We have so much work to do & nobody’s slowing down…
To all local organizations, community leaders, and concerned residents of Ventura: We need your immediate help to protect our civil liberties and privacy from unaccountable mass surveillance.
To be entirely clear, this is not an attack on or a lack of trust in the Ventura Police Department. Rather, this is about a systemic lack of trust in a private, venture-backed surveillance corporation and the unconstitutional access avenues it provides to the federal government and out-of-state entities. Our public safety should not be outsourced to insecure, third-party code.
The City of Ventura currently deploys 23 Flock Safety automated mass-surveillance cameras across our community. Flock Safety has proven to be an insecure, deceptive, and fundamentally bad partner, and these cameras pose a persistent threat to our constitutional rights.
Originally approved quietly on a 2020 consent calendar (Item 8E) as a small, temporary 6-camera trial, this system has experienced massive “surveillance creep” with a nearly 4x increase in deployment, absent of robust public debate.
Recent exposes and audits have revealed a disturbing pattern of privacy violations, security flaws, and corporate deception:
On September 30, 2025, a Flock vice president allegedly logged into the Dunwoody Police Department’s Flock system and looked at a camera in the kids’ gymnastics room of a private community center. It was that easy.
The community center had shared its cameras with the police department ‘solely for real-time critical incident response.’ Instead, Flock and local officials claim it was used in a ‘sales demo,’ saying it was authorized under the city’s ‘demo partner agreement.’ The problem? There’s no proof that the agreement even exists.
Now, residents are wondering what kind of sales demo would require looking at one camera in a children’s gymnastics room, and why a police department would have third-party camera integration in a gymnastics room for kids. And incidents like this aren’t a one-off.
Reporting shows Flock surveillance data being accessed in ways cities didn’t approve, including by the federal government and other states. Law enforcement officers have also misused the system to do things like stalk exes or partners. It’s a system ripe for abuse, enabling mass tracking with little oversight. That’s why cities are cancelling their contracts with Flock all across the country, and residents keep destroying the cameras.
Please email the Ventura City Council immediately to demand the termination of the Flock contract. You can copy the provided email addresses below and use the template message provided.
| Official / Title | Email Address |
|---|---|
| Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios, Mayor | jpalacios@cityofventura.ca.gov |
| Douglas Halter, Councilmember | dhalter@cityofventura.ca.gov |
| Liz Campos, Councilmember | lcampos@cityofventura.ca.gov |
| Jim Duran, Councilmember | jim.duran@cityofventura.ca.gov |
| Alex Mangone, Councilmember | amangone@cityofventura.ca.gov |
| R. Schumacher, Councilmember | rschumacher@cityofventura.ca.gov |
| B. McReynolds, Councilmember | bmcreynolds@cityofventura.ca.gov |
| Ventura City Clerk | cityclerk@cityofventura.ca.gov |
Copy and paste the text below into your email client. Feel free to personalize it with your own neighborhood or additional thoughts.
Subject: Terminate the Flock Safety Contract Immediately
Dear Mayor and Members of the Ventura City Council,
I am writing to you today as a local resident to strongly urge the immediate cancellation of the City’s contract with Flock Safety and the removal of all 23 automated surveillance cameras from our streets.
To be entirely clear: this is not an attack on or a lack of trust in the Ventura Police Department. Rather, this is about a systemic lack of trust in a private, venture-backed surveillance corporation and the unconstitutional access avenues it provides to the federal government and out-of-state entities. Our public safety should not be outsourced to insecure, third-party code.
Flock has proven itself to be an insecure and wholly untrustworthy partner. From catastrophic data breaches allowing unauthorized out-of-state and federal access, to fundamental cybersecurity flaws and unapproved AI tracking of human visual descriptors, this company has repeatedly violated public trust.
I am asking the Council to commit to a more responsible path forward:
1. Cancel the Flock cameras immediately.
2. Gather accurate statistics on missing persons and stolen vehicles, and have this data include surveillance camera effectiveness.
3. Bring all discussions regarding public surveillance to the people—these items must never again be hidden on a consent calendar.
4. Only after these steps are complete should the city consider evaluating different camera systems, though I strongly believe we must move away from mass surveillance entirely.
Major jurisdictions, including our neighbors in Los Angeles, have already walked away from this vendor. Please protect our community’s privacy, data, and civil liberties, and end this contract now.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address/Neighborhood]
Get ready to make a comment to our city councilmembers
Democracy Now!: https://youtu.be/oaro56lbLyQ?si=SCQxY0ZtcLt91jlj
(See map here for locations of cameras: https://maps.deflock.org/?lat=34.2366&lng=-119.1826&zoom=11.04)
Watch (https://www.msnbc.com/podcast/transcript-morgan-freeman-reads-last-words-john-lewis-n1235683)
(abhmuseum.org) While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.
That is why I had to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, though I was admitted to the hospital the following day. I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on.
Emmett Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me. In those days, fear constrained us like an imaginary prison, and troubling thoughts of potential brutality committed for no understandable reason were the bars.
Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters and cousins, their love could not protect me from the unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare. If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah McClain.
Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice. He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.
Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.
You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.
Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.
When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.
(John Lewis, the civil rights leader and congressman who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death.)
TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Speaker, I rise to ask unanimous consent to address the House for five minutes.
Today, I come with a heavy heart, deeply concerned about the future of our democracy. And I am not alone.
People approach me everywhere I go, whether I am traveling back and forth to Atlanta or around our country.
They believe, they truly believe, that our nation is descending into darkness.
They never dreamed that the United States – once seen as a beacon of hope and as an inspiration to people striving for equality and justice – would be falling into such disgrace. I share their concerns for the future of our country.
It keeps me up at night. We took an oath to protect this nation against all domestic enemies and foreign enemies.
Sometimes I’m afraid to go to sleep for fear that I will wake up and our democracy will be gone and never return.
At every turn, this administration demonstrates complete disdain and disregard for ethics, for the law, and for the Constitution.
They have lied under oath. They refuse to account for their actions and appear before legislative bodies who have the constitutional right to inquire about their activities.
The people have a right to inquire. They have a right to know!
The people have a right to know whether they can put their faith and trust in the outcome of our elections.
They have a right to know whether the cornerstone of our democracy was undermined by people sitting in the White House today.
They have a right to know whether a foreign power was asked to intervene in the 2020 election.
They have a right to know whether the president is using his office to line his own pockets.
Mr. Speaker, the people of this nation realize that if they had committed even half of these possible violations, the federal government would be swift to seek justice.
We cannot delay! We must not wait! Now is the time to act!
I have been patient while we tried every other path and used every other tool.
We will never find the truth unless we use the power given to the House of Representatives – and the House alone – to begin an official investigation as dictated by the Constitution.
The future of our democracy is at stake. There comes a time when you have to be moved by the spirit of history to take action to protect and preserve the integrity of our nation.
I believe, I truly believe, the time to begin impeachment proceedings against this President has come.
To delay or to do otherwise would betray the foundation of our democracy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Transcript: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for holding today’s hearing.
Climate change is one of the most urgent matters of our generation.
27 years ago, I was proud to champion the Environmental Justice Act with then-Senator Al Gore.
I believed then what I know to be true today: Clean air and clean water are rights, not privileges.
We have a right to know what is in the food we eat, what is in the water we drink, and what is in the air we breathe.
Each and every one of us must cherish this planet, for it is likely the only home we will ever know.
Combatting climate change is not a Democratic or a Republican issue. It is the question of preserving this little piece of real estate that we call Earth for generations yet unborn.
Together, we can solve this problem, but time is of the essence. Congress cannot stand on the sidelines. We have a moral responsibility to lead, and the time to act is now.
Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to submit a report conducted by the NAACP, Clean Air Task Force, and the National Medical Association on the health impacts of pollution on African-American communities.
Si bien mi tiempo aquí ha llegado a su fin, quiero que sepan que en los últimos días y horas de mi vida ustedes me han inspirado. Ustedes me han llenado de esperanza sobre el próximo capítulo de la gran historia estadounidense al usar su poder para marcar una diferencia en nuestra sociedad. Millones de personas motivadas simplemente por la compasión humana depusieron el lastre de la división. Alrededor del país y del mundo, ustedes han puesto de lado la raza, la clase, la edad, el idioma y la nacionalidad para exigir respeto a la vida humana.
Es por eso que tuve que visitar la plaza Black Lives Matter en Washington, aunque me internaron en el hospital al día siguiente. Tenía que ver y sentir por mí mismo que, después de muchos años de ser testigo mudo, la verdad sigue su marcha.
Emmett Till fue mi George Floyd. Él fue mi Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland y Breonna Taylor. Él tenía 14 años cuando fue asesinado, y en ese entonces yo solo tenía 15 años. Nunca olvidaré el momento en que quedó tan claro que él fácilmente podría haber sido yo. En aquellos días, el miedo nos restringía como una prisión imaginaria y los pensamientos inquietantes de brutalidad potencial cometida sin ninguna razón comprensible eran las rejas.
Aunque estaba rodeado de dos padres amorosos, muchos hermanos, hermanas y primos, su amor no podía protegerme de la opresión impía que esperaba a las afueras de ese círculo familiar. La violencia desenfrenada y sin control y el terror aprobado por el gobierno tenían el poder de convertir en una pesadilla un simple paseo a la tienda por algunos caramelos Skittles o un inocente trote por la mañana en una carretera rural solitaria. Si queremos sobrevivir como nación unificada, debemos descubrir lo que se arraiga tan fácilmente en nuestros corazones y que podría despojar a la Iglesia Madre Emanuel en Carolina del Sur de sus mejores y más brillantes feligreses, matar a desprevenidos asistentes de un concierto en Las Vegas y estrangular hasta la muerte las esperanzas y sueños de un violinista talentoso como Elijah McClain.
Al igual que muchos jóvenes de hoy, buscaba una salida —algunos podrían decir una entrada— y entonces escuché la voz del doctor Martin Luther King Jr. en una vieja radio. Hablaba sobre la filosofía y la disciplina de la no violencia. Dijo que todos somos cómplices cuando toleramos la injusticia. Dijo que no es suficiente decir que todo mejorará poco a poco. Dijo que cada uno de nosotros tiene la obligación moral de ponerse de pie, alzar la voz y manifestarse. Cuando vean algo que no está bien, deben decir algo. Deben hacer algo. La democracia no es un estado. Es un acto, y cada generación tiene que hacer su parte para ayudar a construir lo que llamamos la Comunidad Amada, una nación y una sociedad mundial en paz consigo misma.
Con una visión extraordinaria las personas comunes pueden rescatar el alma de Estados Unidos al meterse en lo que yo llamo buenos problemas, problemas necesarios. Votar y participar en el proceso democrático es clave. El voto es el agente de cambio no violento más poderoso que se tiene en una sociedad democrática. Deben usarlo porque no está garantizado. Pueden perderlo.
También deben estudiar y leer las lecciones de la historia, porque la humanidad ha estado en esta lucha existencial y desgarradora durante mucho tiempo. La gente de todos los continentes ha estado en su lugar, décadas y siglos antes que ustedes. La verdad no cambia, y es por eso que las respuestas elaboradas hace mucho tiempo pueden ayudarlos a encontrar soluciones a los desafíos de nuestro tiempo. Continúen construyendo la unión entre movimientos que se extienden por todo el mundo, porque debemos dejar de lado nuestra voluntad de sacar provecho de la explotación de los demás.
Aunque puede que ya no esté con ustedes, los animo a responder el llamado más elevado de su corazón y a defender lo que realmente creen. En mi vida he hecho todo lo posible para demostrar que el camino de la paz, el camino del amor y la no violencia es el camino más excelente. Ahora es el turno de ustedes de hacer repicar la libertad.
Cuando los historiadores tomen sus bolígrafos para escribir la historia del siglo XXI, que digan que fue su generación la que finalmente derrumbó las pesadas cargas de odio y que la paz finalmente triunfó sobre la violencia, la agresión y la guerra. Así que les digo, caminen con el viento, hermanos y hermanas, y dejen que el espíritu de la paz y el poder del amor eterno sean su guía.
John Lewis, líder de los derechos civiles y congresista que murió el 17 de julio, escribió este ensayo poco antes de su muerte.
Fotografía de John Lewis por David Deal/Redux
(El líder de los derechos civiles murió el 17 de julio y escribió este ensayo poco antes de su muerte para ser publicado el día de su funeral. La editora del Comité Editorial, Kathleen Kingsbury, escribió sobre este artículo y el legado de Lewis en la edición del jueves de nuestro boletín Opinion Today (en inglés).)
You don’t have to be a scientist or an expert of any kind to comment! You just need to know that that the politicization of science and research is a form of authoritarian censorship that will affect everyone’s lives for the worse, and be willing to speak up. Research on issues important to you or someone you love can be defunded if a researcher’s facebook page includes a comment that makes our Grifter-in-Chief sad. We give you a lot of resources to work with. Take a moment and join in this effort!
Watch this great short video! (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ5b7pDq-l4/)
Watch more videos below!
Continue reading “July 13, 8:59 PDT DEADLINE (Monday) to Comment on a Federal Grant Regulatory Grant Change to Politicize and Censor Science!”Watch this great video here (https://fb.watch/HH24_BiGkO)
VOTER GUIDE – QUICK LINKS TO:
Or did a signature gatherer try to corner you? (They get $15 if you sign!) This letter is a fear-bomb, designed to make people believe that CA’s proposed 5% wealth tax, which only affects 200 CA billionaires, is actually coming after grandma’s pension!
Yeah. Ok, maybe. If grandma is also a friggin‘ BILLIONAIRE!
The letter says to sign in two places on the back – once as a registered voter and once as the petition circulator.
According to AB-481, a CA law passed in 2021, law enforcement agencies who want to buy military equipment have to obtain approval from their applicable governing body in public meetings. The law was adopted into Ventura County Ordinance 4603. For today’s example, we’re talking about the Sheriff’s office request to buy a drone on the V.C. Board of Supervisors (BOS) March 3rd consent calendar.
Why do law enforcement agencies in CA have to ask permission to buy military-grade equipment? The reasons for this public approval process was important enough to be written into the law itself.
Continue reading “Guess what’s on the Consent Calendar on March 3rd?”Make sure your legislators know these laws are important to you!
The corruption here is bizarrely obvious. But that doesn’t mean it will go away without a fight.
(https://youtube.com/shorts/ir-XY39VTVI?si=j4OWWjb1fKbz-v5w)
Continue reading “Scam Alert! Medicare’s new AI model lets corporations profit by denying services ordered by doctors.”
