[0:30] We'll now call this meeting to order before we take roll. Just for the public to know, we do have nine commissioners seated tonight, and I'm going to read a portion of a memorandum that was sent to me by Phil Smith, Phil Goldsmith, our legal council, to give explanation to Mr. Benikey's commissioner, Benikey's taking his seat tonight. And it was dated September 1, dear chairman, Venzel on Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 1.30 p.m., the honorable Carol Koonke heard oral argument from

[1:00] From council of record, I mark grants request for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116 C10.

[1:08] Monroe County and the Monroe County Board of Commissioners request for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116 I2.

[1:15] And intervener Dale Benicke's request for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116 I2.

[1:21] At the conclusion of oral argument, Judge Kunkie announced her decision from the bench as follows.

[1:26] Judge Kunkie granted a Monroe County and the Monroe County Board of Commissioners' motion for summary disposition

[1:33] Requested pursuant to MCR 2.11612

[1:37] Judge Kunkie granted Dale Panicke's motion for summary disposition requested a pursuant to MCR 2.116

[1:44] Judge Kunkie denied Mark Brant's motion for summary disposition requested pursuant to MCR 2.116

[1:51] Judge Kunky essentially held an decision that Mark Brant was not a qualified elector on thus not a registered voter on January 1, 2025, which was the date he was to take office as Monroe County Commissioner representing district two.

[2:04] Judge Kunky held that Mark Brant was not a qualified elector due to his imprisonment and a federal prison located in the state of West Virginia.

[2:10] Given Judge Kunkie's decision, Mark Brant did not fulfill the requirements of MCL 46.411 to hold office, hold the office of county commissioner serving district two.

[2:23] Judge Kunkie declared that Dale Benicke is the district two Monroe County commissioner and that effective immediately.

[2:29] Dale Benicke shall take the seat and perform the functions of Monroe County commissioner serving district two.

[2:35] So I'd like to welcome Dale Benickey on the dice as our representative for district two.

[2:41] Thank you.

[2:47] Now we can proceed with roll call.

[2:49] Commissioner Hoffman.

[2:50] President.

[2:51] Commissioner Benickey.

[2:52] President.

[2:53] Commissioner Asper.

[2:54] President.

[2:54] Commissioner Heinzeling.

[2:56] President.

[2:56] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:57] President.

[2:58] Commissioner Venzel.

[2:59] President.

[3:00] Commissioner Swardow.

[3:01] President.

[3:02] Commissioner Moore.

[3:03] President.

[3:04] Commissioner Levens.

[3:05] President.

[3:07] If we were now all raised for the pledge of allegiance led by Commissioner Leavins.

[3:22] Under God in the visible liberty and justice for all.

[3:33] We'll now have our opening prayer.

[3:36] Eternal Father, blessed be your matchless name.

[3:39] Your word says that all things work together for the good of those who love you and to those who are called according to your purpose.

[3:45] God we love you and we gather to carry out the task that you have given us in order to fulfill our purposes.

[3:49] I pray that you intervene in this meeting, let it work for our good and for the good of your kingdom.

[3:53] In your glorious name, we pray this, amen.

[3:56] Amen, amen.

[3:59] Next item, the agenda is the approval of the agenda, if I could get a motion, please.

[4:04] So moved, moved by more, supported by Lamor, any questions on the approval of the agenda.

[4:14] Hearing none, roll call, please.

[4:16] Commissioner Benniki.

[4:17] Yes.

[4:18] Commissioner Asper.

[4:19] Yes.

[4:19] Commissioner Heinzeling.

[4:20] Yes.

[4:21] Commissioner Lamor.

[4:22] Yes.

[4:22] Commissioner Vendel.

[4:23] Yes.

[4:24] Commissioner Swardau.

[4:25] Yes.

[4:26] Commissioner Moore.

[4:26] Yes.

[4:27] Commissioner Leavins.

[4:28] Yes.

[4:29] Commissioner Hoffman.

[4:30] Yes.

[4:30] Motion carries.

[4:32] The next item is the approval of the minutes from the August 18th, 2026 regular meeting.

[4:36] If I could get a motion, please.

[4:38] I'll make the motion.

[4:39] Move by Swardau.

[4:39] I'll slide the readings.

[4:40] Ported by Hoffman.

[4:42] Are there questions, corrections, additions to the minutes?

[4:48] Hearing none, roll call, please.

[4:50] Commissioner Hoffman.

[4:51] Yes.

[4:52] Commissioner Bennicki.

[4:53] Yes.

[4:53] Yes. Commissioner Asper. Yes. Commissioner Heindling. Yes. Commissioner Lamor. Yes. Commissioner Venzel. Yes. Commissioner Swardout. Yes. Commissioner Moore. Yes. Commissioner Lee Vence. Yes. Motion carries.

[5:06] We now enter into our first segment of public comment. Are there citizens who wish to address the board?

[5:11] I

[5:15] can even do chairman in the board.

[5:18] My name is Michael Davis and I'm a retired lieutenant from the Sheriff's Office in Monroe County where I spent 30 years.

[5:26] I'm a graduate of the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Virginia.

[5:30] I hold a bad chance of duty in criminal justice from Wayne State University.

[5:35] Currently I hold a top secret clearance at a background investigation in the Department of Homeland Security.

[5:40] So I think I know a little bit about what we're going to talk about tonight and that's the

[5:45] flat camera system.

[5:52] Lacing plate readers have been around for 20 years.

[5:56] We used to have mounted on the patrol cars.

[5:58] It's nothing new.

[6:00] Flat cameras does not mean that we are in a camera society.

[6:05] We are in a camera society.

[6:07] Video doorbells, your neighbor, Scott has bring camera most definitely shining on your house.

[6:13] He knows when you're coming, when you're going, who's visiting you, and what goes on.

[6:18] Are we going to do away with ring cameras because they can violate our constitutional rights?

[6:25] You can't go anywhere.

[6:26] You can't go to the grocery store.

[6:28] You can't go to a pharmacy, restaurant, hospital, school, shopping center or parking lot.

[6:33] You're on camera.

[6:34] And these cameras are taken, you're faced, okay?

[6:38] In every one of your movements, movements.

[6:41] Crime

[6:47] happens. First thing people say, did you check the cameras?

[6:51] Did you check our camera? I might have something on my video ring cameras.

[6:56] Floch cameras are just another investigative tool. They identify vehicles

[7:01] and place and place, traveling on public highways.

[7:05] They do not replace police officers, detective witnesses,

[7:08] probable cause, or good old fashioned police work. They simply provide a set of eyes.

[7:14] And there's evidence that those eyes are providing results.

[7:19] Okay, 10,000 missing people were found in one year with flat cameras.

[7:24] That's 10,000.

[7:26] Okay.

[7:28] Now let's bring it home to Monroe County.

[7:30] And I know, I hate bringing this up, but on May 24, 2009,

[7:35] Nivea Buchanan disappeared from her yard on North McCollum Street.

[7:42] They had two vehicles that they were looking for that was possibly involved in it.

[7:47] Could you imagine if we had flocked cameras there, we may have been able to find her before

[7:52] she was buried alive and encased in concrete.

[7:56] In a personal case, I know myself, okay, is Gayle Northington who disappeared on a white

[8:03] for township.

[8:04] We knew where vehicle, we just didn't know where it was.

[8:07] us. We were able to convict somebody on two counts of murder in sensitive life without

[8:13] parole, but we were never able to find her body for the family. And that goes back to

[8:20] 1987.

[8:24] We know we got the anniversary of 9-11 coming up. Okay. There are terrorists in

[8:32] this country. They're called sleepers cells. And that goes back 40 years that sleepers

[8:38] do you know what a sleeper cell is? On the board? No, okay. A sleeper cell is a group

[8:47] of people who come into the United States and they plan terrorist attacks, like 9-11.

[8:59] If it's going to happen again, it's when it's going to happen again.

[9:03] And we want to be able to, if we get a suspect vehicle or get called and say, this vehicle

[9:09] might be traveling to your county, we want to be able to locate that before they do

[9:13] anything.

[9:14] It makes common sense.

[9:17] And I agree, okay, there are people that I have abused that system, 50 that we know of

[9:24] out of 700,000 police officers, okay.

[9:30] So what's the percentage of that?

[9:32] I

[9:35] just want people to think about, and I'll tell you, if somebody violates that within

[9:44] the Murrow County Sheriff's Department, they should go to jail.

[9:47] I agree.

[9:48] There needs to be control, there needs to be auditing, and there needs to be bumper rails

[9:52] on it.

[9:54] But don't do away with something that's going to possibly protect everybody here probably

[10:01] has children or grandchildren, correct? If somebody kidnapped them, anybody in this room

[10:08] who has children or grandchildren? If somebody kidnapped them, when did you want that

[10:13] tool to be able to find and locate them? It's just common sense.

[10:22] Don't throw the baby out

[10:23] with a dishwasher or bath water. Please reconsider it. And if you are going to push this through,

[10:30] I think it should be put to a vote of the citizens within Monroe County, not just a decision made by nine people.

[10:38] I think that's right, that's our Constitutional right to vote on something that might protect us.

[10:44] I just want to say, please take it under consideration before you make that move and

[10:49] think of what the benefits are and not some political issue that people are trying to make.

[10:57] Thank you.

[11:02] Mr. Chairman, I think it might be a good idea just to remind anyone public speaking that for our policy and Robert's rules

[11:08] we refrain from a back and forth dialogue. It's not that we don't want to answer you. It's just that we can't.

[11:13] But I'd be more than happy to talk to you after the meeting might.

[11:16] Thank you, Mr. Moore.

[11:19] Good evening, Mr. Chair, commissioners. My name's Carol Riem. I live in Dundee.

[11:24] I am a property owner in this county. I am not against law enforcement.

[11:28] I am here because recording every passing car is not ordinary policy, it is mass surveillance.

[11:36] I ask you to adopt the resolution of firming constitutional privacy,

[11:40] and terminating flock safety cameras in similar mass surveillance technology.

[11:46] These cameras do not wait for suspicion.

[11:49] They log the innocent plate, time, place, vehicle,

[11:53] and that file lives on a vendor network.

[11:56] other agencies can search. In the 18th century Jeremy Bentham designed the

[12:01] Panopticon, a prison where inmates never knew when they were being watched. We

[12:07] are not convicted criminals, we are law-abiding citizens going about our

[12:12] daily lives. A county plate grid treats innocent people on public roads as if they

[12:18] were inmates. This data does not stay here. It can be stored, shared, aggregated,

[12:25] including through large data systems until it is useful for

[12:29] profiling ordinary residents.

[12:33] Not a single investigation based on reasonable cause.

[12:37] The public has seen how government and private surveillance can be abused.

[12:43] Trust us then, we are looking to you to do the right thing.

[12:48] In Nundee, flat builder police department's $17,560 for

[12:53] for four cameras in year one, more than double the $8,000 annual cost that was cited to the public.

[13:01] Dundee's own department policy system and

[13:03] flock data are the property of the Dundee Police Department.

[13:07] Yet, residents are told the records belong to the company.

[13:11] This is the same claim now in our court in Genesine County.

[13:15] If this county uses the system, this county is responsible for ending it.

[13:21] Benjamin Franklin wrote,

[13:22] Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety

[13:29] Please vote yes terminate flock do not replace it with another brand that does the same thing

[13:34] warrantless tracking of everyone who drives here is not safety

[13:40] It is control and this board can stop it by adopting the resolution tonight. Thank you

[13:56] Good evening. I'm attorney Matt, but until

[13:59] I want to practice here in the city of Monroe

[14:01] I've been practicing here in Monroe for the last 18 years.

[14:05] Speaking in some support of Commissioner Leven's proposal to ban mass surveillance with flock and flock like technologies in Monroe County.

[14:14] Like all of you, I took an oath to uphold and defend our state and US constitutions, and I'm here speaking in service to that oath.

[14:25] Flot cameras threaten privacy. They invite abuse and they undermine our constitutional rights.

[14:31] Imagine every time you drive anywhere the government uses cameras to record your license plate

[14:37] in location. It doesn't matter where. It can be to work, the doctor's office, a gun show,

[14:44] church, a political gathering, or even a friend's house. And that is the world flot camera networks

[14:51] are creating.

[14:52] Flock markets its cameras as crime-fighting tools, and yes, they can help police solve

[14:57] crimes.

[14:59] But the question before...

[15:00] Forest is not whether surveillance can ever be useful. But rather, should we discontinue building

[15:06] and using a system that records and tracks the movements of innocent everyday Americans?

[15:12] The Fourth Amendment protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures, and Michigan's

[15:16] constitution goes even further than that. It protects against the seizure of electronic and

[15:22] electronic communications from unreasonable searches and seizures, and it implements a warrant

[15:28] and probable cause requirement.

[15:30] The evidence over the last two years should concern every citizen across Monroe County and in this room.

[15:37] Researchers from the University of Washington in 2025 analyzed flock audit records and

[15:42] found numerous law enforcement agencies shared camera networks and databases with outside agencies without telling their local governments.

[15:49] even more troubling the audits revealed that the flock networks of other police departments were compromised by outside agencies conducting

[15:59] worthless searches despite the fact that they've never been authorized to do so. These aren't theoretical abuses. They're actual audit trails.

[16:08] And the problem is still ongoing, even though flock acknowledged the problem in 2025. At first they denied it and they later admitted it.

[16:16] now the problem you just probably read this summer in Lucas County Ohio, county commissioners

[16:21] discovered that there were over 900,000 searches in their flock system ranging as far as

[16:27] Texas and California. Those places were accessing their data over a period of two months without

[16:35] any authorization. Now, proponents of flock want you to focus narrowly on flock's crime fighting

[16:40] capabilities. The problem is is that there is no evidence that flock cameras lower crime rates.

[16:47] The flock system is rife with errors and abuses in 2026 and Texas and investigator found

[16:55] that there was one officer who conducted over 45,000 flock searches illegally between May 2024

[17:01] and December 2025. Another investigation in Georgia just this year showed that there was a flock,

[17:07] a legal flock searches that were done by a police officer to stock his

[17:12] external friend and her romantic partner. He attempted to disguise the searches

[17:16] as legitimate investigations. Increasingly, these abuses are coming to light.

[17:21] And many local governments are being faced with the reality that when those searches

[17:27] happen, they're invading people's rights. It's not innocent. And also the flock

[17:33] system is flawed. There are errors that the system itself sometimes confuses numbers

[17:38] like eights with threes or threes with eights or twos with sevens or confuses abbreviations

[17:43] with states like Ohio for Oklahoma or Michigan for Massachusetts or Minnesota.

[17:48] And local governments are increasingly facing that reality. And that reality is that innocent people

[17:54] sometimes are detained, sometimes at gunpoint, are rested and charged based on a computer error

[18:01] or a camera misidentification.

[18:04] And flock cameras had misidentified cars and license places

[18:08] highest 71% of the time.

[18:10] Another audit shows that flock cameras targeted or tagged

[18:13] hundreds of cars stolen when they weren't.

[18:17] And in Florida, one woman was arrested and served 13 days in jail

[18:20] based on a baseless allegation.

[18:23] It was a misidentification through the flock system that targeted her car.

[18:28] And then she faced those that criminal suspicion for seven months

[18:30] before prosecutors realize the error and dismiss the charges.

[18:35] On top of that, automated license plate readers can read bumper stickers.

[18:40] And if they can read bumper stickers, they can read t-shirts.

[18:42] And if they can read t-shirts, they can read signs.

[18:45] And anything else that crosses their field of view.

[18:47] And that information is gathered and made searchable by AI.

[18:51] And anyone with a login can access it.

[18:54] Let that sink in.

[18:55] I'm here, like I said, in support of Mr. Leven's proposal, and I hope you vote yes, thank you.

[19:12] Good evening.

[19:14] My name is Pat Kirby, I'm from Idaho, and here to talk about the flock cameras.

[19:23] This year, there's been 10,000 missing people located, 42% of stolen vehicles have been recovered.

[19:32] and one in five who was picked up and thought to be a criminal was cleared of the crime because of the plot camera.

[19:44] The CEO of Flock, who's the one that invented this, I guess, was on a news program last week.

[19:53] And I watched the entire thing and they are making a lot of changes.

[19:58] and the information that people are concerned about is going to be staying in

[20:05] the the sanity of where those cameras are at. So that information is supposed to

[20:12] be staying there and there's a lot of other changes to where they're not going

[20:18] to maintain the data for so long at time. I think it's seven days now instead of

[20:25] I think it was 30 before.

[20:30] People say that they invade privacy.

[20:33] If you walk down any street, a ring door bell,

[20:37] or security cameras is watching you.

[20:41] Any store that you enter, there's security cameras.

[20:45] You are being seen daily already.

[20:50] Look at your cell phones, your computers, your smart TVs,

[20:54] these Alexa, all of those issues are following you and knowing what's going on.

[21:04] And if you're not doing anything wrong, why should it matter to you?

[21:11] Well, it shouldn't.

[21:16] It's a greatest asset to the law enforcement along with drones, which I also support.

[21:23] I'll tell you something, at 7 a.m. on 94 in Bellville, there was a hidden run.

[21:37] She left that area and someway ended up in the Sal area.

[21:43] She was on a pleasant road.

[21:47] She caused a woman almost to be hit that was running.

[21:52] She turned onto Dunbar, ran a car into the ditch, and there was someone following her as she turned

[22:02] on to South Dixie into Monroe Street. They lost the car in traffic when traffic got between them,

[22:11] and they lost it on 2nd Street, and the car proceeded on into front street to M50.

[22:21] We ran the red light when people were stopped and went off the side of the road.

[22:28] At 80 mile an hour, this is at 8 o'clock in the morning drunk.

[22:35] The car was traveling 80. She ran the red light at South Raisinville Road,

[22:40] crashed into the animal control truck, killing officer Deary and young, my

[22:50] granddaughter. I'm pretty confident if cameras had been available in June of

[22:57] 20, Deary and would probably be alive today because somebody would have

[23:05] been able to catch up with her. They could not find her. So before I

[23:10] decision is made on this that resolution that you're thinking about, please think about

[23:17] what changes are coming and check into that, what changes are being made to that before

[23:23] you make the stressed decision. Because it is a matter of life and death, especially with

[23:31] drunk drivers on the road and all the crime that is out there now, the shootings and everything,

[23:37] it's happening here, it's happening all over.

[23:44] Thank you for your consideration.

[23:53] My name's Chris Wakeup.

[23:55] Here because the conversation about flock cameras,

[23:58] this isn't about technology.

[24:00] It's about our rights, our freedom,

[24:02] and the limits we place on government power.

[24:05] Flot cameras don't simply take pictures.

[24:07] They track, store, and analyze the movements

[24:09] of every vehicle that passes them.

[24:11] They log license plates, time stamps,

[24:13] and the other examples, travel patterns and location history.

[24:16] That is surveillance, not simple observation.

[24:20] And under the Constitution, surveillance of citizens

[24:23] is supposed to require probable cause, a warrant,

[24:26] and not a subscription fee and a handshake with a private company.

[24:31] For generations, we've had a clear rule.

[24:33] If the government wants to track you, follow you, or collect detailed information about you,

[24:37] about your movements, they need to convince a judge first.

[24:40] That safeguard isn't a technicality, it's the barrier that protects ordinary people from

[24:45] being monitored simply because we exist.

[24:49] But flat cameras flip that principle upside down, they gather information first on everyone

[24:54] all the time, only afterwards decide who to look at.

[24:58] That is a definition of dragnet surveillance, and it is exactly what the Fourth Amendment

[25:03] was written to prevent.

[25:05] Some people say, if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.

[25:09] But let me ask you, if you say you have nothing to worry about, who's definition of wrong

[25:14] or we're using?

[25:17] History shows us that wrong changes depending on who's in charge.

[25:21] Rights don't exist to protect people who are popular or convenient.

[25:25] They exist to protect everyone, especially when the government's definition of wrong shifts.

[25:31] And let's be honest, once a system like this is in place, it rarely stays limited.

[25:36] Data gets shared and monetized.

[25:41] Access expands, policies change, what starts as just for stolen cars becomes just for traffic

[25:47] enforcement, then just for mind and frame protests, then just in case.

[25:52] We've seen this pattern with every surveillance technology introduced in the last 30 years.

[25:56] We are not here because we oppose law enforcement.

[25:59] We are here because we support the constitutional law enforcement.

[26:03] The kind that respects due process, warrants, and the ideas that should citizens should

[26:08] not be tracked without cause. If the government wants the level of information

[26:12] flat cameras provide, they should follow the same rules they've always had to follow.

[26:16] Show probable cause, get a warrant, then collect the data,

[26:20] not the other way around. Our rights don't disappear because

[26:23] technology got faster. Our freedoms don't shrink because our valence got cheaper

[26:28] and our privacy shouldn't be surrendered just because a company promises convenience.

[26:33] Tonight I'm asking this commission to stand on the side of the Constitution.

[26:37] stand on the side of due process, and stand on the side of the people who live here, work here, and raise families here, and deserve to move through their own community without being tracked.

[26:48] Thank you.

[26:58] Hi, everybody. My name is Susie. I live here in Monroe County. I want to make a couple of points. I know we're trying to keep our comments brief.

[27:05] But the first point is I have a tremendous respect for all of you, for our sheriff, for

[27:10] our law enforcement.

[27:11] You're all tasked with that thankless job of protecting us when we often shirk our

[27:17] own responsibility to be responsible for ourselves with resiliency and common sense.

[27:23] However, despite that being a difficult job, you do not have a free pass to overstep your

[27:31] limited authorities.

[27:33] As a government entity you are actually not allowed to trade our freedoms, our God given

[27:42] inalienable rights for an easier job.

[27:47] Private citizens that might be a different situation, corporations, ring cameras, that's

[27:52] not a government entity and that's a big distinction.

[27:57] This trade comes with many grave consequences and again with brevity I'm just going to pick

[28:02] out one of them. Slippery slope, right? We cannot allow our government to impose itself

[28:10] in our private spaces to gain access to our private information or to perform warrantless searches.

[28:17] They can't do that. We can't trade that for crumbs of safety, of convenience, right?

[28:24] There's a reason a government is limited in our country. It needs to stay that way.

[28:29] Today, we do have flat cameras in our county.

[28:32] Their locations are not made public.

[28:35] They are reading our license plates, and they are pinpointing us to specific locations

[28:39] at specific times without our consent.

[28:43] This data is fed into a cloud that is searchable by actors outside of Monroe County, including

[28:50] Flot company, state actors, federal actors, potentially hackers, foreign governments, right?

[28:59] You have mitigations, and you can have the best policies in the world, and I'm very

[29:02] confident you do.

[29:03] I think we have a very good team here, I really do.

[29:07] But you have zero control on the actors outside of Monroe County.

[29:13] You can have mitigations, but hackers are going to get past your firewalls, no matter what

[29:17] you do.

[29:17] our private data is too valuable. The incentive to analyze it and sell it is

[29:25] massive and it's just going to keep going. That's the slippery slope I'm

[29:29] talking about. I don't want us to be the ones building the foundation for a

[29:34] surveillance blanket that we cannot get out of later. You have to really take

[29:40] that seriously.

[29:45] And it's more than just our license plates, right? The tech is

[29:48] already rolling out the ability to scrape our phones and to pull data out of our devices.

[29:54] They're incredibly sophisticated at face recognition.

[29:58] This is a slippery slope.

[30:00] It's just going to keep getting better. We think we're just going to find a stolen vehicle and some missing children and I understand living in that fear, but we cannot give the government the ability to survey all citizens, all Americans, all people at all times. We have to draw a line. We're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but we already have cases of people being accused and being put in jail, as was mentioned earlier.

[30:29] indemed guilty until or if we can prove ourselves innocence. As individuals we're

[30:36] an arms race. We have to collect our own data and outdo the government just

[30:41] to prove our innocence. So we've kind of flipped it around and we have to be very

[30:47] conscious of that. It's a slippery slope and unfortunately slippery slopes do

[30:53] not stop naturally. They only stop when we intentionally stop them and set

[30:58] boundaries. And that is the reason why our government and our country is limited, and

[31:04] that's a pretty special thing.

[31:08] Okay, so it's a value of freedom and limitation. We only

[31:13] get that intentionally. So at the end of the day, none of you here actually have the

[31:19] authority to trample on our God-given and alienable rights, even if it makes someone's job safer

[31:25] and even if it makes us safer and easier.

[31:29] The surveillance blanket is attempting in short-sighted band-aid,

[31:34] but it only makes all of us less safe in the long run,

[31:37] and we have to keep that in mind.

[31:39] So I'm asking you all to respect your constituents

[31:43] and accept this resolution to dismantle

[31:45] and prevent the surveillance blanket.

[31:48] And I also ask all of us constituents on the flip side

[31:52] because I want to recognize this.

[31:54] Yes, we all need to accept responsibility as well.

[31:58] We have to use common sense.

[32:00] We have to build our own resiliency.

[32:02] We have to work together on these solutions and they're not the band-aid solutions of just

[32:06] putting more and more surveillance on us.

[32:09] We do have to vote for politicians that are going to keep criminals in jail and keep boys

[32:14] out of the girls' locker rooms and all the things.

[32:18] But the band-aid fix at the end of the day of a surveillance state is not the answer and

[32:22] I hope you all recognize that.

[32:23] Thank you.

[32:36] Hi.

[32:37] My name is Kim Jarmall.

[32:39] I'm a lifelong resident in Monroe County.

[32:42] Mostly LaSalle.

[32:43] Up until three years ago I decided to move to French town.

[32:46] And I'm here today to ask you to protect the Constitution.

[32:50] It's under attack more than ever.

[32:53] It's the most important responsibility you'll ever have.

[32:58] It's because it's our freedom.

[33:01] I believe every public servant should have to not only take an oath, but they should also

[33:06] will take a class on the Constitution and citizens' rights.

[33:11] I realize this when several of my own rights were violated by French town supervisor Al

[33:16] Van Washingtonova and by public safety director, Dave Ull, during best petitioning.

[33:25] I won't speak in detail about it because it's in litigation except to say I realize then

[33:30] how little some public servants are aware of the constitutional rights of citizens.

[33:35] I originally asked for an acknowledgement that what they did to me was wrong in for an apology, but I didn't get that.

[33:42] Simple. I just wanted it to be recognized. I didn't get that.

[33:46] So I had to take action. And it's not about money. I don't even ask for monetary value.

[33:54] It's about setting president. So it doesn't happen to another citizen.

[33:59] I am asking you to take action here today to set President yourself.

[34:05] It is not okay to violate citizens' rights.

[34:08] Clearly, flock violate citizens' rights.

[34:11] It's the opposite of freedom.

[34:13] It's mass surveillance.

[34:15] It's different than ring cameras.

[34:17] The ring camera doesn't track me every time I drive by.

[34:19] I'm sorry.

[34:20] Mine doesn't.

[34:20] Yours can't possibly.

[34:22] It's totally different.

[34:23] It's an invasion on our civil rights, our constitutional rights.

[34:28] The Constitution allows us to have a democratic government where the people choose.

[34:33] It limits governments control and allows the people individual rights.

[34:38] My favorite president Ronald Reagan said it best.

[34:41] Our Constitution isn't government telling people what their privileges are.

[34:47] Our Constitution is we the people telling our government what it can do.

[34:51] Today, we, the people, are here to tell you, protect our Constitution.

[34:58] We don't want flock.

[35:00] We definitely don't want drones.

[35:02] Good God.

[35:02] It's up to the state whether or not those are weapon-rised.

[35:06] I'd hate to be sitting on my patio and get pinged by rubber bullets or tasers.

[35:12] It is not the FAA only tracks the flight path.

[35:15] It's up to the state level on whether or not the weaponized.

[35:18] I don't know about you guys, but I don't trust our governor right now.

[35:22] She'd rather just lay us all out, honest to God.

[35:28] So we realize the third advantage is benefits, but anytime something violates constitutional

[35:36] rights, it should be a hard no.

[35:41] We the people will not allow our rights to be violated.

[35:45] Please protect the Constitution.

[35:47] Set President yourself here today by saying it will no longer be allowed to happen to

[35:53] Monroe County residents.

[35:54] Monroe County citizens saved them from having to fight for their basic rights.

[36:01] We deserve our basic rights.

[36:02] Thank you.

[36:12] Hi, my name is Alana.

[36:13] I've lived in Monroe basically my whole life.

[36:17] Never once thought I would have to fight for my constitutional rights.

[36:22] But this year we actually celebrated the 250th birthday of the United States.

[36:27] And I have we feel that we have forgotten the principles it was built on.

[36:32] Those core principles are natural rights, popular sovereignty,

[36:36] limited government, and the separation of power and the rule of law.

[36:40] Let me remind you, limited government is the principle that government power must be restrained by law and the Constitution to prevent tyranny and protect the individual freedom.

[36:52] The Constitution was created to limit the power of the government and protect the rights of the people.

[36:58] Flock has admitted that its ALPR system does produce a heat map that shows where point in time images have been captured of a vehicle up to a month.

[37:09] I know that he has changed it to seven days, but when you're going in front of that camera every single day, that seven days still carries over.

[37:19] information that is shared city to city and even state to state without a warrant.

[37:23] There is no legislation governing this technology.

[37:26] Flot company has also reflects a pattern of regularly misleading or even lying about its business practices.

[37:35] Safety records, commitment to privacy and effort to protect vulnerable populations.

[37:42] because they are putting these in lower income populations too which is actually basically targeting them.

[37:53] Not to mention the vial person that started the company in the first place.

[37:57] Right now both class action lawsuits and civil right cases are at an all time high due to personal stocking unauthorized access and illegal monitoring.

[38:06] Through proponents of the system, claim to help fight crime,

[38:10] retrieve stolen vehicles and finding missing children, these things were possible before,

[38:16] with appropriate human constitutional policing.

[38:20] No policy or technology will ever, ever eliminate tragedies from our lives completely.

[38:26] Therefore, we should never give up our basic liberties out of fear.

[38:30] The idea that there is no expectation of privacy in public is an oversimplification of our Fourth Amendment law.

[38:38] The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that while individual observation in public may be permissible,

[38:45] long-term automated and aggregate surveillance by the government can violate the Fourth Amendment because it

[38:52] reveals far more than any officer can observe on their own.

[38:55] Automated license plate tracking creates a search when it builds a detailed record of

[39:01] a person's movements, habits, associations, and daily life.

[39:06] That's exactly the kind of pervasive monitoring courts warned us about.

[39:11] Safeguards do not eliminate our constitutional concerns.

[39:16] They just acknowledge that the system is dangerous enough to require them.

[39:21] They

[39:24] allow the government to monitor everyone's movements without individualized suspicion, a warrant or probable cause.

[39:31] The contract needs to be terminated.

[39:34] Technology and AI are only getting more advanced.

[39:37] Every act against our constitutional rights gives another opportunity to take more and more of our rights away.

[39:44] To implement facial recognition, voice recording, et cetera, private citizens do not need to be tracked or

[39:51] monitored by public servants.

[39:53] And those who are arguing you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide.

[39:58] Is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

[40:03] So I hope to God that you take away this contract and terminate flock.

[40:09] Thank you so much.

[40:16] Hi, my name is Shauna Farley district four.

[40:19] Jay is my county commissioner and I must say this really quick.

[40:22] The very first time I came here, he's shaken scared.

[40:24] He took time to sit back there with me and tell me that it's great that we are speaking as a community

[40:30] And I am so excited to see everybody here. I had to say that. I didn't want to read, but I'm afraid of missing out on something

[40:41] Local officials taken off to uphold the US and Michigan constitutions. I assume that that meant constitutional issues were always front and center

[40:50] But I think there's a communication gap between residents and boards.

[40:54] When a proposal touches a constitutional right, like the Sheriff's Flock and Drone Program,

[41:00] there should be something that flags those gray areas as red.

[41:05] As a man of law, people trust law enforcement, respect and comply.

[41:10] We assume that the local boards have already checked the constitutional concerns.

[41:14] In this case, those concerns were not great in my opinion, they were read.

[41:20] And I want you also to say, we might respect our sheriff, but sheriff's change.

[41:25] Different ones get voted in.

[41:27] And sometimes the next sheriff doesn't have our best interest, and we need to remember that.

[41:33] So I think I believe boards benefit from hearing oppositional viewpoints and outside expertise.

[41:39] groups like the ACLU could have gave you some, you know, some inner scene. And even my local

[41:49] trustee, I seen who was over here, Chris Collins said, hey, I can't vote on this. I will

[41:56] always be a no. This is our Constitution. And I just see these people with powerful feelings.

[42:01] And I wish that maybe an ACLU, maybe these people were standing there and maybe when something's

[42:07] considered gray and it might hurt your constituents, or the residents of your community, you stop and you say what's the opposition?

[42:15] Maybe they'll come and talk to me and I can understand their point of view.

[42:20] So the good outweighs the bad, which that is an opinion, not a constitutional review.

[42:27] Flock has no independent research and requests for it to be denied.

[42:31] If I hadn't attended a board meeting, this drone program might have passed without a single question.

[42:36] but several residents stood up immediately without knowing that this was on the agenda and said it crossed constitutional lines.

[42:45] Regular people saw it that way.

[42:48] Unfortunately my board did say the good outweighs the bad.

[42:52] We had a trustee though, like I said, who also saw the gray area and he stopped.

[42:58] The sheriff later announced the updates to the flag program, short of data retention audit tools and these code encased codes.

[43:05] These are improvements, but they don't fix the core issue.

[43:09] We need the gray areas to be table.

[43:12] We need opposition or errors from experts.

[43:15] I wish we had a button that when you put this in your agenda,

[43:20] you put it in there and it would flag it was tabled.

[43:22] Opposition must be present.

[43:25] But that's a dream.

[43:26] I stand with no flock, no drone, nor surveillance in my choice.

[43:31] And it drives me wild to say, well, I have nothing to hide when they're all over because

[43:37] this is the way it stands.

[43:38] There are plenty of us that would leave our phones home because we feel like.

[43:42] I mean, I know Jim DeSanis says he unbugs things that night.

[43:46] I mean, it's not uncommon for a person to make it a choice.

[43:50] No, I'm not going to use this device.

[43:53] And if they see a flag or different programs being used at their grocery store, they can choose

[43:59] to not shop there.

[44:01] But what we can't choose is when you put it up

[44:04] and let a sheriff drive it.

[44:06] And I'm not saying anything about them,

[44:08] but I'm saying there are good, there are bad,

[44:11] and the people need to come first,

[44:12] and that's why we have a constitution.

[44:16] So I wanted to say there is a way to beat these loopholes,

[44:21] there's loopholes with the system he is discussing.

[44:23] And the ones that they just fixed,

[44:24] I did bring them up at our public informational

[44:28] in French town. And I'm really sad because the people brought up these issues. And they were,

[44:35] I mean, they were hit down or they were said, I'll look at and see what my IT guy says. And others

[44:41] were, I have integrity. I would be the first to hold them responsible. And we're still not dealing

[44:47] with the loopholes here. If something is suspected, they can make it hold for a little while longer.

[44:55] And the way I see it, the way I see it, maybe this part might be wrong is...

[45:00] I could probably go to a factory that I don't like, or maybe I think something's going on there. I just saw a child go in there to hide. What's my rights? You know, I feel like there's loopholes that we do have. And that is why people should be listened to. First and foremost, it should be a stop when it's our constitution being called into play. And people deserve the choice to be watched or not. Thank you for your time.

[45:32] Good evening commission. My name is John Manor.

[45:35] I'm the supervisor for Monroe Charter Township.

[45:39] I represent approximately 15,000 residents in the county.

[45:43] We've heard some pretty impassioned please tonight.

[45:46] I think the discussion on both sides of this issue

[45:48] have been very strong and I think given

[45:51] with very well intending individuals.

[45:55] I said when I sat down, I felt like the things that needed

[45:59] to be said were being said.

[46:01] I just wish that we knew what the entire county

[46:04] of Monroe would like us to do.

[46:06] As a representative of the township,

[46:09] I would love to see this board consider a ballot-wide proposal

[46:13] that not only encompasses the flock systems,

[46:16] but also the incoming drone systems as well.

[46:19] I think by knowing what the county as a whole would like us to do,

[46:23] one, it helps us sleep better at night knowing

[46:25] that we actually fulfilled the will of the people

[46:28] and did what our voters wanted us to do

[46:30] in the residents of our community,

[46:31] and also that we didn't limit the scope of what we were looking at just to the folks who were able to come out tonight.

[46:38] So I would encourage the commission to consider this and

[46:42] prayerfully think about what you're doing tonight and if it makes more sense to move for a ballot proposal at the next vote,

[46:48] I think everybody gets a chance to say their piece.

[46:51] Thank you.

[47:00] Hello, my name is Haley, I'm a citizen of Monroe.

[47:04] A simple question I would like to ask everyone in this room.

[47:06] Would you like anybody, especially the United States federal government, to have video access

[47:12] watching your everyday life, habits, movements, and whereabouts?

[47:16] While flat cameras are being pitched as simple license plate readers, the reality is that

[47:21] these devices have the full capability to record and store unlimited data while using AI scanning

[47:26] to retract that information.

[47:28] This can and has already led to false alert police encounters, unlawful arrests, and camera

[47:35] misreads due to both AI and accuracy and human error.

[47:39] Not to mention, there have been at least 70 documented instances of police officials

[47:45] abusing this technology illegally nationwide.

[47:48] The company that owns Flock sells this data to local and federal agencies for profit while

[47:54] our privacy is exploited against our will.

[47:57] Flock camera contracts are being canceled throughout the country and over 200 cities thus far.

[48:02] I encourage every individual to form a coherent thought on black cameras and what they're really doing to benefit the community as a whole.

[48:10] There is no conclusive evidence that these devices have decreased crime rates in any form.

[48:16] You do not have to be a politician or a scholar to speak up, this involves you and everyone around you.

[48:23] Do not let people convince you that you do not have a voice, these are your rights being violated and your tax dollars are paying for this.

[48:29] take a stand and don't let mass surveillance take over our daily lives. Talk to

[48:33] friends, family, neighbors, and representatives about the dangers of ALPR

[48:38] monitoring. I propose Monroe County and their contract with Flock

[48:42] and turns the cameras off for good. Thank you.

[48:52] Hello, my name's Kyle. I'm a Monroe

[48:54] Charter Township resident. So it's cool that my representative was here. This

[48:59] affects all of us though. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. When

[49:04] When you put Mentos in a bottle of Coke, it starts to bubble up.

[49:07] When your government sells its citizens out to master valence in tech companies, the

[49:11] people get effervescent.

[49:13] Flock safety is building a warrantless tracking system that violates our rights and privacy.

[49:19] Our elected officials have allowed this to happen.

[49:22] Tonight, you all have the opportunity to do something about it.

[49:26] We live in a world where a billion-dollar high-tech artificial intelligence camera company has

[49:31] As convinced, our local elected officials to give them over half a million dollars in

[49:36] taxpayer money so far.

[49:38] And what sort of awesome perks do we get in exchange?

[49:42] An AI-powered surveillance state.

[49:44] Flux safety monitors, tracks, records, and categorizes everything it captures.

[49:51] It's AI-powered software packages that information into a program that they then sell to our government.

[49:56] and our law enforcement officials use these programs so far to yes find

[50:02] submissing people but also stock abuse and harass innocent members of the

[50:07] community. Unfortunately our leaders to this point have bought what flock is

[50:13] selling. When flock cameras record data must be stored somewhere. When an AI

[50:18] system is trained it must have access to data. Every action has an equal and

[50:23] opposite reaction. Has anyone wonder why data centers are invading our community?

[50:29] Is it for us? Or is it for companies like Flock's Axon and Palantir? When

[50:34] billion-dollar corporations want something, they find a way to get it. Flock AI and

[50:39] data centers are all connected and are a part of the same ecosystem being sold to

[50:43] our government, which is looting the taxpayer and subsidizing billionaires at the

[50:48] expense of our constitutional rights and freedom. This is especially concerning if

[50:53] If you want to live under a repressive government that every day violates the Constitution and

[50:57] Minister of National Law.

[50:58] When you put Mentos in a bottle of Coke and put the lid on, pressure builds.

[51:05] To stop the inevitable, you must remove the lid.

[51:09] And we are expressing to you tonight our feelings, this is the bubbling up.

[51:14] This is the pressure.

[51:16] And tonight, the Mentos are already in the Coke.

[51:20] The lit has already been screwed on and tonight you're voting on it whether or not you want to take the lit off

[51:24] To allow the pressure to settle and to give us a chance to go back to some semblance of normal

[51:32] That's your choice

[51:33] Every option has an equal and opposite reaction. Thank you

[51:40] Both yes on that thing is what I'm here for

[51:53] My name is Colt I am a resident of four years of Lucas County and I have worked here in Monroe County for only

[51:59] most as long. I come today to urge the board members and my fellow working class members

[52:05] alike to adopt and fully support the resolution of firming constitutional privacy and terminating

[52:11] the use of flock safety cameras and similar mass vehicle surveillance technology.

[52:16] For anyone unaware, there has been an extensive public discourse on the installation of flock

[52:21] cameras, specifically on La Pleasant's road and in other high traffic areas that bring

[52:25] this city and the rest of the county, a lot of business, that is essential for local success.

[52:30] There are many people who are no longer willing to travel to the Pleasants Road,

[52:34] in other popular commercial areas in Monroe, due to the growing presence of flock in the county

[52:39] and growing public awareness of the potential privacy violations they bring.

[52:44] In my own city, Toledo, our county commissioner Pete Girkin has called for a pause and audit of

[52:50] the Lucas County systems for after routine audit brought to light over 900,000 searches

[52:56] of our local flock database from June 20th, 2026 to July 20th, 2026, spanning 3,200

[53:04] outside law enforcement agencies, over 90,000 of which came from Texas, with 71,000 from

[53:10] Houston County, 10,000 from Harris County, and 13,000 from Texas DPS alone.

[53:16] Shortly after Pete Girkens announcement, the Sheriff's Office offered a band-aid solution

[53:22] claiming to implement a policy and procedure that would have stricter processes for allowing

[53:27] Lucas County police officers to access their systems and claim that they will now have a manual

[53:32] approval process for the nearly one million a month outside requests that they receive.

[53:38] With 188 incidents reported through the Institute of Justice's database for ALPR abuse and

[53:44] In just 55 of those cases being stalking cases, ending in officers being fired or charged.

[53:51] These are just the cases where the abuse was discovered and the perpetrators recommended.

[53:56] There are sure to be more cases currently under investigation and countless more that haven't been discovered yet.

[54:02] As of yet, there are no reported cases of abuse in Michigan and one case from Ohio in early 2026.

[54:09] Do not allow for this community to vault victim to these abuses.

[54:12] do not allow for half-baked fixes to very serious security and privacy concerns to be the only way that this community can stop privately owned surveillance from spying on every person who lives here, wants to shop or visit this beautiful county.

[54:28] Instead adopt a resolution and protect the constitutional right to privacy.

[54:32] Thank you very much.

[54:40] Susan again, I thought of a few more things I thought I would just real quick get up here that I'm hearing that I think our understood us want to kind of state obvious.

[54:50] As tempting as it is, we just have to be careful we don't make this decision with our emotion of fear.

[54:56] After 9-11 we adopted that Patriot Act out of fear and at the time it seemed to make sense it made us feel safer.

[55:05] But it is drastically expanded since then, right?

[55:09] And if the ratchet only goes one way, look at during COVID,

[55:14] we had this incredible fear about a virus,

[55:17] and we ended up with police officers arresting people

[55:20] at the beach in some cases.

[55:22] We had schools shutting down.

[55:24] We had OSHA weaponized threatening people

[55:26] to lose their jobs if they didn't comply.

[55:29] So we know government can drastically overstep its power.

[55:34] or even when it's with good intentions, but it's done out of fear, and we just have to

[55:38] be careful of that.

[55:40] After World War II, I was just reading a case for 30 years, apparently, our government

[55:44] was spying on our communications, and we didn't even know about it.

[55:48] It was finally stopped in the 60s.

[55:51] I'm sure this is beyond America, right?

[55:54] Through all of human history, government has tried to do that.

[55:57] So we just have to be careful.

[55:58] I urge all of you to accept this resolution.

[56:01] I know, on some cases, this system is going to make us safer and make our jobs easier, but we can't let that tip the whole...

[56:11] We can't let that put us in a position where we just continue to tear apart and chip away at our constitutional rights.

[56:20] I don't really think any of you have the authority to do this anyways, but even if you think you did, I still urge you to accept this resolution and make sure it goes away.

[56:29] So that's all I say. Thanks.

[56:37] Good evening commissioners. My name is David Udbridge and I live in the city of Monroe and in district six of the county.

[56:45] I'm here on behalf of myself. I'm not taking sides with anybody in the audience or haven't been asked to say anything by anybody in the audience.

[56:53] I'm just a simple man with a simple story.

[56:59] on April 21st of this year, I stood right here to thank the commissioners for passing a resolution naming May 10th through 16th, 20th, 20th, 26th as police week in Monroe County.

[57:14] And your show of support for the men and women of law enforcement in Monroe County who courageously show up every day, not knowing whether they'll go home to their loved ones at the end of their shift was inspiring.

[57:25] in, greatly appreciated. Now, I'm standing in the same place to call into question the

[57:33] genuineness of your support for law enforcement in our county. As you consider this resolution

[57:38] to ban the use of automated license plate reader technology in our county, you're citing

[57:44] without any supporting evidence, constitutional privacy concerns, surveillance overreach,

[57:50] data retention risks. So let's talk about the privacy concerns. License plates are

[57:57] legally exposed on public roadways, meaning there is no constitutional expectation of privacy

[58:05] regarding their visibility. Automated license plate reader technology strictly captures vehicles

[58:13] and their license plates rather than individual or facial features serving as an objective

[58:20] digital witness without invading personal privacy.

[58:24] As far as surveillance overreach, law enforcement officers cannot browse the data freely and must

[58:31] input a specific documented case number to run a search and the case is cited tonight

[58:38] from outside our area of law enforcement officers have abused the system only

[58:45] served to prove that when they do they're caught, they're disciplined, and in many

[58:51] cases they're prosecuted for that. When we believe that flock cameras are

[58:59] tracking citizens, the system remains passive until it's triggered by a vehicle

[59:07] will explicitly listed on a national or local hot list, such as a stolen car, a vehicle

[59:13] identified in connection with a particular crime, a vehicle tied to an amber alert, and

[59:18] contrary to the internet conspiracy theorists, these cameras do not issue red light tickets,

[59:24] and they do not issue speeding tickets.

[59:28] As far as data retention is concerned, all the captured data is protected by strict encryption,

[59:33] and a standard contract with FLOC calls for the automatic deletion of data on a rolling

[59:39] seven-day window recently reduced from 30 days unless flagged as evidence for an active

[59:47] investigation.

[59:48] However here in Monroe County, the sheriff had already modified this contract with FLOC to

[59:54] shorten that data retention window to seven days rather than 30.

[59:57] Now this shorter time

[1:00:00] Line ensures the majority of data is permanently erased from the secure cloud network, minimizing

[1:00:06] security vulnerabilities and opportunities for misuse, along with other strict security

[1:00:13] measures that have been adopted. I could go on, but let me simply conclude with this.

[1:00:20] You purport to support law enforcement. Yet you clandestinely created this ill-advised and

[1:00:27] court cited resolution without ever consulting the chief law enforcement officer of the county

[1:00:35] prior to announcing that this resolution was being considered on tonight's agenda.

[1:00:39] You have absolutely no evidence of abuse of the system within Monroe County, and

[1:00:44] you have no knowledge of the very specific cases which have been effectively and

[1:00:48] efficiently solved with the use of this technology in Monroe County.

[1:00:53] I understand that for some of you your mind is already made up and you just don't want

[1:00:58] to be confused by the facts.

[1:01:01] I would urge you to put your ego aside and do some actual fact finding, which I am confident

[1:01:08] would lead you to more informed, reasonable, and sustainable position on this matter.

[1:01:16] And as a final statement, I would just like to concur with what Mr. Manner said that this

[1:01:22] should be something that if a decision is going to be made,

[1:01:25] should be made by the people of Monroe County.

[1:01:29] Thank you.

[1:01:39] Well, good evening.

[1:01:40] My name is Pamela Hess and I'm coming to you

[1:01:41] from Beautiful Temperance, Michigan.

[1:01:44] I actually do have some data to offset

[1:01:47] the last speaker's information.

[1:01:52] Sorry, I like data and I have a feeling that

[1:01:55] a lot of people in this room here like data as well.

[1:01:58] There was a case recently in Fluegerville, Texas, and if you decide to look it up, it begins

[1:02:05] with a P, it's a silent P. This town had flat cameras and ALRPs in their town. They gave,

[1:02:15] let's see, they gave, I believe, 83 agencies access to their flat camera information and their data.

[1:02:24] What ended up happening was there were 459 outside law enforcement agencies that were able to access this data.

[1:02:34] It was shown that 1.6 million searches were made in this data system from those outside agencies.

[1:02:44] 5,078 searches were from the authorized sources for that data.

[1:02:56] So to me, that says way more people have access to the residents of Fluegerville, Texas's data than should be allowed.

[1:03:10] that is just one case, that is just one city.

[1:03:13] However, until we get all of the great areas finalized

[1:03:17] and legally set, we should be rejecting

[1:03:23] flat cameras and ALRPs in our town.

[1:03:28] I have a little bit more data.

[1:03:32] It's a little bit more closer to home.

[1:03:35] According to publicly available data,

[1:03:37] the Monroe County Sheriff's Office conducted 10,849 searches of flock cameras in the last three years.

[1:03:45] 75% of those searches are redacted. In fact, Monroe County Sheriff's Office has conducted nearly

[1:03:53] 4,000 searches since December of 2025. All of these records, all of them are redacted. As of December

[1:04:03] For 2025, FLOx systems now hide or redact users and the reason for search by default.

[1:04:11] Monroe County does have a policy for conducting audits of FLOx searches.

[1:04:16] Once a year, someone in the department will review a minimum of 10 random searches.

[1:04:22] that is a quarter of 1% of the 10,000 that have been done.

[1:04:35] In none of the annual reports are any of the audits discussed or released.

[1:04:40] For reference, here are some of the reason for search listed by various members

[1:04:46] of our Sheriff's Department.

[1:04:48] L-I-B or Lib, take that as you want.

[1:04:53] T-E-F-T-W-A-N-T, image download,

[1:04:58] Suss, P-O-I, suspicious, S, and T-S.

[1:05:05] You'll notice that none of these are actual crimes.

[1:05:09] Last Wednesday, August 26th, Senator Josh Holly

[1:05:12] from Missouri launched an investigation into flock

[1:05:14] and as practices. I urge this board to wait to make any changes until after that

[1:05:19] investigation is complete. I urge all of the commissioners to cancel all future

[1:05:24] contracts with any companies or services that conduct automated surveillance to

[1:05:29] remove all ALPRs and to resist state sponsored surveillance. If you choose to

[1:05:37] continue contracting with these companies and services, I implore you to use all

[1:05:42] your authority possible to regulate the use of these surveillance services and to force a

[1:05:47] permanent retention of officer use records, publicly share Monroe County Sheriff's Office,

[1:05:53] flock audits and audit flock practices and use at least once every quarter so that government

[1:05:59] agencies, law enforcement and residents have a way to hold our officials accountable.

[1:06:04] Lastly, I would just like to say thank you to the Democratic candidates running for office that

[1:06:10] attended Bedford individuals, community picnic last weekend, we were able to feed 55 families

[1:06:16] and donated a ton of non-perishable goods to local food banks. Thank you for your time.

[1:06:31] Are there any other citizens who wish to make public comments?

[1:06:38] Hearing that there are none, we have one final request. This was an email that was sent to

[1:06:44] all nine board members and the person by email requested it be read into the record. So I'm

[1:06:50] I'm going to ask our great-smiles to move it into the record.

[1:06:55] Dear Chairman Venzel, Vice Chairman Lamor, and members of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners.

[1:07:00] I write in strong support of the proposed resolution of firming constitutional privacy and

[1:07:04] terminating use of Fox 80 cameras in similar mass vehicle surveillance technology.

[1:07:09] I offer this support from my perspective as a criminologist, educator, researcher, and

[1:07:14] long-time advocate for evidence-based criminal justice policy.

[1:07:17] The central question before the board is not whether technology can make some law enforcement tasks easier.

[1:07:24] Flock safety cameras and other automated license plate readers systems unquestionably can scan large numbers of license plates,

[1:07:31] identify vehicles appearing on hot list and provide investigative leads.

[1:07:35] The more important public policy question is whether creating a persistent surveillance infrastructure

[1:07:39] that records the movements of thousands of people who are not suspected of criminal activity,

[1:07:44] produces sufficient public safety benefits to justify its fiscal, constitutional, and social costs.

[1:07:50] The available criminological evidence does not establish that broad ALPR deployment produces

[1:07:57] the kind of substantial generalized crime reduction that would justify this level of surveillance.

[1:08:02] Research funded by the National Institute of Justice has demonstrated that license plate readers

[1:08:07] can substantially increase the number of license plates checked and can improve the identification

[1:08:12] and recovery of stolen vehicles.

[1:08:14] Tailor, copper, and woods from 2011.

[1:08:17] For example, found sustainability,

[1:08:19] more plates scanned, hitch-generated,

[1:08:21] and stolen vehicles recovering through LPR use.

[1:08:24] Those findings demonstrate a specific investigative capability,

[1:08:28] but they should not be confused with evidence

[1:08:29] that mass vehicle surveillance, meaningfully,

[1:08:31] reduces overall crime.

[1:08:34] Other experimental research provides reason for caution.

[1:08:37] LUM, Hibden, Cave, Copper, and Marola from 2011,

[1:08:41] experimentally evaluated LPR equipped patrols in crime hotspots.

[1:08:46] More recent research examining weather license plate readers enhanced the deterrent

[1:08:50] effects of police patrol similarly found that although LPR used increased stolen vehicle

[1:08:55] recoveries, it did not increase arrests and did not produce measurable improvements in

[1:08:59] either the immediate or residual deterrent effects of police patrol.

[1:09:03] Researchers concluded that there was little evidence supporting the general crime prevention

[1:09:07] efficiency of LPR equipped patrol,

[1:09:09] Cooper at all 2022.

[1:09:12] That distinction matters enormously for Monroe County.

[1:09:16] Technology can make a particular investigative activity faster without

[1:09:19] meaningfully increasing the overall capacity of law enforcement to prevent crime,

[1:09:23] solve serious offenses, build community trust, or improve public safety.

[1:09:27] Evidence-based policing requires us to distinguish technological capability

[1:09:31] from demonstrated public safety effectiveness.

[1:09:33] The federal government's own research has expressed similar caution.

[1:09:38] The US Government Accountability Office reported in 2025 that while technologies such as automated

[1:09:43] license plate readers may provide benefits, assessments of those benefits can be difficult

[1:09:47] and the technologies can impose substantial, financial, privacy and civil liberty costs.

[1:09:53] The GAO has separately documented that federal law enforcement agencies obtain access to third

[1:10:03] and identified deficiencies in privacy and bias

[1:10:06] protecting surrounding public space surveillance technologies.

[1:10:10] These concerns become particularly significant

[1:10:12] when a local camera is no longer merely a local camera.

[1:10:15] An interconnected ALPR network potentially transforms

[1:10:18] an observation made on a public road

[1:10:20] into a searchable historical record.

[1:10:23] The proposed resolution correctly identifies this distinction.

[1:10:26] The constitutional concern is not simply

[1:10:28] what one camera observes at one moment,

[1:10:31] but what a network of cameras and databases

[1:10:32] cases can reconstruct about an individual movements across time and jurisdictions.

[1:10:37] As a criminologist, I believe this represents fundamentally a different form of government

[1:10:41] power than traditional observation by an officer on patrol.

[1:10:45] The Fourth Amendment was designed to place limits on government surveillance and investigate

[1:10:49] authority.

[1:10:50] Although the United States Supreme Court has not ruled that every ALPR scan constitutes a

[1:10:54] Fourth Amendment search, its reasoning and carper be United States 585 from 2018 should

[1:11:00] give policy makers significant reason for caution. A carpenter, the court recognized that

[1:11:05] aggregated digital location information can reveal an extraordinarily detailed record

[1:11:09] of a person's movements in private life. That principle has direct relevance to the

[1:11:14] policy question before this board. Driving on a public road should not automatically mean

[1:11:18] consenting to the creation of a government searchable history of once movements. A vehicle

[1:11:23] location database can potentially reveal visits to a physician, substance use treatment

[1:11:27] provider, attorney, church, political meeting, labor organization, domestic violence shelter,

[1:11:33] mental health provider, fire arm retailer, protest, or the home of a friend or an intimate partner.

[1:11:39] The Monroe County Resolution specifically recognizes the potential for location histories

[1:11:43] to expose visits to houses of worship, political gatherings, medical facilities,

[1:11:48] leo offices, schools, shelters, and private residences.

[1:11:52] These are not abstract privacy concerns. Surveillance can alter behavior even when no

[1:11:56] or rest occur. People who reasonably believe government systems can reconstruct where they travel,

[1:12:01] whom they associate with, and work for organizations they visit, may change lawful behavior.

[1:12:06] This creates implications extending beyond the Fourth Amendment to freedom of association,

[1:12:11] expression, movement, and other fundamental civil liberties. There is also an important problem

[1:12:16] with automation bias. Technology carries an aura of neutrality and precision that can cause human

[1:12:21] decision-makers to give automated results greater evidentiary weight than they deserve.

[1:12:27] An ALPR alert is an investigative lead.

[1:12:30] It is not proof that the driver is the registered owner, and the plate was read correctly,

[1:12:33] the database information remains current, or that the person operating the vehicle committed an offense.

[1:12:38] The proposed resolution appropriately recognizes the distinction and

[1:12:41] the danger of escalation when automatic information is accepted without adequate independent verification.

[1:12:47] This is particularly important because the consequences of technological errors in policing are not merely administrative.

[1:12:54] A false or outdated alert can initiate a vehicle stop, detention, search, arrest, or high-risk encounter.

[1:13:01] The cost of these errors are borne by citizens.

[1:13:03] The policy question therefore becomes one of proportionality.

[1:13:07] Effecting policing does not require collecting as much information as technologically possible.

[1:13:12] Effective policing requires deploying limited public resources towards strategies supported by evidence focused on identifiable public safety problems constrained by constitutional principles and accompanied by meaningful public accountability.

[1:13:25] I also reject the premise that opposing mass surveillance technology is somehow anti-law enforcement.

[1:13:30] It is precisely because law enforcement performs such an important governmental function that policy technology should be held to be rigorous evidentiary in constitutional standards.

[1:13:40] Every dollar invested in broad surveillance infrastructure is a dollar that cannot simultaneously be invested in investigators, training, community policing, victim services, violence prevention strategy, behavior health partnerships, forensic capacity, personnel, and other interventions that may provide more direct benefits to the Monroe County residents.

[1:13:58] Police legitimacy is itself a public safety resource.

[1:14:02] While citizens believe police authority is exercised fairly,

[1:14:05] transparently and within recognizable limits,

[1:14:08] cooperation and institutional legitimacy are strengthened.

[1:14:11] Conversely, technologies perceived as indiscriminative surveillance

[1:14:14] can undermine the trust upon which effective policing depends.

[1:14:18] For these reasons, I strongly support the resolution's requirement

[1:14:21] that any future proposal involving systematic tracking undergo

[1:14:24] advance public review, a privacy and civil liberties assessment,

[1:14:28] independent examination of accuracy, disclosure of retention, and data sharing practices,

[1:14:33] fiscal analysis, and public comment.

[1:14:35] That is reasonable governments, governance.

[1:14:38] Monroe County does not have to wait for a constitutional violation, major data breach,

[1:14:42] wrongful detention, misuse of surveillance information, or costly litigation before deciding

[1:14:47] where its boundaries should be.

[1:14:48] Local governments possess both the authority and the responsibility to establish standards

[1:14:52] that protect residents before harm occurs.

[1:14:54] The resolution before you recognizes something fundamental about democratic policing.

[1:15:00] Public safety and constitutional liberty are complementary obligations, not competing ones. I therefore respectfully urge

[1:15:06] commissioners Hoffman, Asperr, Heineziling, Lamor, Venzel, Swardout, Moore, and Leavins to vote yes on the proposed

[1:15:11] resolution and establishment of county as a jurisdiction committed to evidence-based policing, viscous

[1:15:16] responsibility, constitutional restraint, transparency, and the protection of individual liberty.

[1:15:22] Technology should serve democratic institutions, democratic institutions to never reorganize their

[1:15:27] of principles around the capabilities of technology.

[1:15:29] Affiliation disclaimer.

[1:15:31] I am a faculty member at the University of Michigan.

[1:15:34] However, I submit this letter solely in my individual capacity

[1:15:36] as a criminologist and private citizen.

[1:15:39] The views and opinions expressed herein are up my own

[1:15:41] and do not represent, reflect, or imply

[1:15:43] the official position, policy, or endorsement

[1:15:45] of the University of Michigan

[1:15:47] or any of its schools, departments, or units.

[1:15:49] Respectfully, Dr. Aaron T. Kenville, criminologist,

[1:15:52] resident of Monroe County, Michigan.

[1:16:07] Good evening to the board, people of Monroe County and beyond.

[1:16:11] My name is Kurt Smith, a citizen and resident of Monroe County, more specifically Berlin Township.

[1:16:17] I come before you all to voice my very strong opposition to Fulhawk,

[1:16:20] Endrone, and ALPR technology.

[1:16:24] And I wholeheartedly believe that we're at a crossroads with our society.

[1:16:28] On the one path, we can become more authoritarian with AI-assisted states and surveillance,

[1:16:34] and for saking nature with heavy industrialization by also AI,

[1:16:41] hyperscale data centers for just one example.

[1:16:45] And on the other path, we become the caretakers of both nature and our communities,

[1:16:50] where we come together to truly help those that really need it and each other.

[1:16:55] We sparking that lost Mayberry effect that seems that has been lost so long ago.

[1:17:01] And where we work in harmony with nature rather than against her.

[1:17:05] I'm urging the board to listen to your people.

[1:17:07] We do not want this and we don't need this.

[1:17:10] And make no mistake that they are connected between the data centers and

[1:17:14] the AI and these flock and drone technologies and license plate reading technologies.

[1:17:21] Thank you for your time and I hope you all have a great rest of your night.

[1:17:33] My name's Rebecca Johnson, I'm from French Town Township.

[1:17:36] I don't have a prepared statement.

[1:17:38] I just found out about this meeting a couple hours ago,

[1:17:40] but I definitely couldn't say that I'm against,

[1:17:44] or I'm for this proposal as eloquently

[1:17:46] as the ones before me have said it.

[1:17:49] What I like to say is that something I've observed

[1:17:51] is that this is a very eclectic group.

[1:17:54] We have a bipartisan group saying that we are all against this

[1:17:58] and it is 2026 and we can't agree on anything,

[1:18:01] but we can all agree that we do not want to talk.

[1:18:03] So please, this is what you're supposed to do.

[1:18:07] Hello,

[1:18:14] my name is Cody Crutchfield,

[1:18:15] resident of French Town, Township.

[1:18:17] See, like the last person, I don't believe

[1:18:19] that I can speak as eloquently as others,

[1:18:21] or give as many informational factoids.

[1:18:24] But I do want to say that I am in favor of transparency

[1:18:27] when it comes to policing.

[1:18:28] I'm afraid that existences of technologies

[1:18:31] like these raise too many memories

[1:18:33] of phone tapping the 1950s and McCarthyism,

[1:18:36] or what's in my own living memory,

[1:18:39] the Patriot Act, and sacrificing freedoms for security.

[1:18:44] I'm afraid that I do not believe it's worth it,

[1:18:47] and let alone, I believe that the main issue here is of trust,

[1:18:51] trust in policing and trust in government.

[1:18:53] As many people have pointed out before,

[1:18:55] this technology has already been abused,

[1:18:57] and that simply shows the flaws in the regulations and systems

[1:19:00] already at hand that leaves me and many others believing

[1:19:03] believing that this technology cannot be trusted in the hands of anyone at this time.

[1:19:08] Until such measures are put in place until people can't abuse this technology to stalk

[1:19:14] people or ask anyone, I don't believe that anyone can be trusted with it.

[1:19:19] And see, I believe that that is something that people should remember, because allowing

[1:19:23] these technologies to remain in place is going to cost people the public trust, is going

[1:19:28] to cause votes to people in power, is going to cost people their own sense of security because

[1:19:33] I was paradoxically, knowing that you're watched

[1:19:35] can make you feel very insecure.

[1:19:39] I believe that everyone here's already made their point

[1:19:42] and I believe that everyone should continue

[1:19:44] to remember the other words at night.

[1:19:46] Thank you.

[1:19:55] Hello, my name's Franklin Brooks.

[1:19:56] I'm a resident of Monroe County.

[1:19:58] I don't have a prepared speech either,

[1:20:00] but I just wanna touch on a few things

[1:20:02] that I don't think others have.

[1:20:05] There's a lot of cities around the country

[1:20:06] that are pulling their contracts with flock

[1:20:09] because of the concerns and the abuses.

[1:20:13] And even then that they're having issues,

[1:20:16] guaranteeing that the data is actually deleted,

[1:20:19] that the promises are being kept.

[1:20:25] And that you're giving,

[1:20:26] you're being given an opportunity

[1:20:27] to get ahead of the curve,

[1:20:29] to prevent potential backlashes, lawsuits.

[1:20:36] God forbid someone being killed

[1:20:38] by a mistaken error by the flat cameras and being held at gunpoint so I hope

[1:20:46] that you take that into consideration and what else?

[1:20:57] What's about it?

[1:21:00] Thank you.

[1:21:08] Are there any other citizens who wish to address the board?

[1:21:11] Sure.

[1:21:17] I've listened tonight to everybody's concerns and I understand where

[1:21:21] they're coming from? They probably have some facts that are correct, but here's the fact,

[1:21:27] I think this board should form a committee with the law enforcement in the county and with

[1:21:34] the group of citizens and put it on a ballot for every one of your constituents to vote on before

[1:21:42] you make a decision tonight. We talk about constitutional rights. We should put, I haven't seen anything

[1:21:48] it in the news about this proposed resolution. So most of the citizens in the rural county

[1:21:56] doesn't even know it exists. So I'd put, I just asked the board to put it out there

[1:22:01] for the citizens to vote on. I understand everybody's concerned. I really do, but it should

[1:22:07] be a vote by the county, okay, not just the people that were here tonight to try and influence

[1:22:14] you. You guys represent the whole county, okay? And just ask them just to put it to a vote,

[1:22:20] put it on a ballot. That's the constitutional thing to do. Thanks.

[1:22:33] Hello, my name is Caleb,

[1:22:34] I'm a resident of Murrow County. And on the way to work, I saw something curious the other day.

[1:22:41] I saw a surveillance camera pointed at the front of my car. Now, I don't have a front license

[1:22:47] and it's played, I just have one in the back.

[1:22:49] So I got a little curious about two things.

[1:22:53] A, how many cameras recorded my movements every time I went

[1:22:56] through the town that I live in, Monroe, Born and Raced,

[1:22:59] as well as why they would be looking at my car

[1:23:02] from certain angles.

[1:23:04] So I did a little research and I found that there were five

[1:23:07] flock cameras on my way to work on either of the routes

[1:23:10] that I would go.

[1:23:11] That's five different independent cameras on my way to work.

[1:23:14] work. And this was a little confusing as was a little upsetting. And then I did a little

[1:23:19] more research and I found that there were actually over 50,000 cameras proposed or created

[1:23:25] by Flock and distributed across the country. In the past, this board has emphasized the importance

[1:23:31] of local control about the things that we do pertaining to us here. So what I want to understand

[1:23:38] How can the integrity of this board withstand the idea of leaving these cameras up as they are constantly currently violating the rights of privacy and liberty of the citizens of the county, as well as the people who pass through the county who don't even live here?

[1:23:55] 50,000 cameras, that's not local control.

[1:23:58] That's someone purchasing a stake in the privacy of the American people.

[1:24:02] I think that's disgusting. I think it's horrifying. I think the things that these technologies

[1:24:08] are enabling are a fundamental violation of the rights of us as living, breathing, free

[1:24:14] American citizens. I think the idea that we should wait and see and make sure that these

[1:24:22] rights get a little bit easier in their violations, that the violence inflicted upon us as American

[1:24:28] citizens upon the sole of our country as we sink further in furler into a

[1:24:32] surveillance state. While these companies look us in the eye and tell us that

[1:24:35] everything will be okay, you can trust me. As they sell our data, as they

[1:24:40] purline the pockets of the American people, I think these are abominations against

[1:24:46] America. On a fundamental level, I think this technology is unpatriotic, it

[1:24:50] violates our rights, it violates our integrity. We should have never have put

[1:24:55] these cameras up in the first place, honestly. This shouldn't have never been a discussion

[1:24:59] that all these people would have to show up for and have. But here we are. Unfortunately,

[1:25:07] the good news is it is never too late to be on the right side of history. Stand for the

[1:25:13] tenants of local control that this board has proposed in the past, stand for the integrity

[1:25:17] of this board to protect the rights of the citizens of the county, and just do the right

[1:25:22] God damn thing.

[1:25:34] My name is Joe Stasek. I am a neurocanny resident from Ida. And I just thought

[1:25:43] of something when I was listening to this gentleman's response, suggesting putting this

[1:25:51] to a vote. If we were to do that, it would leave the cameras in place for a longer until

[1:25:59] a vote could be organized, but also I believe that what a lot of people forget is that we

[1:26:07] were not created as a nation to be a democracy.

[1:26:11] We were created to be a republic, which means that we elect representatives to represent

[1:26:20] us, but also to protect us from majority rule becoming a mob.

[1:26:29] But it's meant to temper our impulses so

[1:26:36] that we can make wise decisions.

[1:26:41] I believe that these cameras are a massive invasion of the system that we put in place

[1:26:49] to protect our rights and our privacy.

[1:26:54] The system that was outlined in the Constitution, that was passed not with just a simple majority,

[1:26:59] But with an overwhelming support, over a long period of time,

[1:27:08] he's do the right thing.

[1:27:10] Thank you.

[1:27:20] Okay, I think we're going to, okay.

[1:27:29] Sam from Monroe, I'd like to be at home watching TV right now.

[1:27:39] Don't violate our constitutional rights, get rid of the flock.

[1:27:46] Thank you.

[1:27:46] Okay,

[1:27:56] I think we'll now move into resolution special tributes and presentation.

[1:28:01] Item number one is the resolution of firming constitutional privacy and

[1:28:05] terminating use of flock safety cameras and similar mass vehicle surveillance technology.

[1:28:10] Could I get a motion, please move by Leavins.

[1:28:13] Supported by Heinzeling, are there comments or questions on the motion?

[1:28:18] Commissioner Asperer.

[1:28:19] Yes, I think I would like to mention something before we vote on this.

[1:28:23] Because it sounded like a couple people came up thinking that we actually voted to have

[1:28:28] these flat cameras in the first place.

[1:28:31] That's not how this worked.

[1:28:34] There are budgets that we vote on.

[1:28:36] There were no flat cameras on a light item or anything like that that we had approved

[1:28:40] or anything.

[1:28:41] It became, we became aware of it a few weeks ago.

[1:28:45] And so since I had been doing some research on data centers and also on stingrays, you might

[1:28:51] want to look that one up. That's where they connect up to your phone. So there are a lot of

[1:28:57] things out there. So as a matter of fact, when Commissioner Moore and I first came on the board

[1:29:03] 10 years ago, one of our things was to keep it constitutional and to not throw your money down a black

[1:29:09] hole. In this instance, I think it's important that it was mentioned about possibly putting it to

[1:29:18] vote of the whole county. But the problem is, as he said, we are republic. We do not vote

[1:29:26] on whether we're going to follow the Constitution or not. And so since I follow the Constitution,

[1:29:32] I made an oath to that. I cannot just let that go on. So we have to have a vote tonight.

[1:29:40] So I'm just hoping that that will persuade some people that it's not a vote of the county.

[1:29:44] and you don't vote on what's constitutional or not constitutional.

[1:29:48] I think it's important too.

[1:29:49] We talked about minority report.

[1:29:51] You can watch mercy.

[1:29:53] You can see where these things go.

[1:29:55] And it's not because we don't like our sheriff.

[1:29:58] We've got a really safe county.

[1:30:00] Compared to the rest of the state of Michigan, we are doing very awesome for many of the things that he has done. So this is just a matter of just being constitutional. But I just wanted to clarify that because several people made it sound like we voted on these black cameras and just decided we were going to do it. And it was not that was not it as soon as we understood how many we had. We thought we had one on one corner because there was a bad intersection.

[1:30:29] and it turned out to be 26th and it turned out to be 40 and so that's how, you know, we acted on it right away.

[1:30:37] It wasn't a matter of saying, oh, let's wait and let everybody read about it and do all of this.

[1:30:42] We felt like it needed, you know, it needed to be worked on right away.

[1:30:46] And considering that Commissioner Levens is an attorney, that was the person who stepped up to do that.

[1:30:53] So just so you understand the background of it.

[1:30:55] Mr. Swardow.

[1:30:58] Mr. Swardow?

[1:31:00] Yeah, I got a few comments, but I'd like for the sheriff to come up and address some things that were said.

[1:31:05] If that would be possible, too.

[1:31:08] I appreciate everybody coming with comments tonight.

[1:31:11] I spent a month talking to several hundred people, most of which want these cameras.

[1:31:17] So I have an obligation to bring that up, too.

[1:31:20] Okay.

[1:31:21] I got calls from Raisinville, Bedford, Monroe, the South, French town township, City, Monroe.

[1:31:26] How come this didn't come up at our municipalities, when we voted to do these things, the county commissioners didn't do it.

[1:31:34] Just like Don said, we didn't put these cameras up there.

[1:31:38] They were done at a local level.

[1:31:40] And to go to the next step if this resolution passes, we have no enforcement authority with those municipalities.

[1:31:47] And I believe that our legal counsel could tell you that.

[1:31:54] Any other comments or questions from commissioners?

[1:32:02] I have a difficult decision to make tonight and it basically falls back in the fact that I have two sons there in law enforcement.

[1:32:11] And my number one thing for me to do is to follow the oath that I took when I became a county commissioner.

[1:32:18] And that's to follow the Constitution and make sure people's rights aren't violated.

[1:32:23] So it's difficult for me because I know I'm taking a tool out of the tool chest for my two boys to do their job.

[1:32:31] And I know that they do it well.

[1:32:34] And it's unfortunate that the few make it horrible for the rest.

[1:32:43] So I just want to let you know I'm going to follow my oath and do what I feel is

[1:32:50] constitutionally right for all the constituents of Monroe County and I think

[1:32:56] that's the right thing to do unfortunately there's there's going to be a lot of

[1:33:00] bad things happening because these cameras aren't connected but like they say

[1:33:06] freedom isn't free you have to fight for it and and this is where we are doing it

[1:33:11] right here,

[1:33:16] Commissioner Benicke.

[1:33:19] I think, unfortunately, for all of us, technology is all based legislation.

[1:33:25] I think there's legislation and

[1:33:27] lancing coming to address this problem.

[1:33:30] I think whatever the vote is this evening amongst us commissioners,

[1:33:34] I would really like to revisit this in six months to see what progress has been made in the legislative field,

[1:33:41] and what progress has been made with the technology.

[1:33:44] so we can stay abreast of this and not just let it make one vote and that'll be it.

[1:33:50] I want to revisit this in six months despite whatever the vote is tonight.

[1:33:56] Other comments?

[1:33:58] Um, so go ahead.

[1:34:00] No, I was just going to say we're going to ask the sheriff to come up.

[1:34:05] Sheriff, it's up to you.

[1:34:17] Mr. Smith, thank you for the opportunity.

[1:34:22] I do, I heard what everybody said and I value everybody's comments.

[1:34:27] a lot of them, great comments, great concerns.

[1:34:31] As the chief law enforcement officer of this county,

[1:34:34] I'm tasked with a number of things.

[1:34:38] One, in first and foremost,

[1:34:39] is respecting the Constitution of the United States,

[1:34:42] the Constitution of the State of Michigan.

[1:34:45] I also have to balance public safety

[1:34:49] and that's without question.

[1:34:52] There's a lot of court law cases

[1:34:55] is that dictate what I as the elected sheriff have the authority to do and not do.

[1:35:01] And as I said, I welcomed everybody's comments.

[1:35:04] I've heard them.

[1:35:05] A number of them I agree with.

[1:35:11] You've heard it from commissioners and I do value a number of comments that were made that

[1:35:16] people trust me.

[1:35:17] They just don't know who's going to replace me.

[1:35:18] I can't answer that question.

[1:35:21] And I appreciate the confidence that they've instilled in me.

[1:35:27] So, that's right, it's a tool and I think Commissioner Lamore said that.

[1:35:36] It's a tool for our toolbox.

[1:35:39] Does it make our operation run more efficiently?

[1:35:43] Absolutely, absolutely.

[1:35:48] Do we have to balance the constitutional rights of our citizens in the speed in which we solve

[1:35:54] cases?

[1:35:55] Absolutely.

[1:35:56] When I was contacted by flock with the changes in policy, I didn't wait.

[1:36:04] I immediately met with our team at the Sheriff's Office, our detectives who utilize this information, this device, this tool, frequently.

[1:36:14] And I said going from 30 to 7 days, they said Sheriff, most generally, within 48 hours, we're using flock to solve crime.

[1:36:25] Therefore, I adopted all the recommendations made by Flock.

[1:36:30] I also, and there's been comments I made tonight about security.

[1:36:36] Anything that has a human fling or print on is vulnerable, anything, and I'm not here

[1:36:41] to tell you it's not.

[1:36:43] But I contacted our IT director who in my humble opinions are probably the best in this country.

[1:36:49] and

[1:36:52] I said, tell me about the security vulnerability of flock.

[1:36:57] And he said, Sheriff Michigan does not have any parameters.

[1:37:01] Texas has the highest security methods or I'm sorry,

[1:37:06] security, security measures in place and flock adopts Texas guidelines.

[1:37:12] I took that information and I felt comfortable.

[1:37:15] But I'm not saying it can't be hacked.

[1:37:18] As I said, anything that has a human foot fingerprint on is vulnerable.

[1:37:24] So with that, I just, Mr. Chairman, commissioners, I wanted to say that, and I know Commissioner

[1:37:28] Swartout, I'm more than happy to address any questions that you have.

[1:37:33] Any questions for Sheriff?

[1:37:35] Good enough.

[1:37:36] You've answered my questions, thank you.

[1:37:39] And if I could, Mr. Chairman, you know, there's been question about funding and comments about

[1:37:44] how many cameras are in Monroe County.

[1:37:47] This endeavor with Flock started in Bedford Township in 2023, where the business district

[1:37:58] that Sterns and Seacorp contacted us because they were experiencing an exorbitant amount

[1:38:04] of theft and talked about additional police resources, the cost, cameras, businesses putting

[1:38:15] in cameras. And at that time I made a recommendation. I should say I told them

[1:38:22] consider looking at a Lexus plate reader so that we could capture the

[1:38:26] information of those that were violating the law in that area. And they

[1:38:30] embarked on an agreement through Bedford Township with Flock. Now the

[1:38:35] county of Monroe is the gatekeeper of that information so that it doesn't

[1:38:41] fall in the wrong hands. Everybody here tonight made a good point, who's got

[1:38:46] getting this information. I felt as the sheriff we were in the right position to

[1:38:51] gather that information and monitor it. In 2024, French Town did the same thing

[1:38:57] and added eight cameras. In 2025, French Town came to me and said we want four more

[1:39:03] cameras for a total of 12, in 2025, March of 2025, Monroe Town entered into an agreement

[1:39:13] to add four, and in December of 2025, the county of Monroe had 20 cameras added around.

[1:39:21] And I heard somebody say that they were put in areas that are suppressed.

[1:39:25] I will tell you that we put them in areas that we identified as high crime areas, and

[1:39:31] And we put them in areas that had high traffic so that we could better secure and protect

[1:39:37] the citizens of Monroe.

[1:39:38] So there are other cameras in Monroe County, they're owned by Myland, Dundee, the village

[1:39:44] of Dundee as you heard tonight, and the city of Monroe.

[1:39:47] So, you have heard some conversation about drones and Mr. Chairman, members of the board.

[1:39:56] I've gone over this resolution as much as I possibly could, and I think this resolution deals strictly with automated license plate readers.

[1:40:08] So I would ask that whatever decision is made, if someone could please clarify that for me, and then it's going to open up a lot more direction because we use a lot of drones in the sheriff's office.

[1:40:20] Yes, I should say we use drones in the sheriff's office.

[1:40:24] Thank you.

[1:40:33] Mr. Liebans, do we have clarification on the intent of the resolution, whether or not it's

[1:40:38] going to include first responder drones?

[1:40:41] So that clarification is that specified technology.

[1:40:46] So if it is a plate reader technology, that's the intent and purpose of that resolution.

[1:40:50] But if it's a drone using it and I don't want to misspeak flare or whatever that I know has

[1:40:55] been used in search and rescue, I believe a gentleman a few years ago, maybe it was a

[1:41:01] suspect or a lost person in a swamp, obviously using flare technology would be separate, but

[1:41:08] as far as it concerns the ALPR, the flock technology, that would be separate.

[1:41:16] I appreciate the clarification, go ahead.

[1:41:20] Yeah, just so I'm clear, we use drones for search and rescue as Commissioner Lehman's mentioned.

[1:41:26] We do have Flurr forward looking infrared that we do use.

[1:41:29] We do not use drones that go out and read license plates.

[1:41:32] We do not use drones to do what automated license plate readers are primarily designed to do.

[1:41:40] And we just for further clarification though, and I appreciate Commissioner Lehman's clarifying on this that is strictly for license plate readers.

[1:41:48] But for transparency, we are getting ready to enter into a pilot drone first responder program in September this month, I believe.

[1:41:59] We've entered into agreement to do a pilot for one year, absolutely, and those are drone first responders called for service comes in, they respond.

[1:42:08] right which is through flock we currently if part of the pilot there'll be two drones

[1:42:15] in Monroe township two in French town township what the board is going to have to

[1:42:20] have a make a decision on in the in the future is when this pilot program is

[1:42:25] over how do we move forward because if this board was going to move forward just

[1:42:29] to support the four drones that are going to be part of the pilot it would be at

[1:42:33] an annual cost of a quarter of a million dollars share of good enough said that

[1:42:37] in a previous talk to the board that if you want to deploy them around the entire county so that you're covering West County, South County, North and East, it would be closer to an annual payment of $1 million to support these first responder drones.

[1:42:53] So I'm just letting the board know this is a predicament that we're going to have in the very near future on whether or not we want to support this kind of a program.

[1:43:03] I would tell you also that we have very much competing interests for the money in our budget.

[1:43:10] And so, we're going to have to do some soul searching.

[1:43:14] What's the best opportunity to spend a million dollars on?

[1:43:18] Would it be a first responder drone program, or maybe it should be economic development and

[1:43:24] supporting some of the development that's going on in the county?

[1:43:27] So, I know it's not part of the resolution tonight, but it is something this board absolutely

[1:43:32] We'll be taken up in the very near future.

[1:43:35] Thank you, and I just want to make it clear, I know somebody mentioned something about the company we're using.

[1:43:41] We looked at all drone first responder companies.

[1:43:44] They were the only company that offered us an opportunity to do a free pilot.

[1:43:48] We don't even know if this is going to be something that works for the sheriff's office and the citizens of Monroe.

[1:43:53] So that's why it's a pilot, we're not buying anything so thank you.

[1:43:57] Thank you.

[1:43:58] Sure.

[1:44:05] Mr. Chair, if I can speak.

[1:44:06] I just summarized, one, it is an amazing, you know, attendance this evening of people coming

[1:44:16] out.

[1:44:16] I mean, that's what our democracy, our republic, is about.

[1:44:19] And I think it's perfectly timed as we celebrate our 250th anniversary celebration of this country.

[1:44:28] And so into the talk, I think the people that have come today have said it best.

[1:44:32] They've talked about the constitutional violations, the worry of the hallucination of the technology

[1:44:38] leading to false arrest and carceration, the abuse.

[1:44:43] And I'll just note some of the studies that I researched.

[1:44:45] The average drunk driver by the time that they're arrested has, according to the experts,

[1:44:51] driven under the influence between 80 and 2,000 times.

[1:44:55] So it was mentioned today it's been document in the news of the

[1:45:00] Abuse that are presently known. I mean, that could be 100,000 abuses that are just scratching the surface of what's known and could be more. And because there aren't those guardrails, which was indicated. And then think of the cost and, you know, it's, you know, outrageous that this technology is being offered for free. Kind of like people that pedal drugs get you a hook down it. And then you have it. And what's the cost? 250,000, a million dollars. And I'll tell you for me, I'd rather have a real officer on the road.

[1:45:33] then force all of my constituents in a fictive inmate of the Monroe County surveillance jail.

[1:45:42] I just don't support that.

[1:45:44] We can look to Toledo, recently a young man, I believe it was April this year.

[1:45:49] It was a hallucination, the plate read at two for a seven.

[1:45:54] He ended up being attacked by dogs incarcerated.

[1:45:57] I think almost two days and that's going to be litigation.

[1:46:01] I don't want that from Monroe County, litigation, the surveillance, the privacy violations, the slippery stroke that was mentioned, protecting crime at what cost?

[1:46:10] Yes, this is a tool, but I mean, if it's all about crime, then let's do away with the constitution, probable cause, warrants, mean just do what you want.

[1:46:20] The policy shortcomings, this is new technology without the proper guardrails, audit failures, corporate concerns.

[1:46:28] free of movement was mentioned and then if you're not doing anything wrong don't worry about it

[1:46:33] I've also read the the research materials that say even the most law-abiding citizen

[1:46:40] unintentionally commits up to three felonies a day. I don't know the specifics of that

[1:46:44] But we live in a highly regulated society

[1:46:46] So who determines what's right and wrong and how that's enforced and so it concluded

[1:46:51] You know this even with a couple people saying I've never seen such broad support

[1:46:55] We've had people from both sides of the aisle coming by

[1:46:58] partisan. How lovely is that now when we can't agree to

[1:47:01] anything? And this is one thing left, right, center says,

[1:47:05] hey, none of this. And we're commanded at the end,

[1:47:08] inspired, if you will. Do the right thing. Why do you have to

[1:47:11] wait for somebody else to step up when you're here right

[1:47:13] now? And then the most outlandish is we should put it to

[1:47:18] a vote. So what? We no one voted it in and we're going to

[1:47:22] have to vote it out. I don't think so. This is opportunity

[1:47:25] And he wants in a lifetime to do the right thing and set a signal so if it does come back it comes back with guardrails and addresses at least 20 concerns that I noted today of an out numbered amount of people on both sides saying, not now, not here, don't come back until you got it fixed so with that I'm a strong yes I'd ask my colleagues to support me with this and come back when we don't have this outpouring and concern.

[1:47:55] Mr.

[1:48:00] Moore, very quickly to go back to the resolution in my reading on the 4th page,

[1:48:07] the 4th and 5th paragraph that says it's further resolved that Monroe County poses the acquisition deployment,

[1:48:13] operation, renewal, expansion, or use of flock safety automated license plate readers, cameras,

[1:48:19] in any substantially similar technology that systematically captures retained searches,

[1:48:23] which is analyzes or shares vehicle location data concerning persons not reasonably suspected of criminal activity and then just below that, that to the fullest extent permitted by law, Monroe County shall immediately cease and to cease from using accessing supporting, hosting, funding, maintaining or participating in any flock safety system or substantially similar mass vehicle surveillance system, my plane reading of that and I'm not an attorney would say we would need to look at that drone system if we're using any type

[1:48:53] of flock safety system.

[1:48:55] I would also say I'm very grateful for Commissioner Leavins for bringing this to the board with

[1:49:02] some embarrassment that I would say a few years ago I had concerns about this and I kind

[1:49:07] of threw up my hands and I went well it's just another license plate reader there's not

[1:49:10] much we can do when I had consistently been constitutional on this issue.

[1:49:15] So one I appreciate you bringing this to the forefront both Commissioner Heinzerling and

[1:49:20] Commissioner Leavins.

[1:49:21] I have the same concerns that many of the people here just stated as well as Commissioner

[1:49:27] Leavins he stated it better than I could.

[1:49:29] The one thing we haven't really talked about and this is the beautiful thing about a constitutional

[1:49:34] republic and the people having the right to say what they want to say is I had constituents

[1:49:39] coming to me just six months ago and going have you actually looked into this have you looked

[1:49:43] into flock you go online and boy is flock a shady company not only are they really pushing

[1:49:51] Well, the officers or the sheriff or the law enforcement agency can delete the data, but

[1:49:57] when you dig just a little deeper under the website, they retain that data.

[1:50:00] They don't tell you if they're going to sell it, who they're going to share it with.

[1:50:04] Much like the Prism Act that every single text and photo that you have on your phone gets

[1:50:09] prismed off into a government server somewhere where we do warrantless searches for that that

[1:50:14] fires a court and all those things that are going on from the Patriot Act.

[1:50:17] This is just yet another potential of everything that you do and public is being tracked recorded and now I have a big

[1:50:24] Corporation or a big company that saddles up to the federal or state or local governments and says well

[1:50:30] What do you want us to do with this data? Can we sell it to you? Do you need to use it?

[1:50:33] Maybe we let you access it and you give us some

[1:50:35] Some legislative breaks on the next bill coming down the road that favors us

[1:50:40] We've seen it far too many times and you can call that conspiratorial

[1:50:44] But if you look over the last 20, 25 years of how the government at all three levels has used private data, it's astounding how much we've just taken and given up and said, OK, I guess I have no privacy.

[1:50:59] I really appreciate and echo what Commissioner Leven said is, in 2026, we can't agree on anything, yet it feels like I've seen some Democrats and far-left, some far-rights and center, and we all go, well hold on, can we pause this a little bit?

[1:51:15] We can all agree on that, that most people go, I don't want to be surveilled, and I mostly want to just be left alone, and that's one thing we can all agree on.

[1:51:24] And so I would be a yes on this resolution, I appreciate both my fellow commissioners bringing this forefront and kind of maybe pushing me towards us a little bit more when maybe it was something that we should have done a few years ago, so I appreciate both you guys, thank you, so I'll have Kirsten Moore, are you wishing to amend the motion?

[1:51:42] I would just add a question, maybe we ask legal counsel, but it looks like it says in any flock safety system in the resolution.

[1:51:48] And if we're taking that for its word, I'm saying if the flock is the vendor that we're using for the drones, then it looks to me, it looks like we would not move forward with those drones.

[1:51:58] I just want to make sure that we know what we're voting on.

[1:52:00] Right, I agree.

[1:52:01] It's opposing any flock technology or related technology.

[1:52:05] That's the point of it.

[1:52:07] So you're saying it will include first responder drones.

[1:52:12] I

[1:52:15] mean I don't read it that I mean I'll I mean Commissioner Leven's wrote this or you know

[1:52:21] brought it to us but I I didn't read this the word drone is nowhere in this

[1:52:28] resolution because drones aren't precluded because drones have the legitimate

[1:52:33] purposes in law enforcement for search and rescue and in related non-flot

[1:52:40] technology period. It's very simple. If those commissioners leave us in for

[1:52:44] clarification, if those drones had a flock system attached to it or we were using

[1:52:49] flock as the vendor with this resolution in your eyes, then preclude those

[1:52:53] drones being used if it's attached to some type of flock system. I guess is what

[1:52:57] I'm wondering. Correct. I use the flock terminology in any way. So drone, robot,

[1:53:03] stationary, or any similar system. Okay. Similar system. That's the point. Thank

[1:53:08] Thank you. Mr. Persona is is a flock the vendor for the drone pilot they are they are they are both for the automatic license plate readers as well as the pilot program for the drone first responders.

[1:53:23] You know, just add we're not alone in our concerns. I mean each day you see another municipality a county a city a state Florida is questioning its decision.

[1:53:33] And when I came before the sport a number of years questioning the issues with big pharma folks that that sense you

[1:53:40] You can't question big pharma and we pushed it as a board and we ended up being a bell-weather county that

[1:53:45] received more funds from that class action because we pushed the envelope and this is another opportunity

[1:53:53] This time to push the envelope for freedom and I'd ask you everybody to stand with me and commissioner Heinzerling and stand up for the folks

[1:54:03] the overwhelming folks today, they express their concerns.

[1:54:05] Again, bipartisan unilateral in their voice, you know, for freedom of movement, you know,

[1:54:12] freedom from surveillance.

[1:54:14] Commissioner Asperger?

[1:54:16] I mean, one of the things too about all of this is that it flips the burden of proof,

[1:54:21] and we can't ever flip the burden of proof when we're talking about this.

[1:54:24] But that made me wonder, then, if you're only mentioning flock, what the situation would

[1:54:31] be in terms of, because as far as I know, Monroe County doesn't use, they don't use the

[1:54:38] stingray. But the state of Michigan does through the, you know, the state police. And I don't

[1:54:47] think we have any authority over the state police. And risk of interrupting, because I do that often,

[1:54:53] is this is just Monroe County.

[1:54:55] This isn't something for cities, townships,

[1:55:00] obviously not the state.

[1:55:02] And so we are staying in our lane

[1:55:04] in what we do tonight.

[1:55:05] Hopefully an inspiration to other units of government.

[1:55:09] But this is today and succinctly put flock

[1:55:12] and flock like technology.

[1:55:14] Okay.

[1:55:14] And I'm just mentioning that the stingray

[1:55:19] is to your cell phone what these flock cameras are to your car.

[1:55:22] So that may be something that goes on in the future, but we may have to do it at a legislative level, and I'm not going to pretend

[1:55:30] technical competence

[1:55:31] Anybody in my office would confirm that

[1:55:35] I'm not even allowed to touch the photocopy, but mr. Chair. I think we've reached that point where it's going to happen

[1:55:39] No, I'm fine. I'm just going to say we

[1:55:42] We made a good consensus and thanks for everybody for coming out here and making your voice because

[1:55:48] You can see what's got to be done, but I had a question how fast we're going to shut this thing down

[1:55:51] We can get it down as of Mr. Polk.

[1:55:56] Whatever is necessary, Mr. Bessonik would be the person to talk to tomorrow about that as far as the contract.

[1:56:02] The timing is that enters now and Mr. Bessonik is to report back to us in 45 days with an updated report where we stand in the implementation of this resolution.

[1:56:12] Mr. Svorena, I think the real question would go to our legal counsel because right now we've got seven municipalities that we can't enforce this on.

[1:56:20] And let's come up with an idea that works for everybody.

[1:56:23] Rather than have a resolution that we have no authority to do anything with.

[1:56:28] Maybe we'll inspire their boards to take similar actions, like Mr. Chair.

[1:56:35] Any other comments?

[1:56:37] Yeah, I would say respectfully agree, Mr. Levens, again, that we're staying in Arlene as the county, and

[1:56:42] I wouldn't want to step on the feet of any local municipality if they decide to move forward with that.

[1:56:46] that their constituents can go to their meeting and have their voices heard or against it, but we are in charge as county commissioners of what the county does, and that's what this resolution addresses, which I appreciate.

[1:56:58] I agree. Commissioner Asper, do you have another comment?

[1:57:01] No, that was very successful.

[1:57:03] Hearing no other comments, roll call please.

[1:57:06] Commissioner Asper?

[1:57:07] Yes.

[1:57:08] Commissioner Heindling?

[1:57:09] Yes.

[1:57:10] Commissioner Lamor?

[1:57:11] Yes.

[1:57:11] Commissioner Vendzel?

[1:57:12] Yes.

[1:57:13] Commissioner Swardow?

[1:57:14] No.

[1:57:15] Commissioner Moore?

[1:57:16] More?

[1:57:16] Yes.

[1:57:17] Commissioner Levens?

[1:57:18] Yes.

[1:57:18] Commissioner Hoffman?

[1:57:19] Yes.

[1:57:20] Commissioner Beninke?

[1:57:21] Yes.

[1:57:21] Motion carries.

[1:57:37] Next up on the agenda of Finance Matters.

[1:57:39] Item number one is the 2026 County Fairview Millage Rate.

[1:57:44] On a letter dated April 29, 2026 from Mr. Michael Wolff or Equalization Director recommending the

[1:57:49] 2026 County Government and other special purpose millage rates for summer and winter tax bills.

[1:57:55] And then let her be a letter dated at August 13th, 2026.

[1:58:00] From Mr. Michael Besignik, administrative chief financial officer, recommending the operating military for fair view to be spread on the winter.

[1:58:08] 2026 tax bill, could I get a motion for this, please?

[1:58:11] Move by Lamor, supported by Huffman.

[1:58:14] Can we take an overview from Mr. Wolfer, then we'll take questions.

[1:58:25] Yeah, so basically what we're doing is we're just amending the 4029 I'm asking to have prepared the 4029 with with the language on it saying that it will be amended because we'll have to send to into the state the one that we approved back in April, I think or may that did not include fair view this one includes the fair view knowledge so in essence, we're just approving the form with the fair view knowledge on it.

[1:58:52] Okay. Thank you. Questions from Mr. Wolfram?

[1:58:55] Mr. Chair, I would make a motion to approve the milled rates as presented with the amendment

[1:59:02] that the fair view milled rate remained consistent with the 2025 rate, which I think was a 0.17.

[1:59:13] Was there already a motion?

[1:59:15] Yes.

[1:59:15] There's a motion on the day I apologize.

[1:59:18] I'd request a friendly amendment if the making of the motion would accept keeping the rate

[1:59:23] for Fairview and lay the information of its performance numbers and the several

[1:59:28] meetings we had to remain consistent with its 2025

[1:59:34] millage.

[1:59:35] Is it not going to change?

[1:59:38] It's 18 now and what you're saying you want.

[1:59:40] What was Mr. Wilford last year was 0.17?

[1:59:43] Last year was 0.17.

[1:59:44] I guess the rest is 0.18 correct.

[1:59:47] Yep.

[1:59:48] It's on the point one.

[1:59:49] basically inflation and also the other reason for that would be so that we

[1:59:55] would not have to take it out of the budget to basically

[2:00:00] If there's any shortfall for a fair review this year, they wouldn't have to go back to take that money back out and reappropriate, which I think makes a common sense. And if there's any extra, it just basically goes back in. I appreciate that. Then I'll echo my the sentiments of Commissioner Bernacky that it has to be brought back again six months for a status update. I would agree with that.

[2:00:26] Mr. Chairman, can you clarify the motion then? I think the motion is to accept

[2:00:31] that what was wrote here to accept the millage rate and to revisit that in six months to ensure that we're getting what we're paying for basically.

[2:00:45] Okay, so it stays at point one eight, but a revisit in six months?

[2:00:49] Yes.

[2:00:50] Okay, thank you.

[2:00:50] And I just say that we need to make sure that the confirmation vote needs to be to make sure that they're referring to this as well.

[2:00:57] And then just to correct the record, it isn't staying at 0.18, it's being raised to 0.18.

[2:01:04] I'm sorry, as 0.18, but yeah, it was from 0.17 last year to 0.18 is what we're voting on tonight.

[2:01:11] Correct, correct, correct.

[2:01:12] And it's only winter 2026, so we would have to vote on it again when it comes to be summer 2026.

[2:01:20] So it would be kind of automatic that we would do that in six months, right?

[2:01:24] Right.

[2:01:25] Okay.

[2:01:25] I think it provides good with the addition, the update in six months.

[2:01:32] Roll call, please.

[2:01:33] Commissioner Heinz-Durling.

[2:01:34] Yes.

[2:01:35] Commissioner Lamore.

[2:01:36] Yes.

[2:01:36] Commissioner Venzel.

[2:01:37] Yes.

[2:01:37] Commissioner Tordau.

[2:01:38] Yes.

[2:01:39] Commissioner Moore.

[2:01:40] Yes.

[2:01:40] Commissioner Levens.

[2:01:41] Yes.

[2:01:42] Commissioner Hoffman.

[2:01:43] Yes.

[2:01:43] Commissioner Benenke.

[2:01:44] Yes.

[2:01:44] Commissioner Asper.

[2:01:45] Yes.

[2:01:46] Motion carries.

[2:01:47] Thank you.

[2:01:48] Next under finance matters is payment of the September 2nd, 2026, accounts payable current claims

[2:01:54] It's important the amount of $934,000 and $10.67, can we get a motion, please?

[2:02:01] I'll make that motion.

[2:02:02] Moved by Huffman.

[2:02:03] Second.

[2:02:03] Supported by Asper, now I'll turn it over to Sue.

[2:02:07] Good evening, on page number 1, vendor number 2, 0, 0, 0, 5, BSNA software,

[2:02:12] it's an annual licensing for the financial software.

[2:02:16] Page number 2, vendor number 1, 2, 1, 0, 2, 1, Lucas County Coroner's Office,

[2:02:21] contractual autopsy services. Page number three, vendor number 192336 Spectrum

[2:02:28] Printer's Inc. It's a ballot printing for the November election. Vendor number

[2:02:33] 200426, the 53rd Group LLC. It's contractual custodial services for various

[2:02:41] facilities. And on page number five, vendor number 903819 shoemaker brothers,

[2:02:48] drain project costs paid through the drain commission, and that's the end of my list.

[2:02:52] Any questions for Sue?

[2:02:54] One question, Sue.

[2:02:57] This 15531 environmental enterprise is incorporated, what was that for?

[2:03:01] I'm sorry, what page 50531?

[2:03:05] Yeah, it was 50531, yes.

[2:03:09] That is Household Hazardist Waste Collection, paid through environmental health.

[2:03:14] So that was down to the health department?

[2:03:15] There's the health environment that various household hazardous waste collections at the head.

[2:03:20] We had to know if we had a store or something around the county we needed to do something.

[2:03:23] No.

[2:03:24] Thank you.

[2:03:26] Any other questions?

[2:03:29] Roll call please.

[2:03:30] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:03:31] Yes.

[2:03:32] Commissioner Venzel.

[2:03:33] Yes.

[2:03:33] Commissioner Swordow.

[2:03:34] Yes.

[2:03:34] Commissioner Moore.

[2:03:35] Yes.

[2:03:36] Commissioner Levance.

[2:03:37] Yes.

[2:03:37] Commissioner Hoffman.

[2:03:38] Yes.

[2:03:39] Commissioner Benniki.

[2:03:40] Yes.

[2:03:40] Commissioner Asper.

[2:03:41] Yes.

[2:03:42] Commissioner Heinzeling.

[2:03:43] Yes.

[2:03:43] Motion carries.

[2:03:44] Thank you.

[2:03:45] Next up, under consent agenda, item number one, approval of nine claims.

[2:03:49] Letter A, check register dated August 21st, 2026, and the amount of 472,9929.

[2:03:56] Letter B, check register dated August 28th, 2026, and the amount of 318,784,93, can I get a motion, please?

[2:04:04] Move.

[2:04:04] Move by Leavens.

[2:04:06] Second.

[2:04:06] Supported by Asper.

[2:04:07] Any questions on the motion?

[2:04:09] and hearing none, roll call please.

[2:04:12] Commissioner Venzel.

[2:04:13] Yes.

[2:04:14] Commissioner Swardow.

[2:04:14] Yes.

[2:04:15] Commissioner Moore.

[2:04:16] Yes.

[2:04:16] Commissioner Levance.

[2:04:17] Yes.

[2:04:18] Commissioner Hoffman.

[2:04:19] Yes.

[2:04:19] Commissioner Benniki.

[2:04:20] Yes.

[2:04:21] Commissioner Asper.

[2:04:22] Yes.

[2:04:22] Commissioner Heinzeling.

[2:04:23] Yes.

[2:04:24] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:04:24] Yes.

[2:04:25] Motion carries.

[2:04:27] Next time the agenda under communications

[2:04:30] is a letter dated August 26, 2026,

[2:04:33] for a vulnerable man to eye care first district court judge

[2:04:35] requesting confirmation of the submitted application

[2:04:38] addition and acceptance of additional funding for the operational grant fiscal year 2025-26.

[2:04:44] Monroe County sobriety court, MCSC, to the State Court Administrative Office in the amount of $1,680 to get a motion.

[2:04:53] Will by Leyvans supported by Heinzerling, any questions on the motion?

[2:04:58] Hearing none, roll call please.

[2:05:00] Commissioner Swardau.

[2:05:01] Yes.

[2:05:01] Commissioner Moore.

[2:05:02] Yes.

[2:05:03] Commissioner Levans.

[2:05:04] Yes.

[2:05:04] Commissioner Hoffman.

[2:05:05] Yes.

[2:05:06] Commissioner Benniki.

[2:05:07] Yes.

[2:05:07] Commissioner Asper.

[2:05:08] Yes.

[2:05:08] Yes. Commissioner Heinzeling.

[2:05:10] Yes.

[2:05:10] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:05:11] Yes.

[2:05:11] Commissioner Vendel.

[2:05:12] Yes.

[2:05:13] Motion carries.

[2:05:14] Next item is a letter dated August 27th, 2026 from Honorable Michael Brown, First District

[2:05:19] Court Judge requesting approval of, for funding of $70,650 to the District Court to cover

[2:05:26] shortfalls in the Court's budget for the use of electronic monitoring of defendant's

[2:05:31] credit motion.

[2:05:31] Thank you, motion.

[2:05:32] I'll start recording.

[2:05:33] Move by Heinzeling supported by Swardout.

[2:05:35] Any questions on this motion?

[2:05:39] Hearing none, roll call please.

[2:05:40] please.

[2:05:40] Commissioner Moore.

[2:05:41] Yes.

[2:05:42] Commissioner Levens.

[2:05:43] Yes.

[2:05:43] Commissioner Hoffman.

[2:05:45] Yes.

[2:05:45] Commissioner Benenky.

[2:05:46] Yes.

[2:05:46] Commissioner Asperr.

[2:05:47] Yes.

[2:05:48] Commissioner Heinzling.

[2:05:49] Yes.

[2:05:49] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:05:50] Yes.

[2:05:51] Commissioner Venzel.

[2:05:52] Yes.

[2:05:52] Commissioner Swordout.

[2:05:53] Yes.

[2:05:53] Motion carries.

[2:05:55] Next up is a letter dated March 25th, 2026

[2:05:58] for Miss Susan Meyer, Director of Fiscal Services

[2:06:01] and Jeff McBean, Human Resources Director

[2:06:03] requesting authorization for a fiscal manager position

[2:06:06] within the finance department at no additional cost

[2:06:08] to the general fund for 2,026 due to department vacancies, could I get a motion on this?

[2:06:14] So moved, seconded.

[2:06:16] By leave and supported by Lamor, I'll turn it over to Jeff and Sue, if for any questions.

[2:06:23] We'll remember to have any questions on this.

[2:06:25] This for one year from now.

[2:06:27] This would be ongoing.

[2:06:28] Yeah, I'm going, I'm going.

[2:06:30] Y'all long you've been Sue without the help, much old.

[2:06:34] So we asked for this in March.

[2:06:36] This would have been a new position.

[2:06:38] We asked for it in March given the increased operational transactions that we have.

[2:06:44] We have the new software that we just converted to the last quarter of last year.

[2:06:49] We're working on the budget prep software right now.

[2:06:53] But you've been sure, you've been sure many years, so I have a job.

[2:06:56] Yes.

[2:06:57] One man band, yes.

[2:06:59] Well, we do have a team, it's not just a one man band, but it is a very small team and

[2:07:03] And that has been talked about by the auditors multiple times we've looked at comparable counties.

[2:07:08] I mean, in every place that you look, comparatively we are very, very short staffed and

[2:07:15] we are not able to meet the obligations of our department at this time.

[2:07:20] Thank you.

[2:07:21] Any other questions or comments?

[2:07:24] I would just say I guess the comparable county chart was very telling.

[2:07:28] We have Barion, Calhoun, Eaton, Jackson, Lennoy, Livingston, Muskegon, St.

[2:07:33] Claire Monroe.

[2:07:35] If we combine admin, finance, and HR, those numbers are 12, 18, 10, 12, 13, 15, 14, 11.

[2:07:43] And Monroe is the only single digit at nine.

[2:07:45] So it does look comparatively, there is some need there.

[2:07:49] I'd be apt to vote yes.

[2:07:56] Roll call, please.

[2:07:57] Commissioner Levens.

[2:07:58] Yes.

[2:07:59] Commissioner Hoffman?

[2:08:00] Yes.

[2:08:00] Commissioner Beninke?

[2:08:01] Yes.

[2:08:02] Commissioner Asper?

[2:08:03] Yes.

[2:08:03] Commissioner Heinzling?

[2:08:04] Yes.

[2:08:05] Commissioner Lomore?

[2:08:06] Yes.

[2:08:06] Commissioner Vendel?

[2:08:07] Yes.

[2:08:08] Commissioner Swordow?

[2:08:09] Yes.

[2:08:09] Commissioner Moore?

[2:08:10] Yes.

[2:08:10] Motion carries.

[2:08:13] Next item is a letter dated August 19th, 2026 from Mr. Bradley Smith.

[2:08:17] Emergency Management Director requesting approval to accept the 2025 Homeland Security Grant program

[2:08:23] in a local funding agreement between McComb County and Monroe County in the amount of $366,624

[2:08:30] $4 with no local match required, kind of get emotional.

[2:08:33] Move behind the link supported by Huffman.

[2:08:36] Any questions for Mr. Smith?

[2:08:39] Mr. Smith, what is the 2025 Homeland Security Grant Program?

[2:08:43] You may have told us in the past, but it's not ringing a bell.

[2:08:48] It's a repetitive grant.

[2:08:51] It's every year there's a new grant system.

[2:08:53] We are in the U.S., you raised an urban area security initiative, which is seven counties plus the city of Detroit.

[2:08:58] and those funds are doled out according to a grading skill through the state

[2:09:02] police emergency management division. So this money comes to the state through

[2:09:07] the state to McComb County is the producer. And once those monies are doled out

[2:09:13] then each county is a lot of their specific amount. So of this we rank I believe

[2:09:19] six on the list. So we get we're the six lowest of the seven counties where

[2:09:26] there were six counties, seven counties plus Detroit.

[2:09:29] Is it general fund money or is the money earmarked

[2:09:31] for certain services?

[2:09:33] The birth management for, so for home and security,

[2:09:34] so some of it has to do with law enforcement.

[2:09:36] We have to do election protection.

[2:09:38] So in the past, we've gotten the barricades

[2:09:40] for the sheriff's office.

[2:09:42] We've gotten dive equipment for the sheriff's office as well.

[2:09:45] We're gonna be doing community emergency response

[2:09:48] team training.

[2:09:49] So we're starting up a search team with the county.

[2:09:51] So we're gonna be getting some equipment with that

[2:09:53] with that as well as some of it takes care

[2:09:56] of office supplies and things like that, but very limited, there are areas that we have

[2:10:00] to spend this money in, and that is mostly law enforcement and election security.

[2:10:04] Okay, so there are some earmarks in the zone that is also up to the discretion of you

[2:10:08] and your board and your department.

[2:10:09] Yes, sir.

[2:10:10] Yeah, kind of arcley.

[2:10:11] Okay, thank you.

[2:10:12] Yeah.

[2:10:12] I have one question.

[2:10:13] Yes, sir.

[2:10:14] How much of this has to be shared over at Cone County?

[2:10:18] This all are, okay, hit?

[2:10:19] This is our, this is our lot, yes.

[2:10:21] Yes, and in the past, the amount has been dwindling.

[2:10:25] Now we're seeing an uptick in funds.

[2:10:26] So this is actually a belief, I can get you the numbers.

[2:10:30] But it is an uptick from last year's, 2020, fours allotment.

[2:10:35] Thank you, sir.

[2:10:37] Thank you, sir.

[2:10:39] Seeing no other questions, roll call please.

[2:10:41] Commissioner Hoffman.

[2:10:42] Yes.

[2:10:43] Commissioner Benniki.

[2:10:44] Yes.

[2:10:44] Commissioner Asper.

[2:10:45] Yes.

[2:10:46] Commissioner Heinzling.

[2:10:47] Yes.

[2:10:47] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:10:48] Yes.

[2:10:49] Commissioner Venzel.

[2:10:50] Yes.

[2:10:50] Commissioner Swardout?

[2:10:51] Yes.

[2:10:52] Commissioner Moore?

[2:10:53] Yes.

[2:10:53] Commissioner Leven?

[2:10:54] Yes.

[2:10:55] Motion carries.

[2:10:57] Next up is the letter dated August 26, 2026 from Crystal Comer, Fiscal Manager requesting

[2:11:02] approval to apply and accept the fiscal year 2025 operation Stone Garden grant in the amount

[2:11:08] of $63,375 for the grant period of September 1, 25 through July 31, 2028 with no local

[2:11:16] if I could get a motion, please.

[2:11:18] Who by sword out supported by Lamor.

[2:11:20] Any questions on this motion?

[2:11:23] Seeing none, roll call, please.

[2:11:25] Commissioner Beninke.

[2:11:26] Yes.

[2:11:26] Commissioner Asper.

[2:11:27] Yes.

[2:11:28] Commissioner Heinzeling.

[2:11:29] Yes.

[2:11:30] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:11:30] Yes.

[2:11:31] Commissioner Vendel.

[2:11:32] Yes.

[2:11:32] Commissioner Sword out.

[2:11:33] Yes.

[2:11:34] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:11:35] Yes.

[2:11:35] Commissioner Levens.

[2:11:36] Yes.

[2:11:37] Commissioner Hoffman.

[2:11:38] Yes.

[2:11:38] Motion carries.

[2:11:42] Next item is a letter dated August 25th,

[2:11:44] 2026 from Mr. Mark Cochrane,

[2:11:46] chairman of the Community Mental Health Partnership

[2:11:48] of Southeast Michigan, Oversight Policy Board, recommending the reappointment of Mr.

[2:11:52] Tom Waldecker to the Oversight Policy Board for a three-year term, commencing October

[2:11:58] 1, 2026 and ending October 1, 2029 could get a motion taken.

[2:12:04] Move by Lamor.

[2:12:05] I'll say that.

[2:12:05] Supported by Huffman.

[2:12:07] Any questions on this motion?

[2:12:11] I could just say that I know Tom Decker and he does a good job.

[2:12:14] Okay.

[2:12:14] He does a real good job on this committee.

[2:12:16] Good.

[2:12:17] Good.

[2:12:18] roll call, please.

[2:12:20] Commissioner Asperr?

[2:12:21] Yes.

[2:12:21] Commissioner Heinzeling?

[2:12:22] Yes.

[2:12:23] Commissioner Lamor?

[2:12:24] Yes.

[2:12:24] Commissioner Venzel?

[2:12:25] Yes.

[2:12:25] Commissioner Sourdough?

[2:12:26] Yes.

[2:12:27] Commissioner Moore?

[2:12:28] Yes.

[2:12:28] Commissioner Leavins?

[2:12:30] Yes.

[2:12:30] Commissioner Hoffman?

[2:12:31] Yes.

[2:12:31] Commissioner Benenke?

[2:12:32] Yes.

[2:12:33] Motion carries.

[2:12:34] Next time is the letter dated August 27th, 2026 from Mr. David Venzel board of

[2:12:39] Commissioner Chairman transmitting the three recommended appointments to the

[2:12:42] middle county bicycle and pedestrian advisory panel for three, your terms,

[2:12:47] I'm just commencing September 1, 26th and ending August 31st, 2029, the recommended appointments are Lucy Forten, Jim Gardner and Al Pryor.

[2:12:55] I could get a motion, please.

[2:12:57] So moved by Leavens, supported by Lamor, any questions on this motion.

[2:13:04] Seeing none, roll call, please.

[2:13:06] Commissioner Heinjeling.

[2:13:07] Yes.

[2:13:07] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:13:08] Yes.

[2:13:09] Commissioner Venzel.

[2:13:10] Yes.

[2:13:10] Commissioner Sword out.

[2:13:11] Yes.

[2:13:11] Commissioner Lamor.

[2:13:12] Yes.

[2:13:13] Commissioner Leavens.

[2:13:14] Yes.

[2:13:15] Commissioner Hoffman.

[2:13:16] Yes.

[2:13:16] Yes. Commissioner Benicke?

[2:13:17] Yes.

[2:13:18] Commissioner Asper?

[2:13:19] Yes. Motion carries.

[2:13:21] We have no public hearings.

[2:13:23] Is there any old business to board wishes to take up?

[2:13:28] Hearing none, new business.

[2:13:32] You know, can I add to the, for next meeting possibly,

[2:13:35] our lady from corrections meeting, Holly,

[2:13:38] she done a good job on, I'd like to have her come and represent

[2:13:41] and show us the programs that she offers over the process.

[2:13:45] And she could give a presentation and give her five minutes

[2:13:47] That's for 10 minutes.

[2:13:48] Be great.

[2:13:49] All right.

[2:13:49] Thank you.

[2:13:54] Hearing no other new business, we now move into our final segment of public comment, are

[2:13:58] there citizens who wish to address the board?

[2:14:06] I'm just up here to say thank you.

[2:14:08] I've never been more proud to be in Monroe.

[2:14:11] I appreciate anyone that is upholding our Constitution and anyone that's nervous about crime and

[2:14:19] all that.

[2:14:20] The best thing that you can possibly do is make a good community, make friends, make

[2:14:26] like look out for each other and do like French town is doing a lot of community things together to get everyone together I think that's amazing and I just I really you got to hear us all great and complain and I just want to tell you from the bottom of my heart I freaking appreciate every single one that voted for this. Thank you so much.

[2:14:51] Any other citizens who wish to address the board?

[2:14:56] Seeing none, we have no announcements that I know of.

[2:15:00] I'll now move into members' time, Commissioner Asper. I guess I would just say I really appreciate everyone coming tonight that that spoke that, I know it's not easy to go up to the podium and talk in front of a bunch of people and I just really appreciate that people use their their rights to just come up here and give us their opinion and so forth. And it was just good to see it as I won't even say bipartisan, I would say nonpartisan because when it comes down to we really need to do what's best for everyone.

[2:15:29] and we need to stick with the very, very smart men who set up the Constitution.

[2:15:36] And I just would like to thank you all for doing that and coming up here and doing that.

[2:15:40] And I also, you know, if you haven't been here to other meetings, please come on a regular basis

[2:15:45] and then there won't be any misunderstandings. But I think a point that our sheriff made that is so

[2:15:51] good is that we know that he's an honest person, we know how he operates whatever, but in any

[2:16:00] area of government, we don't know who's going to sit in that seat next, and that's why we continue

[2:16:06] to preserve our constitution. We're not going to just say, oh well, this person does this job well,

[2:16:13] so we'll give him every possible power in the universe. And it was clear from what you were saying

[2:16:18] tonight that you understood that, and it was just really good to hear it all, so thank

[2:16:22] you.

[2:16:26] Mr. Moore?

[2:16:27] I would just echo what Commissioner Asper said as well.

[2:16:33] I think that's the way the country is set up.

[2:16:37] We have constitutional principles.

[2:16:38] You have elected officials that hold those positions for a time, but from those principles,

[2:16:43] we can't stray.

[2:16:44] I would also say for anyone positioning this as a, you know, a flock versus support for law enforcement, I would say that's a false dichotomy.

[2:16:55] I fully support our sheriff. I've lived in Monroe County for 45 years.

[2:16:59] He's by far the best sheriff that I've ever personally known. He's very, I as an open-door policy.

[2:17:05] We can have some disagreements fundamentally on how to police, but at the end of the day, I do believe

[2:17:12] He has a heart for public safety, and he does want to know what the community is thinking.

[2:17:19] We haven't always had that in the past with Sheriff's, but to Commissioner Asfers Point and

[2:17:23] some other people, Commissioner Levins Point, there will be someone there in the future differently.

[2:17:29] And I think it's safe to err on the side of the Constitution in those matters.

[2:17:35] Other than that, I do appreciate everyone coming.

[2:17:37] It's not easy to take off work, leave the kids, you know, you have things to do.

[2:17:41] have to get up and speak in public. It's not a fun thing, but I think liberty is an important thing,

[2:17:48] and all the people that showed up tonight showed that, and I appreciate you guys. Thanks.

[2:17:54] Commissioner Swardout? Well, I appreciate everybody coming tonight. I think this is probably,

[2:17:57] you would agree, the biggest well- attended meeting we've had. And I'd like to see everybody

[2:18:02] back next meeting too.

[2:18:08] Commissioner Benickey. I'd like to say I wish I had more in black tonight because

[2:18:12] the seat's pretty dusty. I appreciate the help I had along the way. I appreciate the

[2:18:21] prayers. This has been a long ordeal dis-election in the whole system, but I went through the

[2:18:29] legal system and the legal system works slow sometimes. A lot of times you get frustrated,

[2:18:37] but it all works out in the end. It was somewhat of a win for me, but it was a bigger win for

[2:18:42] the people of district two we haven't had any representation in a long time and I'm ready

[2:18:47] to move forward to help the people of district two and the county we have a lot of issues but

[2:18:52] the main thing is prosperity for the residents of this county and that's what I want to do along

[2:18:57] with this commission to work forward to economic stability and good education and good housing for all

[2:19:04] the people of Monroe County and I thank everyone for all their support over the years. Thank you.

[2:19:11] Commissioner Heiserlin.

[2:19:13] Appreciate everyone coming out tonight and voicing your opinions.

[2:19:16] That's what makes this country great, you know.

[2:19:18] And we got schools starting.

[2:19:20] Watch out for the little ones crossing the streets.

[2:19:22] And good luck to all the parents with kids going into school right now.

[2:19:26] Thank you.

[2:19:28] Commissioner Levens.

[2:19:29] I want to echo all the commissioners comments up to this point.

[2:19:32] Hopefully I'll be able to echo them going forward but I don't know what you're going to say.

[2:19:35] So, I do echo everyone from Commissioner's Asperger, more sward out to welcome you, Commissioner

[2:19:43] Benickey.

[2:19:44] I'm glad that that chapter is hopefully now closed.

[2:19:47] And I'm proud of this board and I'm proud of the work we did today.

[2:19:50] It was in pleasant.

[2:19:51] We had two hours of public comment time, and I don't remember in my many years of being

[2:19:58] on this board, having such an outpouring and participation in this process.

[2:20:05] and that's amazing, but I would welcome the good words of putting this together and having

[2:20:17] it before the board for everybody, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate.

[2:20:21] And so I'm a little bit okay with taking the credit for a little bit of plagiarism, but

[2:20:27] not a whole bunch of plagiarism.

[2:20:28] And so, you'll notice on the last page of that resolution in about an eight font indicates that this resolution that was passed before the board today was by my newest associate, Autumn Russo, who is hiding in the doorframe back there, who actually wrote this resolution and told me is her second week employee in my law firm, Mr. Levens, if you don't do this, if you don't stand on the phallax of perfecting our constitution, I'm not going to work for you.

[2:20:57] And possibly some other physical violence.

[2:21:01] And so I said, autumn, this is a terrible can of worms.

[2:21:04] She says, you want to go fishing, you got to open up that can of worms.

[2:21:08] And so that's what we did today.

[2:21:09] And I'm so happy for her encouragement, her great work product that I took a little bit of credit for.

[2:21:16] And what we got done today, and hopefully it's an inspiration to the other levels of government,

[2:21:21] the city's townships, the state, the nation to know that as we celebrate 250 years of this wonderful republic that we're not going to let it fail, that we're going to make sure that what we do today in the future gives us another 250 years. So thank you.

[2:21:40] Mr. Hoffman.

[2:21:42] Yes, real quick. I'm going to echo what everybody else has said.

[2:21:44] Thanks for everybody getting out here and being involved citizens and we appreciate that.

[2:21:48] And we don't know if you don't talk to us.

[2:21:50] I mean, I get a lot of calls too and I'm glad to see the performance out here tonight.

[2:21:55] And then too, I've been all the way through since this whole mess.

[2:22:00] I've been saying that the goodwill prevailed and it sure has here.

[2:22:04] Dale is here.

[2:22:05] And I'm going to still continue my calls to Lansing weekly since all this started we're trying to get legislation on both sides of the aisle to put this on the ballot so the voters can vote on it and that being, you know, if you're a felon or you're a convict, you don't belong up here.

[2:22:25] We want that clear across our whole state.

[2:22:27] I keep working on it, the Republican sizes are going to bite on it and I keep talking to the speaker and

[2:22:33] but I'm not going to stop because we got him up here what we wanted to do but we're going to keep going forward.

[2:22:39] Thank you.

[2:22:40] Vice Chairman Lamor.

[2:22:42] Thank you, Chairman.

[2:22:43] Welcome back, Dale.

[2:22:45] Nice to have you back here on the seat.

[2:22:48] I'd like to thank all the commissioners for all their comments and I think they were great.

[2:22:53] It's good to see that we deliberated as well as we did tonight.

[2:22:58] Glad to see all the comments from our audience refreshing to see that Republicans, Democrats

[2:23:04] can be all alike.

[2:23:06] I think what this does tell us is that we are closer than we think we are.

[2:23:12] We are a lot closer than we think we are, and we have to keep up that momentum to keep

[2:23:17] that going.

[2:23:18] And that's how we can respond as a democracy, as a country.

[2:23:23] And tonight I thought what we saw here tonight was us upholding our roles over our concerns,

[2:23:32] our safety concerns, my concern, overtaking that tool out of the tool test for my kids.

[2:23:38] You know, hopefully maybe in six months, maybe in a year.

[2:23:41] I don't know. Maybe the technology will change. I don't know.

[2:23:44] But I'm glad to see how we responded tonight to protect the Constitution of United States America the Constitution of the state of Michigan, and that's what we took our oaths for.

[2:23:54] So thank you commissioners for standing up to your oath, thank you to our constituents for coming out and voicing your opinions.

[2:24:02] That's all I have.

[2:24:04] I want to congratulate Mr. Besanick, anything else?

[2:24:08] Well, I also echo the comments of my colleagues up on the board.

[2:24:12] And I want to congratulate Commissioner Benicke and

[2:24:15] welcome them back onto this board.

[2:24:18] I do kind of like the fact that Commissioner Leven's isn't quite sure what I'm going to say.

[2:24:24] But I will say this, tonight, to me was democracy in action.

[2:24:30] If you don't participate in your democracy, you lose it.

[2:24:32] and of the years that I taught American government to high school kids, this would have been the meeting

[2:24:37] that I would have wanted to take my students because the passion, the preparation that was

[2:24:43] taken place by the citizens who presented tonight, they gave me newfound hope that our democracy is

[2:24:53] still strong, so I appreciate all the input in the public comment tonight. With that I will adjourn the

[2:25:01] meeting. Thanks.

Board of Commissioners Meeting

Transcript