How to stop Austin from spending $2 million on AI cameras:

Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 10:00 AM - Austin City Council will vote on spending $2 million of our tax money on AI-powered surveillance towers. We need YOU there to stop it!

What's happening

Austin just terminated their contract with Flock cameras for being ineffective (0.2% success rate). Now they want to give $2 million to LiveView Technologies (LVT) for even worse surveillance towers that:

• Track you with thermal imaging from 1,200+ feet away in complete darkness

• Blast loud music to harass bystanders until they leave

• Connect to federal fusion centers without warrants

• Have been used to monitor political protests in other cities

This is Item #33 on the agenda. Read the full breakdown: LiveView Technologies on ConsumerRights.wiki and Flock Cameras on ConsumerRights.wiki

how to sign up to speak

DEADLINE: Wednesday, August 27 at 12:00 PM (noon)

1. Go to: https://cityofaustin.formstack.com/forms/austin_city_council_speaker_signup

2. Select "Item #33" when asked which agenda item

3. Choose to speak in-person or remotely

4. Fill out your info - takes 2 minutes

Call the City Clerk with questions: (512) 974-2210

where to go

Austin City Hall 301 W. Second Street, Austin, TX 78701 Thursday, August 28, 2025 Arrive by 9:30 AM (meeting starts at 10:00 AM)

Parking:

• Street parking nearby

• Austin City Hall Parking Garage: 601 W 2nd Street

• Republic Square Garage: 422 Guadalupe Street

Public Transit:

• MetroBus routes 7, 20, 142, 801 stop nearby

• MetroRail Red Line: Downtown Station (4th & Guadalupe), walk 5 minutes

If you don't want to speak, NO PROBLEM!

Just showing up matters! Council members count heads. being able to point to people against these is very helfpul.

1. Sit together - Shows organized opposition

2. Applaud opponents of it - Shows support (but don't boo or disrupt)

3. Hold a simple sign - "NO AI SURVEILLANCE CAMS" or something you think is appropriate.

4. Stay for the vote - Your presence during voting matters

talking points that work

Based on what got these cameras rejected in Denver, San Marcos, and Oak Park:

fiscal responsibility

"Austin spent $1.2 million on Flock cameras. They scanned 113 million license plates and got 165 arrests. That's $7,300 per arrest. For that money, we could hire actual officers or fund community programs."

this failed already

"Austin JUST terminated Flock for systematic compliance failures and 0.2% effectiveness. Why are we giving another surveillance company $2 million?"

the abuse potential

"In Kansas, two different cops used these systems to stalk their exes hundreds of times. In Texas, sheriffs used them to track women seeking legal abortions in other states. This isn't hypothetical, it's happening now."

opt out argument

i can choose what businesses to go to or not. i do not want to add parks to the list of places I need to choose to avoid if i want to retain some semblance of privacy.

the conservative argument

The government wants to spend $2 million to watch law-abiding citizens 24/7. in china, AI powered cameras can detect undesirable behavior and put you on a screen for humiliation. imagine if these cameras were around during COVID when governments made it illegal to be too close to others or go down the wrong aisle of a department store?

the progressive argument

These cameras were placed primarily in Black neighborhoods with no businesses nearby. LVT advertises using loud music to harass homeless people. This is discriminatory surveillanc.

avoid this

• Don't get technical about AI or computers, keep it simple

• Don't make it partisan, surveillance threatens everyone & people of all political views have reason to not want bonzibuddy watching them

• No need to exaggerate, the truth is bad enough.

• don't attack council members personally, attack the proposal

some facts

• Cost: $2 million for 3 years

• Company: LiveView Technologies (LVT)

• Height: 22-foot towers

• Range: 1,200+ feet in complete darkness

• Austin's record: Just terminated Flock for failure

• Other cities: Denver unanimously rejected, San Marcos voted no, Oak Park terminated

after the meeting, follow up

Win or lose, this isn't over. follow up:

• Thank council members who voted no

• Share what happened on social media

Remember: You don't need to be a perfect speaker. You just need to show up and say "I don't want my tax money spent on surveillance that doesn't work."

See you Thursday, 10 AM!

FAQ

Why can't I comment on this?

This is a piece of shit broken wordpress site put together in 2010 to advertise Louis Rossmann's repair services, I am lucky it even loads. It doesn't even rank for "hard drive data recovery" within the top 100 results on google when that's our primary service. I just needed a place to stick this info quick & this site is already up.

I am confused, what do I do, where do I go?

Scroll up.

What else can I do?

Show up, 10 AM, Thursday.

I can't show up I have work

You can sign up to give testimony remotely, see if you can have it coincide with lunchbreak.

I can show up but don't want to.

Then have fun paying for bonzibuddy to watch you in the park, & get ready to welcome in the new normal of being surveilled all the itme.

fuck you!!

Fuck you harder! Life is hard, & not fair. If you want the world to be less of a dystopia, you have to show up where it matters & it aint always fun. You will sit through dozens of other agenda items before they get to this. It will be boring & not fun. sometimes that's life!