The Yakima City Council held a regular meeting on June 16, 2026, at 5:31 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers, lasting until 7:31 p.m. The meeting included public comments, recognition of retiring Fire Chief Aaron Markham, council committee appointments, a consent agenda, a contentious debate on renewing the Flock Safety camera contract, airport updates, and a report on Franklin Pool repairs. Councilmember Rick Glenn was absent.
Call this uh regular council meeting to order. Uh clerk, roll call, please. Bird here Brown here. Buyers, President Gonzalez here. Patrick is here. Really? Here. Councilmember Glenn is absent. All right, join me for the poll. All right. Interpreter services. I believe Nate is here, yes. Next is public comment. Uh there's thirty-five minutes allotted for public comment with two and a half minutes per speaker in order to allow as much opportunity as possible for audience participation. You have refused to do so. Um experts or constitutional legal experts. You have allowed and supported the widespread unconstitutional collection of our data. You have allowed that unconstitutionally collected data to be retained and shared by Flock, however they choose, with no regard for what their harms actually causes. And it is clearly stated in the contract that has been approved by this council that they get to use the data however they want, even after YPD has deleted it. You have not read the contracts, and we know that for a fact because a couple council members have confirmed that to our faces that they have not actually read the contracts in full. And you have not read the laws. How the funds are used. How you procure the original contract, who retains ownership of the capital asset purchase or any conflict of interest. You have put Yakima at gris for more lawsuits, which the city cannot afford. You have opened up opened us up to extensive litigation that us as taxpaying residents have to fit the bill for. Your failure, your failures here with Flock are so widespread and they're so dangerous, and you're not serving this community, and you have proven to be untrustworthy. Since you have not done any research, I have provided you with some information to help you get at least a basic understanding. Today you will vote on their approval or renewing the city contract for 2,497. Do your research and vote no on the blanket approval of the contract. Thank you. All right. Zachary, are you here? Don't see him. Okay. Uh, we'll go to Andrina Rangel. My name is Andreena Rangel. I'm a Yakima County resident. Last week we heard Chief Boyle say that they had removed cameras from locations now deemed by Washington Senate Bill 6002 as sensitive locations where cameras can't be placed. The handout in front of you highlights where the law states it is unlawful for any agency to collect automated license plate reader data on the premises or immediate surroundings or access to and from facilities that provide protected health services, facilities conducting an immigration matter, elementary and secondary schools, places of worship, courts, and um, and food banks. Since the city has not complied with public records requests regarding camera locations and the information is absent from the YPD flock transparency portal, we conducted our own research by mapping camera locations with the help of DFund, I'm sorry, with the help of DFLOC.org. While the law doesn't define immediate surroundings, a one to two block radius is a reasonable standard. Within this distance, we found 12 cameras near four schools, a place of worship, two immigration agencies, and a medical facility. Even more alarming, five cameras sit directly outside of daycares and early learning centers, locations that deserve the highest priority, the highest privacy protections. Police departments cannot use mobile video, I'm sorry, mobile vehicle cameras around schools because they cannot be turned off to protect children from surveillance. Why then is it acceptable to post stationary cameras right outside daycares and parks? The handout titled City of Yakima Surveillance Cameras and at Prohibited and Sensitive Locations maps out these areas to save you time and disprove Chief Boyle's claims. Remember, each camera takes six to twelve photos of every vehicle or person triggering its sensors. That means six to twelve photos of every parent dropping off their child twice a day all year round with that data fed directly to Flock to use as they wish. We've asked the city council and YPD for months to end the Flock safety camera contracts and to invest in vital community programs. You've ignored us.