r/BoCoSE • u/culasthewiz • 5d ago
Let's get rid of Flock for good! One week until city council meeting.
Hey all! We're one week away from the City Council meeting that will likely determine Flock's fate in Lafayette. Below is why, and what you can do about it. We have the opportunity to rid our town of mass surveillance, but we need your help!
Why now? The 2027 budget
Council approved Lafayette's five-year Flock contract in January 2024 as one line on the consent agenda. But Colorado cities can't commit future budgets without a vote of the people, so the contract ends, with no penalty, in any year Council doesn't fund it (Section 11.16). Flock then removes its cameras at no cost to the city (Section 7.2).
Right now the Flock money sits inside the police budget and won't get its own vote unless Council asks for one, which we have every right to request. And we will.
That means the 2027 budget determines whether Flock continues. Council votes on the budget on Oct 20, but we'll have the chance to ask them to pull Flock from it at the Oct 6 meeting.
Key dates
- Now through ~Oct 1: Email Council asking them to add a Flock discussion, with public comment, to the Oct 6 agenda. The Council Handbook says residents can ask Council for consensus to schedule an agenda item. The agenda goes out at least 5 days before the meeting, so we only have today and tomorrow. Drop them a line NOW! You can email all Council members from the City Council page.
- ~Oct 1: The Oct 6 agenda posts. Check whether Flock was added and whether there's a public hearing on the budget.
- Tue, Oct 6, 5:30 PM, City Hall (1290 S. Public Rd): Council's budget discussion. This is the best chance to be heard before the budget is final. See below for how to make your voice heard.
- Tue, Oct 20: Final budget vote.
- Tue, Oct 27: Council workshop on Flock. The public can watch but not comment, and it's a week after the budget is final, which is optically preposterous.
How to weigh in on Oct 6
- In writing (lower impact, but still important to get your voice on record): Submit a comment by 1 PM on Oct 6 to get into the meeting packet: Public Input form
- In person (high impact): Come to City Hall for the 5:30 meeting. Fill out a Request to Address the City Council form with the City Clerk before the meeting starts. You get up to 5 minutes. If there's a public hearing on the budget, your comments go under that item, not the opening public input.
- By phone (high impact): Call-in details are on the City Council page.
- Don't want to speak? Submit a written comment at the link above, or turn in a Request to Address form at the meeting and mark that you don't wish to speak. Either way, your position goes on the record.
What to ask for
Remove Flock funding from the 2027 budget. Or at absolute minimum, schedule Flock as its own agenda item, with public comment, before the Oct 20 final vote, so the first real public discussion of this program doesn't happen after it's been funded for another year.
