City Commission - Regular Meeting

Well, welcome everybody. It is 7 o'clock. I see commissioners are all set for appropriate hydration this evening. Glad to see that. Nice to see my colleagues back again here after our 5 o'clock meeting on this beautiful, beautiful Michigan evening. So, first sort of business here is... Is that inside or outside?

I think it's inside.

I'm just gonna wait just a moment here just to make sure we're all set before we get our meeting started.

. . . Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, looks like we're settled. I appreciate everyone's patience on that. So nice to see everybody here in the chambers this evening. Good to see my colleagues here again. We're gonna go and get our meeting started. So I'm gonna call to order this meeting of the Kalamazoo City Commission for Monday, August 17th, 2026. First order of business, roll call.

Clerk Borling. Commissioner Hess.

Present.

Commissioner Hoffman.

Present.

Commissioner Pradel. Present. Commissioner Slaby.

Present.

Commissioner Wilson. Present. Vice Mayor Duncan. Here. Mayor Anderson. Here. Thank you. Clerk Borling.

For our opening ceremony tonight, we are blessed to have Pastor John Simpson with us from the Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries. And as the case with our meetings that we do open with an invocation, how the process works is I will ask Pastor Simpson to please come forward to the dais. And I would ask everyone in the chambers who would be so kind to stand for the invocation and then remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor Simpson. Thank you.

okay let us pray god almighty we come and we thank you for this day we thank you for this honor to pray together god your word calls us to act justly to do mercy and to walk humbly help our city commissioners and city leadership to do this in a way of unity and collaboration help them advocate for and support every citizen and their needs may they work from a place of love compassion and empathy Give them wisdom and discernment and the resources and partnerships needed to accomplish all that is in front of them. Bless their hands and hearts for the work ahead. Bless them for their service to our city. And may we collectively glorify you in all we do in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

I pledge 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 again, Pastor Simpson. I appreciate it. Next is the adoption of the formal agenda. Commissioners, are there any items on G, the consent agenda, you would like to have moved to H, the regular agenda? Seeing none, the agenda stands as it is. Communications, Manager Hankins. Yes, sir.

Just a brief note that we will begin a project on water line replacement inside the building next week. So we'll have limited access to water utility. So if you can do service with the business of the city remotely, please try to do so. We will be open for business, but just limited facilities.

Thank you, Mr. Hankins. Next on the agenda is public comments. So just a reminder of how that works is that anyone can take advantage of public comment time. And if you would like to have your name or contact information for a response to you, you can write that down up here just adjacent to our city clerk. When you come forward, you'll have four minutes. Please state your name and whether you live in the city. And then I'm just going to ask a couple things. There may be people here tonight that aren't used to this, but what we attempt to maintain here is a safe space for people to express their thoughts in their four minutes. So please allow people to finish. And then in order to keep this moving along, we may have many people that want to comment tonight. I'm going to ask the next person to come up right after one person has finished. So thank you so much for being here. Now is the time for public comments. Is there anyone that would like to take advantage of that? Perhaps, yeah, maybe lining up along the side wall there. So, hey, one thing I'm going to ask, I'm sorry, just before we get started here. Just one thing for protocol here. If you have big signs, and I know there's signs in here, what I'm asking is that to basically treat your signage as if people are standing in the back. You can certainly display your signs, but don't stand in the front so that you would be blocking the view of audience members of the commission while remarks are being made. Thank you.

Yes, sir. Go ahead. Good evening. My name is Sam Dixon, D-I-X-I-S-O-N. The last time I was here before you was on July the 20th, 26th, in regards of the CSC first degree that occurred at the Best Western Hotel in room 307 at 410 AM. I left a package so that the board could review the case with the clerk and the officers with the calendar assigned for the case, withheld DNA evidence from the crime scene and staged a cover-up, which caused me to be incarcerated in 2009. The prosecutor, which is the papers here, misled the jury by telling them there was no evidence of DNA of the used condom. They withheld the evidence for 18 months before investigating the crime scene, which is the crime took place in June 2008. And this is what the Michigan State Police Department received December 20, 2009, which is 18 months. And then Michigan State Police, what they did, they completed it March 16. Now this here is an obstruction of justice and a cover-up for whoever whoever sent that for 18 months. Now, Officer Richard McCall is the one that took all the evidence down and everything else from the crime scene back in June 9, 2008, at 4.39 AM. Now, I came down here. In 2008, September the 16th, for the Freedom of Information Act, and I got help from the commissioners and everything, and the DNA came back showing it wasn't me and showed it was somebody else that committed the crime. Now, here's the point. from the MDOC, the person that committed the crime. Now, I'm homeless, I can't get a job, I can't do nothing because of this false information and everything else. Now, By this obstruction of justice, somebody's going to be held accountable. I'm trying to get help from the board or somebody before we have to take further action. The FBI want me to call them and get this taken care of now. But I don't want to involve all of them, all that kind of stuff. But if y'all can help me, if any kind of way, we'll take care of this matter. It's going to be a shame. I'm not going to hold anybody else's time because I've already been here last month. But the clerk has a package if anybody needs information of everything I just presented and everything. There it is. I thank you all for your time. Thank you. Next, please.

Good afternoon. My name is Alexander Watkins, and I live on the east side of Kalamazoo. And today I wanted to talk to you about Flock. When we were told that Kalamazoo owns its Flock data, that statement may be completely accurate, but ownership does not tell us the whole story. Think about a private social media account. You own what you post, and you decide who you connect with. But you don't own the platform, its infrastructure, or the algorithms that learn on that platform. KDPS may control its direct sharing relationships, while the infrastructure connecting those relationships belong to a private company. The governance question is therefore larger than who owns the data, but instead we should ask who can see it, who can access it, who can move it, and who it can be connected to. We should also be asking how it's retained and whether the public can actually independently verify it. Another thing I wanted to speak about was the 30-day retention. 30-day retention does not mean the entire system erases itself every 30 days. No. An image collected today may be deleted 30 days from today. An image collected tomorrow reaches its own deletion date 30 days later. New observations are continuously entering the system as older observations age out. That leads to another question. When information is used to test, train, or improve an algorithm, what exactly disappears when the original image is deleted? Deleting a photograph is not necessarily the same thing as deleting the information that the computer learns from it. That's a governance question, not an accusation. The public deserves a clear explanation of what is retained, what is derived, and how machine learning data is handled, and what survives after the original record is deleted. See, Flock is no longer simply a company that sells license plate cameras. Its broader public environment includes video systems, audio detection, AI-assisted searches, private camera integrations, mobile system, and a thing called Flock OS. This is what we call function creep, a technology introduced or understood for one purpose that gradually develops capabilities beyond the public's original understanding of that technology. I'm not saying Kalamazoo uses every capability Flock sells. I'm saying that governance should account for how technology can expand after the original public debate has ended. See, surveillance data may accurately record a moment while still presenting the incomplete and potentially misleading account of what that means. A photograph may establish that a vehicle appeared at a certain location at a particular time, but it does not by itself establish who was driving, why the vehicle was there, what the person was doing, or whether anything unlawful actually occurred. So my concern is not simply who owns the photograph, it is what happens after information is collected, analyzed, shared, or combined with something else. And that raises an important question. What becomes possible when information from separate systems is brought together? My father is going to answer that question. Thank you. Thank you. Next please.

Mayor, commissioners, and community members. I'm David Bergman. I live on the east side of Kalamazoo. I have served as a military police investigator. I have labor work with federal law enforcement agencies. And while I was deployed, I worked around similar surveillance systems. We created it. We field tested it, and it's solid. So I pose this. The power of an intelligence system rarely comes to one piece of information. It comes from connecting many different pieces from multiple sources. That is the part that Kalamazoo's discussion about Flock that I believe is missing. Flock does not operate in isolation. Flock camera system can capture a vehicle, its license plate, and identifying characteristics, location, and a moment in time. By itself, that is simply an observation. But that observation can become the beginning of an investigation chain of events. A license plate cannot be associated with a registered owner through, or can, can be associated with a registered owner through the government and public records. Law enforcement databases can provide the investigative history. I know. I've done it. Commercial investigation and consumer reporting information can provide additional identifying and associational information. Open source intelligence can add public available information. Public and private cameras also give those observations as well. The real-time crime centers. This matters. It's relevant. The information from different technologies and investigative sources, they're brought together. They're fused together. It's the same way they do it in intelligence in the fusion centers, Michigan Fusion Center. We'll just leave it at that one. That changes what a flock photograph means. Imagine if your vehicle is photographed at 8.15 a.m. in the morning, at noon the next day, 5 p.m. the following day. Does that not become a chain of events that we can record, reconstruct over a 30-day period? That's what you have to ask yourselves. Another system observation. Modern surveillance does not require one system to follow a person. Separate systems only need to collect enough pieces to reconstruct those movements. It's reconstructable. Surveillance data can accurately record a moment while still presenting incomplete data and potentially misleading account and what that information means in that moment. What can flock information be connected to? What can be reconstructed from those connections? Who can make those connections? And what safeguards do you present that we can govern this? It's not a question that it can't solve cases, it does. Prevent crime, CCTV still hasn't done it. Thank you. Next please.

I'm Rebecca Bergman, a Kalamazoo Township resident, and I came here tonight to address a misconception that comes up every time surveillance is challenged. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. I grew up believing the police were there to protect us, but I was a good kid in a bad situation. My family terrorized me, then portrayed my responses as evidence that I was dangerous. They hurt me until I reacted. I was autistic, but I was never given the evaluations I needed. Instead of getting me help, they shopped me around until they found a diagnosis they could weaponize and enlisted the mental health and justice system to continue the abuse. The more afraid I became, the less compliant I appeared. The less compliant I appeared, the more I was punished. My fear became evidence against me. At 14, my mother told a police officer that I was dangerous. He ordered me to put out my hands and I froze. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. He slammed me to the floor, drove his knee into my back, and charged me with felony resisting. The police met a terrified autistic child and saw a criminal. We can't keep pretending that authority always understands what it's seeing. Fear can be mistaken for defiance. Trauma can be seen as aggression. Our own sheriff's office recognizes this danger so clearly that it distributes autism alert decals for homes and vehicles. But no one should need a diagnosis or a sticker to survive being misunderstood. When people say, just don't commit a crime, They imagine a world where only guilty people become suspicious, only dangerous people become tracked, and where authority reliably recognizes innocence. Flock cameras create searchable records of people's movements and place those records inside institutions operated by human beings with human assumptions, biases, incomplete information, and enormous discretion. The danger is not only deliberate misuse. The danger is ordinary human error armed with unprecedented reach. A camera can record a vehicle. It can't record coercion. It doesn't record desperation. It can't determine if someone has committed a crime or is fleeing from harm. One police officer misunderstood one frightened child. A surveillance network makes it easy to locate, follow, and repeatedly act against thousands of people they have misunderstood. Policies can be changed. Access can be expanded. The officials making promises today cannot bind every official who will hold power tomorrow. Flock is a blank check written against the freedom and well-being of this entire community. I am asking this commission to end the contracts and remove the cameras. You can't promise us that power will always recognize innocence. My life is proof of that. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Jude Watkins and I live in Kalamazoo Township. I wanted to talk about what happened on Edward Street. There were kids living in some of those tents. There are also lots of kids in our community who don't have a safe and stable home. Kids shouldn't have to worry about where they're going to sleep or whether their family's things will be taken away. If people are living in tents because they don't have anywhere else to go, making them move doesn't give them a home. It just makes things harder. I think our city should help families find safe places to live before making them leave the place they already have. Kids need homes. They need to feel safe and they need grownups to care about what happens to them. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Marcus Johnson. I am a resident of Kalamazoo Township, and I am proud to say I look good on camera. Over the past three months, I've had to do several interviews. I say had to. I was a former resident at Wildwood Off Main Apartments in Kalamazoo Township. As many of you already know, the entire apartment complex was condemned and every tenant there had to make some very difficult choices about where they were going to live, how they were going to support themselves with very little support from government agencies, very little support from their community on how they can protect themselves from some very intrusive, very abusive communication from their landlords. And I think one of the biggest challenges that we've also experienced was that we weren't alone and that there are other people who live in apartments both in the city and the township who experience that same amount of fear and frustration and the realization that they can't get any help from the right kind of help from their government agencies to support them as tenants in the place where they live. So they don't feel safe. They don't feel comfortable approaching their landlord. They don't even have the right to Council. I will also say that on May 27, the apartment complex put a note on its front door that banned all media outlets from coming on property to talk to tenants. And as a result of that, I think that combined with people's inherent mistrust or fear of media outlets made it really hard for them to talk to a news reporter who just wanted to ask them some questions about their lived experience. So we're a community that's still trying to resolve some of this tension, still trying to find some representation for a class action lawsuit, but our voices really matter. And the only reason why we were able to get anywhere with our landlord was because we were able to use our voices to push our landlord to give us our security deposit refunds back and to give us rent for May, which we're still waiting on. But coming up in November, we also know that we're facing an election where again, our voices are the only protection that we have. It would be great if we lived in a county or a state where we were able to protect ourselves with with government support, but I think especially with the presence of flock cameras, and especially with the threat of ICE coming into our community, and especially with other threats that are coming down from the federal level that want to make election, the right to a free and fair election very, very difficult. Our voices are really the only thing that we can use to make a change. Kalamazoo is a blue dot in a purple state, and because of that, that makes us look like a very easy target. I pose that question to you as leaders of this community, and I ask you, start thinking about how you're going to protect us from these flock cameras, how you're going to protect us from the presence of ICE coming in. and also how that's going to link back to other rights that people have as tenants, as people who just want to be citizens in the city and not be overly surveilled. So thank you very much. Thank you.

Hi, I am Aaron. I am known as localsonly on Instagram. I am here today to confront you guys, our commissioners, our mayor, and our vice mayor. about allowing this flock situation without consulting the community with all of the information. Where is the transparency? Why are you guys denying FOIA requests when it comes to the cameras and the data being collected? Where is the transparency? Why is there still a fence around Arcadia? What destruction is happening? What construction is happening there? Because that eyesore of a fence is hurting local businesses and free spaces. I'd much rather have a few unhoused people who mind their own business than that god awful fence. And when you guys recently displaced all of those unhoused, what resources did you offer? The one gentleman said it the best, how do you evict somebody from being outside? It really is not a good look to kick somebody while they are down. Or a good feeling. Why? Why are you guys doing that? That falls on the definition of evil. Why are you wasting taxpayer money to build an event center and to refuck downtown instead of investing that money into housing issues here in Kalamazoo? When we already have an event center that's hemorrhaging money, why waste even more? Why are you militarizing the police and social services against the people? Do you guys only think about yourselves and personal interests? You work for the people. If you do not listen to your constituents that are the people, we will replace you. No. with somebody who actually listens to their constituents. You work for us, not Flock, not the Strikers, not the fucks who run any of those other megacorporations that call Kalamazoo home. You do realize you are in a room full of pissed off constituents and you are the common denominator. You guys need to address and fix the problems or we will have you removed. Do your jobs. You guys are a joke. You only protect your own asses and not the asses of the marginalized. And guess what? Those marginalized people are. They are your constituents. It is your job to protect them, so do your job. We do not want flock. We want a downtown that was built for commerce. And we are tired of resources being wasted on vanity projects. We are tired of the government spying on us. We are tired of commissioners dragging their feet and not having a fire under their asses. If you can't do your job, quit. So that way we can get somebody capable of doing it for you. The fact that I have to confront you and waste my time on a Monday while there are many other things I'd rather be doing says a lot. So I am going to finish up my time by wasting your time.

Thank you.

Hi guys. My name is Sharon Rowland and I am a survivor of the Ever Street Sweep. And that was not right what y'all did to us. Y'all didn't give us no resources. Half of these people out here ain't got no limbs. They have nowhere to go. They got their companion dogs. They don't have nowhere to go. These people really what they out here dying because they ain't got no limbs and now they ain't got nowhere to go. But guess what? Now they about to be out here really robbing, stealing and killing because y'all just took the only place they got to call home. Some people don't have a choice, and then some people do. Y'all brought all of them people from all of these states here, and y'all kicked us Kalamazoo people out. Now what? Now y'all forcing us to go all the way out there? How is we supposed to get all our stuff back and forth from Sprinkle to Edwards every day? We wash our ass over there. We wash our clothes over there. We eat over there. Who got time for that? Y'all ain't got no resources, sons, but y'all just gonna move us. That ain't fair. And what it is, people out here with kids living in tents. Why? Because y'all giving us a gospel mission to live at, and that ain't nowhere to live at. Half of them people cutting their hair off because they got a lice infection. Let's talk about this. Like, half people dying over there. Let's talk about that. How many people died over there? Y'all ain't even really taking what y'all really looking at what y'all taking from people. Yeah, we ain't got nowhere to go, but some people out there in this do got jobs. It just ain't enough for your economy. And with the food, like what y'all really like. Bro, we could get more food than Lowe's and Fisher's. What? We could put our food sets together and make a meal. What? We don't, like bro, y'all treated us so bad and then y'all threw everything that we owned away. Y'all threw baby pictures away. Shit, we can't get back. I'm sorry, but stuff we can't get away. Y'all don't understand what y'all really did. And there's people out there, what now? Everybody out there over there, robbers still in there. Now they're about to get in fights and stuff because they got nowhere to go. Everybody confused on where to go. We don't want to move too far away from our goddamn resources. Our resources is right there. Why y'all gonna move us out there and we ain't got no resources? No transportation. We ain't got no daycare, no nothing while we try to look for housing. No, none of that. Y'all say it's free. It's really not free because what y'all making us what? Volunteer for food stamps and we homeless. We trying to freaking watch our stuff from getting stolen. Y'all need to what? If y'all will come down there, what? And just pay attention to the lives that y'all just destroyed. And there are plenty of lives. There's people out there pregnant and everything. Think about them babies. Y'all don't think about nothing. Y'all destroyed a lot of lives out there. And we hungry.

Hi. Hi. I've been homeless for a while, back and forth. There's a lot going on. Yeah, it's a lot being homeless. So like TAG, go through these programs, Section 8, it drains me out and wears me out from my mental illness, my medical condition, being on the streets. It's a wear out. I feel like there's a lot more people can do. I don't know, it's just hard to explain it, but it is very draining for me to be on the streets.

Hello, I'm back again. Congratulations on your recent sweep of the homeless, or the unhoused as they're called. It must feel real good to uproot everybody. I don't see how y'all can sleep. The only one that I saw on camera down there was your city clerk. All he was doing was just standing down there with his resting, oh, I'm doing something, look. Some of them were taxpayers. They work. They work for a living. But their voices go unheard because they don't have a fixed address. One of them lost their ID in that mess. And he can't get a hotel room now. And thanks to one organization from south of Kalamazoo, he was able to get a hotel room because she used her own ID. He almost lost his job because of that. Because he couldn't do laundry. He lost his work clothes. Because of what you did. Because of the actions that you guys took. You speak of, oh, they're the most vulnerable. We've got to take care of them. You did that last week with the Pope's prayer. But yet you uprooted everybody. That's kind of hypocritical, don't you think? Another lady has a service dog. They're not allowed at the mission. Does anyone know why I know that? Because we called when we were homeless and we were told no service dogs, no ESA dogs, no pets, no nothing. service dogs that veterans use veterans that serve our country are not allowed to have the service dogs that they need are you kidding me so yes they're on the street and you guys can sleep soundly at night how dare you and how dare you lie say oh we'll get back to you with the response because not one response i checked my email prior to walking up here. Not one response from a single one of you. I give leeway to you because you were not here last week. But not one, not a single one. So how dare you lie through your teeth? And the flock cameras that you have set up on Edward Street by the mission, those should be legal as well. and i've been talking with a commissioner from maryland who happens to be a cousin of mine and i'm going to quote him real quick because he's facing some of the issues you guys are facing yeah get real uncomfortable data centers homelessness food insecurities The solution to corporate greed, and that's exactly what is going on, is not the uneducated or short-sighted policy creation. We can agree that corporate greed and the decline of middle-class America is a problem, and a big problem. The solution lies more in education, actions, and education in everyone, not just the elite. Going back and forth without listening to opinions will not solve problems. Finding common grounds is where we find solutions.

Thank you both. My community thought. Okay, I don't have a quote in this book. I also want to say thank you to Officer Miller and Officer McDonald.

Because they have given my daughter hope.

Thank you. Thank you. Next, please.

Hello, I am Chris Glasser from the Eastside. I say this as someone who used to be a police explorer for KDPS when I was a teenager. KDPS needs to disband the community policing unit as long as they decide that they're going to target the unhoused. Because how can you claim to try to create community and build trust as you target the unhoused? Just the other day, I walked up to an officer who was trying to disperse unhoused individuals from a city park. The officer happened to be an advisor back when I was an explorer. And I asked that officer, did you receive a call about these people? Was there a complaint or did you initiate this yourself? And he said, I initiated it myself. I saw them and I walked up and he decided to tell them you need to go. Now, after he decided that he had no more lawful orders to give, he walked away. But he didn't leave. He sat there and watched from a distance. And I had to believe, I had to think, do you not have anything else better to do? Growing up, wanting to be a police officer, you hear protect and serve, protect and serve. Now what part of targeting the unhoused, is that protecting or is that serving? I can't tell. They didn't teach me that. Now we have to think, what caused that officer to approach? What violation did he suspect? You know, you've got your violent crime, your property crime, but then you also have quality of life ordinances, which I can sum up as stuff you don't want to see. Think junk autos on people's front yards, public urination, things like that, things you don't want to see. Now as we think about the public ordinances, the quality of life public ordinances targeted at the unhoused, whose lives are they trying to improve with those? What quality of life is trying to be improved with those? Surely it isn't the person who's forced to carry all of their life's belongings on their back. Whose life is trying to be improved when you're targeting people who are sleeping on a bench because they don't have a bed of their own? Now, when we talk about quality of life when it comes to these ordinances, it's about the people who find the site of the unhoused. They don't like looking at the unhoused. That's the kind of people's lives that you're trying to improve with ordinances like this. These folks are members of the public. They have nowhere else to go but public property. So unless you are ready to give them a place to go where they can exist peacefully, leave them the hell alone.

Hello, I'm Tristan, lead organizer with We the People Action Fund. Today's topic, get the flock out of Kalamazoo. I'm doing a lot of thinking about why this is viewed as such a necessary technology for our city. Like, why are so many cities backing this technology, especially considering how unpopular it is among the people. And there has to be this argument that it's going to prevent crime, that if we all feel like we're all being watched 24-7, if we all feel like we're living in a panopticon, that that is going to function as a rule for most people. If I do this crime, they're going to catch me. And I have yet to see any scientific evidence to support that that is an effective way to prevent crime. It might be an effective way to track down people who have committed crime after the fact, but does it actually reduce the crime? I haven't seen any evidence to support that. And personally, I think that the cost greatly outweighs the potential benefit. I do not want to live in a city, in a state, in a country where If I'm going to the grocery store, if I'm going to my doctor's office, if I'm doing anything that the government knows about it. There's movies about this for decades, talking about how terrifying the surveillance state is. I really, really implore this city to stop listening so much to the police and what they think is going to be good for this city, and instead listen to the people and the research. Is this actually going to help us? Now this topic of flock cameras is tied inexorably to ICE and Trump's attempt to police our nation with this paramilitary police force that didn't exist until 2021 and basically is being turned into this sort of civilian Nazi army that's trying to take over our cities. You know, I thank Commissioner Duncan for the work that he's been doing in trying to raise this issue and trying to keep ice off of our streets and out of Kalamazoo. But we need more. We need more. Flock is a tool. of ice. Flock is a tool that is being utilized throughout the country by ice to intimidate people, to prevent normal communities that are living their lives here in Kalamazoo from being a part of Kalamazoo, right? People, friends of mine are scared to go to the grocery store because they're scared that they're going to be picked up by someone or someone in their family is and that's not what we in Kalamazoo want and it's certainly not what the people in this room want. And lastly, this issue of ICE and the flock cameras and the policing and the denial of human liberties and rights really comes up in an election year. It's midterms, guys, and right now a lot of us are feeling very powerless. We can't change the things that we need and luckily we have this one last thing left that gives us the power. Right, exactly. We have the power to vote. And Trump is trying to prevent that too, right? He's trying to pass the SAVE Act and he has threatened to send ICE into our communities to monitor our polls and try to intimidate voters. And we want to make sure that the city of Kalamazoo is prepared for this threat. and put forth an effort specifically to make sure that ICE and any other intimidation tactics that Trump or Republicans or anyone, honestly, tries to pull off in this city in November, that the city will be ready to prevent that. Whether or not that means leaning on the police force to do so, I hope that you guys are willing to take what it takes in order to protect us and make sure that every vote is counted. That's all. Thank you. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Elio Persich. I've been a resident of Kalamazoo for my whole life, pretty much. And I'm here to talk about flock, but also ice, and as well as the recent treatment of the homeless that isn't quite recent. There are a few faces up there specifically that I know have been up there for quite a while. I know a few of you were here back when the encampment was in Bronson Park, and those folks saw the same treatment we saw on Edward Street the other day. You guys pulled in the police, and you terrorized homeless folks, black and brown folks, people who have nowhere to go, who feel threatened and afraid every day of their life. And it is sickening to see. You guys are all up there because you are there to protect us. You are there to represent us. And you aren't. We aren't seeing that. That goes for everybody. Everyone in Kalamazoo deserves to feel safe and respected by the city commission. Not just those of us with homes, those of us with jobs, those of us who can clean up and look nice for people. Those of us who have nothing should still feel represented by you guys. Now, I'm an organizer with We the People as well, and I'm here because I want to express that Flock needs to go. The fact that Flock went up without any public input is disgusting. It is being used around the country to terrorize people everywhere. I saw a map of Atlanta the other day, and you can't move so much as an inch without Flock seeing it. And that is disgusting, and that will happen here if you guys don't grow a pair and stop it.

You have the power to tell them to get out.

You have that power. Flock is dangerous. We've seen it in other countries. We've seen it time and time again. When you get a fascist police state in power, they will use those cameras to terrorize everybody. They will make it so nobody wants to leave their house. Nobody has any freedom to go anywhere. Are you okay with that? Flock will be used to terrorize people of color, specifically immigrant communities. I mean, like Tristan just said, with the elections, I know quite a few people of color who are afraid to go out and vote. And, you know, they're gonna do the absentee ballot because that's the only thing that they can do because they don't feel safe leaving their house. I have coworkers who are terrified to come to work and they've been here their entire life legally, but they are afraid because they are terrified of being picked up and taken away from their families. We need you guys to stand up for us. We need you to tell a flock to get out. We need you to make sure that ICE does not come in and terrorize the citizens of Kalamazoo. And you need to protect the elections. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi there, my name is Nate. I've lived on the west side of Kalamazoo pretty much my whole life, and learning about the homelessness situation and the way that you guys responded to that here has been pretty mortifying today. I've heard little bits and pieces, but getting a full picture here in this room was pretty terrifying. And it makes it apparent to me that this commission has the stomach to enact things that are pretty terrifying and will not respond to emotion, so I'm just going to drop a few facts today. It has been said many times that flock cameras will help stop theft, kidnapping, carjacking. Well, let's talk about some facts. The most common form of theft in our country is wage theft from companies that refuse to fairly pay their workers. So statistically, the most likely person to steal from you is one of the billionaires that live here. And yet, when flock cameras went up, none of them went in the offices, the mansions, the penthouses, or in the computers of the billionaires that decide how paychecks are written for their employees. Instead, they were placed on the streets of our city where people drive by every single day, people that don't steal millions, billions of dollars from the taxpaying citizens of this country. More than that, these flock cameras went up without the consent of our city. And to that, I would ask, would the commission of our city be willing to have cameras installed in their home? in their bathrooms, in their bedrooms, on their computers, and allowed the constituents of this city to go through it with impunity without having to give a reason why, without having to put in a case file? If the answer is no, good. You are allowed to say no to that. You are allowed to say, I don't want cameras where I live. We did not get that choice. And that is extremely concerning. I don't have much else to say. My friends and family who know me know that I love music, so I'm just gonna play a little familiar tune for you guys and how I feel about flock in general.

Next post. Next, please.

Hello. My name is Andy Argo. I live in the Vine. Just on the issue of my houseless neighbors, I had a conversation with my coworker just a few days ago. We saw this in the news. And he's like, Andy, you know a lot about local politics and stuff. And we got to talking. And I was talking a lot about like, oh, you know, there's like these housing for all kind of initiatives that work around. We've seen them work around the country and all that. And I was explaining those a bit. And they basically asked me, it's like, there's all this wealth in Kalamazoo, there's all these billionaires, why can't they do something like that? And I think I said something pithy like, well, it's a real Scooby-Doo mystery, but I will take that question and pass it along to everyone up there on the dais. I also did wanna speak on the flock situation, I was thinking a lot about this kind of concept I've seen, you know, in just my years interfacing with Kalamazoo government, this idea of, like, presumed benevolence, that there's this baseline assumption, there are always good actors at play, the people in power are, you know, they have the best intentions and know what's best for the city. But I would challenge what they think is best for the city is not often what is actually best for the city. In this case, police in the city may find a constant surveillance dragnet to be useful, but it comes at the cost of privacy for Kalamazoo's residents in a system that's designed by a very ethically dubious corporation. Believing that none of our officers would break the rules, yes, that's naive. And yes, we have seen officers around the country abuse their access to flock. We've seen this information shared with outside agencies, including Michigan State Police. There was this idea that this kind of surveillance would be kept local. And it really wouldn't be difficult for me to see sympathetic individuals share that with more controversial agencies, such as ICE or the Trump-appointed Department of Justice. And I'd also even offer, even if nobody in KDPS were to abuse Flock, it wouldn't be much of a leap for the federal government to cajole and demand Flock access from the city. Whether threatening federal funding or using the right wing media to harass city officials, Flock technology would make us a target for individuals and entities who want to use it for authoritarian purposes. In fact, I can hardly imagine how a surveillance panopticon like Flock wouldn't turn into an authoritarian tool. In a very say-the-quiet-part-out-loud moment, Flock CEO Garrett Langley compared deflock efforts to anti-fascist activism. If proposing Flock is anti-fascist, then what exactly does that make Flock? I know some may have some valid concerns from a public safety perspective on the use of flock cameras. You'll probably hear from constituents who disagree with the de-flock proponents here. I don't want to dismiss those concerns out of hand, but I do want to point out that flock can at best be misused, and at worst a trojan horse for some of the worst actors in our society. The billionaires behind Flock, and this is not hyperbole, have fascistic and dystopian aims, and we cannot protect our community by inviting wolves to guard the hen house. I'll kind of leave this last point. About 13 years ago, Edward Snowden revealed to the world that the US government essentially had us under a giant surveillance dragnet. And I think like a frog in a boiling pot, we start to adjust to the temperature that we're used to. But a camera on every corner and a government tracking everything you do is not normal, it is tyranny, and we have forgotten that. I would ask you all in the dais where you were 13 years ago when you heard about those revelations. How did you feel? Were you angry? Did you feel violated? Did you think the government was going too far? As you think about this issue with Flock, please keep that in mind. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Chloe Davis, and I live in the Edison neighborhood. I want to acknowledge all of the wonderful speeches that we've heard here tonight from people in every corner of our city. I know every single one of your faces. I have watched Q&As. I have watched people bring issues in the public to your attention. I know your names as displayed on these placards here. You do not know mine, and most people in this room do not know mine. You know what does know my face? A computer in a building I will never have the address of. I drive on West Main practically every single day for two reasons mostly. Number one, to visit my boyfriend. I sit around the table, I chat with his family, we watch TV, we take walks. Number two, to drive downtown to go to my job where I pour my time, my energy, and my tears into feeding the wealthier class of Kalamazoo. I did not know until a couple of weeks ago that there was a camera standing on the corner that I pass every single day until said aforementioned boyfriend pointed out an ominous pole by a bus stop that I never knew was there and that I never saw pop up. Now, I am being watched every single day and what clothes I choose to wear and exactly when I leave for work and exactly when I come back in the evenings is known to everybody. But it is not known to the countless neighbors that I have here behind me. It is not known to the people in my life. And I want to bring attention to something particularly insidious about these cameras popping up under the cover of darkness. I did not become locally politically active until very recently, until the election that brought most of you onto this commission council or voted out of it. I take personal accountability for being able to be ignorant before that, for being unable to involve myself in politics the way that I can now. I need elected officials to take accountability for the fact that they feed a middle class, a wealthy white middle class, until they are fat and happy and satisfied and complacent enough to not notice that there are cameras on every single corner of their city. This privilege that I was given, I was told that I had from the minute that I was born, was preyed upon in order to hurt people who are less privileged than I am. In order to brutalize, to pick up, and to stalk people who are less privileged than I am. And that is not okay with me. i think we've heard a lot from a lot of people tonight about the intricacies of these systems but i think ultimately there is no answer other than to get rid of them completely because they help no person in this city except every single person who votes anyone who is privileged or white onto this council, and who wants to prey upon everybody who does not have the ability to protect themselves. That is it. That is a bottom line. That is a point blank period. And we all need to understand that. Thank you.

Get over there.

I've stood before you guys many times before, you know, and I do want to speak at length about what you guys have done. I know you've done something. I know you've tried. I know you never hear that. But you know a story? The four people, they were hatcheted in the face on Edwards. I knew each and every one of those guys. It's a real thing out here. And while I like the support that we're getting out here, almost everyone in this audience is going to go home They're not gonna sleep under a porch. There were four people raped last night. It's real. If you're out here, you hear the screams. See, the last time I spoke to you guys, I was unhoused too. Now I have a dwelling. But what do I do? What do I do? I go out to the community and people that are in danger and bring them to me. What the cops should be doing. I don't think you guys understand the seriousness of this. We're at the last hour, okay? None of us will be spared. So we have to do better, right? It's a real thing. Because when this meeting is over, we're all going to go home. We will. What will they do? And we need to focus on just what we can do better. Not criticizing. It's beyond that. Right? We got arenas, right? Billion dollar arenas. Right? What about them pods? How were people in the community? Oh, we don't want them there. Really? I don't know. Say that when Jesus is here. That's what you were doing? Is that what you were doing? We have to help each other. We have to love each other. We have to do better, right? And I trust in you. You guys are educated. You're smart. I know, unlike a lot of these, I'm 60. These are babies. I've been around here a long time. And I know each and every one of you. And I know your profession. Give me something. Just help us, okay? Please, I'm begging you.

Before I speak, we need to have some silence because God is leading me to say the right thing. Before I go on, I'm here for a disability. People that can't get into the shelter because they don't want to part with their dog. This thing has allowed me to ask them to do this. pass that around to see what disabled people go through. God has allowed me to be with that young lady and her dog and he's a lovable dog. And the reason why she don't want to go into the mission is because she don't want to part with her dog or the mission won't allow an emotional support dog to be there. This young lady has severe polio. Look at that picture. And look how I play a part. I'm not homeless, but I will be if I don't start the village. Anybody here in this audience know me as Mama Rhonda? Say yes. There you go.

That's right. That's true.

There you go. It feels good. I may not have a leader, a position, but I got a leadership in God.

I serve.

I know we don't supposed to mix politics with religion, but sometimes we got to put our foot down. And I base my ministry, God Dream of Beauty, because I don't, I love, I'm quite sure y'all seen what was happening when he was out of line. Where you go? Good job.

Hi, Charles. Good boy.

Good job. That's what God is looking for in our leadership. I take my food stamps, I budget it, half goes to them, and half stays in my home. I can't remember when I had no shoes. I was homeless too, but I'm also a business contractor. I requested, I'm asking, I never got a chance to say this, but I'm asking that state funding be requested so we can rehabilitate them. But we want to go, oh, they're homeless, they're sleeping by my door. Well, rehabilitate them. I'm a recovering alcoholic of 23 years. And I get so pumped up about it. Because it starts in the home. And I was here the other last meeting. I didn't get a chance to say it, but I'm saying it now. If we want to keep our leadership in this country, we must build a village. Did you forget where you come from? That is my title today. This young lady cannot go on a mission Because she either don't want a part of her dog or the mission won't let her come in there with an emotional support dog. That's their leadership to support their owners. I'm getting ready to get one. Yes, I am. I have disabilities. I have all kinds of disabilities. But I use my disabilities as a strength that God gave me to say love his people because God loves. I'm going to go to God. God loves.

God loves. Thank you. Next, please.

Giving thanks to my Black and Anishinaabe ancestors for Setting the precedent for why I'm here today, I'm very interested in decolonizing Kalamazoo. I'm very interested in every person looking inside and decolonizing themselves as Kalamazoo is a colony. Everything that people are talking about today is the result of Power Up Above continuing to exercise authority and coercion over people, specifically people who are very vulnerable. We know that on August 13th, an unhoused community was swept from Edwards Street. The residents were ordered to move their items off the sidewalk and clear the area, followed by police presence and street sweepers cleaning the area. Some community organizers showed up to case the area and make sure people were fed and provide aftercare because after a traumatic incident such as having your items, your property stolen and discarded, that can be a very traumatic experience, especially when it happens consistently. This is something the community has been bringing up as a trauma that this behavior causes along with the lack of aftercare. So here were the things that a group of folks that we talked to who were swept that day asked us or told us were needed immediately. One, bring back the porta potties. One person who was here speaking today advocated for porta potties and they were briefly provided and then taken away. They need places to use the bathroom, that's why it smells like how it smells all the way around downtown because people are using the bathroom outside, that's where they go. That's where they live, that's where they go. Open Arcadia Park, this way they have a place to go and some shelter. It also provides more safety for women who do have an increased risk of sexual violence as we were being told. Food distribution volunteers, if you could listen to this, please provide a varied menu that includes items for those with food allergies or faith-based food restrictions like no pork. Also bigger portions because it feels like they're being given small portions that are childlike. Four, open psychiatric facilities that once were open and provided medication and mental health support. Many people outside have mental health care needs and they're not being served properly. Five, it's dangerous outside as people resort to violence for survival needs and with access to vulnerable people. They mostly take care of themselves, fighting to protect one another, particularly those who are victims of rape or attempts of rape. People who have warrants were taken to jail in conjunction with the sweep. So people being sought out to get these warrants to put them in jail was also happening. And so that is a targeted form of discrimination, in my opinion. It should not be a crime to sleep on concrete if that is what is needed because people have a right to sleep outside. The bus station security guard where we went to shelter because it was raining that day so they got swept then it started raining so people were going under the bus station for shelter. The security guard gave folks about five minutes to finish eating And as other community members like myself pulled up, we were told we had to leave because now it was a gathering because there were too many of us. And we were a majority black women that were gathered looking out for our friends who had gone through a traumatic experience that day. So I pushed back some of the security guard. And he mentioned that the Freedom Encampment in 2018 where Commissioner Sykes went and joined that encampment when they were bulldozing people's stuff. um and she got arrested for that as well it was said that as a result of that the city commission is required to provide emergency shelter if there's no more room available in the existing shelter which people don't want to go to because they talk about bed bugs moldy food discrimination etc but you have to provide emergency shelter and we were told that you don't have to tell us about it we have to ask you So I'm here to ask that every time you go to put up an eviction notice or a trespass notice or whatever, a suite notice, place the emergency shelter notice right next to it. Bring back the porta-potties, open Arcadia, unhouse our human.

Thank you. Next, please.

Hello, I'm a Northside resident. My name is Jeffrey Fry. And I'm here to speak about homelessness that's in my community. And three days to try to fix something that we've been dealing with for over 50 years. That was by force. When I looked at ones living in the tent, it may be different than the way that y'all see them. When I see them, I see help, help, help. That's what they reaching out for. A lot of them have mental health issues. So to force them out, where y'all want them to go? What y'all want them to do? Y'all didn't think about that? We really have to think about if somebody living in the tent, how their mental health is. Their mental health is suffering. The ones that's living outside in the community is suffering. So y'all forced them back in the community. Where did y'all want them to go? They're back in the community. So the ones in the community have to offer the help. But we don't have the resources that y'all have. We're y'all looking for housing instead of mental health. It's mental health in our community is real and that's what we're dealing with. So when y'all look at them people living in tents, offer them help. help that's what they need when i see them that's what i offer help any assistance that i'm able that i'm able to aid and assist or point them in the right direction but a lot of them need mental help not just offer oh a place to live then what no they actually need help so start helping our community y'all it's ones in the community helping but they lack the resources actually just take them to. And another thing, I want to speak about these cameras. These cameras, right, they say it's because I hear about it helping crime. Crime, this is what it do. Help crime, help crime, help crime. How much crime do that camera actually help? Because if somebody don't die, that camera is not useful in the courtroom. You still need a victim to testify. So if people not testify, how important is that camera? It means nothing in our community. I'm one of the ones that can say that I was wrongly convicted in 1998 and somebody confessed to my crime in 1998. They don't care about that. You think they care about my mental health? You think they care about right and they wrong and they got somebody saying they did it? They don't care. They coming up here giving y'all false impressions so y'all to file ordinance and y'all don't even know what's going on in the community. Because I know if y'all would have rolled by there, y'all would have said they need help. What are we forcing them out? What are we forcing them to? Back into the community. Don't nobody need to be locked up, y'all. That's what you force people to do. If the police coming and forcing people out of tents, guess what they're going to do? Commit crime. This is what we trying to prevent. I did 24 years. Prison is not a day. It's meant for nobody. Not meant for nobody, especially people that need help. They're fighting for help. They're sitting out there in tents. They didn't give up yet. Giving up is basically getting locked up. They didn't give up if they still living out there. They can go get three meals a day. They can go get under a roof. If we want that in our community, y'all, or we want better for them. We need better for them. These cameras is not useful. They only can hinder. They hinder the ones that's already suffering from the trauma that's already been affected in our community. You have to live in our community to really understand why we fight so hard not to have these things. Who want to be watched? Everybody have a job. Child molesters, murderers, everybody. Who's watching them cameras? Who's taking, who's actually doing, filling out a background check on them cameras to see who watching me?

My name is Thelma. I'm a lifelong resident of Kalamazoo. Since the last time I was here, one young man died. He was 21. He got killed on Westnich and Ada. They put a camera up the week before. It didn't catch the perpetrator. And to this day, they still don't know who killed that young man. They sent people into my neighborhood and asked, did they feel safe with the cameras? Chief Boykin said they wanted the cameras. So the next weekend I walked around the whole neighborhood and I want to leave this with you guys because nobody asked if we wanted these cameras. So I took the time and it was hot and I was in and out of my car and I stopped at every door and I talked to every person, you know. Even if they wanted them, I still wanted it signed. And so last week they came and took three cameras away. They just didn't take the camera from where I live. You know where my family lives, you know, and they're there every day. They change the kind of camera. It's not the tall one with the blue lights and it doesn't talk to you anymore. It's like a city on camera. So this is something that's being done by the city and I don't know who's doing it. And that's not fair to us. They came, they put a smaller one, they put a fence around it, but they don't talk to the people. And the other cameras are gone and traffic is moving and the one that, the CTV one is still in the wrong place. It was right there and it watched a man die and it didn't catch him. It didn't catch the person. You know, they still had to come back to talk to the people to see if they could get some help. You know, so it's not about safety. And they don't make us feel safe. They make us feel watched 24-7 every day of the week. You know, we need some psychological relief. If nothing else, you know, the young men were taking their masks off after COVID. You know, but they have to go to their camera every day. They want to put them on again. I want to know why do y'all have masks on? And it's 80 degrees. They don't want to be on the camera. I mean, we got to talk. We got to do something different. This is not working. The homelessness, it breaks my heart. You know, I was here when Clooney was here and they talked about it 40 years ago. And I probably need to be on that board because it's got to be a solution. I've never seen such, this is horrible, absolutely horrible to treat people like this. And I just feel like it's something that we can do together that we don't have to come down here and do this again. You know, there has to be more places to put people and children and their dogs. I don't know what that feels like. I've never had that experience, but it has to be horrible. You know, so I feel for these people and I feel like it is time Let's just show people we can do something different. Let's just show people we can work together and really do some good positive things in Kalamazoo. Because every time I come, I'm not hearing good stuff. Nothing good is happening. You know? And that's hard. That's hard. You know? But I'm leaving that for y'all. I'm going to pray for y'all.

I was there down at North Edwards. I got there shortly after the sweep started. And KDPS was just telling people to leave, but it was the Ministry with Community, Ms. Katrinka and her team throwing people's belongings away. and trying to run us off when we were there to offer people transportation. There's people that have nowhere to go. They cannot go to the mission for reasons that people have stated. They can't even go into the ministry with community. A lot of people, it was ridiculous to see that ministry with community weaponizing their power and the influence that they have over people and the ability to deny people entry if they went against the ministry because those people who have been denied from the ministry were not quiet about what was going on there and the people who were quiet were just scared because they that's one of their only options sometimes so that was very disheartening to see the power struggle that happens and this power struggle that we have now against the rich against the philanthropy, against the people who are not doing what is right. We have to stop thinking that people have the city's community's best interests at heart. Some people don't. As I said on Facebook, if you guys want to see my post about the mayor, You ruined the possibilities for people to get housing, to get their phones charged and call ISK. Some people were this close to getting housing. You understand? They just needed like one or two more days to be out there, to be out in community because that is a community. Imperfect as it is, people watch out for each other. People hold on to each other's things. They have some kind of safety network that happens when they're down there versus when they get consistently swept. That is how the assaults happened. That is how people ran off of resources. The anti-homeless rhetoric that happened from the stakeholders on the north side who are pro-flock was very disheartening to hear that they didn't want homeless people on the north side. And then... We talk about economic development, right? And shared prosperity. We talk about the arena, right? Who is benefiting that? We could have had housing first options, but no, we have an arena that is gonna pay, not pay a livable wage and call that shared prosperity. A lot of people came here after Sunday Funday and said that kids needed something to do. You think they wanna work at an arena for $15 an hour? They need something to really do. But it's the aesthetics of the city, right? Because that tent city didn't look ideal. It was a whole community out there that didn't look ideal to the city, so it had to go. So it had to go, right? And then Arcadia, are you gonna take the fence down? Because, you know, we're getting impatient. We need to see something done because you used money. COVID relief funds that were supposed to go to unhoused people to secure funding for Arcadia renovations. It was supposed to go to unhoused people. We could have had housing first options. At least the $6 million that you put into that could have been something, but it is not. Instead, you use it to update the infrastructure in Arcadia so you could have an arena. That's what you did. Those are the priorities of the city. As we see this country in a total meltdown, we don't see y'all doing what is best for the city. We see you in the pockets of the rich and wanting to surveil the city like lazy asses you are because you should be wanting your community to be invested in instead of expecting it to be surveillance by Flock. Okay, you should divest from Flock, invest that money into the community so people have something to do.

Thank you.

All right. My name is Lauren Carney. I live in Oakwood. So earlier we heard that somebody say that they feel like they should be on the board, they should be in the decision-making place. And I'll let you all know that I tried that game for a few years, and I realized that everybody just plays games. Nothing gets done, and it's all posturing, and you have so many people that are actively working against you. Sometimes it's the people who look like you who are on your own team. So that's not what I want to do, because I don't really believe in reform. I want to add that what Charles shared earlier and what we heard from our unhoused neighbors, the city refuses to treat folks with dignity, but we expect, as a city, we expect those with the most basic of needs that remain unmet to somehow treat everybody else with respect when we've already dismissed them. So you cannot act like the state of things in Kalamazoo has nothing to do with you. And this is to the entire city of Kalamazoo, right? I'm not just talking to y'all up here, I'm talking about everybody. The city prioritizes the will of the wealthy. The city gate keeps access to information and resources like what we heard earlier about the requirement to provide emergency shelter, that that information wouldn't be openly shared when we see that people are struggling. then when we try to get a little bit of time just to have a conversation to kind of try to reset right because they've just experienced something that is traumatic right we get kicked out of the bus depot because you can't be here you cannot gather okay but somebody is experiencing something right this is an emergency and why does it fall always just to the community to be the ones responding to that The city banks on people not asking these questions, being able to actively, to not be able to actively advocate for themselves. They dress up philanthropy in a Louis Vuitton burlap sack and call that shit affordable housing. I battle houselessness in my family every single day. I battle mental health issues in my family every single day. Those whose money runs the city are so far removed from this experience, they feel untouchable. But for the rest of us, we gotta continue to be these little worker bees to keep everybody, I heard earlier, fat, rich, and fed, right? So I wanna make sure that I have, I got like a minute left. I want to share a statement from one of our neighbors that was displaced.

Hold on.

Lazy.

Drug addicts. Boom.

Get a job.

We heard what you said. How many people in here have experienced homelessness or homelessness?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They call us lazy. We call it survival.

That's wild. Do we stay alive? You see a tent. We see the walls in our minds. And how we don't have enough housing. And how this affordable housing is not worth it. I was so happy when I got what I thought was my dream job. And then I realized that I had to continue to struggle. Edward Street. That's where they found us.

Point fingers like the whole damn province around us. Move the tits.

People raise their hands to be able to speak on this. I didn't see y'all raise your hands.

Druggies, nothing but these.

Easy to say when you got somewhere to sleep. Someone looking for love to leave.

We were looking for somewhere where we could finally bleed. A little structure, safety, somewhere to ground. A place to wake up without getting pushed around.

Hi, my name is Matt Griffith. I've lived in the city for 15 years. I'm a local organizer here with the Get the Flock Out of Kalamazoo campaign. So first, I wanted to echo some of the things we've been hearing about the homeless encampment. I think that the city should feel embarrassed for what it did to those people who needed help. And I think that we need to stand in solidarity, even with people who can't afford housing right now, who need services. And I think that we should be stop focusing so much on things like building a new stadium and spending all this money and spending all this money on flock cameras and trying to help these people who actually need help. I also see that you guys are voting on a data center moratorium. I hope that you all do agree to enact the data center moratorium. When they go up in communities, they consume huge amounts of power. Most of the time these things are being powered by behind the meter gas turbine generators that also pollutes and there's also tons of noise pollution. And it just raises the cost for everybody while only creating some construction jobs and then those disappear and it's just a few skilled people from outside of the community who are running the data centers and it doesn't actually help the community that much. But I also FOIAed the search audit logs and as well as all the contracts for Flock and I would like to share with you all some data from that. So the flock cameras for this year between January 1st and the end of June were searched 116,017 times. Most of that was done by Michigan State Police. They accounted for about 65% of the searches. KDPS came in around about 21%. That's a search roughly every two minutes. And we have seen how these cameras can be inaccurate. The LAPD actually just canceled their flop camera, not because the LAPD cares about civil rights and civil liberties. No, it's because they're inaccurate. They make mistakes. You know, another thing is that officers can assign a case number to their flock search. Of that data, KVPS was the worst with less than 10% of their searches having case numbers. Portage had 100%, so clearly it can be done. And then, let's see. The top category searched was drugs and narcotics. Almost 28% of the searches had that as a category. And then the next highest one is vehicle and motor theft, which was about 13%. I have a little more time left, but the contracts. In 2024, the city signed a contract for $99,900, just $100 short of what would have caused it to come to a vote. In 2025, guess what? The contract came out to $99,900. And both of those, the city got a discount of $10,450 from Flock. It seems pretty clear that Flock and the KDPS and the city manager have decided that as long as we keep these contracts under $100,000, then the elected officials here don't have to actually vote, don't actually have to say that I support these cameras, that I want these cameras. You can just hide behind, you know...

Hello. Basically, I had some thoughts. 44% of a non-flocked city, so no cameras, versus a 44% decrease of crime with cameras. That's a 0% difference. And yet you spend, I think, close to $300,000 a year powering these cameras. Why? I'd actually like some answers, if need be.

Can we start with you? So this is not a time for dialogue. It's your time to take advantage of speaking to us in the public.

Oh, yeah, I know. But I still want answers. We can wait.

Mayor Anderson. Because they still have time on the clock, I couldn't hear them in one of their statements. May I ask them to repeat one thing so I can hear them?

The statistics one?

You said something in regards to $300,000. What was that in regards to?

Powering the cameras and keeping them up. I get they are solar powered, but that money is coming from somewhere.

Okay sorry the mask is just like mumbling you're saying $300,000 to install the cameras?

Uh no just to keep them up.

Okay.

Yeah maintaining cost to put them up I believe. But this is per year so I'm wondering where that money is going. What's it going to? Why do we need to have them up if there's a 0% decrease of crime? Why do we need to be spied upon? Why do we have to have our Fourth Amendment right and vote? Why do we have to have red cards all around the city just to protect us from ice? You guys have seen those cards, right? Why do we need to have those? Why should we feel scared? If there's a 0% decrease, why have them up at all? I get this is like a professional greeting meeting thing, but speak if you need. We want you to speak. We want answers. I have 15 seconds left, so just fuck you. You keep them up, nothing happens. They're a tool for police, I get that. But you've solved crime without them before for like 200 years, so figure out the pocket. Thank you. Next, please.

Good evening. My name is Willow Sippling. I'm a resident of Kalamazoo. I want to say first that I'm not a Luddite. I think technology is great, especially when it can be used to increase public access, for instance, through streaming a civic meeting like this one. But I'm here to talk about data centers and AI. Good, helpful technology does not require pollution-belting plants sucking up cities' water supplies for incredibly vapid ends. This abusive and exploitative AI, what is sometimes categorized as generative AI, an ironic name, is what these data centers produce. And they are environmentally destructive, as well as psychologically and socially destructive. This generative AI is the mechanically separated carcass of plagiarized human ingenuity and creativity, excreted into the most inane and repetitive slop that is only impressive to people who want to cultivate the virtues of being a poor reader, a poor writer, and an even poorer thinker. AI here is not very good at the humanities, art, and being critical. It certainly seems not to be helpful to people to help them maintain fulfilling jobs, and it hasn't gotten people off the streets. But as you might guess, computers are very good at technical and numbers-based data. And this is not said to be complimentary, as data centers process surveillance footage, social media posts, and private information, which has been used and will be used to triangulate the trajectories of missiles to military targets. It is used to stalk and hunt down those alleged to be from other countries or people who have crossed state lines for health care access. Our flock cameras are part of these same networks, providing information to be crunched by these data centers. So let's talk about flock, too. And let's hit some of these major talking points. It helps to solve crime. The claim of usefulness is not evidence of necessity or a public benefit. This is the same argument of the TULIC spike. TULIC was an economist who argued that we decrease speeding by installing a big metal spike in a car's steering column. You wouldn't want to go very fast knowing that your chest would get caved in, but there is clearly no public benefit, and it clearly creates more harms. The cameras only capture license plates. This is laughable as flock cameras can use a license plate, which is a unique identifier tied to VIN numbers, tied to insurance policies, and they track commutes, how many people are riding in a particular car, and it creates a pattern of movement. Flock information gets processed by data centers. To me, asking for a moratorium is like asking, do you want to be hit in the head with a hammer or with a metal rod? Neither seems very healthy. What a silly question this is. The moratorium should be an open and shut case. But we'll keep running into issues like these unless we decide what is better for us, a world where the tech bros, some of the biggest antisocial dorks who can't get their kids to talk to them, are collecting our information to sell to private military companies? Or do we want a world where residents pick what's better for our communities, like building out social services, opening up our parks, being able to provide more than meager millages for our schools and educators? That's what our money should be going to.

My name's Claire. I live in the Vine. I want to address the sweep because it was a sweep. No matter how much you wanted us to call it a removal of the North Edward Street encampment, people had 72 hours, three days to pack up their lives and move where? We all know the harm that sweeps cause. It's well documented. We know this. You know this. So why would the city utilize this tactic? We have to conclude that money, developers, and profit are more important to this commission and its partners than human lives. We know what works. Housing first works. If the city wanted to actually address these issues, we would use this strategy rather than displacement. It's impossible for a sweep to happen humanely, but I wanted to highlight that it was community volunteers, not the city, that provided any kind of non-barrier transportation to people being displaced. Your plan was ineffective. Your plan was transportation and bins that arrived at 3 p.m., one hour after the stated notice deadline. How is that a plan? How is that dignified? Manager Hankins was the only one who even showed up before 3 p.m. It's an insult to act like this was a plan. This seems to be the playbook though. At Bronson in 2018, Mill Street in Ampersey and Stadium Drive in 2021, it seems the plan was just like last week, was to just provide the limited services available and then arrest or displace the rest. For example, out of 150 people at the Ampersey encampment, 12 people were sheltered despite your plan. You had eight years to develop a plan, to take data, to expand resources and outreach, to provide transportation, meals, case management, other resources, yet the plan remained the same. To construct a crisis, give a few days notice, and then use punitive tactics that have been proven ineffective. This is unserious and inhumane. we need arcadia open and the simple act of existence while unhoused to be decriminalized city parks are public spaces they are for us the kalamazoo community city ordinance section 3324 criminalizes being unhoused in our parks plain and simple we need to move urgently towards a moratorium on that section of the ordinance so people can simply exist without the fear of unpayable tickets and arrests that do nothing to solve the root of the issue and interrupt processes that actually do kdps is using this ordinance section discriminatorily in order to remove unhoused community members from parks just the other day at bronson park an officer attempted to disperse community members simply sitting on the stage area not laying to rest which actually is ridiculously in this by telling them that eating on the stage is against the ordinance. When asked to produce proof of that policy, he could not because it doesn't exist. We need to know what the plan is for winter now. Transportation is a huge gap that needs to be expanded. Transportation to warming centers is a start, but what about appointments, services, places of employment? What warming centers are going to be available within the Kalamazoo city limits so we're not scrambling to get people seven miles away to the nearest one? What hotel voucher programs, as my friend brought up, could be developed to give people a safe place to lay their head? How will we ensure that these centers are ready and equipped to serve as warming centers so we avoid issues that arose last year? What plan do we have to activate these churches that have a tax-exempt status to serve as warming and resource centers? Will you continue to disrupt the little shelter, safety, and connections to life-sustaining and social inclusion services that people have, or will we finally do better?

Hey everyone, Silvano. You guys know me. I've seen most of you out on the streets before, so thank you for your work. As I come before you, you guys have heard a lot today, but right now I'm just ashamed. I'm ashamed of what we're doing to our in-house community. I want to tell you a little bit more about my backstory. When I was growing up, my mom was very sick. She had AIDS, and if she missed a checkbox or she was in the hospital and couldn't report, find a payphone to call, we would be out on the street. We would be living in a tent. And we got no dignity in the city of Chicago. And this past week is exactly what I saw happen to that encampment. And it's shameful. We can and should do better. And I think us as a city have to figure out what your role is, what our role is, and how we do better. Because kicking the can down the road is not doing it. If we're only enforcing and displacing, that ain't doing it. That's not solving our unhoused crisis. We understand that the unhoused crisis is bigger than Kalamazoo, but we're not doing anything about it in Kalamazoo except making it worse by criminalizing the unhoused. It shouldn't be criminal to exist. It shouldn't be criminal to live in your van if you want to. We should have access to drinking water and showers and storage. I know some years ago you posed the idea of Herbie Kirby's for storage for our own house. What happened to that? Why don't we put lockers at the metro station? Why don't we do something so that we're not... playing whack-a-mole with people's lives. It's shameful. We have to do better. Do better. That's it. Those fences, you gave these people 72 hours to get out. I'm giving you 72 hours to get rid of those fucking fences.

Hi. I wanted to follow up from the last time I was up here and spoke, which was in January. And I was here to speak about the crisis we have in Kalamazoo for unhoused pets. I spoke about there not being reliable and accessible options for our unhoused neighbors and community members with pets and was then corrected after a bathroom break that that wasn't true and that there were plenty of options for people with pets. at the commission meeting in January. I sent several follow-up emails that were not replied to and so I thought I would read a little bit of them since I'm not sure anybody else did. So I'm aware of the Gospel Mission and Ministry with Community and several other shelters for humans, and there are none that allow pets beyond the hours of the daytime. So you can sit up there and say, like, yeah, there are places that allow pets. Okay, what about at 4 p.m. when they close? And this was in January, and I don't know if you know this, but in part of the year it gets really cold, and then in the other part of the year it gets really flippin' hot. So people were right back out in the cold at this time. And I spoke about if I had the choice of being inside without my pet or staying outside and risking freezing, I would be outside. Additionally, there are other programs that are ran by individuals in the community, which are not consistently reliable or accessible. So again, not true. And I contacted several organizations myself as well as on behalf of people who contacted me regarding looking for resources and things for animals without having to give them up, right? So this past, last Friday, I was lucky enough to have a surplus of some food and took water bottles and different things down to a mutual aid meal that I was aware of. And I distributed cat and dog food to 26 pets, not humans, they're pets. At that meal we served I think about 100 people. So I don't do math, but that's a high percent of people who are showing up to a community meal to get some food for themselves. And they were, I guess, I WAS LUCKY THAT I DIDN'T HAVE TO WORK THAT NIGHT, SO I COULD GO DOWN THERE AND PROVIDE THAT FOR THEM. AND I RAN OUT OF DOG FOOD. I DIDN'T HAVE ANY MORE DOG FOOD TO GIVE OUT. SO, I'VE BEEN COLLECTING MORE. I POSTED ON THE KAZOO CAT CAFE PAGE, SOLICITING DONATIONS, BECAUSE THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I AM VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT, BECAUSE I WOULD NOT WANT TO GIVE UP A FAMILY MEMBER TO GO INSIDE SOMEPLACE IF THOSE WERE MY ONLY OPTIONS. And you can literally see, I literally saw that that was the case and multiple people told me that they will feed their animal before they feed themselves. And I have been trying to bring attention to this for going on a year. And after this aforementioned being hot out, it's going to get cold out again. And I'm still going to be here and I'm still going to be asking what the options are for people with pets without having to give them up, without having to use the resources that are available on paper to them. But they don't allow pets. They're only open until 4 p.m.

They can't drive there.

Thank you. Next, please.

I am from Kalamazoo. I grew up in the West Niche Hill neighborhood. I was born just a few blocks over in Bronson Hospital. I attended Kalamazoo Public Schools for my entire educational career and I now attend Western Michigan University. I love the city of Kalamazoo. I have been many places and I always rave about how beautiful and how welcoming Kalamazoo is and that is why it makes me so sad to see mass surveillance and to see unhoused people being pushed around and oppressed. There will come a day that each and every member of this commission will have to face their legacy. And I'm going to be honest, for most of you, it's not looking very good. But the good news is, is that you can always be better today than you were yesterday. You can always be better tomorrow than you were today. So I hope that each of you do the right thing, take down our flock cameras, and help our unhoused community. Thank you.

My name is Jeff Mitchell. I grew up in Kalamazoo and moved back here about four years ago. And I'm here to speak about the flock cameras and ALPRs in general. Obviously, the police officers can make a case for how ALPRs, how flock cameras benefit them. It makes their job easier. There's a lot of things that would make their job easier that we don't let them do. We don't let them kick down a door whenever they want, perform warrantless searches. we don't let them invade our privacy to make their job easier. They're quick to tout how many cases they involve flock searches with, but they'll never tell you how many cases would not have been solved but for the information they got from flock. And that's what's the important statistic, okay? Because the fact of the matter is, When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And when they have this mass surveillance system and this database that all they have to do is sit down and search, that's the first place they turn. If you watch body camera videos across the country, you'll see police officers that refuse to believe the fallibility of the flock system. When they confronted a homeowner for driving through their town too many times, thinking that she had stolen a package off of one of their citizen's porches, they refused to even look at her GPS data from her car to tell them that they were mistaken, that they had misidentified their car. So it's not just abuse, it's mistakes as well. A typo at a dealership in California caused a guy test driving a car for I believe Car and Driver magazine to get pulled over at gunpoint when he was driving his family in the test driven car because of a typo in a database. That's ridiculous. We cannot trust this system and the fact that we're even having to stand here and have this debate that all of these citizens and community members are having to educate our elected leadership on why this system is so bad is quite ridiculous, honestly. All of y'all should be pissed at the police department for structuring this deal to avoid your oversight. You guys have a say on anything over $100,000? They wanted a system that was going to be over $100,000 and then negotiated with Flock that, hey, we can keep these guys' hands out of it if you just give us a 10% discount. $99,900. That is ridiculous. If you make deposits of $4,990 again and again and again at your bank to try and avoid them from having to file reports, guess what? They're coming after you. That's a crime in and of itself. So y'all should take back your accountability of the police department and start asking them, Why didn't they come to y'all when they wanted this system? Then y'all could have come to us. We would have known it was on the agenda. We could have come here and spoke out before y'all wasted everybody's money, before you put this system in, and before you made Kalamazoo one more piece of the network across our entire country that's being used to spy on every single one of us, everyone here and everyone that's sitting up here. Y'all are no different. They want to look up your license plate, guess what? It's in the same system. So it doesn't matter. We don't need to spend our money to create a system that's going to be used to oppress us. Doesn't matter who we are. Doesn't matter what we're doing. We don't want that. We don't want cameras watching our every move. We don't need a minority report. And we certainly don't need a police department that's going to hide accountability from y'all and from...

I don't have much to say, but revolution is coming. I'll never forget when I first learned in third grade the history of slavery, the history of why I'm on this planet, why I'm here in this specific space, and the anger, the fire that it built within me. I've trained every day of my life, mentally, physically, spiritually, to become powerful so I can ensure that revolution comes so one day my people can rise again. Okay? And you are the faces that we see. So the problems that we have now, you can still sleep okay because you still feel safe. You might be safe for a little bit longer. But the people are tired. And it's getting worse. And we are in the age of information. You guys can't lie to us like you used to. Maybe you guys are the ones who are lying, but the system can't lie like it used to. We know what's going on. Once we all rise up, we're coming for you first. If you are not with us, you are against us. That's all I have to say. Think about this. Think about your family. Think about your community. If you want to continue living a peaceful life, then connect with your community. Don't just think of your own interests, how to line your own pockets. Because there's only so many places you can go.

Good evening. In regards to the three major issues tonight, I'm going to start with one is the homeless community. I'm not originally from Kalamazoo. I'm a recent resident of the past year. I can say that I have had my own dealings with the unhoused and the homeless back where I was from. But we did have resources that I would actually like to share with you guys. It's called the HEP Center. And what it is, it's called the Homeless Empowerment Project. And it is designed like a campus. And if you all have time later on, I would like to... My time's not moving.

Scott? You got a bonus there.

But if you all have time, I would like to share that with you all. Because we do need resources and we need solutions. I hear what my community is saying behind me, and they're angry, they're upset, they're hurt, they're traumatized. But there are ways to fix this. Far be it me to congratulate Florida on anything, but being a former Florida resident. But that was one thing that my community did do that I can commit. So that is something I would like to share with you all at a later date if you have time. The second thing is the vlog cameras. The vlog cameras don't do anything but invade privacy. No one asks for them. No one wants them. So the simple solution is to get rid of them. It's not that hard. I know there's contracts and all of that involved, but when you're working for the community, the community ultimately has the say so. We say no. And as for the third point is the moratorium on data centers. I want to say thank you for listening at our previous meetings, for listening to everything that we've said about wanting a moratorium on data centers. That is the first step. The second step and however many more there will be does depend on all of you and community input, but it is a step in the right direction. For that, I think that there needs to be changes possibly even in the bylaws of the commission. I have seen in other places, not here that I've heard of, about commissioners or people of the community management signing NDAs. So they can't talk about possible data centers or bigger technological investments, whether that be flat cameras or biometric data collection or facial recognition or any of those things. And I think there needs to be some kind of bylaw prohibiting that. Just to have transparency. There are so many things that we can do in this one year moratorium and I hope we don't waste it. I know that you are voting tonight whether to adopt it or not. And I firmly believe that you should adopt this and give us the chance to really work on our community. The place that is currently in question What if we bought that and turned that into the help center and used that as resources for the homeless? What if we were able to use these empty buildings and refurbish them and use them for our unhoused? Or the areas that we were going to use for these massive data centers that no one wants. and use those for small home living for our unhoused community as starter homes for them to get back on their feet. So thank you for your time. Thank you.

Good evening to Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, City Manager, City Attorney. My name is Charlay Davis with Isaac. I want to thank everyone who has spoken tonight and also to just share a few reflections from North Edward Street. I was really relieved to see that there were no tickets or arrests. I attribute that to community members being there and leaning in as a true village. I saw Commissioner Wilson there. Thank you so much. There may have been others. I got there towards the middle, so if I'm missing you, my apologies. I saw community sharing frustrations with some officers and listening. And I just, again, have to say that community came in love. They came in the spirit of helping out our beloved community members. helping to move, show love, show care, food, beverages, and that's who we are. That's our village here in Kalamazoo. Also, what was, and I'll go on here. So now, and I've said that, and I really want to focus and lift that, I have to say that we cannot continue to find ourselves in these positions where we are going in and having to move, evict, whatever words you want to use, our unhoused community members, because that means that we're not getting to the root of the problem. And so you have heard lived experiences tonight. I was sitting there reflecting, even over the weekend, the Housing Equity 2018 listening sessions that we sat in, our unhoused community members were saying the same thing. So to me, that speaks systemic issues. We even had a gentleman who spoke and said that he had sat in a listening session 10 years before saying the same thing, that's not okay. I thought about the pods and how HRI and community, and I'm sorry, Commissioner Hoffman and many others championed that, but that didn't happen. I reflected on even the ARPA and that's been mentioned, how that funding went to Arcadia Park instead of our unhoused community members and other public health needs. And also chapter 18, which really does, to my understanding, speak to the need for various different care for those who are unhoused. So my ask around housing right now, the first one is that you all deepen communication and coordination around housing. It never should be coming out late and at the last minute. The other thing is I really need us to become proactive instead of reactive. And then also, my ask is that you continue providing resources to all housing intervention organizations. As it usually happens in systems, those who are on the ground doing housing intervention work are often left out of the discussions, the conversations, the solutions, the brainstorming and that needs to stop. I heard someone else mention and it came up too about storage units and that I believe came up in a meeting. I think that's something that the city and the county need to look into. so that our unhoused beloved community members can have the space to put their belongings, because that's part of them, that's part of their identity. And it's safe, and then they can navigate the help that they need. So that's one thing. I want to also talk a little bit about flock. I can only keep saying the same thing. Both and, many times, I hear those who are saying that it helps them feel safe, and I honor that deeply. And I also hear when others, and myself as well, HAVE CONCERN OF HARM, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION, FOR OUR IMMIGRANT FAMILY MEMBERS, WOMEN, AND THE LIST GO ON AND ON. AND SO I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, IT'S A BOTH-AND FOR ME. I DO WANT US TO START REALLY TALKING ABOUT OVERSIGHT. OVERSIGHT IS NOT A CITY BOARD, BUT IT CAN BE COMMUNITY-LED, IT CAN BE WHERE COMMUNITY CAN HAVE A VOICE, AND WE CAN DO THIS WORK TOGETHER. IT'S A BOTH-AND, FOR ME AT LEAST. I WANT TO ALSO SAY, AND I ASKED THIS, I'M GOING TO RUN OUT OF TIME HERE,

Please share what's going on with the Black contract.

My name is Tanya McClure and I live in Millwood. Flock cameras are bad, absolutely they are. I am anti-flock cameras, but I can't help but point out that a lot of the people who have come down to protest the flock cameras tonight are the same people coming from neighborhoods who rallied against the pods for the unhoused when they were trying to place them. And that's why I'm really here. Being anti-flock and anti-data center is the bare minimum in 2026 at this point. If you are not those things, then you are ill-informed and ignorant. And I really don't have anything more to say about those two things. The city, however, should be ashamed for the treatment of its citizens. The systemic, horrible treatment of the citizens who are just trying to live and survive is completely unacceptable. The city of Kalamazoo has made deliberate decisions that have harmed our unhoused. Shame. The fence at Arcadia needs to come down. The fact that you take down the fences for paid events but put them back up to stop our unhoused from using it. Shame. A barrier-free shelter does not exist in the city of Kalamazoo or the county of Kalamazoo. That's shame. The fact that the over-overnight shelter that we have is religious-based is a shame. And of course, long-term solutions for low-income housing need to be discussed. Not $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom or three to five affordable units in a building of 50. That's a slap in the face, and it's shameful.

Shame!

We're sick of the lies. We're sick of the words and no actions. You aren't doing enough. You are wasting money on the wrong things while our citizens and friends are suffering. Help us help them instead of putting up barriers at every single step. I feed the unhoused several times a month. And I have had more interactions with police since I have started doing that, not because of the unhoused problem, not because they're having issues with them, bothering us trying to feed people. That's a shame.

Shame.

Thank you. Next, please.

Good evening, mayor, city council members, city manager, and members of the community. My name is Nick Briggs. I am the facility director at Harbor Farms, located at 2839 Full Circle Drive in the Davis Creek Industrial Park. While I understand that this moratorium discussion is about data centers in all of Kalamazoo, it is centered around our facility. Like many businesses in Michigan's cannabis industry, we have faced extraordinary challenges from oversupply, price compression, taxation, and changing market conditions. We recently surrendered a Class C license and shut down approximately half of our cultivation operation to reduce expenses and remain viable. I've held this position for the last three years and have 12 years of heating and cooling and mechanical service experience. In 2019, I was part of the HVAC installation team during the construction of Harbor Farms. I also serviced the facility during its first few years of operation. With my extensive knowledge into the mechanical operation of this facility, I wanted to educate the public and members of the city council on the differences our facility would have compared to other data centers. When we talk about data centers, it's important to understand that not all data centers are created for the same purpose. Two of the biggest categories we hear about today are small inference data centers and hyperscale data centers. While both support the digital world and artificial intelligence, they operate very differently and can have very different impacts on a community. A hyperscale data center is essentially a massive computing campus. These facilities are designed to handle enormous amounts of data and computing power, often for companies running cloud services, artificial intelligence training, streaming, and large-scale applications. The biggest issue most people see with data centers is their water consumption. Our facility would be unique in that it would use no water for any of its heating, cooling, or mechanical operation. It relies solely on Mitsubishi VRF variable refrigerant flow technology. This is a closed-loop sealed refrigeration process that uses a series of eight-ton air handlers with air-cooled condensing units with high efficiency variable speed capacities. Harbor Farms as a cannabis company is looking to retain all of its employees, move to a more economically viable facility in Kalamazoo and continue to sell in the extremely competitive industry that is Michigan cannabis. Rather than allowing a significant exiting investment to become underutilized, we have an opportunity to repurpose this facility into a small AI inference data center and create substantially greater long-term economic value for the city. Much of the public discussion surrounding this proposal has confused it with multi-billion dollar hyperscale data centers making headlines across Michigan and the United States. Those are entirely different projects. This is an opportunity to take an existing industrial building and an existing industrial site and transform them into a modern technology asset. One that can generate significantly greater tax revenue, support new infrastructure, strengthen workforce and help Kalamazoo. I would like to extend an invite to those of you in the committee if you would like to tour the. Thank you.

Next please.

I want to thank everyone for being here today. My name is Amiro Mukahal. I am a Kalamazoo resident for 20 years, and I work at the First Congregational Church for the Children's Nature Playscape right across from Bronson Park. I want to say today, two weeks ago, a man spoke to me, an unhoused man, and he told me that he believed that being in jail was better than being on the streets of Kalamazoo. He believed they would be safer in jail. Another man in the same week had told me that he had been sitting in his feces and was telling me about all the suffering that he had been going through. And I believe that no human should go through that. No human should have to suffer. And for the fact that we're putting money, we have so much money already in Kalamazoo, and we're putting more money into things such as flawed cameras and a new event center while we still have people here suffering. I think it's a disgrace. And I think that we need to do better as a community to come together and solve the problem of the homelessness that's here. And then we can proceed to doing things like an event center. So I believe that we just need to do a better job. That's all I have to say.

Thank you. Next, please.

My name's for the third. and a third generation resident. My grandfather, myself, and my father built the city. And the things that I'm seeing coming out of our commission are completely unacceptable. A lot of people today have talked about the emotional response for Flock. And I haven't heard a lot of people talking about the long-term effects. All around our country, the flat cameras are part of civil cases. Cases involving our Fourth Amendment rights to illegal search and seizure. Throughout our history, we have had numerous attempts for law enforcement to take wide surveillance and turn it into a searchable way to track people down. And throughout history, the courts, the Supreme Court even, has dictated that that is not okay. Our Fourth Amendment is not a suggestion. What you're allowing to happen by not removing the spot cameras is opening yourselves up in the city and the kate in terms of police department up for civil lawsuits which means not only are we paying for flock systems we are also going to be paying for people that are going to win these cases and our tax dollars are going to be spent for something that we are told you is coming that we told you we don't want that we have told you is not legal Get a flock the fuck out of Kalamazoo.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Ewan Simpson. I'm speaking on behalf of the Get the Flock Out of Kalamazoo campaign, as you're probably aware of. I'm here to support the data center moratorium in front of you tonight and ask why the same care has never once been extended to Flock or ALPR systems. This moratorium exists because you guys recognize something quite important. When a powerful new technology touches this community, you owe residents research, transparency, and time before you commit to it. And that's exactly the right instinct. And we're asking you to apply that instinct consistently. Phlox ALPR cameras are already installed across Kalamazoo. They're AI-powered systems that log movements of every driver in the city, and they got none of the scrutiny that you're giving to only hypothetical data centers tonight. You didn't have a public hearing before deployment, no independent research into the harms. We filed a public records request for the search data behind these cameras, and here's what we received. A search every two minutes. That's nearly just over a quarter of a million searches per year on our cameras. Nearly two-thirds of those searches from our local cameras were from outside agencies, not KDPS. And all of these searches that KDPS themselves ran, in the data that we received, roughly 9 out of 10 had no case number attached, no documented investigation behind them. Today, I also learned that WMUK put in a Freedom of Information Act request to find out where these cameras are, and they were denied that information. These cameras, which are in our public spaces, but we're not allowed to know where they are. It's shameful and certainly not transparent. So tonight, I'm asking you to amend the moratorium resolution. That's right, I've read Robert's rules. Extend the same one year moratorium on usage, procurement, renewal, and expansion to FLOC and ALPR systems. Who's going to table the amendment? Is someone willing to be brave today? Somebody perhaps who wants to be the mayor? Somebody who wants to step up and show the mayor how it's actually done? I really encourage you guys to table an amendment to include these systems in that moratorium resolutions. You've heard incredible testimony from members from all parts of the community tonight and what's really shocking, really upsetting to me is how already some of the most vulnerable people in this community are already altering the way that they live in this city because of these cameras. They're masking up, they're avoiding certain roads, they're avoiding spending their money into our local businesses because they don't want to be tracked, because they're scared, they're terrified that that data will later be used against them. for whatever reason. So we're asking you to give this community the time to determine whether the harms of these cameras that these cameras bring are worth it and whether the residents actually consent to being tracked this way. So I thank you. And I really do hope that you amend the resolution for the moratorium of data centers and add that ALPR technology be included so we can stop these cameras now, we can put a pause, we can assess, we can come back to community, and we can be asked in a democratic, transparent way. So thank you for your time. Enjoy. Only two hours in.

Last call. Anyone want to take advantage? Yes, please.

Hi, my name is Shona Espinosa. Y'all should be ashamed. I am very ashamed of this commission. Every single one of y'all should have been down there on North Edwards. Y'all should have had a plan. Y'all plan was your community doing the work for y'all. We was out there the day before dropping off things they could pack their stuff up with. We made sure we was through the night making sure that out of the blue they weren't being swept while they were asleep. We were there all day dropping more bins off, water, food, and making sure they were packed up and was provided transportation to get where they needed to get. Where were y'all? If y'all came out, y'all should have made sure y'all had things that they could have used, like water, bins, snacks. That simple. Not just trash bags or lip service. We're tired of that. They deserve better. They are human beings. They are people. They are children. They are babies. But y'all get to go home at night. They don't. Y'all gave eviction notice to somebody that doesn't have a house. Make that make sense. 72 hours. Is that when we get eviction notice in our homes? Do we get 72 hours? We get a month. Y'all gave them 72 hours to go where? To go where? What was y'all plan? The city showed up with bins an hour after they were supposed to be gone. Why? Because y'all wanted to bulldoze their shit. What is wrong with this commission? It broke my heart to see how bad they are treated and why they don't want to go into the mission or ministries. They're being told what they can keep and what they can't keep. That's all they have. They're being talked down to. That is not okay. We were bringing things out there and all of a sudden it's a problem where we're bringing bins and food. They might be dehydrated. They've been up all night because they're not safe. When is enough enough? I am pissed. They should never be treated like this. How about y'all go sleep on Edwards Street for 72 hours? No, that ain't gonna happen. That ain't gonna happen because y'all have a bed to go home to, a house. That's not okay. Where are they going to go? Y'all spent millions of dollars in this city on bullshit! Where's the $400 million that was gave to the Excellency of that damn building or whatever the fuck it's called? That could've been money that could've been used to help our own house. There are many children out here. When is enough enough? When are y'all gonna do better? Y'all wasting my damn time by having me come down here. But I care. We give more fucks about them than y'all do. Do better. Do better. They deserve housing. They deserve respect. They deserve basic human rights. When is enough enough? It's election year. I cannot wait to vote all your asses off this commission. Y'all are a disgrace. Do better.

My name is Sarah. I've been in the Vine neighborhood for almost 20 years. I am a homeowner in Kalamazoo and I'm extraordinarily disappointed in this entire administration today after everything that happened on Thursday. Some organizers and myself patrolled throughout the night before the sweeps to try to make sure we could keep people safe because we remembered when KDPS swept in way before their announced arrival time at Amper C. and did a lot of harm to folks then. There were a lot of us on the ground that day. I arrived around 8 AM and was there until about 5 PM that day. simply trying to witness to be present to add a protective presence with my white privilege especially and to keep people safe and to keep people from losing a few few items that they own on this earth There are probably very few among this panel who know what that feels like to have that few belongings to your name and to understand what that means when even one of those things goes into the trash against your will. and with only a few days notice which is obviously intentional there could have easily been much more time for people to prepare but it was so obvious that they were not given enough time to prepare for that it was so obvious that it was done in sync with not giving the public time to prepare with a public comment period before the sweeps happened I was there from 8 a.m. to about 5 p.m. I witnessed a few notable things. The city manager was there early in the morning for an hour or two and then disappeared for the rest of the day. I saw one commissioner there all day long. I didn't see any of the rest of you out there that day. I was disappointed to see that. I saw ministry with community employees, rather than KDPS, throwing away people's items against their will. Forcing people, pressuring people to get rid of their things instead of providing the support that they're there for. It felt like they were set up to do the dirty work. It is too early in the city manager's administration to be seeing this kind of atrocious display of inhumanity as a explicit, conscious decision. And it doesn't happen that often in this city. And I was holding out hope that we were going to see some changes, but I'm feeling really apprehensive now that this was one of the earliest and most notable decisions under our new manager's administration. All I could think as I was standing out there all day WAS THAT IN THIS BLOCK, IN THIS PARCEL THAT HAS NO RESIDENTIAL PARCELS FOR TWO SQUARE BLOCKS AROUND IT, DIRECTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF REPUBLIC TRASH DUMPSTERS ON BOTH SIDES, ON BOTH SIDES, WHERE IS THERE FOR PEOPLE TO TRY TO, IF THEY CAN'T BE IN THE MIDDLE OF TRASH DUMPSTERS, If we won't give them that, you tell them there is a better place for them to go.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the chambers who would like to take advantage of public comment?

As one of the people who are going to be driving really soon, I know I'm scared because I know I'm going to be watched as I'm learning to drive. My friends are going to be watched. They're scared enough as is going into a new world and we're being watched and with the talk of ice coming in and what I've heard they're doing everywhere else. Why should I be scared that my friends aren't safe? Why should they and their families be scared of being safe in their homes? I've lived here as long as I can remember. Probably won't be moving. So why should I and the adults who have been living here for longer than I've been around, why should we all be scared of being in a place that we thought we were safe?

Thank you. Next, please.

Good evening, Jeff Messer, city resident. Sorry for not talking about the many important issues that people have brought forward this evening. I've talked about these issues in the past, back in 2019 and stuff, but I'm currently trying to put myself in a position to make a difference on a volunteer board. I am a candidate for Kalamazoo Public Library District Board of Trustees on your November 3rd ballot, nonpartisan section. You can read tonight's comments and respond on my campaign blog at messer.substack.com or scan the QR code on your screen. I'm running for Kalamazoo Public Library District Trustee for a very simple reason. I'm an actual library patron. I've been a frequent user of in-person services at the library for over a decade. For example, I composed tonight's remarks on a library computer. I printed tonight's address on a library printer. I used library restrooms while writing. My opponents in this election, as well as the current trustees, don't use in-person services at the library. They are dependent upon library staff to tell them what is happening in the library, which necessarily limits their knowledge of what is going on and the full truth. Meanwhile, I have first-hand knowledge of where the library is falling short in its facilities and patron services. I can form independent opinions of how well the library is operating. For example, do my opponents know that the roof leaks every time there is heavy rain and a half-dozen water catch buckets are placed around the building? What an embarrassing situation for National Library of the Year 2002. Do they know that the water supply to the first floor water fountain is inadequate, making that fountain nearly unusable? Do they know that some restroom doors are hung incorrectly, creating the risk of someone becoming trapped in the restroom should the handle fall off? Do they know that both lower level restrooms have been locked and closed for the better part of a year? The voters of the City of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Township, Oshimo Township, and Texas Township Precinct 3 generously fund the library district near the state cap of four mills, so why does the library have these and other chronic facilities issues? What is the library spending money on that the patrons see no benefit from? I look jealously at the Portage District Library, which serves as patrons with a designated indoor eating area, hot water dispenser, adequate laptop computer facilities, and ample study rooms, some of which can be reserved online. The Kalamazoo Library has removed so many books from its collection that it has plenty of space for similar facilities. KPL patrons have to suffer with worn, dirty, 28-year-old computer workstation furniture that does not accommodate laptop computer use or device charging. My opponents will likely have an outdated view of the library, which emphasizes books and literacy. While the library is still that, I think the greatest value of the library is as a community center, a third space where people can go without being expected to buy anything, especially on the hottest days of the summer and coldest days of the winter. The Kalamazoo Library also fails its users in patron service, including the fact that it has not resumed full pre-pandemic hours. This is particularly apparent on Saturday mornings when the library is still opening one hour late, resulting in crowds of over 70 people entering within five minutes of opening during the winter. I'm running for Kalamazoo Public Library District Trustee because I want to improve library facilities and services for patrons. If you think patrons need someone to advocate for them on the Board of Trustees, then please vote for Jeff Messer for KPL Trustee on the nonpartisan section of your November 3 ballot. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, commissioners. $99,900. That is the price of the city's flock surveillance contract. $100 beneath the threshold that would have required your vote. And it didn't get there by accident. Discounts were applied to arrive at that number. That was an intentional move by a coward. In a democracy, the people being watched deserve a say in the watching. Then after months of backlash over AI surveillance, I followed a drone with red and blue flashing lights to KDBS headquarters and watched Skydio drones powered by artificial intelligence taking off and landing. Automated, unannounced, policing Kalamazoo. Never brought before this body. And when the public asks questions, what do we get? Silence. Public comment in this chamber is a one-way street, four minutes into the void, no answers, no dialogue, no accountability. When police policy is criticized from the podium, the chief of police walks out. He left the room for the majority of the meeting. Perhaps he was choking on a donut. When our homeless neighbors rise to speak, the executive director of the gospel mission, the same leader who opened the very meeting in prayer, walks out, prayed for the poor, then left before the poor could speak. If people with power cannot stay in the room, how can they claim to serve the people in it? And tonight, of all nights, under the banner of adding phone-in comments, this body is weighing ways to restrict public comment itself. To narrow the one door still open to the public, you cannot claim to listen while drafting rules to hear less. a camera network price to avoid your vote, a drone program that never sought one, a public that can speak but never be answered. That's not transparency. That's not oversight. That's not who we are as a community. Now, some of you say you would un-flock, but you don't have the votes. Don't have the votes? It takes two of you, a motion and a second. That is all it takes to force a vote, and if it fails, let it fail in the open, on the record, where every person in the community can see exactly which commissioners choose not to listen. We deserve to know. You don't need a majority to show courage. You need two. Force the vote and flock tonight.

Thank you. Is there anyone else that is here in the chambers? And that was the last call for public comment.

Hello, my name is Justin Suarez. I live on the north side. There were some people the day of the sweep that actually took off work and went down there and tried to help. I was one of them. And this city needs to do something. Something, I mean, there's other cities out there. I moved up here from South Bend. There's a place called the Center for the Homeless. They get most of their, if not all their donations and their money from private donors, mainly Notre Dame. You know, they do a lot of good work and they do it through that. There's no reason why we can't have a shelter here for folks that offers them, you know, mental health care. substance abuse treatment. We could give them opportunities to learn about balancing checkbooks and how to write a resume. Maybe some skills they've never learned before because nobody's taken the time to actually show them. But we could have a facility here that doesn't kick the people out during the day, actually keeps them in and keeps them safe and nourishes them. back to where they can be valuable members of society. So I would ask the city to look at other cities. There's some nearby that are doing it right, and we don't even need public dollars necessarily. We could use private donations, which I've been told this city, that's not a problem. Money's not an issue in Kalamazoo. So I guess we just need to have a vision. And I think we need to start now. You know, it is going to get cold soon. It's hot right now, but we don't want any more deaths in the city. We got to get prepared for that. But I think it's time to start looking at other areas. And then I also wanted to, the flock cameras, I'd really like to see those go. I've mentioned those before. And then I wanted to talk about the data center, specifically the one that was brought up tonight. If their pot business is doing so bad, then they want to get into the data center business. which is, you know, understandable. But when that starts going real good, then where does it end? You know, there's a data center down in Dowagiac, Michigan that is, I'm sure a lot of you have heard it. You can hear the whistle through the whole neighborhood there. And that data, they want to expand that data center now. and there's you know i mean i don't really know what's going to stop them from doing so and they're they basically are going to take over that city um and and you know that small area over there um you know uh Let's put a moratorium on this before something gets out of control. I'm sorry your pot business failed, but data centers, we don't want that. I think Kalamazoo, we welcome pot grows, but data centers, no. And then the fence around Arcadia Park really should come down. I drive by that every day. It's really sad to see. It's a large area that could be used, utilized. It is a public area. Why can't we use that? And then phone calls. Call-ins would be great here. I find myself trying to manage a family at home and come up here and speak at these meetings. And it would be nice if I could pick up the phone and call. And I do watch the meetings from home. I'm always watching. So thank you for your time.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the chambers who would like to take advantage of this public comment period? Seeing no one, I'm closing public comment. I want to thank everybody who came down and took advantage of public comment and shared your thoughts and concerns with this Commission and with all our watching audience. Here's what I'm going to do right now, Commission. I'm going to call for a brief recess. We've been sitting here for A few hours now. We started at 5, actually, with meetings. So I'm going to call brief recess, bio break for maybe 15 minutes, 10 minutes. 10 minutes will be fine. So it means I've got 9.43, so we're going to try to be back here by 9.53. All right? Thank you. okay all right here we are we're all back again uh appreciate the little break there that was helpful we are now down to g the consent agenda manager hankins

Thank you, Mayor. The following items are submitted for approval. Item G1, approval of a one-year sole source contract within ViroSuite for the city's odor monitoring incident investigation system in the amount of $139,344. Item G2, approval of a cooperative purchase from the The Safety Company LLC doing business as MTEC for an aerial bucket truck in the amount of $154,900. G3, approval of a memorandum of agreement with Kalamazoo Public Schools for the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety to provide school resource officer services for the 2026-2027 school year. G4. Approval of the purchase of public safety radios, accessories, and software from Motorola through the My Deal Cooperative Purchasing Program in the amount not to exceed $264,050. I lost my answer. $264,058.86 and approval of a budget amendment for the same amount in the Capital Improvement Fund and G5 approval of a request from Kalamazoo Christian Schools to publicly display fireworks at Mears Riverfront Park, 251 Mills Street on September 25th, 2026.

Thank you very much, Manager Hankins. Commissioners, the requested action is a motion to approve items 1 through 5 and authorize the city manager to sign all related documents on behalf of the city. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Motion made by Commissioner Hess, supported by Commissioner Hoffman. Clerk Barling, please call the roll.

Commissioner Hoffman. Yes. Commissioner Pradel. Yes. Commissioner Slaby.

Yes.

Commissioner Wilson. Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan. Yes. Mayor Anderson. Yes. Commissioner Hess.

Yes.

Thank you, Commissioners. The items on the consent agenda are approved. We are now down to H, the regular agenda.

City Manager Hankins. Thank you, Mayor. Item H1, acceptance of radio readiness funds from the Kalamazoo Consolidated Dispatch Authority. Any amount of $1,107,210 and approval of a budget amendment. Thank you, Manager Hankins. Is there a staff report on this item? No, but staff is available if there are questions.

Okay, no staff report. Commissioners, do you have questions about the radio readiness funds for the dispatch authority? All right, seeing no questions. For those of you here in the chambers, is there anyone that would like to comment on this item? It's item H1 on the regular agenda. Your comment should be focused on that item. Seeing no one, the recommended action, Commissioners, is a motion to accept the funds, approve a budget amendment, and authorize the city manager to sign all related documents. Is there a motion? So moved. Motion made by Commissioner Prado. Supported by Commissioner Wilson. Discussion, Commissioner. I see no discussion.

Clerk Borling, please call the roll.

Commissioner Pradel.

Yes. Commissioner Slavy.

Yes.

Commissioner Wilson. Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan. Yes. Mayor Anderson. Yes. Commissioner Hess. Yes. Commissioner Hoffman. Yes. Thank you, Commissioners. The motion passes.

Next on the agenda is Item H-2.

City Manager Hankins. Thank you, Mayor. Approval of a contract with L.D. Doxa Associates, Inc. for filter media replacement at the Central Treatment Plant in the amount of $3,225,300.

Thank you again, Manager Hankins. Is there a staff report on this item?

No, but again, staff are available with questions.

All right. I see staff are here. Commissioners, any questions about this particular item, item H2? I see none. Is there anyone here in the chambers that would like to comment specifically on this item, H2? I see no one. The recommended action, commissioners, is a motion to approve and authorize the city manager to sign all related documents. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Motion made by Commissioner Hoffman.

Second.

Supported by Commissioner Slabey. Thank you. Discussion, commissioners? I see no discussion.

Clerk Borling, please call the roll. Commissioner Slabey.

Yes.

Commissioner Wilson. Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan. Yes. Mayor Anderson. Yes. Commissioner Hess.

Yes.

Commissioner Hoffman. Yes. Commissioner Cradle. Yes.

Thank you, commissioners. The motion passes. Next on the agenda is item H3, City Manager Hankins.

Thank you, Mayor. Adoption of an ordinance authorizing the issuance of water supply system revenue bonds series 2026 in the amount not to exceed $20,440,000 and adoption of a notice of sale resolution. Thank you. Manager Hankins, is there a staff report on this item? Again, no, there is not.

But again, staff remain available for questions. All right. Thank you so much. I see staff is here. Commissioners, questions on H3 for staff? I see none. Is there anyone here in the chambers that would like to comment on this item? That's item H3. Seeing no one, commissioners, the recommended action is a motion to adopt the ordinance and resolution. Is there a motion? So moved. Motion made by Commissioner Pradel.

Support supported by Commissioner Hess discussion commissioners mayor I was gonna note that this was before us at the June 15th meeting where we had the notice of intent resolution And so this would actually be the process of issuing the debt financing So I just want to make sure that people know that this came before us as well Thank You Commissioner cradle other discussion commissioners I

Seeing none, Clerk Borling, please call the roll.

Commissioner Wilson. Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan. Yes. Mayor Anderson. Yes. Commissioner Hess. Yes. Commissioner Hoffman.

Yes.

Commissioner Pradel. Yes. Commissioner Slavy.

Yes.

Thank you, Commissioners. The motion passes. Next on the agenda is item H4, City Manager Hankins.

Thank you again, Mayor. Adoption of a resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation limited tax bonds in an amount not to exceed $9,400,000 for the purpose of financing fiscal year 2026 capital projects. Okay, I appreciate that.

I presume there's no prepared report on this, but the staff's available for questions. Any questions, commissioners, on this item? Seeing none, to those of you that are in the chambers, please come to the podium. If you would like to speak, give us your name and whether you live in the city. You'll have three minutes for your comments. See no one. Commissioners, the recommended action is a motion to adopt the resolution. Is there a motion? So moved. Motion made by Commissioner Prado.

Support.

Supported by Commissioner Hoffman. Discussion, commissioners? Commissioner Prado.

Mayor, again, I just wanted to note that we had the notice of intent resolution on our June 15th meeting. This $9.4 million is for community's sake. We're for general capital improvements, which include facility upgrades, park improvements, tech improvements, and heavy equipment, which is primarily for public services. So different than the water one before us.

Thank you, Commissioner Prado. Other discussion, commissioners?

Seeing none, Clerk Burling, please call the roll. Vice Mayor Duncan. Yes. Mayor Anderson. Yes. Commissioner Huss.

Yes.

Commissioner Hoffman.

Yes.

Commissioner Pradel. Yes. Commissioner Slaby.

Yes.

Commissioner Wilson. Yes.

Thank you, Commissioners. The motion passes. Next on the agenda is item H5, City Manager Hankins.

Thank you, Mayor. Adoption of a resolution approving contract number 26-5303, an amendment to a sub-recipient agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation for preliminary engineering activities in support of improvements to stormwater management throughout the Arcadia Creek Corridor, and approval of a budget amendment in the amount of $2 million $661,433.50. Thank you.

Probably once again, no staff report, but a staff available for questions. Colleagues, any questions on this item, H5? I do, Mayor. Commissioner Prado. Yes, sir.

Looks like you're up. Dr. Baker, I'll ask the question as you're walking up, just kind of save some time. So my question was, it says that this is an amendment to the subrecipient agreement, but it also causes a phase two that's initiated as part of the engineering. Can you help explain that process?

sure just some of that language there um some of this language is typical of of the the federal agreements as a sub-recipient agreement with the state so some of the nomenclature may be a little bit different than what we've used in some of our projects essentially this is another phase of more in-depth design or getting kind of further into the details of the design of the project overall This is a, broadly speaking, $40 million project. We spent about $2 million on it to date. This brings in another $2 million. If you see, the agreement is in a neighborhood of $4 million. And this advances us further down that engineering schedule so that we can get to kind of the next steps would be bidding that out and actually starting the construction work. So this is still... on the administrative side and the design engineering side of it. But this is getting us closer to the actual point in time where we can start looking for construction, which would be kind of that next step.

So this is really just initiating phase two funding portion, the next step, if you will. Correct.

Yeah. I would say this is probably phase two of the engineering design phase.

Yeah, I was just confused because I know normally we'll see it as like amendment or supplemental if something's changed. So if there's like cost overruns or if some scope of the project has changed or those sort of things. And so I just wanted to make sure to clarify, was this like a supplemental change, some change to the intended work or something? Or is this just next phase? Sorry.

Correct. So this is just a next step of the phase. Because we have not encumbered, we have not contracted for the full, say, $40 million. So we're kind of bringing this forward in chunks. And every step we take, we bring forward as kind of an amendment. The next big step would be when we're prepared to enter into a construction contract, that will come forward as a next big step. Okay, great. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Commissioner Radel. Any more questions, colleagues, on this item? Thank you, Director Baker. Is there anyone in the chambers that would like to comment on this item? That's item H5. If so, please come forward. I see no one. Commissioners, the recommended action is a motion to adopt the resolution and approve the budget amendment. Is there a motion? So moved. Motion made by Commissioner Prado. Support. Supported by Commissioner Hess. Discussion, Commissioners?

Seeing none, Clerk Borling, please call the roll. Mayor Anderson. Yes. Commissioner Hess. Yes. Commissioner Hoffman.

Yes.

Commissioner Prado. Yes. Commissioner Slaby.

Yes.

Commissioner Wilson. Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan. Yes.

Thank you, Commissioners. The motion passes. Next on the agenda is item H6, City Manager Hankins.

Thank you, Mayor. Adoption of a resolution establishing a moratorium on the acceptance and or processing of applications for data centers, battery energy storage systems, cryptocurrency mining centers, and artificial intelligence data centers within the City of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Thank you, Manager Hankins.

And this was a resolution that was put on the agenda at the request, basically, of the Vice Mayor and the Commission at our last meeting. And it was prepared by Attorney Leal. So I'm going to ask Attorney Leal to give us a little staff report on this one. Thank you, Mayor.

The City Commission is responsible for the health, safety, and general welfare of the City's residents. Over the last several months, the City's Commission has observed a recent increase in the number of proposed data centers and battery energy storage systems in nearby Kalamazoo County communities, as well as in Southwest and West Michigan counties. In addition, many residents have voiced their concerns about these types of facilities potentially located in the City and in adjacent communities. The potential impacts of these data centers and battery energy storage systems include but are not limited to significant noise generation from cooling systems and backup generators affecting adjoining land uses and quality of life, which can cause chronic sleep disturbances, substantial water usage for cooling purposes, Potential environmental impacts, including air and water pollution, increased fire risk due to the great amount of heat generated by these facilities, as well as the increased difficulty in extinguishing fires in the lithium ion batteries used by battery energy storage systems, and extremely high energy consumption and strain on existing utility infrastructure. These types of operations present unique challenges not adequately addressed by the Kalamazoo City of current zoning ordinance and city code. In fact, many other Michigan communities also do not have the necessary zoning and regulatory ordinances to address data centers and battery energy storage centers. This has resulted in the adoption of moratoriums across the state of Michigan to allow communities sufficient time to research and develop regulations tailored to these types of operations. This moratorium would provide the City of Kalamazoo with time to research and develop the necessary regulations. The City Commission has the authority to impose this moratorium in accordance with the Michigan Home Rule City Act as amended. The moratorium will temporarily pause the acceptance and or processing of applications for the following types of development proposals. Data centers, battery energy storage centers, cryptocurrency mining centers, and artificial intelligence data centers. The proposed length of the moratorium is for one year until August 16, 2027. It may be extinguished earlier if the necessary city ordinance amendments are adopted before that date. Finally, the moratorium can be extended as appropriate to allow sufficient time to complete amendments to its ordinances and regulations. That is all, Mayor.

Thank you, Attorney Leal. Commissioners, any questions for our attorney Leal related to this or for the city manager also related to it? Commissioner Hess?

I do have one question. We have a letter for Harbor Farms, given to Harbor Farms by the city on March 16th of 2026. telling them that the above determination, a data center, would be a permitted use on that parcel. Are we able to still do a moratorium and keep them from moving forward on the data center, which they've been doing?

Yes, according, even though they have a zoning verification letter that would, under the current existing zoning ordinance, would allow them to build a data center or convert it to a data center, there's been no application for development has been submitted. As I presented at the last meeting during the COW, there's a concept of what is called vested rights and that basically that means Does a developer have to comply with the new regulations that are adopted as they're going forward with the development proposal? They generally are, unless they have reached the point where they've received a building permit and they have begun substantial construction. And so that's the only way they would be protected against any new regulations being enacted. So under the facts that have been presented to me, then it is just a zoning verification letter and they do not have vested rights against a moratorium should that be enacted tonight. Thank you.

commissioner cradle city attorney so even with the passage of this resolution tonight would the process under the zoning enabling act still look the same planning commission to city commission meetings if zoning law would be changed in the future would that still look the same Yes.

That process has already started and I'm working with the interim planning director to start that process at the planning commission.

Do you anticipate that once that process is ready for releasing a proposal it would look at about a month and a half long process not necessarily saying from today but like once the research is done once a proposal is put together it would look like about a one one and a half month public process between planning commission and the two city commission meetings at a minimum at least it could be two months okay all right thank you commissioner slaby

And just to clarify for the audience, so it would go before the planning commission to make a recommendation and then would it go before the city commission at all?

This item tonight, if it's adopted, there's a moratorium. It's under the Home Rule City Act.

No, I know, but...

The separate process, yes, it would start with the Planning Commission because it would follow the zoning enabling act procedures of having first in Planning Commission, public hearing, then findings and recommendations to the City Commission, and we would have the two reading requirement for ordinance adoption.

Okay.

Other questions for city staff or our city attorney?

One more, Mayor, sorry.

Yeah, Commissioner Sabian.

Could you explain, based on the Zoning Enabling Act and potentially maybe case law across the country, this is a moratorium, it's a delay while we're working on potentially new regulations. Could you talk about the validity of a ban, like whether or not that's possible and why that would not be possible?

Yes. Under Michigan zoning and naming law, the statute there, we cannot prohibit certain uses, or I should say undesired land uses, if they can demonstrate a public need, if they're lawful and they can locate within the city. So generally we're prohibited unless they can't meet those three requirements.

Okay.

Other questions? Colleagues? So just for some clarity here, this action tonight is really a stop gap action that would be in place until the more prolonged action would take place, which would require a planning commission, an actual amendment to our zoning ordinance, is that correct?

That is correct, Mayor.

Okay, so this is a stopgap kind of interim action until such time that that more extended action would occur, which is actually the action you had recommended, correct?

That is correct. Yeah, all right.

But relative to that, this does not have to be either one at an entire one-year moratorium if during that time the evaluation is done and an ordinance and language is created that sets the parameters that When and if that happened, that could happen in six months and then that would be the end of the moratorium at that time as long as there were, you know, something was put together, something was crafted because this isn't a moratorium in perpetuity, right? So it would be our responsibility to come up with something in that intervening time, correct? That is correct. And would it be the responsibility... to some extent, of your team also to help do that evaluation, Manager Hankins, and put together, with the help of the city attorney, something that would come to us that would address those issues? That's correct, Mayor. All right. And do you think that could be done in a year? We believe so. Okay, helpful. Any other discussion? Commission?

Mayor?

Commissioner Hess.

I have some discussion. Sure. I took the time this morning and visited Harbor Farms.

Point of order. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We need to open it for public comments, right? Because this was just questions for Leal or... That's a good point.

So any questions for staff at this point?

I'm wondering if it's possible to separate out certain types of data centers from one year.

So that's a question at this point for Attorney Leal.

I generally don't recommend it. Data centers, there's large and small, but they do share common attributes, including the one that was described today would also be systems that would be similar at a larger scale for larger data centers. And so once you start making exceptions for individual uses or individual projects, you could see, if there are others out there that we don't know about, come in and similarly argue for those exceptions. And so here, since we don't have the existing regulations that would really specifically apply to even a small data center, I would not recommend starting to accept them out of the resolution. But that is your decision as a city commission to make.

Any more questions for city staff at this time, commissioners? Thank you. Commissioner Slaby, I appreciate catching that. Now is the opportunity for anyone who is here in the chambers that would like to comment on this item, item H6. If you would like to comment, please come forward, state your name, whether you live in the city, and you'll have three minutes. So sweet.

Yeah, this won't take three minutes. I just encourage everybody to pass this resolution. As I said before, it would be wonderful if you use this opportunity in front of you to amend the resolution to include ALPRs as well so the city has time to create proper policies, proper procedures, proper accountability for this really invasive technology. So we want you to include an amendment that pauses their use. Bag them if you need to. A pause on any extension on any contract talks and stuff like that. Because what really concerns me is the fact is, you know, we know that the LAPD had a 30% false positive rate. What's the rate in Kalamazoo? We don't know. We don't know. And I think that's a really important fucking question to answer before we go gung-ho and say, yes, we're all for this technology. So I really encourage you to amend the resolution to include ALPRs. And if you're unable or more likely unwilling to do so, I really do expect during commissioner comments this evening for every single one of you to go on the record and tell the city if you support this technology or if You're against this technology. It's a simple question. I'm not going to judge too harshly on your answers, but it would be great just to know exactly who's on our side and who's not. So I really want everybody, by the end of this meeting, for their stance on this issue to be known. So I appreciate it, and again, I hope you vote for the resolution, and I hope that you include an amendment to also ban and pause ALPR, including flock cameras, pause their use, pause any extensions, until we know what the hell is going on. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Is there anyone else who wants to speak specifically to this motion? It's H6. This is related to the moratorium on data centers.

Hi, yes. My name is Matt Griffith. I've lived in the city for 15 years. I do think you should vote yes to enact the moratorium. And I, you know, the person from our farms came up here and spoke saying like, oh, you know, what we care about is the water uses and they're going to have a closed loop refrigerating system. But that's not all we care about. We care about the sound and the noise that they create. I've seen interviews with people who live down in, like, Virginia, where there's tons of data centers, and they've tried to, like, soundproof their homes because the noise that, you know, the chips make, it vibrates their homes and everything, and their kids and their pets, you know, they can't sleep right, and it affects their health. also the pollution that these things might cause. I also agree with Ewan that you should include ALPRs in that. It has seemed that the city does not want to have a vote on it. I think this could be a good way to, you know, say where all of you stand as well.

Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else? Please come forward.

I would like to speak on some of the specifics as it relates to the Harbor Farms location. I am the facility director. It's a facility I've ran for several years. We had several city commissioners out this morning. Does anybody know the nearest home? Does anybody know where the Davis Creek Industrial Park is? Yeah. This was zoned for cannabis, for industrial use, and this building is in what would be a prime location to be a data center to allow for the economic development and for our team to transition our facility, remain in Kalamazoo, and keep all of our employees employed and keep Harbor Farms participating to the economy. We had several people out this morning and we talked about noise. We've talked about the specifics on our facility because we do not use groundwater. That is not anything that is not part of our HVAC SETUP, WE DO NOT HAVE LARGE COOLING TOWERS, IT'S A VERY UNIQUE SITUATION, AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE THE COUNCIL TO RECONSIDER THIS SPECIFIC SITE. WE ARE A CANNABIS COMPANY, SO We are not big data center people. This is not something that we're thrilled about, but it is the best thing for our people to be able to continue doing what we're doing. So this specific location, I would encourage you to look into a little deeper and to consider just spending a little bit more time understanding the specifics on what this site could bring it is it's a 33,000 square foot facility we're talking about less than four acres this is not a hundred acre large-scale hyperscale facility I encourage all of you, those of you that haven't been to the facility, to come out and see it for yourself. It is a very unique industrial area. There isn't a house within a mile of that facility. I just, before you act, consider that location to be exempt or some sort of addendum that would allow for that facility to transition in their sales process. Thank you.

Thank you. Next please.

I really like what City Attorney Leal had to say about the possibility of leaving an exception for this one data center and how that could be incredibly harmful, leaving that door open to possibly other facilities. What concerns me more is when we were talking about this two, three, four weeks ago, we were talking about a two-year moratorium. If I'm not mistaken, and tonight we've talked about the date, August 2027, and we've heard City Manager Hankins confident that we can complete the research necessary and under that time. And I would like to hear how that's possible. Because that seems like we'd want a lot more time than that. That's all I have to say. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next please.

Good evening. I'll try to keep these remarks brief. Dan Proschko, resident of Millwood, recently voted president of the Neighborhood Millwood Association. We just completed our first neighborhood tour where we did speak with residents and we also put out a poll online after the last commission meeting. And some of that data, which is the only reason I'm here, I'm just here to share some of this data, when asked if whether a moratorium should pass, 100% of respondents said yes. When asked in terms of what type of technology, the choices were data centers. Data centers and AI facilities are all emerging high-tech facilities. Everyone chose all emerging high-tech or high-energy tech facilities, meaning people know the difference between facilities types. Next question, what were the main priorities? So this is in terms of when passing it on to the planning commission, the most concerned with water energy grid straight. And second, noise and neighborhood impact. I know that the closest homes in terms of straight line to the facility are about half a mile. And I know mine is within a mile. We have three schools within two miles. Yes, it depends on the size and the sound of how far that carries, agreed, understood, but our ordinances need to catch up. So looking forward to seeing what comes out of this. And then when asked in terms of should the committee just pass a fast resolution or only the full planning commission update part or the dual track, as we talked about, which is what's going on here, two thirds responded dual track. Thank you.

Thank you. Next please.

Hello, my name is David Ferguson. I'm a resident of Millwood. So I would like to see you vote for the moratorium on the data centers. That would be good. Something that hasn't been mentioned a lot tonight is the energy usage. Data centers use a ton of energy. And when they find a way to do closed loop, that increases the amount of energy that they suck up. And that ends up being tossed on to the other consumers. And we have a lot of problems with energy in the area anyway. So the last thing that we need is somebody coming in and causing all of our energy bills to spike. So yes, please vote for the moratorium. We would like to see more research done on this so that we can help the community. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Next, please.

Hi. I'm Hannah Gingrich. I am a resident of Kalamazoo. I did not plan to speak tonight because I thought this was kind of cut and dry. And honestly, hearing that commissioners went and now are asking for different things is, I'm frustrated. And I'm going to tell a really gruesome story of what the realities are of the effects on women's bodies, on these data centers and on issues like unregulated environmental issues. Okay, sorry, I'm talking, I'm getting really frustrated. So I grew up in Skokie, Oklahoma, where we had high levels of chromium six due to wastewater injection from oil fields. That was all the thing down there, right? I don't know a single woman that I grew up with that did not suffer some sort of birth complication, a miscarriage, A hysterectomy, a major complication. It's not an uncommon story. The science is so firm on this, on what this can do to our bodies. I know that Commissioner Slaley bravely shares her own stories on her struggles with her women's health issues. When are we going to listen about that part? I was 13 years old when I was diagnosed with PCOS. By 18, I was diagnosed with endometriosis and already had my first surgery. I suffered infertility, secondary infertility. I suffered child loss, or I'm sorry, miscarriage. And I also almost lost my life in childbirth due to endometriosis, which is a known cause or condition that is linked to these issues with data centers. I lost over two gallons of blood birthing my child. I needed 30 blood transfusions. And I'm only here because of the amazing Bronson nurses and doctors. But... My story is not unique. The science is clear. We moved here from Oklahoma to give our two daughters better environmental protections. And I'm going to be honest, I'm pissed that we're up here talking about this when we have yelled and we have told you what we want. Why are you going to visit something that your constituents have said? We don't want this. Listen to us, not to corporations. I'm not going to sit here and yell at you and tell you I'm going to take your job. What do we have to do to make you understand that we are fighting for our lives? This is not a joke. We don't give a fuck about a corporation going under. I'm sorry. I'm a small business owner. I can't imagine my business goes under. But if it goes under because it's for the betterment of everyone else, so fucking be it. Please pass this moratorium. Now.

Good evening. My name is Zachary Lassiter. I live in the city of Kalamazoo. I'm pretty good with technology. Technology is moving very, very fast. Bureaucracy and zoning laws move very, very slow. This moratorium would allow for bureaucracy and zoning laws to have a chance to catch up with technology so that this can be appropriately regulated in our community. And to call a four acre facility something small is, most people in Kalamazoo don't even own four acres of land. Bronson Park is 3.6 acres. This facility is larger than Bronson Park. That's a very large swath of land. So technology and developers have a saying, move fast and break things. That's actually something they frequently say. This is telling them to slow down. Let us look at this. Let us make sure if we have to do this, it's done appropriately and the proper safeguards are put in place for everyone's safety, including theirs. And it isn't an excuse. For our community to rush and potentially put safety at risk because someone had a bad business plan with their previous business And the other thing is if we're going to be Getting rid of things because of the size and exempting them can we get rid of the small-minded commissioners, please? next please

Hi there, my name is Tom Howes, I'm a resident of Kalamazoo. This is a technical issue and some of it may have already been answered tonight, but I'm gonna speak on a few things anyway. I support the moratorium, I encourage you to adopt this resolution, but I do have some questions that I hope you guys can discuss after public comments. and possibly some amendments to it. First, Section 2, Item 2 defines a data center, a facility, quote, used primarily for data operations. This phrase could let a project dodge that definition by itself being called a mixed use or alternative to the primary use of the data center. So maybe that definition could be a little bit more nuanced or should be. ON PAGE SIX, STAFF ARE DIRECTED TO, QUOTE, PRESENT PROPOSED ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS TO THE PLANNING AND CITY COMMISSIONS BY THE MORATORIUM'S TERMINATION DATE. SO I GUESS I'M ASKING IF THERE SHARING AMENDMENTS, THIS RESOLUTION DECIDES THIS OUTCOME IN ADVANCE. IS THAT KIND OF WHAT I UNDERSTAND? SLABY MAY HAVE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THIS IN TERMS OF AN OUTRIGHT BAN, SO MAYBE AMENDMENTS ARE ALL WE CAN HAVE. BUT EITHER WAY, I ASK THAT A WRITTEN REPORT IS REQUIRED FOR PUBLIC IN TIME FOR RESIDENTS TO READ IT. um second um and and how this report should interact with the city's community sustainability plan and our goal of a carbon neutral uh by 2050. um and four pages five through six paragraph four makes moratorium extension optional as i understand it rather than letting the moratorium expire before the study is done require that the commission to make a deliberate choice before the termination date, adopt new data center regulations, restrict or outright prohibit if necessary, don't let it silently lapse. So this would be a solution to that. And then I have a state law authority concern. As I understand it, the battery storage section may not actually be enforceable for larger projects. I totally agree with the concerns for the lack of regulations here, but a 2023 State Law Public Act 233 changed who gets to decide. As I understand it, again, the state lets the city keep control over big battery projects only if the city passes its own rules. A flat no to new BES at all. Moratorium is obviously stricter than that. SO HOPEFULLY THE CITY ATTORNEY CAN SPEAK TO PUBLIC ACT 233 AND HOW IT INTERACTS WITH THIS RESOLUTION. I'M ALSO CURIOUS ABOUT IF THERE ARE OTHER APPLICATIONS IN THE PIPELINE. AND THEN LAST, A COUPLE OF MINOR THINGS. SECTION 5 TALKS ABOUT SECTION 3, PARAGRAPH, SECTION 1, PARAGRAPH 3, BUT THERE IS NO PARAGRAPH 3 TO SECTION 1.

Thank you. Next please.

Hi, Iris Potter, 1204 Manor Street. I'm starting to hear about exceptions. I don't think that's a good idea at all. It also makes me wonder and kind of concerned why folks, city commissioners, went to Harbor Farms. I really don't get that. It makes me wonder what's the transparency here. So, I've spoken before and yes, we do have a sustainability plan. It should be pretty clear and I really don't think we should do exceptions. And yes, data centers can still be dangerous to folks even if they are a mile away from a residence because you're...and I just like to read this so that we can all be informed. While major impacts like intense noise usually drop off with a few hundred feet, long distance effects still happen through power grid strain, air pollution from backup diesel generators, and high water use. So you also get the low-pitched humming too. Basically, I'm saying absolutely no exceptions. Let's go forward. I wish it was going to go forward a little bit sooner without having to go through the Planning Commission. And I also wonder, are there any other applications? I understand there aren't, but are there any rumblings of anything? I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO AND I WANT TO SUPPORT TOM ON HIS COMMENTS AND HIS POSITIONS ON THE AMENDMENTS BECAUSE THERE ARE A FEW THINGS THAT COULD BE TWEAKED. BUT I DO THINK WE ALSO NEED TO MOVE ON IT SO I GUESS I'M KIND OF TORN ON THAT. SO LET'S MOVE ON IT.

THANK YOU. NEXT PLEASE.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Manager, Attorney Leal, and Commissioners. Taking off the just a resident of Kalamazoo hat, putting on the Vice Chair of the Board of Civil Rights hat. As you all know that it's the opportunity of our board to be able to provide advising regarding matters related to Chapter 18, our non-discrimination code. I do want to point out in regards specifically to the matters of amendments, I should note that in the resolution section of the proposed resolution text, it does say in subsection B, the city commission wants to review and study the public health, safety, and welfare concerns. And so it seems to me that the time for studying what could potentially be an amendment is during the time of the moratorium. The reason why this might be considered to be the case is because of the city's definitions in Chapter 18, Subsection 2 regarding discrimination. And we've defined that here as to make a decision, offer to make a decision, or refrain from making a decision based in whole or in part on an individual's protected classes inserted there. My concern would be if there are amendments adopted now, we may not realize to what degree something might have a disparate impact or a disparate effect. So for instance, we all know that redlining is a thing that exists. We all know that there are low-income areas that exist, differences between rural areas and highly populated areas. We'd want to ensure that there's no disproportionate impact and concentrations of individuals in areas in and around data centers. And it seems to me that the time to uncover those concerns would be during the time of a moratorium. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. Thank you for listening to us all evening. I know it's been a long night. My name is Jacob Welch. I'm an engineering student at Western Michigan University. I just want to remind you all of some basic physics. No closed-loop system can possibly retain all of its energy. Energy escapes the system as sound and as heat, primarily. A moratorium would allow you to enact zoning ordinances that would let you develop measures that can combat those, but nothing will ever be perfect. And we understand that, but we want restrictions in place so that that impact is as minimal as possible. Without that, that can run rampant even in a closed-loop system that proclaims to protect groundwater. And to limit water usage, it will still raise electricity bills. It will still consume more energy than necessary. So please, we humbly ask you to consider basic physics, as well as all of the complaints that you have heard tonight, and pass the moratorium. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening again. Thank you to Vice Mayor for bringing this to the Commission. Thank you Attorney Leal for your inclusive recommendations, meaning no exceptions. And then also thank you all as a Commission for discussing this. I am in support of this interim action of moratorium. The lived experiences of community members along with researchers, environmental advocates have raised concerns and you all are discussing and taking it seriously. Thank you. I feel relieved that we are protecting and looking through a lens of lenses of environmental racism, people over profits, physical health, centering physical health of community members, anti-racism, anti-bias, and the risk of unintended consequences before harm potentially happens. I feel like we don't need to experience any more harm here in the city when we are hearing lived experiences from other cities and other communities who are saying, beware. We wish we would have known. Let's listen to them. So again, thank you all for listening to community's concerns. I just got up here and asked for you all to be proactive and not reactive. This is being proactive if you vote this in, you all. I ask you all again to keep us, well, to also keep us posted along the way with any amendments, any changes, anything that comes up. Keep us in the loop so that we can continue to come to the mic and speak and do this work with you all. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, please.

I think since this was posted on the news or all of that polemic started, the majority of the community has raised concerns. They, you know, most of the people have been against data centers. And I think that this is a good time to really listen to what community is saying. There's no need. It's time to listen to the community. This is something that the community wants. I get that there's a business in between all of this. And one of the pillars of white supremacy is the sense of urgency. Unfortunately, the Harbor Farms sense of urgency is potentially going to negatively impact the community, or is going to, as everybody has been saying, going to negatively impact the community. I mean, it's pretty straightforward. I wonder if also there's a timeline for how this is going to be achieved in a year, if there's already a set maybe calendar for the and bringing this to community, I would like to know to make sure that, you know, this is something that, you know, I appreciate those of you who are trying to be proactive and see the need to protect the environment from disaster, more disaster, right? There's already an environmental crisis in Kalamazoo. There's a PFAS crisis in Kalamazoo. And not only in Kalamazoo, in the county for that matter, right? So yeah, there's no need to put more impact on the communities and it's time to listen to what the community is saying. We're pretty behind, right? When we talk about equity and justice and all of these things, like the city has not made a stride on any of the environmental crisis. Graphic packaging is still there. There's no word on how to get rid of PFAS in the water. So we shouldn't add more, more detriment to the environment when communities have been saying that these data centers, battery centers are putting people at danger. And once it's a people problem, it's no longer deemed a political problem. Once people start getting sick, once we have reproductive health issues, it becomes an individual problem. It becomes a burden on the people. So save the people from that. Save the cost of energy, of health, of everything that is going to be impacted if we have a data center, as we've seen in other communities. Nothing new. We have a lot of examples in the nation of communities that have stood against that and also have been impacted.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the chambers who would like to comment on this item? It's item H6. So seeing no one, commissioners, the recommended action is a motion to adopt the resolution. Is there a motion? So moved. Motion made by Vice Mayor Duncan. Support. Supported by Commissioner Pradel. Discussion, Attorney Leal.

I did want to raise, one of the speakers did point out one CORRECTION TO SECTION 5A3, WHICH READS, CURRENTLY READS SECTION 1, PARAGRAPH 3, IT SHOULD READ SECTION 2, PARAGRAPH 3, IF THE MOTION COULD INCLUDE THAT AMENDMENT. SO THIS IS SECTION 5A3. A3.

Section 1, paragraph 3 should read section 2, paragraph 3. It should read not section 1, paragraph 3, but section 2, paragraph 3. How do we amend that motion that it turned out?

Can I make a motion to amend?

Second. We vote on the amendment motion first then?

So you vote on the second amendment before you vote on the main motion. Is there a simple way to do it?

We just have to vote now.

Yeah. On the amendment. Oh, it was already supported then?

Yeah, Drew supported. Sorry, we went fast.

Okay.

So did you get that, Clerk Borling?

Yes. Motion by Commissioner Slavy, seconded by Vice Mayor Duncan to amend as... To amend the main motion. Yes, to amend the main motion as the attorney recommended. Correct.

Attorney Leal, is that the only amendment?

Yes. I know that there were some other potential amendments that were floated, but I do not recommend those. This one does need to be done. Any other discussion, Commissioners?

Vice Chair Duck?

How about the amendment?

Just the amendment. We're just mending, we're changing one number from one to two. Commissioner Slavey.

I think because this is just correcting an error that I think I would think we all want to just agree with that. I'd like to just move forward with that amendment. And if through discussion, we'd like to amend it content wise or whatever, let's do that. But I want to just get this out the way because I think it's just an error. Right, well that's what it's on the floor.

Yeah, okay. So, Corporal Elling, please call the roll. On the motion to amend, Commissioner Hoffman?

Yes.

Commissioner Pradel? Yes. Commissioner Slaby?

Yes.

Commissioner Wilson? Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan? Yes. Mayor Anderson? Yes. Commissioner Hess?

Yes. Thank you, Commissioners. The amendment passes. Now, we do already have a motion then on the floor related to the adoption of the resolution, which is the original item, item H6. So discussion on that. Vice Premier Duncan.

I know some people are not going to be happy, but I actually, too, did go to Harbor Farms today because I wanted to be able to say... Can you hear me?

Uh...

I wanted to be able to say that I had done my due diligence and spoke to the business and viewed the location and had seen everything that the business had proposed to this commission. Myself, Commissioner Slaby, and I just want to share with the public some of the notes that we got from the conversation. And these are all things that either the facilities manager or the owner himself, Mr. Ward, shared with us. So currently, we have been told that the offer that they have in this closed-loop proposed system, it would be onboard at one to two and a half gigawatts. That would be the beginning. But what was also shared with us is that the owner is under contract for three to four more acres connected to this location. The facility manager shared with us today that that is in hopes that if the facility that goes into this location decides that they want to go up to 1.5, 15 gigawatts, that that would be allowed to be a use on that location. I want to put into scope for my colleagues in the public how much energy 15 gigawatts is. So for scope, the city of New York in the heat of the summer uses 10 to 11 gigawatts. Okay, the city of New York. And we are talking about the possibility of less than a mile away from people living, putting 15 gigawatts. Again, for scope, that could power 11.25 million homes. 11.25 million homes. For scope, seven and a half Hoover dams could be powered by that- That seemed... Public comment is over. So you could... Megawatts.

It's megawatts.

Megawatts. My apology. My apology. My apologies. Gigawatts. Right? So we're still talking apologies public. Not gigawatts. Megawatts. I want to be clear.

So again...

What it appears to me after viewing the facility today, regardless of the misspeech of gigawatts versus megawatts, is there seems to be a sleight of hand happening. And what we're being told is that there's 1 to 2.5 coming in with the understanding that it's under contract, that there is the potential for additional gigawatts. wattage to be ran to the facility. I am concerned about that. I understand that sound was one of the issues. From my understanding, from our explanation, there was a decimeter gun used at the location today. Sound was not one of the issues, right? It was a pretty quiet facility. It already has all of the HVAC, et cetera, connected to it. But also one of my other concerns about the business was in the six years that they've been open in our city, they have not been solvent. According to the staff that we talked to today, they have not turned a profit in this location for the entirety of the six years they've been in the location. So this was not a profitable business to begin with. And so I do not think, I'm gonna use I feel statement, I feel that the public should not be even in the conversation of being on the hook for making someone solvent for a bad business investment. And so for that reason, and the harm to the environment that this could possibly cause, I wanted this moratorium to be discussed. But after... Today, I have more questions and more concerns than I feel can be answered in just a single visit or a single conversation. And so I think the moratorium gives us the ability to answer legally, health-wise, and to the public that elects us.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Commissioner Slate.

I think my main focus is what our responsibility is as a commission. While I know that we engage in economic development and I can understand the very specific perspective the business can hold about their business and why they would want to drive to make that sale happen, we are responsible for the well-being of our community. And we have to think not just on that site, not just their business on that site, but holistically how this impacts our community. And we simply just don't, in my opinion, have clear regulations on how we want to guide any type of development relevant to the things listed in this moratorium. I think that city staff at the time in regards to that zoning verification letter did their best to look at our zoning ordinance, understand what uses are there, what is similar, and then verified based on existing zoning. What we would allow would be in that M2 zoning. I think it's our job, especially as we engage in a 10-year new master plan, to not repeat the same mistakes that I think we did 10 years ago with IK 2025 that brought us to a head when a developer wanted to redevelop that corner parcel on Stadium Drive near Asylum Lake Preserve. I want us to learn from that. And what I learned, though I wasn't there at the time when that all first started, was that what was in the future land use map definitely was not reflective of a majority of our community's wishes around what that area, that corridor should look like. And so I think this is a real opportunity for us to be proactive in acknowledging these emerging big technologies that do have a serious and significant impact that we've seen across the country with real life, real time, We even see that right here in Michigan, Dowagiac, right? We keep hearing that. So it is not just Texas and whatever their regulations are. It's not just somewhere else. It's right here in Michigan based on what we already have on the books at the state level. I want to acknowledge that some labor groups reached out. I think I'm sympathetic to their focus on supporting workers and providing opportunities for workers. At the same time, I can't see why we have to have that diametrically opposed to addressing environmental concerns and making sure that, again, the whole community is protected. I think that based on the way the state has put legislation forward to regulate these uses. And due to their support of a tax break in 2024 to pretty much expedite the attraction of these things to the state, it really puts an onus on us. Not empowers us, but puts an onus on the local municipalities to figure it out without support from the state in, I think, a meaningful, substantial way. And so because of that, I think it truly is our responsibility to create to use the tools at our disposal, which would be a moratorium, to take the time to think intentionally, not kick the can down the road for people to get off the city commission and not have to worry about it, or for us to give a false sense of hope to the community, because we can't outright ban it, right? And so... I mean, ultimately, we have to be very intentional and serious in the work that we do during this moratorium to bring about real clear regulations at the local level that will help protect and address the concerns of the community that has been brought forth in regards to these type of uses. I really think this is the best opportunity during our master plan and I am very serious. I had already mentioned this not last week because I wasn't here but previous conversations on our city commission meetings that I think it's important that we take seriously that this should not be a permitted use. I really would love to see city staff do their research and work on what this would look like as a designated special use because even beyond this moratorium and then new regulations in place, a special use would then still require independent assessments to be done to understand the risk and impact of any type of facility that would fall under this definition. So that provides us even more opportunities in the future to ensure that on a case-by-case basis that whatever is being proposed, even with the regulations we put in place, align with what we need as a community and support what we need in terms of protections regarding environmental concerns and the public health. Lastly, I just wanted to name, I would be in favor, I'm happy to support this as is, but I'd be happy to hear from other colleagues on, you know, I think that we added the crypto mining and we added the battery storage. We made it very clear data centers and AI data centers. You know, just thinking about this, right, like we could have... I know it's hard to have an exhaustive list. I mean, I think that there could be a category that encompasses a lot of these different things under large load facilities. And these are computing, large computing facilities that may or may not... developers may be able to find a loophole because it's not explicitly data center. Or just thinking about other emerging technologies like hydrogen production and electrolysis or hyperscale for computing specifically or quantum computing. I know we keep adding things but for me I would be open to adding just that fourth category of large load facilities and then The other thought that I had based on I think what Tom brought up about what if it's mixed use or whatever, I mean wondering the expansion of the definition of facility and what I mean by that is ensuring that if there's a campus being proposed and maybe based on the size of the campus and the use that maybe that data center while still at the scale that we're talking about only constitutes a portion of it. I just want to make sure that that doesn't fall through the cracks. I don't know even if we have property within the city limits that would even create that scenario because we have the language primarily, which I think would then lead us to believe it has to be the primary use. And I'm just not sure if that definition is strong enough or clear enough at this time. But again... I'm also okay with where we're at. I just want to bring those up and wondered if my colleagues have thought about this already or have thoughts.

Thank you, Commissioner Slaby. Commissioner Wilson. Thanks, Mayor. Mine is really simple. As far as so many unknowns and risks that could negatively impact our residents, and we owe it to ourselves and our community to take the time to get it right the first time. So I'm in full support of this moratorium. Commissioner Prado.

Sure. Thanks, Commissioner Slaby, for lifting that up. I did think a lot about just using some sort of umbrella type, but when I was looking at other examples around the country, what my concern was is I saw examples where what would happen is a developer would come forward and say, hey, we're going to do a data center. Well, community passes moratorium on data centers. Well, then they come back two months later and they say, oh, actually, we're going to try a battery storage facility or we're going to call it a crypto mining or whatever. And so they're... you know, my hope was is to find the most common scenarios and avoid that from happening. And so I would certainly be in favor of that. But I mean, based on what I was able to kind of dig up preliminarily should cover the vast majority of scenarios. I think that there's so much unknown. I mean, when you think about it, I mean, a lot of these, the way our current structures are and we interpret were built probably before, many of them before there was the internet, before there were cell phones. I mean, it's hard to imagine with previous zoning crafting that anybody could have ever envisioned that we'd be building four acre facilities that help us think better. and make decisions and help us write papers and emails and all those sort of things. And so I just, I am not, my concern is that I don't want to slow us down from potentially the lion's share of scenarios that could happen. I know city attorney Leal kind of seemed to push back a little bit on that just because it added more layers of research. However, I mean, again, there's plenty of communities I felt that we could lean on to look to that have done these sort of research processes, moratoriums, that sort of thing from those four scenarios that we could look to. So just to kind of give some perspective about why I asked those additions. For me, part of this is that I definitely hear the concern over this one particular case, hoping to have maybe a carve out exemption, but I think it's far too precedent setting. And for me personally, I can't just say, hey, trust me, We're going to take good care by the people of the community and the neighborhood because even if you have the best intentions and your company has the best intentions, we have to be thoughtful about the next person that comes in who maybe doesn't and isn't as thoughtful or can't make those promises. For me, it's not just about kicking the can down the road. It's about giving clarity to people who are fearful and concerned for their families and for our community. It's in some ways, too, you could even argue it gives you and your company better clarity because how much would it suck to invest millions of dollars or time and effort to get to the 11th hour and find out, nope, they're not going to allow that to go through because of one consideration we didn't think of. I think clarity is a very good thing for everybody that's involved. But most importantly for me, you know, the most omnipresent issue that for me is the health and safety of this community. And once we move forward with something that's precedent setting and that toothpaste, you can't put it back in the tube. And in my view, this is not something that's going to go away anytime soon. I mean, you look out west and they have some of the most drought water sources they've ever had, record setting droughts, lake levels, river levels. You know where data centers are gonna be really pushed through in these sort of emerging technologies facilities, places where there's lots of water, And, you know, they're going to come right around our neck of the woods when that comes the case. And so now is the time to proactively think these through. And I also want to recognize, too, that, again, aside from the just trust me scenario, I don't think there's a one size fits all. And I think that's all the more reason why we need to be thoughtfully take the time to explore all the considerations and. scenarios that could potentially occur. I think we have so many communities that we can draw from to learn from and so many other areas around the county have already examined these things and I think it would be well suited for us to do so. I think the other thing too is I keep hearing comments about the economic circumstances, jobs, tech space. And while that's very important, if we're getting back to the health and safety, we're talking about a facility that's effectively sandwiched in between the two most populous neighborhoods of our 22 neighborhoods in the entire city of Kalamazoo. It's not a cornfield in the middle of schoolcraft. We're talking about a very high-density area and, again, just taking somebody's word that they're going to do us right. And I think that's... worth the time. So I will be supporting this time.

Thank you, Commissioner Prudhoe. Other discussion, commissioners? Commissioner Hess.

Sure. I would like to address the fact that I chose to visit Harbor Farms. Unfortunately, like Commissioner Slady talked about the cannabis industry, this facility and a lot of cannabis facilities, grow facilities, have not been profitable. They just haven't because of the state regulations and so on, but that's neither here nor there. I would like for us to, as we enact this, be diligent about our information. I mean tonight we got some really drastically different information from Vice Mayor Duncan about a gigawatt versus a megawatt. That's a big difference. I would like for us to be intentional about educating ourselves about these facilities. Yes, I was curious. We were all invited and the public is invited out there. Zach, you can go see how the weed is out there. But the public is all invited and they want to talk to you about the center and show you its safety and so on. And I will be voting for this because I do care about the health and the safety of our entire community. And with apologies to those 30 employees that are there. You know, I am... Torn, but I feel like I think the public has totally spoken. So thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner House. Other discussion, commissioners? Mr. Slaby.

I just want to mention.

Is your mic on?

No. I just also wanted to provide clarity. Again, I appreciate Harper Farms coming and, you know, I mean, that's... You got a lot of people around you that don't want to hear what you're talking about, so kudos. But I think that let's be, like, they're not actually proposing to turn it into a data center. They want to sell it to someone else. So there is literally... they're looking at a pending sale with people on giving it to like transferring their ownership. They want to get out of that building. So my point is there can never be any assurances they can provide to us because they're no longer going to be the owner of the facility as it gets changed to its use. So I mean anything that is said today during public comments is really there's no guarantee in that. For me, that doesn't help at all in the consideration of whether or not what they're doing actually makes sense because it wouldn't be them doing it. It would be whoever gets into that. If we carve it out, we're basically doing what was the concern about the Asylum Lake Preserve area was that it's the current owner trying to give it to somebody else, trying to sell it, and we had no information from that potential buyer on what they were going to do with it. And just I believe I said this last time but I just reminding as a reminder is you know I hear a lot about this cooling system that doesn't require a lot of water but University of Michigan right now is researching to figure out if in fact that's even true. So a system that uses water right The open system does in fact use more water on site in the area than a closed loop system that doesn't use water. A closed loop system actually uses more energy. potentially, from other areas of where we're at, of the state of Michigan. So potentially, even if it might not impact water levels here in our area, it could actually cause... It would require more energy, which means more... more energy facilities needed like nuclear, like other, you know, just other facilities elsewhere which then impacts those communities. So I think that it's really hard to have these conversations because we've seen this historically where we try to be urgent and push these things through for the sake of economic development when really the research is still out you know, they're still trying to figure it all out. And I think this moratorium also gives us time to hear from other institutions on the work that they're doing so we can be best informed in addition to the regulations that we put in place and have that inform our regulations. So again, I think this time is really critical for us to use. And I think that what I've heard today in support of potentially a carve out or not doing a moratorium just does not outweigh the concerns and risks that have been brought forth by real examples across the country and by our own community. So in full support of the moratorium and would be again happy to consider some of those amendment suggestions that I had brought up earlier.

Thank you, Commissioner Slaby. Vice Mayor Duncan. Yeah, I just want to be fair to Harbor Farms. Kilowatt, not gigawatt. So I was mistaken in the difference. Isn't that what he just said? Megawatts. Megawatts, sorry. So megawatt, not gigawatt. So I want the public to be very clear. My statement before was gigawatt. It is not the same as a megawatt. A megawatt is considerably less energy than a gigawatt. I just want to be very fair about that. Thank you for the clarification, Vice Mayor.

Other discussion, Commissioners? Right. I just want to make a little comment here, kind of a different category of comment. And that is this, and this is something that we all need to own. across our entire country and individually, in our own homes and in our own pockets. So not so long ago, when we first started taking advantage of this tool, which is using computing, all businesses had servers and had a team that kept those servers going in those businesses. And that has changed over time. And that has also changed for us in our personal lives. Our computers are smaller. We don't have the memory we used to have. We still want to do big things. And so what have we been taking advantage of? All of us. All of us with our little laptops that don't have a lot of memory or our Chromebooks or our businesses like where you work, where I work, where the hospitals store data, where the city... What have we been doing? We've been thinking of this, that we are storing all this information in the cloud. So that makes it a really nice kind of happy way to think about it, because we're just talking about cloud storage. And I will say everybody, including grandparents with their grandkids, pictures and all those things, we all use the cloud. So for us, I think that is just us to conceive how are we all playing a part in the fact that somewhere it's not a cloud. It's a warehouse somewhere. And someone lives somewhere. proximate to that somewhere or another or proximate to where their water is used or proximate to where that energy is generated. So we are all part of this and we have not really been thinking about it in this way. It's actually a big doggone warehouse somewhere or another. I don't know what the answer to all that is, but what has made it exponentially worse obviously and more evident to all of us is the vast memory need required by AI. I think that in a slightly different topic, I would guess that, I will say I am, I guess that most people are be darn freaked out about where we're going to go with this whole AI revolution. And in my opinion, if you're not paying attention to that, well then, you should be. Because who knows where in the heck this is going to go when it feels like something that is out of control. What's the thing we can focus on related to all that fear? you know, we can focus on a particular spot, a particular place, the data center part of it. And I think that we really need to have a broad national conversation and I don't know when that's going to come up. I hope maybe people are talking about this as we come up to the midterms and furthermore, I don't know if it's going to be fast enough by the elections that come up in 28, but It is, in my mind, partly contributing to our generalized awareness and fear about what is going to go on with all that. And we are focused on these kinds, rightly so, we're focused on what's the local effect of that. But let's just recognize we're all participating in this. And that's something we really need to have a thoughtful conversation about what that needs to look like. And obviously we're not gonna solve that sort of thing here on the city commission.

Clerk Borland, please call the roll. On the motion to adopt the resolution as amended, Commissioner Huff?

Yes.

Commissioner Hoffman?

Yes.

Commissioner Pradel? Yes. Commissioner Slaby?

Yes.

Commissioner Wilson? Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan? Yes. Mayor Anderson? Yes. Thank you, commissioners.

The motion passes. Next on our agenda is, let me see, where are we here? Reports and legislation. Thank you, Mayor. In the interest of time, I'll ask that you refer to my written report that I've provided. All right, thank you so much. I know we do have a hard copy of report here. And we are now down to policy items. City Manager Hankins.

Thank you, Mayor. The item is adoption of an amended marijuana social equity policy, being city commission policy 30.9.

Thank you, Manager Hankins.

Is there a staff report on this policy? We do not have a report, but we do have staff available. If there is a presentation desired, we can provide a brief presentation. This has come before this commission. Yeah, I appreciate that very much.

So these are some adjustments to our policy. our social equity policy related to the revenue that we receive and how to spend that revenue that we get from the proceeds that come to Kalamazoo based on the collection of the tax. We did have a pretty extensive explanation that happened during the Committee of the Whole. I can't remember what date that was, but we did go through all that. So that all said, no presentation but other questions from commissioners on this item?

And Mayor, to be clear, we do have a presentation that's brief that we can provide if there's an interest.

Any questions? So presuming that there are no questions then, is there anyone here in the chambers that would like to comment on this item? That's item K1 under policy. If so, please come to the podium, give us your name, and you'll have three minutes. Seeing no one, commissioners, the recommended action is a motion to adopt. Is there a motion?

Motion.

Motion made by Commissioner Slabey.

Support.

Supported by Commissioner Hoffman. Discussion, commissioners?

Commissioner Patel. Sure. Just for public, we did have a previous presentation on this as well, if somebody wants to go back and look at this as well. But I think it just kind of my takeaway was is that there's a lot of learning since 2020. And, you know, things don't always turn out the way that you would hope they had turned out. And this is an opportunity to kind of turn course and adapt to the changing times, what we've learned, and hopefully make an impact in our community.

Thank you, Commissioner Prado. Commissioner Slaby.

I'll be brief. Shout out to Bobby Boyd and staff. We talked about this and I had lifted up that I think that we would miss the mark if we did not explicitly name expungement workshops or things related to that. as part of a focus in what we would provide. And so that has been added. So I really appreciate that. I think that that was important because even if we had this discussion and maybe staff took away like, oh yeah, we should do something like that because if it wasn't then added to this policy, anyone can come into that role and not know that that was something brought up. So again, appreciate that. That comment was heard and was acted on and added, so in full support.

Thank you, Commissioner Slavy. Other discussion, Commissioners? Well, thank you for mentioning that, Commissioner Slaby. I just want to say that that is not the only thing this does, that one portion of what this does. And I also want to say thank you for the city team that's been working on this, that recognized that there were limitations in what our current equity policy was, that was not really addressing the needs we'd hoped to address. And this has given an opportunity to expand those in a variety of ways. So I'm supportive of it. Clerk Barling, please call the roll.

Commissioner Prado. Yes. Commissioner Slaby.

Yes.

Commissioner Wilson. Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan. Yes. Mayor Anderson. Yes. Commissioner Hess. Yes. Commissioner Hoffman. Yes.

Thank you, Commissioners. The motion passes. Next on the agenda is item K-2, City Manager Hankins.

Thank you, Mayor. This is a discussion of call-in public comments.

Vice Mayor Duncan. Yeah, so another item I added to the agenda, y'all, sorry. But we have heard from the public a lot about this, and I think it's time for us to discuss what this might look like in its enactment to the to this commission should we adopt it. But some of the things that were discussed were time allotment, the structure of the agenda, the adjustment of public comment time, where public comment will be placed. And so I just wanted to lift that up to my colleagues if there was questions, comments, concerns about that format so that we could discuss. And if not, I would love for us to vote on this tonight if there is appetite for it. But I think some of the things that have been lifted up as far as the format, the agenda, time allotment, things like that are completely fair. And I want these to be meetings that people can easily plug into, listen, and engage with. And I think if we open this back up to the public, not only are we doing the service to the citizens who cannot make it here, but I think this gives us an opportunity to engage with more of the community that we may not hear on a biweekly basis. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Discussion, commissioners? Just gonna give everyone, just someone else maybe a chance to jump in first, anyone? Commissioner Slabey, you got it.

I just had a clarification on the options presented to us in the packet. There's several, but it's specifically around the remote participation. There's one where it's just only in-person, which is what we're doing right now. The second one was adding calls for all, but then there was a hybrid option, in-person and calls. I guess, what's the difference between the hybrid and then adding calls for all?

Commissioner, are you referring to the table, the matrix? Yes. Help me with the...

It's under the remote participation section.

Okay.

So think the second page.

Okay.

Okay, so what was your question again?

Yeah, so like when we're going through those different options presented to us for that aspect of it, there's one that says, you know, pretty much as is, right? Just in-person discussion. Then the second one is calls for all. And then there's an option also as part of the list that says hybrid, which it says in-person and call. So I'm just, what's the difference between the hybrid and then the one that says calls for all?

I'm not seeing the calls for all language where I'm looking.

Oh, okay.

That's what you're saying. Gotcha.

It's in the packet online.

Well, I'll just tell you what the hybrid option means in this table as we presented it. If there's a live, during a live meeting, a person providing public comment could call in and give live comment, not recording. That was the distinction of live. And at the same time, someone could be in person and actually provide commentary like we currently provide. The remote participation available to all, I believe, I believe this was intended just for call-ins as an option in itself. That was just remote participation available to all live call-in. There was no in-person hybrid involved. That scenario was just call-ins. It's probably not something that you may have asked for, but we wanted to provide you all those options.

Thank you, Manager Hankins. Discussion? Commissioners? Commissioner Hess.

Sure. In addition to the type of public participation, there's also placement at the meeting, at the beginning of the meeting, the end of the meeting, both beginning and end, or before each major agenda section. And then the amount of time for each that we would have to work through here before we would vote on anything. So be interested to hear what y'all have to think about that. And the time limits say we could keep the status quo at four minutes. We can go a shorter time of two to three minutes or a flexible time based on number of speakers. So I don't know if I agree with the flexible time based on number of speakers, but depending upon how we do this, we also have to name the time.

Mayor, can I? Thank you. Yeah, go ahead, manager. Just another point. In one of your documents, you'll find a strike ordinance that our city attorney prepared. It may help if you view that it gives the language around it so that you can have kind of where you can make those adjustments. It's not intended to reflect where you all have decided, but it's a starting point for you to reference.

Thank you, Manager Hankins. So you're suggesting maybe Attorney Leal? Yeah, there is a document that's in your packet. So I just want to say something first here. So just a reminder, this is not an ordinance. This is a commission rule. So that's what we're working on right now. It's not... First reading, coming back, or anything like that. So we're just discussing this. And I mean, obviously, we can go through all kinds of permutations. Well, we'll do it here. Or we'll do it here. Or we'll do it here and here. So there's all the placement question. Then the length of time. And all those things come after, are we going to allow call in or not? So let's say you allow call in. Then really, all we have to decide is, How much call-in, how long, and when? Those are some complicated moving pieces, but I'm wondering if we can keep this from getting too complicated by just talking about those things, talking about some proposals in that space. And I don't know if we've got to read through all this or not to do that. I mean, just trying to keep us working here and trying to come up with something. Commissioner Slabey.

Thanks, Mayor. I guess to kick it off, I would be open to dropping down the comment time if we are assuming that there would be more engagement since we're offering this opportunity for the phone. We know that these meetings get lengthy, and I understand from the community perspective, like, so what? But we have a lot of business that we have to get to, and I think that it's for everybody's sake to ensure that we can as efficiently as possible without being detrimental to the quality of conversation and public comment to balance that. So I know that currently our general comment time is four minutes. And then on any other section of the agenda, if it's an actionable item, it's three minutes. So like policy item or regular agenda. So we already do three minutes. I could see us dropping it down to three minutes for both general and policy. Or if we think we are gonna see a significant increase in engagement by adding the call in, I'd also be open to even considering two minutes across the board.

Okay, I appreciate it. Helpful to have a proposal. Did you have some thoughts, Vice Mayor? No? Other discussion right now then? Commissioner Prado.

I think that brings up a really good point. Something that when we had the Asylum Lake property discussion, there were individuals who specifically said, you know, I don't know how long this is going to last. I can't stay till 11 o'clock at night because I have to get up at work at 5 in the morning. So if we're not thoughtful about timing, You know, it's like it says here, one of the scenarios about public engagement impact is it actually may inadvertently reduce participation due to extended wait times. And so I think we do need to be thoughtful about that and how we craft it. I'm just curious to get folks' thoughts about how you balance that and, you know.

Commissioner Hess, yes.

Yeah, I wonder if... we could create a subcommittee to come to us with a proposal to really be thoughtful about this and look at all the scenarios, including staff time. And some of them do talk about staff time and IT staff time, things like that. Would love for us to look at that intentionally and not at 11.30 at night.

Thank you, Commissioner Hess. Vice Chair Duncan. You're thinking for a minute.

I'm reluctantly agreeing with my colleague, Commissioner Hess. Well, reluctantly.

It's nice to see some agreement.

Reluctantly, because this frankly is something that is personally important to me. I want to see people be able to call in. This was something on the campaign trail after I got elected and that we've heard at the podium just as we have for the data center, but it is almost midnight. And I think that there are some... specifics of this that we do have to hash out. I will say I'm not in favor of a subcommittee because I think that's going to take too long. I think that we could push this to the next meeting. I would be willing to extend this discussion into the next meeting. But I personally, and this is no knock on what my colleagues want to see, I don't think there's a lot of the meat and potatoes that we have to discuss still. I think this is about what can we do that enacts fairness, allows people to participate, and moves the meeting along. So again, in short, I would be willing to table this until the next meeting in good faith because it is quite late.

Thank you, Mayor. So I want to take us back when we were still doing the COVID. And what we decided when we left telephone call-ins, we increased the time to four minutes to make that concession because people were no longer calling in. And so in my mind, it makes sense to reduce it back to three, allow people to call in like we did before. It's not rocket science. It is so easy. It's an easy fix, y'all. So we don't have to debate about it. We can do what we did previously, and it worked out fine. And I think some will be pleasantly surprised at how many calls will come in, given what things are on the agenda. So it is not always a lengthy call-in time.

So here's just another thought I have since we're just putting them out there and having been through extended call-ins and nothing but call-ins and then hybrid call-ins and all the things we've done over the years. I mean, here's a suggestion to think about. I mean, I'll go with the time, I guess. Two minutes too short, in my opinion. Three minutes, I mean, that was kind of a standard that we used.

Sorry.

I want to talk about placement for a minute, though, and also want to include with that placement piece logistics of having staff managing the call-ins. So I like the idea of our public comment now being at the beginning of the meeting. That's before the consent agenda. We have no discussion on consent agenda items, but if you want to talk about an item that's on the consent agenda, you can talk about that before the consent agenda happens. And as a matter of fact, you can use that time to talk about anything. I mean, you can play us a song, obviously, or you can talk on any item that is on our agenda. So maybe just for logistics, I'm thinking if we keep at the beginning of the meeting, where it is on the agenda, allow for public comments there during the call-in, I mean in-person or call-in portion of that public comment, a person could comment on any consent agenda item or any regular agenda item, anything on their agenda, a person could call in and provide comments during that time rather than call in up, down, up, down, up, down on every single individual item, it would help us on the logistics side. So that gives the call in who want, you comment on any item you want. We do it at the beginning where it is now, it's three minutes across the board. But then when we get to the each regular agenda item where we're asking for comments, I'm saying at that point, If you want to make a comment on it and you want to call in, you have heard about it, but rather than the logistics of less sitting by the chambers and calling and checking all that in this item, I think that would allow for access and kind of keep logistics simpler. So that's just my proposal. We don't have to decide about it tonight. We can push it off and talk about it more, but that's what I'm proposing. Commissioner Slavy.

I would agree with you, Mayor, on doing call-ins for general comments simply because the way we do public comments for regular agenda items is it's prior to our own discussion. And so it's not as if we're having additional discussion that might prompt new thoughts from the public and then they get to comment on that later on in the agenda. So you know ultimately if they have to call in they could speak to those later on agenda items at the beginning that would help inform us of those. So I'd be open to having call in just for general comments if it's at the beginning of the meeting.

Where it is now on the agenda.

Yes. Question though, because you made the point of consent, you know, before the consent agenda items. Technically we adopt the formal agenda, which is where we would, that's the place where we would pull a consent agenda item off, right? To add to a regular agenda item.

it would be at the adoption of the formal agenda. However, anyone can get in touch with any commissioner at any time after the agenda comes out and say, hey, would you pull this off the agenda? I mean, we've certainly, that's available to people.

Agreed. I just wanted to clarify because it made it seem like Public comments, it does come before consent agenda, but it doesn't come before us setting the agenda, which is where we pull agenda items off. So it doesn't really impact that process necessarily, as it does not impact it now, currently. So there'd be no change in that.

No change. Push it back.

How are folks feeling about all this? I want to ask Commissioner Hess, because Commissioner Hess made the request for the subcommittee. Do you feel that the questions that you had concerning this have been answered tonight?

Yes, and I'd like to hear from the city manager about staff time and about staff involvement on this because I know that it involves significant people before. But no, Commissioner Hoffman was right. Go back to COVID without the masks and do it that way.

Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Hess, members of the commission. We've had some early conversations as staff. We don't believe that any of the scenarios regarding call-ins would be too difficult for us to work through.

Yeah, I just had a recommendation. Can we bring back, I guess, to the next meeting proposals, you know, whether it's the COVID strategy or a couple others based off of the conversation that we've had today and in the past to help streamline that conversation for next week beyond what we have already in our packet? Because it's kind of like a organized, like a menu right now, which is not as streamlined as I would like it to be.

Vice Mayor. So are we asking for staff or each of the commissioners to kind of build out? Sorry, I just want to. That's not our job. Okay, okay, okay.

Well, I've got one option that I'm proposing that I'm comfortable with. If there are other options that we want to see in front of us, I guess we're going to have to be clear with city staff what other options we want on the menu.

I'm going to be honest. After hearing from my colleagues on the compromises today, I'm happy to go back to what we were doing in COVID without any no-no's. I'm ready to vote.

Is that what I described? Was it during the beginning public comment time? You could call in, time is three minutes, and that's the one call-in option time.

I'll defer to Steve.

One of the things about voting tonight is, and to go back, the COVID rules that we were under were not incorporated in your rule policy 10.1. I tried to incorporate that language, actually I did, inside the commission policy 10.1 under six, because it would have to be added in if you were going in that direction before we had nothing. And so we were still operating under the OMA special provisions that were done during COVID. And when they ended, it was never amended for some reason, but we still continue to practice. I think formalizing it, if that's the direction this commission wants to go, it should be embedded in the rules of procedure.

Vice Mayor? Sorry, one more. So would my colleagues be comfortable tonight giving direction to the city attorney to prepare for LEGALLY WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO VOTE ON AT THE NEXT MEETING. SO I'M GOING TO PUT A MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO PUSH THIS DISCUSSION PENDING RESPONSE FROM CITY ATTORNEY TO OUR NEXT CITY COMMISSION MEETING.

CAN I JUST ASK ONE QUESTION? TO ME? ANYBODY. WELL, I MEAN, EVERYBODY, I GUESS. Would it make sense to have a circle back date to just evaluate how is this going? I mean, is it going to be challenging or difficult to undo or change or adjust something? You know, say if we want to say, like, three months later, we just want to have a discussion. Hey, how's it working, everybody? Everybody feel comfortable? You know, are we figuring out now, like, hey, maybe it is too long a time or maybe not enough time or we're really not getting that many calls? Like, you know, just figuring out, evaluating how it's going. I have...

I would have no conditions on that. I think that that's a good idea for us to periodically revisit all of these policies. So I agree with you, Commissioner.

Can I pose a couple of questions? Just for clarity, this is a keep public comment at the beginning of the meetings. Call-ins can be taken for consent items or a person can call in for a regular agenda item at the start. During the agenda, on regular agenda items, there is no calling. But you still have the opportunity for in-person comment, just like now. What I would also ask is, is there an implementation timeline that you have in mind? When would you like the changes to begin?

I'd like to hear from staff about, you know, realistically, you know, what it would take just to get, I'll start with a deference to Attorney Leal on the timeline to change the policy language and bring it back, but I don't know if that's a big amount of time.

I can bring it back at the next meeting.

Okay.

Excuse me, what is the date of our next meeting?

September 8th. 8th?

day after Labor Day Tuesday then right yes so not normal schedule just keeping that all in mind okay I would say first meeting in October we should have everything in place from a staff

Go ahead.

Did you say October?

Or September? You said September. You're going to have the language.

I'm sorry.

Thank you. Yeah, we'll have the staff prepared to take the call-ins. That'll be our target goal.

So at this, there was a motion made, but there was never support to my understanding as far as that goes. Commissioner Slaby? Yes.

I'm in favor of what has been said in terms of how we would go forward with the proposal that would be brought to us on September 8th. I just would also love staff to then provide the plan to communicate that out to the community so that they're aware of it and specifically around the fact that they'll be able to call in in the beginning but not at the regular agenda items because I think that's important Because if we're not going to allow call-in at each individual item, which I agree with, I don't want people to be thinking that call-in's for everything and then miss their opportunity at the beginning. And I know there's going to be a learning curve for everybody. I just want to make sure that we're thinking about that part because it's not just this policy, it's the actual rollout that's going to make it or break it for us.

I'll offer up that if the commission were so inclined to want us to have more lead-in time to communicate this out, we can do that. We will do that anyway, but if you feel like it's more appropriate to start at a later date to build up the communication, we can do that as well.

I guess we can finalize that when it comes back to us.

Are we good? Yeah. All right. Wonderful.

Now, where are we at on our agenda, people? I got one more thing, Mayor. Under policy item? Yes, sir.

Okay. I want to make a motion. I move that the Kalamazoo City Commission direct the city manager and city attorney to establish a policy requiring prior city commission approval for any future contract renewal modification involving automatic license plate readers, technology, including flock safety or any successor vendor. So in short, I am asking that we direct our city attorney and our city manager for there never to be an automatic renewal and that we vote on the contract

It's been a motion made. Is there support for that motion? Support. Further discussion, commissioners?

Attorney Leal. I have a question. What you're asking would probably be an amendment to your purchasing policy. Is that acceptable or is that what you're- We gotta do an agreement. Okay.

Any questions? Discussion? So time frame of this, you're saying going forward?

So going forward, if there has already been a renewal, I think as a commission we have to discuss what that might look like, whether there's a severance or whatever. But tonight, again, the public has been pretty clear that they want us to make the decision on whether these things go up or not. And so I'm hoping that my colleagues will join me in supporting this so that we ultimately have a vote. And whether folks vote for it, yes or no, it's whatever. But we should ultimately have the say whether this surveillance technology goes up in our city or not. Appreciate the clarification. Other discussion, commissioners?

Commissioner Slabey.

Thank you, Vice Mayor, for bringing this up. I guess in the way that you presented it, and now Attorney Leal is saying that this is housed under our purchasing policy, I think the reason why it was not on our agenda was because it did not, for this round, hit that threshold of $100,000. It wasn't because there was an automatic renewal. So I just want to ensure that the motion is if maybe we need to amend or whatever per Leal's guidance around do we need to indicate regardless of the dollar amount on the contract?

You can do that. There's already a list of exceptions of special circumstances under $100,000 which a contract would come before the city commission if it's under $100,000.

So we could essentially amend the motion to read we would like to add ALPR contracts under this special exemption list or whatever it's referenced as, right? You spoke to automatic renewal, which I could see in the future It's not an automatic renewal. And so the argument could be made. It's not an automatic renewal. So that's why I didn't get to you because it didn't hit the threshold. So I want to ensure that we're hitting all, if we're discussing this, which we are, I want to make sure we're actually doing it right. So I just. Yeah.

I had a question as well. Maybe city manager. You know the answer to this, but in this particular contract example, would it be an annual renewal that would come to the commissioner, or would it be a scenario where, you know, a lot of times where we'll see like a three-year or a five-year contract that comes before the commission?

Yeah, in this particular contract, it's annual. But it doesn't have to be. I mean, that's the way it's set up at this point.

So I make a motion to amend the... Didn't it get second?

No, we already had support for the motion, so you're right. We have to amend it if you want to adjust the language around here.

I think just to clarify, to make a motion to amend, to read that we would like to add ALPR contracts under this special exemption list.

I have to withdraw my motion first, so I withdraw my motion in order for us to do the amendment.

You don't have to withdraw it to do the amendment, but you could also just withdraw it. I've already made the amendment, so someone has...

Okay, so just for clarity then... What is the actual amendment we're voting on now and what will be the consequence of the ultimate motion that we'll be voting on, Attorney Lealida? Have you been able to capture that?

Yes, I think it would be easiest. There's no second for motion to amend? Okay. Commissioner Hoffman, I'm sorry, I missupported. I think we just go through and do the motion to amend. And then when that is adopted, then the underlying motion, which is what Vice Mayor made, would be amended to the extent of Commissioner Slabey's motion.

That's good with that, Clerk Borling. Okay.

Okay.

Any further discussion on the amendment?

Clerk Boring, will you please call the roll on that? Okay, on the motion to amend, Commissioner Wilson? Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan? Yes. Mayor Anderson? Yes. Commissioner Hess? Yes. Commissioner Hoffman?

Yes.

Commissioner Pradel? Yes. Commissioner Slaby?

Yes.

Thank you, Commissioners. The motion passes. Now we are back to the Vice Mayor's original motion. Is there any further discussion on that? Commissioner Payne.

I mean generally speaking I mean it's I don't think there should be anything that we should be uncomfortable with sunshine being on that we're spending money and taxpayer dollars on so I mean I think it makes sense.

Other discussion commissioners? All right, so this is a policy item, correct? How are, is it now an opportunity for, I guess it missed that here in this whole flurry of things. Should we allow folks in the chambers to comment on this item, do you think?

Under your city commission rules, their public comment

can be made on any action item since this is an action item they would be allowed okay thank you that's very helpful is there anybody in the chambers that would like to comment on this item if so please come forward i don't even know what number i guess it's k3 or something or other i don't think it's been assigned a number officially three is that we're gonna say okay

First off, thank you for taking this up. I think it's important we have this conversation. I would also like to see that this include the drone AI surveillance program that they were testing because by my looks that would also fit in under the $100,000 threshold if they were to purchase that. And I also would like a vote on whether the current existing flock contract, whether we should exit that or not. Because the current contract, as far as I understand, goes through August of 2027. So that's a whole additional year of this going on without a commission vote. And that's a whole year of a lot of things happening, especially with this current federal administration and other things. The other thing is I have to say this because A comment was made by Commissioner Hess that I could go check out the weed earlier. And I know that this isn't pertinent to this discussion item, but I got to say it. My job is very, very federally regulated, much more than the police. And to my boss, I don't smoke weed. Next, please.

David Ferguson again. I like that they added things. Something else I'd like to mention, there are other surveillance technologies that I believe would be Fourth Amendment violations, something such as like Stingray I saw mentioned on a television program last week tonight. So if that is like a cell phone... not hacking, but it intercepts your signal before it gets to a wireless tower. It's not being used here yet, and hopefully it doesn't. But that would be something I would like us to look into as well if we're adding things in terms of police surveillance. Thank you. Thank you.

Hello again. Yeah, I just want to say thank you, Vice Mayor, for making this motion. I think it's much needed. I appreciate it very much. I do think if the contract has recently been signed in the last couple of weeks, I do think that is worth this body to properly determine if we should honour that contract or not. bag the cameras because ultimately, you know, this isn't a campaign that we've just launched this week. We've been at it for over a year. We've come here week after week given these concerns. So I think it's only fair that, you know, we re-look at the contract if we've just started. As for the other technologies like the drones and stingrays and stuff like that, I think, you know, this commission really should look at ways in which you guys essentially capture these contracts before they kind of get utilized. And so you're able to properly assess, you know, the potential dangers they have on our community. Dangers, you know, which, like, you guys have a different perspective on this stuff than the police. And that's okay because you guys operate in two different realms in our civic world. So I do hope that... yeah you pass this for the next year and I do hope that if that contract has been signed which from the way you guys are talking it sounds like you guys aren't even necessarily sure about when things have been signed and when so yeah I really encourage you to to pass that and to kind of start creating a culture of catching these things before they become issues and yeah and hopefully If you do that, we're not going to be here close to midnight doing amendments on amendments and public comment after public comment. So I appreciate it. And I just want to thank you, Vice Mayor, again for this resolution. So appreciate it, guys.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the chambers who would like to comment on this item?

Good evening, Jeff Messer, city resident, 11.58 p.m. Yeah, so the city manager signing the contract renewal with FLOC as I announced, what, two meetings ago or whatever, I feel that's like an act of insubordination on the part of the city manager. He sat up there now for eight months and did this in the face of everyone up here saying they're against it except for the people on the north side. And we've had two people before me talking about other contracts, surveillance contracts the city may possibly enter into. So I would suggest that you amend the purchasing policy to lower that $100,000 threshold down to $25,000. I don't think that will add that many items to your consent agenda. It used to be that in the city manager's report there was a list of the administratively approved items between $25,000 and $99,999. So I would just ask you to amend the purchasing policy, make everything $25,000 and more on your consent agenda. Thank you. Thank you.

Is there anyone else in the chambers who would like to comment on this item?

Good evening. Thank you, Vice Mayor, for bringing this to the agenda. And thank you all for talking about this tonight. I am in full support. I do think this is a step in accountability and deepening communication as well, especially with this societal landscape that we are dealing with, especially federal threats and concerns. And they do seep in locally, unfortunately. I just want to remind folks that this is that surveillance is an ecosystem. I have learned that over the months. It's an ecosystem. So it's not only about Flock. And Flock is not only the surveillance companies or what is out there, what we even have here locally. And so we could open up our minds and then see what might work best for our city in which we can attach equity to as well. I want to also thank you all for this because I think this helps to bring trust and transparency to surveillance. Tonight you have heard from so many community members about this. And this type of whatever you put forth, it really should be for any and all surveillance. And again, whatever language that needs to be used so that we're not only talking about one surveillance and then we're missing something over here and then we have to come back and talk about this. Lastly, what I do want to say is, again, as you all are thinking about this, I'm going to lift again oversight, oversight that is centered in community but also is not connected to any city board. And we can, of course, have that conversation I want to just encourage us all to understand the systemic issues that are impacting everything that's happening and to not point blame at any one person. This is a system and this tonight is a step forward in making sure that when you all hear or learn something or surveillance is brought to you all, it's the expectation that you bring it back to us and we get to have that conversation and figure out what's safe for our community. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else in the chambers like to comment on this item? I see no one. Commissioners? I'm sorry. Yeah, manager. At midnight, all our microphones turn off.

I'll stop. Just a point of clarification that it's been said that I signed a contract, that no contract has been signed by me, so I don't know where that misinformation comes from, but I just want the record to be clear.

Thank you for the clarification, Manager Hankins. I appreciate that. Further, any other discussion? Commissioner Slabey?

I mean, I think that I appreciate Vice Mayor bringing this up tonight based on public comments that emerged today and, of course, previous meetings before this. I think that it's trying to address a very specific concern or issue around our ability to exercise our authority to oversee contracts that are generally $100,000 or more, and for some reason this year we got a discount and it fell below the threshold. Well, so, okay, but all I'm saying is I think that that was to address that specific issue. There's obviously more of a conversation to be had about flock or largely ALPR, other surveillance things that I would love to have when more people are in the chambers that we can have discussion here from the community members. I understand we've heard from people plenty of times, but just in real time, this discussion, I don't think it's necessarily germane to what we're trying to do right now with you addressing the fact that we did not have the FLOC contract come before us.

Vice Mayor? No? Any other discussion, Commissioners?

Yes, Christian Wilson. Yeah, just on the topic of the contract price, that does feel a little weird. It makes me a little uncomfortable. I'm wondering that if going forward, even if an item or an agenda item doesn't meet the threshold to make our agenda, is there a way that we can be made aware of these contract agreements just as a commission?

I believe that's a process that was in place at one time and we can certainly look at. Okay.

A comment from the chambers here was accurate that at one time there was just as part of the report commissioners would see, you know, by You know, by the process, how it works, the manager has the authority to do these things, and there's a list of things you've got to prove. So they're certainly, that's a relatively easy administrative.

There's precedent set for it already. Okay, cool, thanks. Commissioner Slaby.

But I think... Commissioner Wilson, your point is being able to know about it prior to it being signed. So that list would include all things that have already been signed. So I don't know if that addresses your issue. And not to protract this conversation longer, but...

I mean, that would be ideal, is to get it before they enter any contracts. That was a compromise, just saying, if we are to answer them, at least make us aware. But yeah, ideally, Commissioner Slavy's right. I'd like to see them before we even are about to answer them.

That's great. We're kind of off topic a little bit, I would say. On this action. Unless we're going to start amending our amendments on this thing.

No.

Do you want to clarify? Are we saying we want to look at all contracts before they're approved administratively?

Well, I think that's another discussion that's worth having. I don't think we're asking for that tonight, unless you want to add something. No, I want to be very...

This is specifically to flock and surveillance technology going up in the city. Because just like data centers, this is almost being deemed like a special use. I think that people should be able to rely on folks that they have elected to make the decision, yay or nay. And this is not me advocating for my colleagues to vote down or vote up. But I do think the onus is on us to... IN THESE SPECIFIC USES OF THINGS GOING INTO OUR CITY, PARTICULARLY SURVEILLANCE, I THINK WE SHOULD BE ON THE RECORD ABOUT HOW WE FEEL ABOUT THIS. AND PRIMARILY BECAUSE, TO MY UNDERSTANDING, THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, THE CONTRACT HAS BEEN DISCOUNTED, AND THAT TO ME FEELS AS IF THERE'S THIS game being played in the background that we don't get to be a part of unless it hits the threshold. So for me, I want to send a very clear message, whether it comes before us and this commission adopts it or not, that it is our job to adopt that language or not.

Other discussion, commissioners? Clerk Barling, please call the roll. Commissioner Slaby.

Yes.

Commissioner Wilson. Yes. Vice Mayor Duncan. Yes. Mayor Anderson. Yes. Commissioner Hess. Yes. Commissioner Hoffman. Yes. Commissioner Prado.

Yes. Thank you, commissioners. The motion passes. Next is commissioner comments. Commissioners, are there any comments for the good of the order this evening? Commissioner Wilson.

I'll keep it brief because it's late and the air is off. I'm starting to sweat up here. I want to take a moment to recognize Urban Alliance and the graduates of the Change of Status Program, which I attended last week with City Manager Hankins and Commissioner Hess. For those that don't know, Change of Status is a 12-week program built around brotherhood, vulnerability, accountability, life skills, and creating a safe space for men to grow and transform their lives. Most of these men were previously incarcerated, so this is a good opportunity for them to get a step in the right direction. I've had the opportunity to attend these graduations and what stands out to me each time is hearing directly from the men about the importance of having people who believe in them, hold them accountable, and give them a space where they can be vulnerable. I was so inspired that I'm now partnering with Urban Alliance to think about how we can create or expand similar opportunities for our young men and teenagers before some of these challenges we see in adulthood take root. Again, congratulations to the graduates, their families, Urban Alliance, and everyone who continues to invest in this work. Touching on the unhoused encampment on Edwards Street, as some of our community members alluded to, I did go down and observe, to observe and engage with community to ensure that the process was being performed without causing harm. In Agile project management, there's a concept called post-mortem analysis where we assess how we perform and how we can improve. Here's my analysis, first observation followed by a feasible path forward. One thing that I was made aware of is that the encampment grew larger as barriers increased at the Ministry of the Community. One path forward I see is that we need safe spaces for our unhoused community to exist, fellowship, play, and grow during the day. One thing that I noticed as well is that community members came up clutch by providing meals, transportation, and emotional support. If we are going to rely on community support in this manner, then we should also ensure that they have the resources required to do so. Without options for storage, our unhoused family lost a lot and were devastated as a result. Going forward, options for temporary storage would be beneficial and help keep our unhoused family from having to start over with nothing but the clothes on their back. ISK and our CST team was on site to provide mental health resources and help those interested in our available overnight shelters navigate the process. As we all know, there's a subset of our unhoused community who cannot live in these shelters for various reasons, who had nowhere to go. And until we have a low barrier shelter to house these individuals, we'll continue to be in a harmful cycle where encampments are built and then displaced. Before we enforce ordinances on future encampments, we need to establish a safe place for them to move to without strings attached. It's become very apparent through our meetings and through conversations that I had down there that the root cause of our community's frustration is that our solutions seem to be reactive and temporary as opposed to proactive and permanent. Until we shift our mindset in that regard, we are going to continue facing the same issues. If we don't, I believe that's called the definition of insanity. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Wilson. Commissioner Slabey?

Thank you. I just wanted to talk about two topics and then I'll save my other comments for next city commission meeting. So I wanted to share questions that I have not had I had the pleasure of receiving responses to. I know that we were able to get contact with Flock to ask our questions, and so I'm still waiting after a week to get answers on the following questions, but I appreciate the responses to previous ones that I've asked. So number one, can we describe Flock's current and historical financial, strategic, and technical relationships with Peter Thiel, Founders Fund, Palantir, or affiliated entities? Does any current investor or board member of FLOC also hold a leadership or ownership role at Palantir or affiliated entities? Question three, the cloud server Flock uses, they confirmed, is hosted by Amazon Web Services. So based on, I'd like to know, based on the contractual relationship between Flock and AWS, because that's a third party that is hosting that data, What is AWS's rights to this data and can they describe their contractual responsibilities and liability of AWS for data retention, security and breaches? Because it's different from our contract specifically with Flock and what their responsibility and liability is as a company. And then lastly, as FLOC expands its capabilities, how dependent is FLOC's business model on additional hyperscale cloud infrastructure? And what assessments has FLOC made as a company of energy, water, and environmental impacts associated with supporting that growth? I think of back to Mayor Anderson's comments around we all use in some way or another AI that uses data in the cloud. And so again, if we're using this surveillance tool, I'd like to know what their responsibility and their focus has been on assessing their usage of all these things based on their use of cloud server infrastructure. Unfortunately, that FLOC representative is a sales rep and they're going to always pitch the product to us. I'm waiting to hear back from their government affairs rep. So not suggesting that they won't give us information that would make themselves look good. But I think that these are important questions to have answers to. And I'm very concerned at a minimum us investing specifically in Flock as a company which is different than just general ALPR as a tool when it comes to their potential investment in dark money and in organizations that feel war overseas. I also want to speak to the encampments. Overall, homelessness is an issue everywhere, but also very much so in Kalamazoo. Several months ago at the city commission meeting, I had suggested that we put together a homelessness task force so we truly determine our role as a city in addressing the gaps we have in our support services, whether it's facilitation, funding, or service delivery. We do a lot, I know, but it always seems isolated, not coordinated, and inconsistent, and then ultimately that results in being insufficient. So there's a lot of great partnerships. I think we can always point to some kind of agenda item that we've approved that supports housing, et cetera. But again, it always seems piecemeal. And really when we add it all up, what does it all mean? And so I think about how homelessness is exhausting. I mean, pretty much we require people to be constantly on the move. in fear of being criminalized if they don't. So as soon as they sit down somewhere, they're somehow violating some kind of ordinance. And so, you know, I don't know how we can continue, you know, inadvertently even punishing the most vulnerable based on simply conflicts with our ordinances that don't match up on I mean, for example, we criminalize, I actually have a friend that's been arrested on the mall for charging her phone on the light post. But then we say, why aren't they applying for jobs or accessing services? Well, how do we expect them to even do that if they can't even charge their phone and devices die and they need to be charged their phone? And so I think that when we really take a look at and assess our ordinances and what we have on the books, it creates more barriers. for the people that have the least means to address those barriers on their own. I think about all these gaps, right? Pets. It is not enough for us to just say someone should give up their pet. A lot of these pets often serve as their emotional support animals, but even to be able to legally bring that emotional support animal in, they have to go see a therapist and get a letter. How often do they have the ability to do so? Storage has been brought up numerous times tonight. We absolutely should look into a public storage system, but again, to me, these are things that are so low hanging fruit. We're talking about whether or not we'll allow a pet in for a night. These are things that should not get in the way of being able to provide our community members, all our community members, the dignity to simply exist. And unfortunately, I think based on this lack of clear strategy at the city level, being able to be integrated in what's going on around us, whether it's the continuum of care or ISK or the county, it's really the state of their own existence becomes a nuisance rather than us understanding just like we do with any other community member that engages with us as things that we should improve on when it comes to a delivery of services. And so it might be a different type of delivery of service that we have to look at or different barriers we have to address and invest in removing. But right now it just seems like almost like a repeat of Sunday Funday where basically we're saying people gathering, a certain group of people gathering is now a nuisance rather than interacting with them like we would do with any other group that might be violating something, right? So, I just, I think that there's a lot of opportunities for us, but unfortunately, we don't have the vehicle to do that. If someone came to us right now and asked us who in the city would be the contact that's really thinking about homelessness, I don't think we could name that person, truly, formally, in official capacity. So while I know that I brought up the idea of us creating a homelessness task force in order to do that, the motion died, no one seconded it, so we couldn't even discuss it further. I also recognize that this needs more than just us doing it once a month or every two weeks. It's not a subcommittee matter. I really think that this requires a task force within the city, city staff coming together, a cross-functional team to think about this. Whether it's Parks and Rec, because they're addressing open space. Public safety, obviously. CPED with economic development and community planning opportunities. I think this is an opportunity for us to really get very specific and strategic around this that I do not see we're doing right now. And so I'm really hoping that we can continue having this conversation seriously instead of punting the football to other organizations. And rightfully so, that those organizations need to be held accountable and people need to know that they exist and what their role is. But we have a role, and I don't think our role is defined at all around this, which then doesn't allow us to really adequately support at the funding levels, at the opportunities to facilitate, and even own specific services around supporting all of our community members.

Thank you, Commissioner Sebi. Other comments? Commissioner Hess.

Sure. Agreed. I want to say that the housing forum that Continuum of Care is holding is on September 10th at Western from 11 to 3. I think it's 11 to 3, 9 to 4. But it's at Western from the Continuum of Care. And all the collaborators will be there. And there will be presentations. There will be more information. I'd like to ask City Manager Hankins if we could have a presentation, a short presentation if it has to be at a COW that brings all the entities that are happening in the city on housing to let us know what's happening currently with housing in the city. I believe that the city is a collaborator with all the other providers in town and that we have to work together on this. In other news, Commissioner Wilson, there is a change of status graduation on Thursday at the jail for the same Ignite program, same program for current inmates and soon to be released inmates. This program has shown to have a much decreased recidivism rate and I'm just really happy to be able to participate in that on Thursday. So good luck to all those guys. I do want to say, you and you asked that we all go on record as to how we felt about this. I totally support Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and how they choose to keep us safe and how they choose to make sure that perpetrators are held accountable and that victims are given justice. And that's the way they work on this from the flock area and just from their detectives and so on. They want to make sure that justice comes to victims. and they care about that. Our officers are trained in using flock, and our officers do have sufficient oversight, and we do have an inspector that looks at all of the searches that are made and makes sure that they are not nefarious. So I want to go on record as saying I support public safety and the commitment of them of keeping this committee safe. town safe and doing their work. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Hess. Vice Mayor Duncan?

Yeah, real quick. I want to thank the public for sticking with us tonight. Concerning the encampment on Thursday, I think as a city we have hit a portion with our own house population where it is The problem is bigger than us as a commission. So some of the work that I've been doing over the last two weeks is I've contacted COC in King County and Ingram County. I've also engaged with the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness. I have also roped in the executive director of MidMichigan Tenant Resource Center. And we are going to be starting a Tri-City forum in a Tri-City committee to address homelessness. on the unhoused. I think we have to be able to learn from our neighbors and our partners. Right now, it looks as if Grand Rapids is spending some $60 million a year on their unhoused situation and is only knocking a dent in it. And so I want to look at Lansing, which is also another hotbed that's going through what we are experiencing as a city. And so we're trying to collect experts from all three of those communities, including our own. So our COC will be contacted, and I would like to get them all to the table to have regular meetings about what the state is doing and what we as a city can do better. Because we simply just don't have all of the answers to combat this right now, and we need help. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

My theme related to the fact that when we talk about community that the actual work of community starts in the community and works its way up and I think sometimes we do misunderstand and think that maybe community building happens here and works its way down and along So along that thinking, I just want to recognize a New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ, which is a very small church, really, way down at the end of North Edwards. It does a back-to-school program. I have had the honor of attending that for several years now. Very well attended, tons of young people there, really good feeling. And I just want to say to all the members of New Jerusalem Church, I appreciate your efforts, that's community building, that's how it works and that's how we make this community be a good place for our friends and neighbors to live. I love you Kalamazoo, we're adjourned.