Residents ask council for clarity on license-plate readers, warn against broad surveillance cameras

Several residents used the meeting's public comment period to press the council for clearer language and safeguards around vehicle-identification technology. "My name is Mike Hagerman. I'm running for city council," said Mike Hagerman, who described an August 19 incident in which a second-grader was put on the wrong bus and asked the council to clarify whether planned tools are limited to license-plate readers or would include broader surveillance cameras. Hagerman said he would "have to vote no" on the program as it stood without that clarity.

Colin Westover, who gave his address as 501 Willow Drive, urged the council to differentiate "the plate readers and the flock cameras specifically," saying "we're under surveillance, all the time" and asking how the council intends to balance security uses with privacy. Council members acknowledged confusion in the record and said staff should clarify definitions before a vote. The public remarks did not cite a specific city ordinance; they were offered as requests for clearer policy language and community outreach.