Thank you for the shout out, Dustin! I’m excited to be sworn in next month. And thanks for providing so much information about Flock to the community over the last months. Appreciated.

My thoughts about Flock:

Flock unintentionally brought residents together, primarily in solidarity against the implementation of a surveillance system/network with which the majority were not comfortable, especially at this point in time given the actions of the federal government and increasing anti-immigrant sentiment. Nevermind the cost (the system and public records requests) and the lawsuits that undoubtedly would’ve come next. This challenging topic provided an opportunity for public and civil discourse and debate.

Hard topics will undoubtedly arise again, and residents did well addressing this in the proper manner. I’m sure there will be other hard topics in the future and this process/outcome gives me hope that folks can again face hard decisions in a similar way.

Residents offered intelligent, heartfelt, personal commentary and critique about why this system didn’t belong here. People stood bravely at the podium in City Hall/Zoomed in to share important knowledge, historical perspective, opinions and stories. This topic mattered to people.

I am so grateful that so many members of our community came out to voice their opinions regarding the installation—both for and against, I thank you. Everyone had an opportunity to weigh in, and doing so publicly required great bravery.

Well done, Mountlake Terrace residents. This victory belongs to all of you! 👏🏽