Santa Barbara Civic Platform
Positions · Records · Receipts
RESIDENT PROPOSAL · GATHERING BACKING · NOT AN ISSUE, NOT A BALLOT
Resident proposal

The City of Santa Barbara should take down the Flock cameras and ban the city from using license plate surveillance networks.

SUBMITTED AUGUST 11, 2026 BY BEN W. · 29 · WEST SIDE · RENTER · DESIGNER

Twelve Flock cameras track every passing car on our streets. They went up after a 7 to 0 vote in January 2024 pitched partly as parking customer service, with one public commenter. Audits elsewhere caught Flock data reaching federal agencies against state law. Take them down and keep them down.

Back itA signal, not a vote

Add your name behind this idea. It's a signal to the Council that residents care, not a binding vote.

BACKING: 3 OF 5 FOR GUARANTEED REVIEW REVIEW GUARANTEES AN ANSWER, NOT PASSAGE
Backing means “this deserves a decision,” not “I’m for it.” You can back a proposal you would vote against.
YOUR BACKING: · PRIVATE · ONLY THE COUNT IS PUBLIC · WITHDRAW ANY TIME
THRESHOLD IS RELATIVE AND MOVES WITH THE ACTIVE RESIDENT POPULATION; THE FORMULA, PUBLISHED →
In their wordsRanked by endorsements · For and against both belong

One statement per resident · no replies by design · statements against belong here too; they feed the review · endorsements open with verification · attribution shows only what each resident chose to share.

What happens at the threshold

1. Research packet. No agenda to extract, so the pipeline grounds the idea instead: which body would decide it and by what instrument, and whether the city has considered it before. It is a search of the public record, with any cost or feasibility figures cited only where a document states them.

2. Neutrality audit. The same adversarial audit every candidate issue gets, published verbatim.

3. The gate. Editorial review decides. Advanced: the proposal becomes a live issue with a document code and an open ballot, and this page remains as its genesis record. Not advanced: the reasons are published right here. Either way, the answer is on the record.

If a ballot opens, backers are notified, never auto-registered. Backing was “decide this”; your position stays yours to mark.