not going to review them. All I'm going to do is just urge you to reinstate them. Thank you.

Thank you. Susan Phillips? Suzanne Phillips, excuse me.

Hello, I'm Suzanne Phillips. Me and my husband have lived in Albany for 10 years. I'm also speaking against flock. I think you should not only vote no on reinstating them, but I'm also, like other people have opined, I think they should be banned from city limits. We have a teenage daughter. I think she deserves to be able to move through her hometown without constant surveillance. And I strongly feel we don't need to spend tax dollars to take even more photos of a peaceful populace. That's it.

Thank you. Connie Ferguson.

Good evening, Council and Mayor. Well, you won't hear the same from me because I am the salmon swimming upstream. I am here tonight in support of the installation and use the flock safety license plate reader in our community. Because I believe this technology can be an effective tool to assist law enforcement in preventing and solving crimes while also helping to improve public safety. I've heard a lot of, there are some things I agree with tonight. I've heard some very good points. but I've also heard some wild conspiracy theories of how it might be used to track down people of different beliefs and murder them and start international terrorism and some wild suggestions. I strongly support the importance of privacy protections and responsible oversight. Any use of LPR technology should include clear policies regarding data retention, authorized access, auditing and accountability. And the system should be used only for legitimate law enforcement and public safety purposes with safeguards in place to prevent misuse. I believe it's possible to balance the community safety with individual privacy rights when implemented with transparency and proper oversight. Flock cameras can serve as a valuable investigative resource while respecting civil liberties and maintaining public trust. The community has shown overwhelming support for our police department, as you've seen earlier. We had 30 minutes of examples of valor and integrity and accountability. Chief Harnon has run the police department with integrity, professionalism, and accountability. and most of y'all have worked with the Chief for several years and know she honors her commitment to public safety, privacy, protections, and transparency in law enforcement practices and holds police officers and all employees accountable. We have, my understanding, we have four cameras given to us through a $14,000 grant. So let's put them to good use, providing public safety for not just Albany, but capture those who would use our city for a stopover or detour in our area from the I-5 corridor thinking they are evading arrest. And for these reasons, I support the installation and responsible use of flock safety license plate reader technology in our community and ask that the city council do as well and approve this project. Thank you.

Nick Olson.

Well, I have never been homeless, but I am hearing from people. I live at 732 Broad Albin, just down the street here, and it's a walkable neighborhood. And I hear from people who are having a tough time in life that they're going to be losing the place where they live in Camp Boondoggle, that the city is going to be either doing it or helping to log the area and clean it off to bare ground, apparently. And it seems unfortunate to me that these people who are struggling and doing their best to get by in life that they have to be once again kicked off where they live and try and find some other place to be. You know, Marvin's Gardens that reminds me of Monopoly and the very low END OF THE MONOPOLY GAME. WHEN I SAY WE, I'M TALKING ABOUT THE CITY, KICK THEM OFF OF THERE. SO ANYWAY, I DON'T KNOW THE DETAILS. WHAT I HEAR ABOUT THE CLEARANCE IS WORD OF MOUTH. AND IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT IT, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WOULD AT LEAST SLOW IT DOWN SO THESE PEOPLE HAVE A CHANCE TO FIND ANOTHER PLACE OR MAYBE JUST PLAIN DECIDE NOT TO DO IT. LIKE I SAY, I'VE NEVER BEEN HOMELESS, BUT I DID BELONG TO THE HODG CARRIERS AND LABORERS UNION ONE SUMMER. I never carried any hods, but I did a lot of jackhammering and air drilling exercise. You can live in an automobile, but it's a pretty low level of life. Fortunately, I had a family to fall back on. And at the end of the summer, I went back to living a normal life. But think about these people who, for one reason or another, have fallen through the cracks, partly of their own fault, but in some cases not. And if you can pull back on destroying Camp Boondoggle, please take the opportunity to do that.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Can you make that up?

I can't make that up.

Nathan Carrasco. Oh, the teenage is so small.

I'm Nathan Carrasco. I'm a resident of the city of Albany. Sorry about my bad handwriting. These are my old eyes. It's all good. We're all getting there. I'm appearing to you guys today as a cybersecurity analyst and an IT professional. There are significant risks that are inherent to the digital framework that FLOC surveillance system has brought forward. And while the discussion often centers around crime prevention, and there are numbers that suggest that whether it does help or doesn't isn't really the point of contention. The point of contention is the cloud-based architecture wherever this data is stored, whether that be a third-party data center or FLOC's own servers that store our own city of Albany data. My professional concern is that there may be trust in our local law enforcement, and I have no doubt and faith in our trust in local law enforcement. I am an advocate for local community support, and I think our local police does a great job for crime prevention. However, that trust does not automatically extend to the framework of a private corporation, no matter who that is. THE DIGITAL RISKS ARE FAR MORE SUBSTANTIAL BECAUSE THESE SYSTEMS REPLACE LEGAL PROTECTIONS. SO IN THE CASE OF, LET'S SAY, SINCE IT'S NOT UNDER SCRUTINY BECAUSE THEY'RE PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS, THERE'S NO NEED FOR WARRANTS. THERE'S NO NEED FOR SUBPOENAS. THEY CAN GO AND BUY THE DATA. Once our data is uploaded to the private cloud, there's no framework in place or accountability to hold other than fines or fees to corporations or even heads of corporations that take accountability for leaks or breaches. This architecture has already been used at multiple points from federal agencies. In fact, Eugene, Springfield, and Bend both have exodus from their, done a mass exodus of their cameras in their cities. But beyond the architecture, specific technical vulnerabilities, and there was more, I would say more professional people up here than me, have gone into more technical detail about it. But I would say from a security and vulnerability standpoint, it's a severe risk to both our community and the city. These vulnerabilities have led to exposures across the region. And again, this isn't our first time that we've come across this. Ring camera has also come under lawsuits as well for finding missing persons or missing dogs. While the effort is great, it was not under much scrutiny at the time. Anyway, my time's coming up, but I advocate that you guys leave the cameras off permanently.

Thank you. Diane? Can I make your last name out, Diane? Very light writing.

Diane Conrad, resident in Albany. We all are in favor of using technology to enhance privacy, law enforcement and public safety. Using cameras to target our automobiles is not new. We have traffic cameras that tag you when you break the speed limit or go against a red light. When the police stops you, excuse me, respiratory condition, he targets your license plate, puts it in the system. But those examples have probable cause. In fact, the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution demands that we need probable cause. This system before you, taxi automobile, creates a database and does so without cause. That flies in the face of the Fourth Amendment and other laws created to protect citizens. we must prioritize safeguarding citizen rights. These do not consider any ALPR system in Albany. Thank you. Thank you.

Mary Long.

Good evening, City Council, and thank you for allowing all of these speakers. I am incredibly impressed by everything that I've heard from our young audience. I would suspect that the City Council has not seen so little gray hair come up and speak before it at probably any City Council. From the laughs, I assume I'm correct. All I can say, I don't have anything to add other than to just please ask you not to enact a method of of enforcing will, autocratic will upon us that we are not asking for and is a waste of taxpayer dollars. The risks seem to far outweigh any benefits. Thank you.

Thank you.

Daniel Rickert? That down rail record.

It looks like down well.

Okay, there are records. I can end here. Got that much case. I'm gonna skip that one. Esther Kim.

Good evening, Mayor Johnson and members of the council. My name is Esther Kim and I'm a resident of Albany in Ward 1. I'm against the use of any ALPRs and particularly Flock in our community. While I have the utmost respect for Chief Harnden and the work of our Albany Police Department, Flock has shown to not be acting in good faith in regards to data safety, and there are well-documented instances of government agencies misusing ALPRs. Senator Ron Wyden has investigated written and published letters regarding Flock. He states, Flock cannot live up to its commitment to protect the privacy and security of Oregonians. Abuse of Flock cameras is inevitable. and Flock has made it clear it takes no responsibility to prevent or detect that. Investigations prove that abuses stem from the architecture itself, not just how individual agencies use the technology. The way that ALPRs are utilized, which is in essence mass surveillance, it infringes on our right to privacy and when used by government agencies, our right to due process and erodes trust in our community. I encourage the City Council to reject the Public Safety Council recommendation of reinstating FLOC in our community. Thank you.

Thank you. Mark Ryan.

Hi, my name is Mark Ryan. I'm an Albany resident, and I have an aversion to public speaking. So the fact that I'm willing to put myself through this should tell you something about how appalled I am by the proposal of the flock and license plate readers. And I believe they should be banned. I think there's a couple things I want to emphasize in particular. We don't have to talk about the thin end of the wedge. We don't have to talk about hypotheticals about what Flock might do or what might happen. We're in the wedge. We know what is possible because we know what is already going on. We know we don't need to ask Flock, you know, when someone's selling you a potentially dangerous product, you don't ask them if you're not sure about the safety of the product, you go to a third party. And we know from third party reporting that Flock does work with ICE in terms of law enforcement that cooperates with ICE in service of ICE has used fog to pursue that. ICE is killing people in our streets. They are rounding people up in our streets. They are rounding people up in Linn County. These aren't rumors. This has been verified by Portland Immigration, excuse me, by PIRC. I want to emphasize the point about AI. I have an education background in linguistics and computer science. I have colleagues who work in computational linguistics. This is one of the foundations of AI technology. generative AI and we're talking about a genre of technology that is ripe for mishandling regardless of intention. We're talking about the same genre of technology that people use to try and find information and is happy to spit out information based on opaque analyses of huge amounts of data. This is to the same genre of technology that tells depressed people to kill themselves. This is the same genre of technology which is putting You know, it's my, it's the opinion of a lot of the people that I know in the field of computer science and that AI is a bubble and this technology is misused in all kinds of ways. And yeah, thank you for your time.

Thank you. Nick, Nick Price.

Mayor, before this person speaks, can I just make a motion that we extend past 9 p.m.?

I think we're not going to make it. We've only got one left. Oh, wow. Okay. All right. 34-35 down. Okay. Corrected.

My name is Nick Price. I'm from Ward 3. I have spoken before about taking a moral inventory when it comes to police department. I think this is what is happening today, what's been happening the last week. before that even is exactly the sort of inventory i'm talking about where right now we are at a fork in a road where a lot of these systems are being used in ways that we don't appreciate that are being used in ways that make us feel unsafe um and i think it's important to reject that um in a time where There are very real and present dangers that come from using this stuff. It's said that whether we're being targeted for different creeds or backgrounds or whatever, I think the evidence is very real that that's happening. And I think that the longer we allow private companies, which do not have the same social contract that our police department does, the police department has a social contract. We all kind of agree to it by living in a society together. And Flock doesn't have that. Flock has shareholders, they have CEOs, and they have a lot of people that want to make a lot of money. um and and i think that's really the end all be all of it is are we going to trade our safety and our you know peace of mind for shareholder value and um i think uh as a last point just because i do think that this kind of touches on something that is happening so widespread in our our society at large um I'm not really comfortable replacing, as critical as I am of policing in our country and in our state, I'm not comfortable with AI replacing police. I do think that public safety is something that should be handled by people and not computers solely um and i think that this runs a risk of you know right now it's a camera it's five but in 10 years from now we'll be talking about replacing officer patrol officers with surveillance and uh i'm uncomfortable with that um that's it thank you thank you alex rice

I am Alex Rice. I'm a resident and a parent in Albany. Mayor Johnson, members of the Council, thank you for your time tonight. I say that every time I come up here, but I recognize that this is a lot. So a very deep, heartfelt thanks for all the time you've taken to listen to us tonight. I'm beating what may already be a dead horse, so I'll try to keep this quick. This is a mass surveillance system. It's not a single point observations as a regular traffic cam would do, but observations being made by a network. As someone who frequently advocates for public transit, walkability, bikeability, I can tell you that the vast majority of Americans get around in cars. Cars are registered and associated with an individual. What that means is if you can track a license plate, if you can track a car, you can track the individual. You can track where they're going. Albinites commute. We trade about the same number of people between us and Corvallis every single day, people coming from work. We send people to Salem every day. We send people to Eugene every day to get to their jobs. And people from those places come here, which means that even if we place these cameras at the edge of town, they're still going to be tracking unwarranted vast numbers of Albany citizens on a day-to-day basis. I've heard this likened to... ability to track a person using their cell phone the thing is if the police want to see my cell phone location data they have to get a warrant they don't have to get a warrant to do this the only reason this isn't considered a violation of the fourth amendment is because the founding fathers could not have conceived of a technology this insidious Finally, I wanna wrap up just by saying, violent and property crime are both on the decline in Albany and child abductions are extremely low. The vast majority of child abductions in this country are by a known and trusted adult. And 96% of children who are abducted are recovered within 72 hours through a combination of community action, Amber Alerts and good old fashioned police work. As a parent, the threat of kidnapping, the threat of violent crime is much less scary to me than the thought of my daughter growing up in a surveillance state. I am asking you, protect my family, protect all these people here, vote to terminate the contract with Flock, and please ban ALPR technology in Albany. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next on tonight's agenda, item seven, action items. Adopt by motion, flock automated license plate reader.

Mr. Mayor, could we get a bathroom break before we do that?

Are we supposed to? Take five minutes. Be back at 38. Thank you.

Are we going to ask? Are we going to ask? We're going to go past 9 p.m. Second.

I motion to second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Thank you very much, counsel. Okay. I did miss in all the notes that I had for people to speak, Ms. Carson O'Brien. Carson O'Brien here.

Mr. Mayor and counselors, Carson O'Brien, resident of Albany. I wrote a letter in support of the pursuit of justice for victims of child abuse. And there has been several instances where these particular cameras or systems like this have helped catch offenders of child abuse. And in the role that I sit in, and the egregiousness of these crimes that I see that unfold in Albany and all the good work that Chief Harnden and the Albany Police Department do, we do see the potential of how a system like this could be helpful in the pursuit of justice for vulnerable children. So, thank you.

Thank you. And Chris Reese was another one I missed. That's all me. Thank you.

Hi, Chris Reese, resident of Albany for 22 years, current YMCA CEO, coach of a couple thousand kids over the last 20 years in Albany. I run four businesses here, also in town, and I'm a retired 23-year veteran of the United States Army. I am a big proponent of surveillance of our community, and I have to weigh out the potential of even one victim being being protected, being saved, prior to their becoming a victim versus my personal rights or the surveillance of me hoping that at all times you should be doing the right thing. So if you are being watched, because you are being watched regardless of the flock or not, there are so many things out there that are watching you. I believe as an Eagle Scout, I believe as a prior soldier, as a CEO, I should always be doing the right thing. So if there is a camera system out there that will prevent a crime, that will help solve a crime or protect the hundreds, if not thousands of kids that come through the YMCA or through our greater Albany public schools, then if I weigh that on scale, not that I disagree with one thing that I've heard today from this great body of people. In fact, I protected that freedom of a body of people for 23 years and I will always protect that. I love it. I love activists. I love bodies of people affecting change in the beautiful democracy that we live in. However, If one person is saved, if one child is saved, if one crime is prevented and it's at the detriment of me being at a Winco parking lot at whatever time in the morning, I don't really, for me personally, to each his own, I feel like I'm willing to sacrifice that privacy piece for me to ensure that society is protected. VOW THAT, YOU KNOW, THROUGH THE SERVICE OF MY COUNTRY AND THROUGH MY SERVICE AS A CEO OF THE YMCA.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. OKAY. BACK TO ACTION ITEM SEVEN. ADOPT BY MOTION FLOCK AUTOMATED LICENSED PLATE READER CAMERA DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION FROM THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION CHIEF MARSHA HARNESS OF VERBAL.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'll give Jerry a second here to get online for the display. What we're going to offer you is what we presented to the public in the last two public meetings. Some of you were there. Many of you were not. So in the interest of being transparent with all involved, particularly our decision makers, I want to make sure that everybody's seen it. There's one or two small additions that came out of recent events that will include this final version will also go up on that Q&A page. FROM QUESTIONS THAT CAME OUT ON THE 20TH. SO THIS IS THE PRESENTATION WE DID BOTH AT THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING AND AT THE COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS THE PAST WEDNESDAY. I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH THAT WITH YOU AND I'LL ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AFTER THAT. ALSO CAPTAIN DRUM IS GOING TO ANSWER OR HE'S GOING TO DEMO THE SYSTEM LIVE WHICH WE DID ON WEDNESDAY AND ON THE PREVIOUS MONDAY. YOU CAN ASK ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE AS WELL. Sean Park is back here somewhere to answer any technical questions. All right. So, again, you know what our mission is. What we cover in this particular thing, Jerry, go ahead and bring it all up if you want to, and then that way I'll move this along. I know it's been a long day. One, what is the LPR technology? Where we came about with FLOC, why we came about, how the funding came in. What are the rules and policies that we have to operate under? And the privacy concerns they have. I don't disagree with the privacy concerns. I'm a member of one of those highly protected groups that the people behind me are brave enough to speak about their fear of. I'm a member of that group. So I'm very aware of the potential in my own personal life as well. So I have to always balance that and balance public safety. And then, again, Jerry or Captain Drum will do a live demo and then answering questions that you have. So the history of LPRs, most of you know I'm old. So I've been a police officer for 33 years, and I used an LPR mounted to the top of a patrol car in the early 2000s. They've been around for a long, long time. If you've gotten a tolling citation or tolling charge in the state of Washington, those are LPR cameras as well. IF YOU GO TO A PRIVATE PARKING GARAGE OR UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE, THEY USE LPR'S FOR PARKING ENFORCEMENT. MOST PARKING ENFORCEMENT ENTITIES USE LPR'S FOR THEIR ENFORCEMENT AS WELL. PART OF OUR PHOTO ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM USES LPR TECHNOLOGY TO READ THE LICENSE PLATE NUMBER ON THOSE CARS. SO IT'S NOT NEW TECHNOLOGY IN THE LEAST. WHERE IT'S EXPLODED IS THE CLOUD SERVICES, AND THERE'S A LOT OF BRAVE PEOPLE BEHIND ME THAT HAVE VOICE THOSE CONCERNS AS WELL. HOW DO WE PROTECT THOSE TO MAKE SURE THAT DATA IS BEING USED IN THE PROPER WAY? So there's three main companies nationwide that are used. Flock, which you've heard about a lot tonight. Axon, which is a massive public safety technology company that does body cameras, tasers. They're entering the LPR world. They mount LPRs that are in their in-car video cameras. Some of our neighboring agencies are using those as well. And then Vigilant, which is probably the oldest one of the group. It's currently owned by the Motorola company. So we have two basically companies that we use. Both operate basically the same way. One is Neology. For those of you who were on the council a few years ago, you approved us accepting a grant for what's called a traffic trailer, which has LPR technology built into it. At that time, that server, that data collection was sent to a federal server in Idaho. Because of the risk and the fact that there's federal oversight with that, we have disengaged from that particular server and use it only and store it only locally on the actual trailer. So that's the trailer we've used to assess different areas around the city that we need photo enforcement for and the like. and then Yeah, we'll talk about that so that's the actual picture of our trailer it you know we can deploy it to Neighborhoods where there's a problem where we're assessing photo enforcement opportunities, or if we have a high crime location So that the technology works the same you'll see just above that like black piece next to the 25 that's the LPR reader that's mounted on that that particular trailer and And then this is the flock camera that used to reside at First and Aylesworth, currently probably at the bottom of the Willamette River, something like that, we'll see. But it was turned off based on council direction earlier this year, so that's what that would look like. That particular one needed power. That's a city of Albany power pole, but they can run off of solar power as well. So what is it? I'm going to do this in two different ways. I'm going to try to move quickly in the interest of time. But LPR devices in general are devices that are designed to read vehicle information, license plate information, and then also look at bumper stickers, roof racks, things like that. So they take an image of the car going by. Our cameras do take rear passing vehicles. During the presentation on the 20th, we were surprised to see a vehicle with a front plate. When I talked to FLOC about that, Winston, Oregon, has a FLOC camera mounted in a basically two-lane road, so it's going to pick up vehicles in both directions. That's why we got a front plate read. Back is always best because that's what's almost guaranteed, to have a license plate number or a license plate mounted on it. Some cars don't always have their two required plates by state law. So the software reads the license plate number and the other vehicle characteristics, color make and model, And then they store that information on what's called a CJIS compliant central server. So for those who have worked for government entities, that is a highly level encrypted server. In our case, that's the AWS GovServe, where that information's stored. It's sent there by flock on our behalf. The server then compares against some databases, mostly administered by the state of Oregon, that check for hot list items, stolen vehicles, missing persons, both Amber Alerts and Silver Alerts, any wanted vehicles, things like that. And they go and check that and then we'll get an automatic hit, which I'll show you what that looks like. If there's a match, we will get notified through a logged-in APD employee. Usually it's a 911 dispatcher within 20 to 60 seconds. This is just a visual of that same thing. It's motion-activated, and we'll take a picture of the car. These are not video devices. There are LPRs that do video. Flock does not. There's still images that are sent through the server. AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW WHO SAW A FACE IN THE PRESENTATION ON THE 20th, BUT YOU CAN'T SEE ENOUGH DEMOGRAPHICS TO IDENTIFY THE DRIVER OF THESE. NOW, FOR THOSE OF US IN THE CITY WHO HAVE GOTTEN PHONE ENFORCEMENT TICKETS, THAT TECHNOLOGY IS VERY, VERY ADVANCED. SO THEY'RE REQUIRED TO IDENTIFY THE DRIVER IN THAT CASE. confusion between the two. So it's not collecting driver demographics. And then it's sent off through the server to that CJIS location through AWS. All right, so I've heard these multiple times. I've read online, I've done my independent research, I'm not relying on Flock, and about facial recognition rumors. And a lot of what I've heard, I even heard it tonight that somebody got a ticket and they took a picture of their face and that's an LPR misuses. THERE'S BIG DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO TECHNOLOGIES. ONE IS TAKING A PICTURE OF THE VEHICLE. ONE IS TAKING A PICTURE OF THE ACTIONS OF THE VEHICLE WITH VIDEO. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE RECEIVED A TICKET, YOU'LL GET A VIDEO LINK AS WELL. AND IT CLEARLY SHOWS THAT YOU'RE IDENTIFIED IN THAT. AND THAT'S ONE REQUIREMENT WE HAVE UNDER OREGON LAW. WE MUST IDENTIFY THE DRIVER. So there is some difference between the two cameras. Both have similar public safety intent, but how the technology works is very different, and people often get these confused. So this is what a flock camera will take an image of. So this is a truck with all sorts of writing on it. The software is trained to look at license plate information, not focus on phone numbers on the truck, et cetera, et cetera. It could look for bumper stickers and things like that. If we don't have a license plate, we can narrow it based on the description. And then that information is sent back to the flock servers and checked against NCIC. And then we get a notification in this next image. We'll get an alert. So this is a stolen vehicle hit on a truck. In this case, it's out of Miami, Florida, for an example. We don't have any active cameras. We don't have any active alerts to show you since ours have been turned off. So how we acquired them. You heard a little bit about the organized retail theft grant. That's a criminal justice commission grant that's given out on an annual basis. This particular set of money came out in the 23 to 25 biennium. There's two technologies that we were able to obtain with that grant money. 14,000 or so was used for the flock purchase in the program with the requirement during that particular time that had to be used for combating organized retail theft. We're now free of that and I'll address that with a different concern from the council here in a second. We've presented multiple times. We have a FAQ page that was suggested by our Public Safety Commission where we put up a bunch of questions and answers. We've done that again since the 20th. I am committed to that transparency moving forward. And then you granted permission to accept that grant back in 2024. So why do we implement it? Most people who work for the government know that there's an RFP process. We have to have the intent in mind, cost in mind, so on and so forth. But I also have to balance what the technology will do for us as law enforcement officers. You've heard from people that are against FLOC who talk about how understaffed we are. If you want to give me about two, three million dollars tonight, I can hire more police officers. I'd be appreciative of that, because we are very much understaffed by the national standards. Go ahead, Jerry. So we're home to more than 59,000 residents. On average, we have seven police officers working. And again, you've heard me joke at award ceremonies, like who's covering the street when the whole department is at the award ceremony? So we are very much understaffed. Technology in policing is changing very rapidly, and because we're on Interstate 5, we're actually a very busy city. And being able to get ahead of crime pretty quickly, recently shared with a counselor about a crime trend that's hitting now seven states, where it's an organized group that use counter surveillance, and they come in and they're watching for the cops to come and see if they can catch them. And LPRs have been very instrumental in identifying that group. So we're a hub for a lot of really good things and then we're a hub for criminal activity as well. So privacy concerns, you've heard all about this. You heard a lot about it from the brave people behind me and that it's a random surveillance state. I've heard a couple times about the gymnastics practice room. Flock does a number of different technologies. LPR is one of their technologies. They do complete computer systems. SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SYSTEMS. THAT PARTICULAR ISSUE CAME UP UNDER ONE OF THEIR REAL-TIME CRIME VIDEO DEMOS. IT'S NOT AN LPR-RELATED INCIDENT. AND CAN THEY OR ARE THEY MOUNTED ON VEHICLES? NOT ON OUR VEHICLES AT ALL. OSP DOES USE LPR TECHNOLOGY. IT'S MOUNTED INSIDE THEIR PATROL CARS AND OUR CAMERAS. SO IT'S POSSIBLE. WE USE IT ON STATIONARY MOUNTINGS. Does it capture PII, personal identifying information? All it's capturing is an image of the vehicle, the demographics of the vehicle, and a license plate if it's caught. Many times you can't even see how many people are in the vehicle.

Is a license plate considered PII, though?

I just want to be clear. Not on the face because it doesn't identify anybody. It's just the license plate. We have to run that plate to be able to get that PII information. It doesn't tell us who owns that car. We have to actually run the car. So, under most, all 50 states, you're required to display a license plate on the car as a requirement for driving on public roadways. That's why it's limited. You have to have special access to be able to run that license plate. It's not considered PII. Going back, we talked about facial recognition. That should be everybody's big concern with technology. This, one of the reasons that we went with this is that we are not, this is not a system that does facial recognition. There are many that are out there. I'm reticent of that, and there's actually Oregon state law that prohibits the use of facial recognition in many ways. So, this is not a system that uses, collects data for facial recognition. Does the federal government have access to our data? You heard from previous meetings that they did a pilot program up until the end of June of 2025. They have now ended that. They have no federal contracts. The other two vendors do have federal contracts. That's a mindful piece that I have to look into, but they do not have access to just query our data. They'd have to go to a judge and get a warrant or a subpoena to access that data. And there's lots of concerns tonight about encryption. That's why I brought our chief information officer, who is also a cybersecurity expert, into this discussion. And he's looked at the vulnerabilities. Every system known to man, if it's human created, has a vulnerability. But this one is fairly highly protected. And again, I queried some of the rumors. I went to the agencies out there that supposedly had information or heard about hacking, there's again no known hacking incidents out there that we can find. Will the ALPR be the sole source for making an arrest on the traffic stop? I know our counselors follow our social media accounts, and we often post those pictures of who am I, surveillance pictures from Walmart, Target, et cetera, and we put those out there. We still have to independently verify the information. So if we get an LPR hit on a stolen vehicle, an officer must get behind the vehicle and verify the plate independently. They can't make a stop purely off of the hot list hit. And let's talk about the law. So the Oregon Law Center was here at a recent meeting. If you look at the end of that letter, the recommendations that the Oregon Law Center recommended that are currently codified in state law are all ones that Oregon sheriffs and Oregon chiefs associations agreed to. That's, I think, a good common sense place to be. We can tweak it if we find vulnerabilities in the system, but it's considered a model especially in the western United States. And just yesterday I was on a call with chiefs from across the country where a lot of these same discussions are occurring in their states. There are some states that are completely unregulated and I don't think that's a good place to be as a state in general and I think Oregon's taken a good step to protect it. I'M GOING TO MOVE THROUGH THIS PRETTY QUICKLY. SOME OF THIS IS REPETITIVE. IT TALKS ABOUT THE LAW DEFINES WHAT LPR SYSTEMS ARE, AND SO IT'S REALLY DEFINED IN STATE LAW. IT LIMITS HOW THEY CAN BE USED. PRIOR TO THE LAW CHANGE, WE HAD GONE TO AN OREGON-ONLY SHARE, AND THAT'S NOW STATE LAW. WE'RE GEO-FENCED IN WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE-TO-ONE SHARING. SO FOR INSTANCE, IF PORTLAND WERE TO HAVE FLOT CAMERAS, THEY DO NOT. WERE TO GET THEM IN VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON HAD THEM, THEY COULD HAVE A ONE-TO-ONE AGREEMENT BASED ON PROXIMITY, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, WERE GEO-FENCED IN. SORRY, GO BACK, JERRY. IT EXPLICITLY REFERS AND REINFORCES THE SANCTUARY PROMISE LAWS. THE SANCTUARY PROMISE LAWS WERE ALREADY AT PLAY IN OUR POLICY BEFORE THAT, BUT THIS IS THE IN TANDEM WORK TOGETHER THAT WE CANNOT USE THIS DATA FOR IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS. So that's why it's restricted to Oregon state law enforcement only And talks about data retention as well. That is 30 days. It's mandatory by state law even if Medford wanted to extend that they cannot because flock at least has turned it so that it will auto delete in 30 days unless they Pull the actual hit for a criminal case LIMITS ON USE, AGAIN, SOME OF THIS IS REPETITIVE. IT IS NOT AN ONGOING VIDEO, SO YOU CAN'T SEE. JUST IS NOT RUNNING 24-7. IT'S MOTION ACTIVATED, WHICH MANY OF THESE LPRs ARE. IT'S SENSING A VEHICLE AND TAKES A PICTURE OF THAT VEHICLE. It cannot, it is restricted by law from being shared with federal agencies without a court order. So how that looks in law and in our policy is if say the Secret Service gets a complaint or the Marshals get a complaint about a threat to a federal judge and they have a vehicle attached, They cannot access the data. They have to call the individual agency and say, hey, do you know anything about this vehicle? Has it been through your city at all? And we have to have a human-to-human conversation about whether that information is allowed to be shared. And in our case, that has to be a command-level discussion. So they have to reach out to a captain or above. Detention and deletion, again, it's automatic, 30 days. So, I can't even tell you it was run back in January because it's been auto-deleted. We've been on a 30-day retention since becoming a customer of Flock. Again, immigration and reproductive rights, when Captain Drum belongs in here, you'll see all of the requirements that you must adhere to and you must accept before logging into the system. If somebody accepts that and uses the system against it, it's an integrity violation that would revoke their certification as a peace officer in the state of Oregon, and they would no longer be employed by the city of Albany. The oddest thing, so when we looked at the technology, I had to be able to look everybody in the eye and say, can we tell how this system is being used? That's why we turned off the national lookup. I can't control what Texas is doing. I can't control what Georgia is doing. I need to be able to tell what my state is doing and hold them accountable to Oregon state law. So we have the ability at any time to pull audit logs. The state law requires a yearly audit log. I'm going to do that monthly and report out to the council as to exactly what data is being used and how it's being used. Vendor liability, again, we have, there's some financial penalties that can go against the vendor. At any time, if we think that they violated the contract, we can discontinue. There's language in our contract to do so. If you see an agency, and this is a question that's come up a couple times, if we find out another police officer or agency has misused the data, we not only can go in at a click's notice and remove them from our sharing and our data, but we'd also report them to the state of Oregon as a violation. We're required by state law to report police officer misconduct in the state of Oregon. It became effective on Governor Kotek's signature back in March. And then it also requires strong policy. So I've heard a couple people say, well, they're using it for insurance and registration checks. We're not. It's explicitly prohibited in our policy. I made it so because having an expired registration or having no insurance on your car is not a crime. IT'S AN INFRACTION. I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE LEGISLATURE WAS THINKING ABOUT WHEN THEY KEPT THAT IN THERE, BUT I THINK THIS SHOULD BE A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION TOOL, NOT A TRAFFIC REGISTRATION ENFORCEMENT TOOL. In this, our policy lays out this is available to the public. We tweaked it when the law came into play in March to add those additional restrictions for things like the registration, but also talks about the audit logs and what would happen to employees if they misuse the data, how it's retained, and how long we will keep that data as well. and then uh you on the previous packet got this is a new slide these are the organizations uh that have come forward and you've heard about some of those here in albany that have seen the benefit to protecting vulnerable populations and also people out in the motoring public There was an incident where we had a traffic fatality out in Lacombe where an Albany pastor was killed in a DUI crash and LPR technology and a traffic enforcement camera was able to place the driver behind the wheel just minutes before that crash. So it's valuable as a traffic safety tool as well. And then I want to introduce somebody in the audience. I'm not sure where he went. This is one of our Albany residents, was in Austin during the shootings a couple weeks ago, and I would invite him real quick to talk about the state of panic that was in that city, and I'll talk to you about my discussions with Austin.

Hi, I'm Keith Medding. I'm a North Albany resident for the last 12 years. Yeah, I was in Austin, Texas area the day of that event. I was driving back for my sisters to see my daughter and her wife. And this incident started in Austin, where they shot up police stations and fire stations, shot and wounded four individuals, and they were on a manhunt. Austin doesn't use the LPRs, but outside Manor, a town similar to the size of Albany, on a major corridor between Houston and Austin does use them. In a matter of 30 minutes, they were able to apprehend the three suspects who went on the shooting spree. My daughter and her wife were absolutely terrified because the apprehensions happened about 10 minutes from where they live, which I was en route to, which took me an extra two and a half to three hours to get there because of all the havoc that was wreaked by these three criminals going out there and shooting. So here's another case where these cameras came to the defense and helped apprehend criminals that were doing some things. So just as the last gentleman spoke about, if one life is saved because of the use of these cameras, especially by our police department who do all the things the right way, I think it's a valid system that we should be looked at and used in this area. Thank you.

So it's hard a little bit to see in the graphic, but before the suspect vehicle was caught on an LPR camera in the neighboring agency, over 200 law enforcement officers were deployed and parts of Austin were in lockdown or in shelter in place. Can you imagine something like that happens here? You're talking everything from South Portland to Eugene, all those police officers would be employed into that incident here to look for those suspects. Well, they had a license plate. It was a stolen vehicle, but they couldn't track it at all. It didn't have any cameras in the city of Austin. I had a conversation with Austin PD, and they are seriously looking at reversing course on this. So they're going to have some good discussions with their community on it, and I think it's an important reminder of what the technology can do. Also, I took a look at some of the misconduct cases and looked at some of the data out there on those. Yeah, we should be concerned. Any one case of misuse is problematic for policing. But I also look at it in the broader context, and I ask the council to look at it in the broader context. We're not talking about misconduct in the 10%. We're not talking about misconduct in 1%. We're talking about misconduct in .00004%. Now again, people like me and good police officers have to make sure that there's safeguards on the system, but we have to be realistic about the benefits versus the risk. Again, I'll remind everybody, I'm in one of those classes of people that would be concerned about my civil liberties as well. This is a technology that I actually believe in and I've seen it work with the proper oversight and good common sense state law, I think it can still remain in play. I ask, we have seven months left on our contract before it has to be renewed. I ask the council to give the technology a chance. I will report out to you every month and supply all the audit logs to you and answer any questions. And one concern comes up. I won't hesitate to shut it off. Thank you. So I'm going to have Captain Drumm demonstrate it. These are our two transparency portals. Also, anybody can scan that for a second while he's about to switch over. Okay. You have to share again.

You might just exit out of the Zoom.

All right, so I just want to walk everybody through. If you're a user, this is what we will see in the hurdles we have to jump through. So again, there is a very specific sequence. It does require two-factor authentication to log into. But it rests on our authenticator code or software on our phones. And he's gonna scroll up here, but this is the first level of compliance that they have to reach. You'll see here that many different states, Oregon's listed in there for both immigration and reproductive rights. that by accepting and continuing, the user is guaranteeing that they're going to use the technology responsibly, and if they don't, that's where our internal discipline processes come in. That could result in termination as a police officer in the state of Oregon, revocation of the certification, and if they're in violation of certain CEGIS type of databases, that could be a crime, and they could be charged with a crime. So you have to accept and continue That's going to take you to a dashboard. And first, I'm going to have him run a search. And this is going to be a test missing persons case. And this is, just so everybody knows, is going to show up in our flock transparency portal as a search. The system requires that we list a crime or a type of classification, it's called NIBRS, or it's code for what we have to report out to the federal government for crimes. If you know the location, if you know the timeframe, so on and so forth, and then there's some advanced filters. So we don't have any active cameras, so I can't go in there and go run plate 123 ABC, because we don't have that data. But we can go, hey, your elderly parent has gone missing, but you're upset you don't know the full plate or don't know the plate at all. The system has the ability to run a specific query based on make model type and so on and so forth. If it has a roof rack to a box, something like that, there's some other indicators you can search for.

I don't know what it did here. Hold on. I'm going to start over.

While Jerry's working on that, one of the questions that came up in a couple of meetings is, how is the AI involved in teaching the Flock software and other LPR technologies to work? We did confirm with Flock that it is a closed loop AI learning model that uses open source data. So it'll go out and scrape the internet and look for, on Google or any other Bing, whatever you choose and say, Show me all of the Ford F-150 pictures that are online. It uses those pictures to train the model. There's less than 1% of our actual images that are used, and they're not license plates at all. They're identifying characteristics of colors and license plate colors, things like that. FLOC also will go out to all the DMV web pages and say, and you can do the search yourself, show me all the different types of license plates that the state of Oregon uses. And they show pictures of that. They use that to train the models as well. None of our specific data is used, license plate data is used to train their learning models.

Well, striking out. Something wrong.

Are you searching just on data? I know it's getting late. I know people are getting punchy, so bear with us a little bit, okay?

So this is how the search works. It'll give us some pictures that will show us pictures, just like you saw in the alert, that will either be a hot list or these are all the possible matches for that particular vehicle. And we'll get a selection over there, and then we need to, again, independently verify the plate information when it comes back. With that, unless Jerry's gonna, okay, I'll answer any questions Council has.

Council, any questions for Chief?

Well, not really a question directly for you. I just wanna say that I believe that everyone here is acting in good intentions. I respect our police chief, Marcia. I love working with you. I think you're fabulous. I respect our officers. I respect my fellow counselors who support these cameras because I know that they believe, they think that these will help keep people safe. I also want to acknowledge the many, many, many constituents who've contacted me over the past few weeks. I'm sure you guys have also gotten a ton of calls and emails or stopped at the grocery store. Along with many residents who came to testify on flock cameras tonight, that's I believe that local government is something that happens to you. It's something that happens with you. So I'm really heartened to see a lot of folks here, especially Ward 1 constituents, John, Matt, Taryn, Kyle, Susan, Charlotte, Billy, Hunter, Deacon, Suzanne, Esther, Alex, Carson, Chris, and Keith. I think I got you all, all the Ward 1 folks. Sorry, Ward 2 and Ward 3. Well, no, people that spoke. I apologize. Thank you for showing up and participating in local government. I voted against these cameras and was the only member of our current council, not people here, it was a different council to do so back when they first came before us back in September of 2024. And after that vote, I kept an open mind. I listened. I asked questions. I've done a ton of research. I have seriously considered arguments about crime prevention and about public safety. But at the end of the day, I keep coming back to two things, coming back to this, that two things can be true at once. These cameras, they may help solve crimes. And these cameras also collect and store massive amounts of data about ordinary people. Because this, I believe that this conversation is much bigger than Albany. Across this country, people are watching privacy protections erode in real time. We're seeing growing surveillance, growing data collection, growing uncertainty about who ultimately has access to our information. And frankly, I think people have a right to be totally uneasy about that. And this is not about assuming bad intentions from local law enforcement. I wanna be extremely clear about that. I think we have best of the best. I trust our local officers want to use these tools responsibly. But once surveillance infrastructure exists, it rarely stays limited forever, right? Policies change, administrations change. Marsha, one day, I am so sad to think that one day we will not have the tiniest chief in the state of Oregon. I love a chief I can look directly in the eyes. Federal priorities, they also change. Technology expands. And what I've heard tonight is a lot of residents saying, where is the line? And a few folks mentioned Senator Ron Wyden. He's warned about the dangers of unchecked surveillance technology and the misuse of automated license plate reader data. So I feel... that our community has fully grappled with the long-term consequences of normalizing this level of surveillance. And because of that, I cannot support reactivating the system. And I would actually want to make a motion that the city of Albany cancel its contract with flock safety effective immediately.

I second that motion.

I have something to say before we get into that.

We have a motion on the floor.

I'm sorry?

Yeah, go ahead. We have a motion. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Yeah. Right. So I think it is a slippery slope. I've heard it is evident in the room how folks feel. But it is also evident in the room that while there are, I think someone brought up like some protected classes. And I've not shared this publicly, but I'm going to share it now because I think that it's appropriate. Last year, I was followed home into where I live, into the parking lot where I park. And there was a nasty note left underneath my door. I went to the police department to give that information. The person who was at my door definitely wore a disguise and was turned a different way so they couldn't see who was at my door and what they wrote and what they put underneath it, number one. Number two, that was not the first time I had been followed home. Where I live, where I park, where I sleep, I am a single black woman in this community. And while I know there are other protected classes in here, I don't think that you all or some people may not live with the same fear or caution that I have too. Number three, just recently, I was almost literally ran off the road on Pacific with someone. I was on my way to the police department to do this this week, but obviously we've been in here for several hours. And I did try to get a picture of the person's license plate because they were so forceful in almost running me off the road. And as I understand it, I hear the thing about having information stored and surveillance. I do hear that. I understand that. But I, as someone who lives in this community, as someone from a big city like Chicago where those photo enforcement things are all over, it's not saying that it's something you should get used to. I think we should be cautioned by. We should be a little uneasy. But I also don't want to impede investigations. I don't want to impede my safety. I don't want to impede the children's safety. We heard an overwhelming response of people who are not for it, and we heard a very fraction of people who are for it. And I think that some of the people who are for it maybe not have felt as confident to walk in a room and be the minority in a situation where I think we had, what, three or four people who were for a flock cameras or what have you. Four or five. Four or five. Thank you. I also think that if it's seven months left on a contract, And we have an opportunity to, because I don't know, they've been off since the end of February. So I don't know what we've missed. I don't know who we've missed. I don't know who was following me. I don't know why I continue to get followed. And I don't know if it's people in this room who have had that same situation. But as someone who sits on this council and on this dais, that's a concern for me. And I would want to be able to say, I would want to go to the police and say, hey, this happened to me. This was the time, the date, or whatever. Do what you need to do to help me, to protect me, to do what you can. And I think that... As that in itself is... weighs heavy on me, and I think that in good conscience, I'm saying in seven months, you come back, you give us the update, and if you say there's any impropriety, hey, we can revisit. And I do want to say, Councilor Newton, I was here when you did express concerns about the fly camera. You expressed them outwardly. I did send some emails because I had some concerns about it in the very beginning as well. And I just, I don't want to hold up process with our police department. I think we have a good thing going here. And I appreciate everybody who showed up. I appreciate the smaller voices in the room who didn't say or didn't feel comfortable who were for or against. I appreciate that presence too. So with all those things considered, I personally would say with the next seven months, I would like to see them back on because I would like to see what happens. And until you've been followed home, until you've been almost run off the road, until it's happened to you, I think you have a different response as well.

Any other councilor? Yeah, I, you know, um, Tonight, and I appreciate, like I've already said, I appreciate everyone who showed up. That's the way things are supposed to work. I've heard a lot of mistrust, mistrust that is bigger than the APD, mistrust mainly of Flock Camera, Flock Company. I think the conversations were good. For this community, they were about as thorough as we're going to get. That's just the nature of local government. And the arguments from the police chief. I think they're clearly the kind of arguments that are designed to get or should get like 80 to 90 percent approval. When you start talking about kids, who's going to be against that? When you start talking about. crime prevention in general. Who's going to be against that? No one is. But it hasn't gotten 80 or 90 percent approval. I don't know where the approval number lies, but it's far less than 80, 90 percent. And in addition to the tonight, this meeting and the other meetings, you know, I've gotten messages from people and it's overwhelmingly slow it down, slow down the mass surveillance and the mistrust. And that's where I'm at. That has not been those concerns are still there for me. And I think it's time we turned them off and it's time to be like five or six other communities in Oregon who grappled with this and made the same decision. A couple of cities in Washington and cities throughout the country are grappling. Maybe we're on the leading edge, but I've heard clearly people, enough mass surveillance, too much mistrust. And that's where I'm at tonight. Any other councilor?

Councilor McLeod.

Thank you. Boy, I have a lot to say. First, I'm just going to start by saying, wow. Hi neighbors. Look at all of these community members here tonight. This turnout, the energy in this room is palpable and it's incredible. You are incredible. Your engagement, your questions and your care for Albany are something that we should all be proud of. I'm so proud of this community and how we show up. I wanna thank the Albany Police Department. Our officers work incredibly hard for the city and that dedication deserves recognition. The concerns that we've heard tonight are not about APD's integrity or their commitment to keeping us safe. The concerns are about what happens to ALPR data once it leaves our local control. Who gets it, how long it's kept, how it may be used in systems far beyond Albany. whether it is in legal ways or illegal ways. For me, this isn't just about being a technology issue, it's a community trust issue, and it is a constitutional issue. We have longstanding protections that safeguard people from being tracked or monitored without cause. These protections allow us to move freely, live freely, and feel safe in our own city. When technology can collect information on everyone, not just those suspected of wrongdoing, we have to be extremely careful about crossing the line from targeted policing to broad surveillance. And it is a very thin line at times. I also want to share something important. After the Public Safety Commission voted to recommend turning the cameras back on, my appointee reached out to me directly. She told me that she has changed her mind and now opposes the use of these cameras. She wishes she had voted against the recommendation and her email explaining that is included in your packet tonight. I hope that you saw it amongst all of the other emails that we received. I appreciate her honesty and her willingness to reconsider as more information has come forward and she is not alone. Many people in our community have taken the same journey as they have learned more about the implications of the use of ALPR technology. We also have in our packet letters from both the Ling County Democrats and the Benton County Democrats speaking out against ALPR. And I think those are important organizations that we need to listen to. What I'm hearing here tonight and over the last few weeks in our community is clear. People want safety and they also want privacy, civil liberties and constitutional rights respected. Those priorities should not be in conflict with each other. And looking forward, I want to be proactive. I would like city staff to explore the option of an ordinance addressing the use of ALPR technology within city limits, both public and private. If we are going to protect community trust, we need to look at the full landscape, not just the city owned pieces of it. And this is what I have been hearing from members of our community over the last few weeks. And I would like city staff to explore that option. After listening to our community and weighing the risks and safeguards, it's clear that many residents want us to vote against turning the flock cameras back on. We represent you. We are your voice in this chamber. And this decision is not about being anti-police. It's about making sure our tools align with our values and protect both community safety and individual rights. So again, I just wanted to say thank you for being here in such a strong and thoughtful way. To the members of our community, your voices matter, your presence matters, and you make Albany stronger just by showing up. So thank you for being here.

Any other councils have anything? I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye.

I would like the motion restated, please.

We end our flock camera. Well, maybe I guess I could restate it to like we don't turn flock cameras on and then when our contract is up, we do not renew it. But can we just cancel it effective immediately?

No, you need to restate the motion as made because it was seconded and now belongs to the body.

Maybe we should have the city reporter. Therefore, I move the City of Albany cancel its contract with flock safety effective immediately.

I second that motion.

I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed say no.

No.

Can we have roll call vote for clarity?

Councillor Smith. No. Councillor McGee. No. Councillor Newton.

Yes.

Councillor Thompson. Yes. Councillor Van Drimmelen. Aye. Councillor McLeod.

Yes.

Looks like the motion passes.

Thank you, Councillor. Meeting's not over yet. Thank you. You guys have been great. Meeting's not over yet. So question for you, city manager. Is Mr. Trombino going to do his presentation tonight or will he pull it over?

Last time I checked with him, he was prepared to go ahead, if you are.

Well, let's go. So here we go. Informational briefings and staff reports, transportation system plan update, Paul Trombino III, and Rob Emmons, page 73 to 82 in your packet.

Yeah, they're ready, Paul.

Yes, sir.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. Thank you for the opportunity to brief you this evening. I'm joined by Rob Evans, Assistant City Engineer, and we are here to give you an overview of the transportation system plan update, as I like to call the master plan for transportation in the city, with an emphasis on safety and mobility, as outlined in the memo that you received. The transportation system plan is a required 20 year planning document per Oregon's TPR planning rules that describe our transportation system and lays out projects, programs and policies to meet future needs based on community goals. Our last TSP was completed in 2010 and identified nearly $268 million in needed infrastructure projects. And since then, Albany has completed approximately about 14 million of those projects. The updated TSP will focus on a system that is safe, connected, and accessible for everyone. We have a plan for innovation. We will plan, excuse me, for innovation, shifts in travel, behavior, and new technologies. Goals include improving system efficiency, supporting sustainable growth, and encouraging all travel options, walking, biking, rolling, transit, and driving. The bottom line is we're building a flexible mobility centered network. Safety is a foundation element of the new TSP. We are aligning with USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All, called SS4A, and a Vision Zero Action Plan, really using the safe system approach. This process is defined by six key principles on the slide. These focus areas work through an overarching statement, really talking about traffic deaths as a whole, because traffic deaths are preventable. AND WE ARE INTEGRATING HUMAN FAILING IN OUR APPROACH TO PREVENT FATAL AND SEVERE CRASHES. AND FINALLY, THE SYSTEM'S APPROACH TO SAVING LIVES IS NOT EXPENSIVE. WE WILL DEVELOP TARGETED, OOPS, SKIP SLIDE, SORRY. We will develop targeted countermeasures for roadways, intersections, pedestrians, bicycles, behavior programs, though it is important to understand speed is a central factor in traffic deaths and serious injuries. And it is one of the most important factors that separates these from a minor injury or property damage. The likelihood of a fatality increases exponentially with the vehicle speed. For every 10 mile increase, the likelihood of a fatality doubles. Lower speeds dramatically reduce the risk of severe injury or death. This data will drive our design decisions and the Vision Zero plan will provide critical insights for safety for all of our streets and intersections.

Sorry about that.

That was that slide. Okay. So to really deliver a multimodal travel, we will prepare a mobility development plan. The mobility development plan really links transportation planning directly with economic development, land and land use. It will analyze employment and population trends, evaluate future scenarios, and establish a clear mobility vision and strategy goals. A key tool in a multimodal network our mobility hubs, these are anchor points that connect transit shared mobility and active transportation. They integrate the Albany they'll integrate the Albany transit system and loop routes with micro mobility car share ride hailing sidewalks and bike facilities to create a vibrant neighborhoods and Community spaces. To discuss these just a bit further on mobility hubs, they typically have three typologies based on scale. A regional hub, which connects local, regional, interregional, it could be national, transit, trails, and first and last mile options. A community hub, which serves larger areas with major transit routes and amenities. And a neighborhood hub, which is smaller scale and focused on first and last mile connections. The amenities at each of these hubs can vary obviously by their type, but key items include transit access way finding bike pedestrian connectivity shelters and typical safety features. Additionally, you may also see services like and those could be especially at larger scale, you can have coffee shops barbershops typically you see those at because they're sort of a place of collection, where people are going on a regular basis. Finally, one of the key components as we move forward in the TSP is we're going to incorporate national association of city transportation officials street design standards as part of the TSP. These are modern evidence based guidelines developed specifically for cities shifting away from traditional car centric highway style standards. as a whole. And then the key point here is that federal law explicitly allows cities to use NACDO, is what we call it, guidance for federally funded projects on city streets. The outcome is safer streets, better mobility for all users and stronger placemaking. And ultimately, you're going to get improved competitiveness for grants. We're really going to be able to really characterize what we're trying to fund as we seek grant funding in the future. And so completing the TSP or the master plan update will position to meet the mobility needs and desires of our residents and businesses. And we really thank you for your time tonight and are happy to address any questions that you may have. Council, any questions?

I'm just excited. We're focusing on biking, walking and public transit. Yes, I'm excited about it. Thank you.

Thank you very much, gentlemen. Next from the council is business from the council. I'll start with ward two, Chris Van Dremelen. Director, let me see, Council Van Dremelen.

I mean, my name is also Chris Van Drimmelen. That's totally fine. I'm not going to stand on pretense here. I'll keep it brief because we are running long. But I want to thank everybody who submitted public comment over the last couple of weeks. This is... One of the issues that has generated, if not the single greatest volume of public comment that I have seen in my time on the Council, and no matter where one stands on the issue of Alpr and flock specifically. Thank you to everybody who reached out to me and to the rest of the Council. I'll admit this is one where, until I went into the last week, I was very much of two minds on the issue, and so the public comment has been extremely helpful in my decision-making process. that's how democracy is supposed to work. And that's how representative democracy in particular is supposed to work. I legitimately thought this was one we could maybe geographically mitigate. But the feedback from the community was showing me that there was a greater public trust issue with this than anything related to the specific technology. And that's ultimately where I ended up landing. I also, I know that most of y'all have left, but I still see some of y'all in the back who came to speak specifically on that issue. And I want to thank everybody who very quickly shifted to a more quiet and unobtrusive show of support. Thank you for respecting the council's process and rules for public comment and finding ways to express that within inside the box, essentially. Thank y'all for that. I don't have any new issues to bring forward tonight, so that's what I got, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Councilor McLeod.

Thank you. Yeah, just again, thank you to everyone who showed up tonight. Albany shows up. This is awesome. I am so incredibly proud of our community for how you come together. This has just been amazing to see this much support in our community. Thank you for that. I wanted to again reiterate what I said about asking city staff to explore the option of an ordinance addressing the use of ALPR technology within city limits. I would like to see that done both public and private. I would like to hear from the city manager if that's something that can be explored and brought back at the next meeting.

I doubt that, well, first of all, it would take the council's direction to make that happen. We can certainly look into feasibility of it, and maybe the city attorney can comment on it right now as to whether that's possible. But as far as the ramifications of doing that, that would probably take a little more looking into.

All right, in that case, I'll just make it a motion then. I move that the city council direct city staff to prepare a draft ordinance prohibiting the use of automated license plate reader cameras within the city of Albany, Oregon. The proposed ordinance should, one, prohibit the operation, deployment, or use of ALPR systems by any public agency, department, or contractor acting on behalf of the city of Albany. two prohibit the operation deployment or use of alpr systems by any private organization business or individual within city limits including on private property and three include appropriate definitions enforcement mechanisms and exceptions only as required by state or federal law city staff should return the draft ordinance to council for review and consideration at the next meeting

Am I allowed to ask a question? Is this, oh, go ahead. Oh, it's like, okay.

Are you seconding it? No, I'm not.

Okay. Were you asking for them to conduct research first and then bring it back to us or then create the ordinance and then conduct research?

To do the research and bring forward the ordinance, which we will then vote upon at that time. So it's just looking at, Creating the ordinance if it can be done Creating the ordinance and having us vote on it You look like you have a question No, well, I'm just Well, I'm just wondering I yes, yes and I

Thinking about the, I think the making motion to do the research and then making the decision from there. I don't know if I've, I looked into this. I'm not sure. So we, I would like to see that research and the legal opinion first before we start doing the, right? Like I'm sure I think like what's due first.

Right. So this would, this would have city staff do that, but also draft an ordinance for us to review and vote on. What if it isn't allowed? If it's not allowed, then they won't be drafting the ordinance.

Councilor McLeod, two weeks is the next meeting. You want staff to drop everything to do those three things in two weeks. Research, draft, and submit to us in two weeks.

How long do you think it would take staff to do that?

I'm not the one that's going to be up to the city manager. I have a question. Councilman Smith has a question as well. We'll get your response and then go to her.

To do the research and then to come up with an ordinance and then to get it calendared into the council's agenda would probably take about at least four weeks. But it depends on what the research, you know, what the extent of the research is. And I'd ask the attorney to come.

Yeah, I mean, without I haven't done any research on this yet. I mean, I'm thinking off the top of my head of some some issues. So we would be requiring public public business or private businesses to violate contract law if they have contracts, long term contracts with these companies and things like that. I'm not sure the legality of it. I have a gut feeling on it, but I don't want to speculate on that until I actually do the research on it. I am not, and I have been asked this question. I'm not aware of any Oregon cities who have done outright bans on it. There are some Oregon cities who have done much stricter regulations on the use of them than what the state law is. The new state law that just passed has actually further restricted the use of them. But at this point, I'm not aware of any outright bans on them. and so i'd have to look at that because if we were the first ones to do that we are likely going to be sued challenged by these companies like and i'm just going to throw names out there that use them but everybody knows so i'm not i'm not out in anybody but like a lowe's or a home depot or one of those so there's there's going to be there's there's some work to be done on that so yeah i would say four weeks to do the research. If it's possible, I'll definitely let you know. And if it's not, then I'll definitely let you know that, so.

Is that a commitment I'm hearing, to do the research?

If you want me to do it, yeah, yeah.

If there's a motion to that. Councilor Smith, Councilor Smith has a question.

Would this ban on cameras include things like backup cameras on heavy equipment?

No.

That's required by OSHA. Ring doorbell cameras? Also not in ALPR. Just ALPRs. Correct. Not the cameras that are everywhere. No. Everywhere. And listening to me now on both of my phones, surveillance is everywhere. We just live with it.

There is a difference. This is about ALPR. This is not about closed circuit or any other type of video.

So I'm not going to second the motion. I'm not, until we have an analysis of what is and isn't possible, I don't want to commit staff to writing and calendaring in an ordinance. on ALPR, like I would be supportive of asking the city attorney to do a legal analysis on what we can and can't do, because I'd be interested in hearing what the options are before I make any actual decisions.

The city manager said we needed a motion. So I, so I made it a motion.

So if you, if you know, one second at it, so make a new motion.

If you do want an ordinance, I would ask you for a motion, but if you just want, I think councilor Ben Dremel and use the term of the legal analysis of whether of what's possible and what's not, that's a, that's a, that's something that I, and I would, I don't know how long I heard the city attorney say it would take about four weeks and we can get that back to you.

This is rough guesstimate. Yeah.

I mean, I learned listening to some of the people talking tonight and then listening to our staff talk tonight, I learned things about these I wasn't aware of. One of which is going to be a challenge is that OSP uses these on their cars. So if we were to pass an ordinance that they weren't allowed to be used in the city limits to Albany, we would be requiring the state police to turn their cameras off on their cars while they were in the city limits. I don't know that we can do that. And I mean, it's just these are things I'm having to look because I didn't know I didn't know OSP used them in their cars, to be quite honest with you. I that makes me think that other jurisdictions might use them as well, like Benton County. And Benton County patrols North Albany. So I don't know. I mean, those are all the things I'd be looking at anyway to see what is out there. And if this has been tried, not just maybe not in Oregon, but maybe in other states. Maybe other states have done this or have tried it. So I would definitely take a look at that and can get back to you.

Did you need a motion? Is that what I'm?

No, I mean, asking for an ordinance is a lot more than just asking for a legal analysis.

Okay. So you're saying that you'll come back in four weeks with an analysis?

It'll be into June, so June 22nd, June 24th.

Not to out my private life in the public, but on June 24th, that is going to be incredibly difficult for me to make that presentation. If Aiden is making that presentation and she wants to make it, she could. I'm not sure that I will be able to make a lengthy presentation on the 24th, as I may be the only person in the state of Oregon with my seven-year-old. So I'm not sure yet on that. So I don't want to commit to that day. July 8th would work.

July 8th would work because July 9th is our last meeting.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, yeah. July 8th, I could definitely do.

July 8th?

Yeah, definitely.

Thank you, I just wanted a definite a definite date to be able to come back to this. Thank you.

thing else counselor.

that's that's all I have Thank you okay counselor board one.

Once again, in the interest of time it's the second time, so when I do do it i'll say a lot the next time, but interest of time i'll pass my house or Newton.

I'm happy my husband got to put the kids to bed tonight. I just get to go home and go to sleep. So that's it.

Just a comment on the emails and calls and public testimony tonight. The overwhelming thing for me is that people are afraid of so many things and i don't know how to combat that it it starts at the top and the top is not here but it's affecting everyone and i feel very bad about that And it's people like people in Albany, people in every community across the country have contributed to that. And it feeds on itself. And then we're all afraid. We all are afraid of each other. We don't trust each other. I don't know how to reverse that other than to begin by myself treating other people the way I wanna be treated. And that's beyond mass surveillance. I don't believe ALPRs constitute mass surveillance. They are part of the surveillance that's going on all around us every moment of every day. They're a part of it. They're not the whole thing. One camera in Albany is not the problem. It's a part of it, maybe. I'm a strong supporter of law enforcement. I have been all my life. I have law enforcement in my background. Law enforcement news coverage was my profession for half of my professional life. I trust the Albany Police Department. I trust the chief. Those I am and I I. sorrow for my neighbors and for everybody else in this town who is so afraid of just getting up in the morning. That's a terrible way to live. I wish I could change that, but I'm only one person and I can only start with myself. I would throw out that challenge to other people. Thank you.

Thank you. I received probably the same number of emails as everyone in this room on the dais. But one thing about my people I serve in this city outside of the constituency, they're all over 65 years old. Most of them are over 70. And they just walk in. They don't write emails. They just walk in. back to back to back to back to back some of you knock on my front door they come to my house they knock on my front door goes we don't want this or they i'm gonna support this but they show up in carloads to my house so i was i was concerned about tonight and i knew people were going to show up here quite frankly i was amazed and happy to see this many people turn out about this issue. It's a really big issue. I'm pro law enforcement. My mother was a police officer. I have a cousin that's a police officer. I have an uncle who's a retired police officer. But in this current climate, our country is sick. Our country is suffering from fear, depression, anxiety, stress. You know, I don't want her to have to be worried about being followed home. I don't want any of us to be worried about that. I don't want those young people that were quite upset about the cameras and the older folks that are here. Those are my people. I'll be one of them shortly. My hair's still white too, but we as a city We must be better to and for each other. We must be. If somebody's scared about something, walk with them. If you need a ride home, call somebody. The camera system flock that was chosen, unfortunately, they have a bad reputation across the country. The name itself is a concern for me. Flock sounds like Glock. It's a very bad choice of naming. There's other systems out there, but we chose flock. but they have their own reputation. And this is something that several other people here and even on the dais, what is FLOC's number one concern? What is FLOC's number one concern? Profit.

Shareholder value.

It's profit. They have stakeholders, they have board members that want to get paid. And that's one of the things that had me reserved about using FLOC. With that, I had a great week. We had the rededication of Deerfield Park. That is the largest or tallest park structure in the city. And Ashmi Larson was there. She's last year's winner of the FFOA Mayor Contest. And she did a great job cutting the ribbon with Councilor Smith. It was a great turnout. The kids from that school, oh my word. This young man named Weston walked up to me and says, hi, Mr. Mayor. My name is Weston and it's really nice to meet you. I'm gonna go play now. And he just took off, you know. So it was a good week. The sun's out. Be safe and enjoy Albany when it's warm. So thank you very much. And with that, I'll turn to the city manager.

Thanks, Mayor. Just three things. I wanted to add my thanks to the council and the staff for staying so late tonight and to the audience, which I thought were very orderly and very much participated and and participated respectfully. So I appreciate that. The ARA meetings in the future, we will avoid four o'clock meetings and have them, it was our practice in the past to have them on the third Wednesday of the month. If we need another ARA meeting, we'll do that. However, some of the information that you're looking for in terms of updates can be provided to you by email, which we'll take advantage of that. I would draw your attention to the information I provided on the dais. There was Councillor Thompson asked a question. Matthew Rutgers answered it. I sent that to the whole council. That elicited a few more questions. And I found myself in the position of potentially contributing to a serial meeting. So I didn't want to do that, but I wanted to get that information to you so you have it at your position there. It basically talks about housing that was provided in the last three years or built, housing starts. And you'll see that in that period, there were 424 single-family dwelling units permitted and only 142 apartment units. So contrary to what many people think, the single-family units far outpaced apartment units. The last thing I have is that you, Mayor, you called on Matt Bennett to speak. He had already gone home. What he had signed up to do was to advise you of the Waverly Duck fundraiser that Sybaris will have on Sunday, the 7th of June at five o'clock. If you can attend that, great. If you call for reservations, hopefully you'll get in. You can also make a contribution to the Parks Foundation. That's who the fundraiser will benefit is the Albany Parks Foundation. And that's all I have. Thanks again for a late evening.

With that, our next meeting is June 8th, 2026, 4 p.m. here in Chambers. and also be available online as a work session. And then in the Wednesday, June 10th of 2026,