At the Monday, October 5, meeting of City Council Committees, Barry Russell and Renee Baumgartner, city residents suspicious of the Community Safety Coalition’s (CSC) network of surveillance cameras, spoke to the Council regarding their concerns. As indicated by Russell, this was the most substantive conversation thus far held between camera opponents and public officials in Lancaster City.
At the height of the discussion, Russell recommended that the City Council enact a complete moratorium on all camera system operations until clear regulations and oversight are established. While unequivocal in affirming the need for refined regulations, council members did not welcome the thought of such drastic action, primarily citing a lack of broad public concern—apart from the complaints of a vocal minority.
According to Councilman Nelson Polite, decisions relating to trash collection or liquor licenses often draw contact from hundreds of concerned citizens. Regarding the CSC’s camera system, Polite asserted, there has not been a comparable public response.
Councilman and CSC Executive Director Joe Morales further noted that, after the CSC distributed 15,000 invitations to their camera-related town hall meetings this spring, the turnout was generally sparse. “I was surprised by that and, frankly, disappointed,” Morales said, citing the lack of attendees as an indicator of public concern.
Baumgartner countered that, in the case of civil liberties, majority rule should never hold sway. When the consenting majority removes freedom from a minority, the end result is a kind of tyranny, Baumgartner asserted.
Another point of discussion was the level of public input previously invited by City Council with regard to the camera system.
Councilman Jose Urdaneta was blunt in his explanation of why the Council did not more scrutinously oversee the CSC’s activity in the past: “We all lead very busy lives,” Urdaneta admitted, adding that the LA Times article highlighting Lancaster’s camera system brought a renewed focus to issue. “Up until this, there were no red flags. And I think you are raising some very valid red flags,” Urdaneta told Russell and Baumgartner.
“I dont know where this is going to lead us, but I think this is going to lead us to some kind of action,” Urdaneta concluded.
Russell invited the Council Members to attend a 2 p.m. meeting at Franklin & Marshall on October 18 to listen to an American Civil Liberties Union representative speak on the topic of surveillance systems.
Near the end of the discussion, Morales offered to personally meet with Russell and Baumgartner to hold an extended dialogue regarding their concerns. “Let’s talk,” Morales said, and asserted that he would remain open to new recommendations as long as the camera-opponents were likewise open to compromise: “If your goal is just to shut the project down, then I don’t see where there [can be] any middle ground.”
