The Beverly City Council held its regular meeting on April 21, 2026, addressed public comments on Flock safety cameras, approved routine orders, and continued three public hearings on Go Net Speed petitions for underground fiber installations. Subcommittees met, and the council approved several appointments, donations, and a National Grid petition.
Please call the roll. Crowley? Here. Feldman. Houseman. Here. Melady. Retundo. Sonia. Spang. St. Hilaire. Flowers. Here. Thank you very much, Ms. Kirker. Counselor Housman, will you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Allegiance to the flag. The United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God. Thank you very much, Councillor Houseman, for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. And I'll just mention, as I as I like to explain, that for those who are following, these uh public comments that can be made are part of the agenda of every regular city council meeting that we have. There are up to five spots available for folks to sign up and be able to address the council for up to three minutes per speaker. And you can sign up for these spots to speak by contacting the city clerk no later than 9.30 the morning of the meeting, and they are first come first serve. You won't see the council necessarily engage in any kind of question and answer or back and forth with these speakers. Um, but that doesn't mean that we're not listening very carefully, taking very seriously what we hear, and often what we hear from folks during this time helps to inform our conversations and things that we're thinking about together. So we really appreciate those who take the time and come and share with us. Uh so we'll go to those two folks, um, and we'll start please with uh Mitchell Sorovic, and I apologize if I mispronounced your last name. Um I will invite you to go ahead to the podium, begin with your name and address, and then uh Vice President St. Hilaire, will you keep the time for us for three minutes, if you would. If you hear the timer glov, if you would just draw your remarks to a close. Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. My name is Mitchell Sorovic. I live at 42 Pratt Avenue. Most of us just endured the police department's attempt over the past hour to justify the indefensible. But let's talk some more about flock safety. The mayor, who is left, I believe, and councillor Housman, I suspect, will find what I'm about to say quite interesting. About two weeks ago, I sent a public records request to the city for all flock data collected for license plates, 5 VEB 50 and 8 TF 133. The solicitor, as our, as your legal representative, informed me that I could not have that data. Why? For two reasons. Either one, it constitutes investigatory material. I believe the owners of those cars would be surprised to learn that they are under investigation. If that's the case, surely a warrant was obtained to collect that investigatory material. Or I couldn't have the data to because I quote. There's that word again, invasion of personal privacy. End quote. You mean the very information you're sending to Flock?