Technology

Oh, they're being nice when they use the phrase "crashing out" to describe what this dude actually wrote. I was curious so I followed the link in 404media out to the local paper, and was not disappointed.

From the local newspaper, this is the actual text of the ~~manifesto~~ statement the aforementioned crashed-out Texas town councilmember released after getting his contract with Flock shot down by "a standing-room-only crowd of residents voicing concerns about privacy, transparency and government overreach tied to the planned camera system." The bold is his own:

The Bandera Declaration of Digital Independence

To the Citizens of Bandera:

For months, I have listened to the outcry regarding License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology. I have seen the eyerolls, and I’ve even been met with "Nazi rhetoric", the dangerous claim that believing in accountability and community safety is somehow equivalent to totalitarianism. Comparing a neighbor’s desire for a safe street to a dark chapter of history is a classic case of comparing apples to oranges; it is a distraction used to avoid the reality of the threats our town faces today.

I’ve also read the social media comments suggesting that if I want a camera, I should "put one on my own house."

Funny thing is, I did. And that camera caught a gang of criminals from San Antonio who drove into our town in a stolen car to break into mine. My private camera caught them after the crime was done. But if we had LPR readers at our city limits, that stolen car would have been flagged the moment it entered Bandera, likely before those criminals ever reached my driveway, or yours.

I now understand your concerns and I secede. Your outcry is just too logical to ignore. Since the Council has decided we are the "Free State of Bandera", a place where the 'rights' of a car thief or human trafficker to remain anonymous apparently outweigh the right of a resident to protect their property and the safety of their family, then we must go all the way.

To ensure our historic County Seat becomes the most "traditional" sanctuary in Texas, I have requested the following for the next City Council agenda:

• A Modest Proposal for Digital Device Prohibition: A total ban on all cellular and GPS-capable devices for all operations within city limits. If we are to be truly "private," we must leave our smartphones at the city line.

• A Modest Proposal for Total Surveillance Abolition (Residential & Commercial): A total ban on all outward-facing cameras, including residential doorbells and all commercial CCTV or security camera technology. If municipal safety cameras are "invasive," then no business or homeowner should be allowed to "monitor" the public. We will remove every lens in town.

• A Modest Proposal for Total Municipal and Commercial Decommissioning: A total termination of all internet services and electronic record-keeping. We are going back to 1880, paper ledgers and cash only.

The Fiscal Reality of "Freedom": This decision didn't just cost us our safety; it cost us our wallets. By canceling this project, the Council didn't just throw away a state grant (free money); they spent $15,000 of your local tax dollars out of pocket to back out of the deal. Bragging about fiscal responsibility while paying $15,000 for nothing is a very bad deal for Bandera.

A History Lesson: In the 1880s, privacy in this County Seat was non-existent. When a stranger rode into Bandera, the Marshal gave them an interview, not "space." The livery stable registered their horse’s brand, and the merchants watched their every move. Anonymity was for outlaws; accountability was for citizens.

I even reached out to the Trump camp regarding our "Free State" logic and the way we're treating our Marshal's office and the safety of our community. The response was classic:

"Our police are being treated very, very unfairly. It’s a total disaster. We give them the tools, we get them the grants—and I love grants, we have the best grants, nobody gets grants like we do—and then these 'eye-rollers' say no? It’s unbelievable. They want the criminals to have the best technology, the newest technology, but they want our great police to have nothing. They want a 'Free State' for the bad guys. It’s very sad."

Let’s take Bandera back to 1880 properly. No double standards, no hypocrisy. If LPRs are "unconstitutional" and invade our right to "public" privacy, we need to be courageous enough to go all the way. I look forward to the "Privacy First" crowd showing up to support these bans….just remember to leave your phones at home.

Jeff Flowers
Bandera, TX

Besides threatening all and sundry with ~~a good time~~ banning all communication technology, he also throws in gems like, "I now understand your concerns and I secede" (paragraph 4). Oh, if only. He "even reached out to the Trump camp" for logic (para 11) while making a claim to "Free State" in the same breath, lol.

I don't guess anyone has the heart to tell Jeff that people pissed off enough to crowd town council meetings to standing room only are also the ones pissed off enough to start recalls and to vote, that a single vote in a local election goes many miles farther than a single vote anywhere else, and that no matter how many florid letters of support Jeff gets from a staffer trying hard to sound like the lunatic-in-chief, "the Trump camp" is not gonna spend a dime on saving a town council seat that is currently occupied by a manifesto-writing lunatic that is busily earning his town's contempt.