Letter to the Editor: What the Flock is Going on at Scarsdale Village Hall?
OpEds are always welcome: Write to scarsdaleinsider@gmail.com.
Over 400 Scarsdale residents have signed a petition asking the Village Board to halt the implementation of mass surveillance technology. Over 110 residents have either sent in letters to the Village Board or written within the petition asking for a pause until there are public meetings where all of residents’ questions can be answered.
On April 8, without placing a notice in the Village Board agenda as is required under New York State’s Sunshine Law, the overwhelming majority of the Village Board voted on a contract to engage a technology company, Flock Safety, to add more license plate readers and cameras, as well as a drone in Scarsdale. Ever since the information came to light in mid-April, many residents have been writing to the Village Board asking why residents were not informed beforehand, what the exact need is for this level of surveillance technology in a village of 18,000 residents, how this technology will be paid for, and whether Flock Safety was vetted and by whom.
Unfortunately, most residents’ emails are not even being responded to, and those that receive an acknowledgement do not receive complete responses to important questions. Moreover, residents’ Freedom of Information Law requests are not being fulfilled and continue to be delayed.
Irrespective of how different residents may think about surveillance technology, we deserve a mayor, Village Manager, and Board that answer questions. Across America, in red, blue, and purple cities, officials have had meetings so that taxpayers can have conversations about surveillance technology. Only after repeated requests did the Village Board have a barely-advertised working session where residents could speak; this took place June 10, over two months after the secret vote on Flock Safety.
The attorney contracted by Scarsdale Village spent time answering some questions about Flock Safety. He is not a technology expert. Why did he speak on behalf of Flock Safety? Why were Flock Safety professionals, or better yet, independent surveillance technology experts, not present at this meeting? Even a brief search about Flock Safety yields the company’s numerous municipal violations, exaggerations about the accuracy of its technology, and the lawsuits hanging over its head. Even if you want surveillance technology, why is this the troubled company that the Mayor has chosen?
Scarsdale’s Mayor claims that no notice could be placed in the agenda, because there was a deadline to apply for a federal grant to pay for the Flock Safety technology. Yet, someone at Village Hall had plenty of time to spend a lot of March asking local clergy, school, fire department, politicians, and business leaders for letters in support of the surveillance technology. Were these individuals who sent in letters of support even told that Scarsdale residents were being kept in the dark? Where is the grant application? When was it submitted, and to whom? The grant application has not been made public. Has Scarsdale Village received the grant? What happens if it does not qualify for the funds? Are Scarsdale taxpayers on the hook for this technology for which they did not even get to opine, much less vote on?
Additionally, the Mayor has not clarified why there was no Request for Proposal process. Is a sole source contract even legal in New York State, when a vendor does have competitors? I asked that question, as did a couple of other residents. No response.
The Scarsdale Mayor, Village Manager, and Village Board refuse to halt the implementation of the surveillance technology and to have more meetings where residents can have all their questions answered. However, residents should keep asking questions at regular Village Board meetings. Please attend the Village Board meeting this Tuesday, June 24 at 8:00pm at Rutherford Hall, 2nd floor at 1001 Post Road. The Public Comment session takes place shortly after the Village Manager's comments. Members of the public may speak about any municipal topic they wish; the time limit is 5 minutes. When you begin speaking, you are required to state your name and address.
If you cannot attend in person, you may attend via Zoom , or call into the meeting by dialing 1-929-436-2866 and entering the Meeting ID 931 8370 3358. To participate in public comment online, click “Raise Hand,” or dial 9 if commenting by telephone.
The Mayor and Village Manager have implied that the technology is free since it will be paid for by a federal grant. Nothing is ever free. If it really is true that taxpayers do not have to pay for technology with our taxes, it means that we are paying for it with our data, privacy, and freedom.
—Mayra Kirkendall-Rodriguez