Residents urge more funding for downtown events and neighborhood leaders, while opponents press city to end Flock Safety ALPR contract

Hundreds of residents spoke at the June 2 public hearing on the proposed FY27 budget, pressing the Athens-Clarke County Commission to protect longstanding community programs and to reconsider surveillance contracts with private vendors.

Mary Joyce, executive director of Afest Educates, asked commissioners to raise the county’s special-events funding to $500,000 or to consider a 1-cent hotel-motel tax increase to stabilize downtown festivals. “Afest just itself has an overall economic impact of close to a million dollars,” Joyce said, adding that recent cost increases — for example, electrical services were up 37% from 2024 to 2025 and police estimates for event coverage jumped — jeopardize the sustainability of festivals that many residents credit with making Athens attractive.

Multiple neighborhood leaders and residents described how the county’s neighborhood-leader program connects Spanish-speaking and immigrant families to Medicaid, housing, food assistance and school services. “For many immigrant and Spanish-speaking families the neighborhood leader program has been more than a resource,” a resident identified as Leticia Moreno said through a translator, describing how language and cultural barriers make the program essential. Alen Loza, who identified themself as a neighborhood leader, said they are the only Spanish-speaking neighborhood leader for 16 zones and emphasized the program’s daily caseload and the risk of service gaps if funding is cut.

Speakers representing Family Connect Communities and Destin Incorporated also urged continued or increased funding for mentoring, summer and emergency services and for programs that connect residents with housing and counseling resources.

At the podium several residents raised concerns about automatic license-plate readers (ALPRs) and the city’s contract with Flock Safety. Ray Smith, who identified himself as a software engineer and the Democratic nominee for State Senate District 46, cited prior incidents in other jurisdictions in which Flock data was reportedly accessed improperly and said the county should consider canceling the contract. “If we don’t protect our children from this kind of technology, we’re heading down the wrong road,” Smith said. Keegan Brooks, another speaker, and Jennifer Young, who urged “immediate removal of Flock Safety cameras from our streets,” described the cameras as part of a broader surveillance network and cited press reports of inappropriate access in other places.

Commission staff and multiple commissioners acknowledged the range of public comments and noted the budget process will continue. The mayor reminded the public that the commission will hold a final vote on the FY27 budget on Tuesday, June 9. The commission did not adopt the budget at the June 2 meeting; that vote remains scheduled for the June 9 meeting.

What’s next: The commission will consider any final amendments at the June 9 meeting before taking a formal vote on the FY27 budget.