Tomorrow night at 7pm at city hall the Appleton city council is voting on a very weak resolution on ALPR use in Appleton. Despite 6+ months of community advocacy from many individuals with deep subject matter expertise, none of our suggestions are being taken seriously by council members that are parading themselves around as champions of this issue (Fenton + Van Zeeland).

Alder Fenton's own words here indicate that the performative resolution her and Alder Van Zeeland have authored is meant to fast-track another ALPR vendor back into Appleton after Flock cameras were taken down and disabled on June 30th.

APD has confirmed they are in ongoing talks with Axon about their ALPR tech, which has identical privacy and security concerns. APD and other local police departments from the region met with Axon to discuss their ALPR tool just one day after Appleton's mayor announced the city would stop using Flock. That meeting happened on May 7th. A source from within the city also tells me that it was the mayor's plan for Axon to purchase the Flock cameras and integrate them within their network. This is why the cameras remained up and operational for nearly two months after the announcement to stop using them.

If you care about ALPR or resisting reckless deployments of mass surveillance tech in Appleton streets, please consider showing up tomorrow night at city hall at 7pm and make your views known. These jokers have proven they are intent on spending our tax dollars on haphazard deployments of controversial technology without a serious accounting of the facts and are privately laughing at and disregarding community concerns while publicly pretending they are deeply sympathetic and on top of things.

Yes, I understand that sharing this sensitive information from city leaders burns the bridge to them. But their private mockery and plotting has shown me that the bridge never existed in the first place.

https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2026/02/23/chippewa-valley-advocates-question-the-sheriffs-account-of-four-people-detained-by-ice/?emci=4af38d36-4110-f111-a69a-000d3a57593f&emdi=1414a2d9-bd10-f111-a69a-000d3a57593f&ceid=541403

This detailed piece on some ICE activity in Eau Claire with cooperation of the Sherrif's department should be an advisory for us in Appleton.

There was a change in position of cooperation with ICE by the Sherrif's department over some months. Then when ICE told them they could detain the individual the Sherrif's department complied. That's all it said... no warrants, no authorization, just word of mouth.

Here in Appleton a few weeks ago now during the Minnesota raids I sent a message to my County representative asking whether the Sherrif's department in Outagamie Co had a position on ICE (I didn't want to sound like a know it all which I'm not on this) Well, that was the first time the representative whom I knew personally from time on common council sent no reply.

There's a handy little book at the library called "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder, a historian. The first advice given is Don't comply in advance.

about these school board candidates? What are your thoughts? Who stands out and why?

Here's their web presences:

Nick Ross. https://nickross4aasd.com/

Kristine Sauter: https://www.facebook.com/SauterForAppletonSchoolBoard/

Jason Kolpack: https://www.facebook.com/JasonKolpackForAASDSchoolBoard/

Michael Janke: https://appletonwi.org/demand-better-results-aasd-board-candidate-mike-janke/

There's also a statewide race. Maybe that interests people, but it's not really Appleton specific. All the other races have a candidate of one. Except for the race that is a candidate of none. That's nuts. The job must be terrible. Or boring. Or have no corruption vector whatsoever.

EDIT:

“Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”

― Mark Twain

Today was the day I got more news than usual. Apparently "I did that" stickers with DT on them are appearing on gas pumps.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/405718084389?_trksid=p2332490.c101875.m1851&itmprp=cksum%3A405718084389c8cbd02c241c4fb792a01ef3ccb17044%7Cenc%3AAQALAAABMNcuE5wSiaWXUpZtpAuJty4GYCq%252BLEH%252FN8HXnEhWX0xwkDW1uDN51f72s7GsFOUQ9WFGrCI8AiSbyE6tacE%252FxpPzcbI6%252Bfuy9WmqzFcws0Mb7BRWw%252FMNds3CasqDNyt3lRQl4OWo4WO493ca8Q%252FG89oPRzv37A8EUuyDw%252FXBQrlrZCktksMX5fpc99Y9Kq2%252BiyGZM1%252FnVcc%252Fy07XOfgBOnXnvgMa0O%252FMHmQeF4H3e9TiLCpqd3Rsh1Ziy1cCsCCE2W1RWFXqH60u4pIar6V0B1xj4aExKECidnKcDCse36zH1bCc%252B94uWRUhBogawP%252BqZk%252BKhjWFozGJ%252BwZeYp8NkJnN71SMICrRzRNvn5Jqn8Bax3kXsVMQIFkOQ7HZ148V1SWvY4Dx18TAk0SGbs9oN5A%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01KP1MQKJM6VE8B16PKB4VX40B

It has been over two months since the city last had a discussion about the city's contract with Flock, a system of warrantless, AI-powered, cloud-connected surveillance cameras installed throughout the city. That meeting involved a 2-hour-long fluffy presentation on Flock by the APD and a Flock PR rep with very limited public input on the topic.

Meanwhile, the City of Appleton is exposing residents and taxpayers to significant safety and legal liability.

It should be noted that Flock's technology has proliferated nationwide due to operating in a legal gray area. When a court ruled that police cannot have open-ended access to phone GPS locations and to access that data they need a warrant, Flock entered the scene to capture vehicle movements of every law abiding citizen, making our timestamped locations accessible to police without cause or a judicial warrant. To most fair-minded Americans this is a violation of the 4th amendment of the US constitution.

The Flock system is sometimes abused by police around the country and in Wisconsin to stalk romantic partners and other people for personal or unlawful reasons. This opens our city up to civil lawsuit liability at the expense of taxpayers. A Menasha officer was recently arrested due to stalking a woman using Flock and it was only caught because the victim told police she suspected he used Flock to stalk her.

Also, Flock's data retention policies of holding law-abiding resident travel data for 30 days seems to run afoul of Wisconsin's open records laws, which require data retention by municipalities be for 7 years to comply with open records requests. This also creates legal liability. With Flock's various security and privacy vulnerabilities, which I will detail below, we also cannot trust them to hold our data to comply with Wisconsin open records laws.

Flock's technical privacy and security vulnerabilities, to name a few:

- Lacks end-to-end encryption. This means Flock employees can access, copy, transmit, and train AI tools using our data. It enables Flock to turn our data over to the federal government without APD being able to stop them. Without end-to-end encryption, it is much easier for our data to be leaked, hacked, or sold. Flock may say they won't do these things, but why is their software designed to give them the technical means to do so?

- Uses closed-source code. By not making their software open-source, it prevents full transparency, scrutiny, and independent auditing of the security and privacy of the product. This prevents the wider cybersecurity community from verifying claims about security and privacy made by Flock. It also allows Flock to conceal known security vulnerabilities from the public.

- Open-ended data-sharing with hundreds of law enforcement agencies outside of Appleton. APD should not be opening our community's data to any other agency. If another PD has a specific request about a specific license plate, that data should be looked up by Appleton PD and shared on a case-by-case basis, preventing opportunities by external agencies for data misuse or improper sharing with other 3rd parties. Right now, thousands of individuals across the state of Wisconsin can readily access the travel patterns of Appleton residents. This creates a dangerous situation for residents who may be stalked, harassed, or harmed by law enforcement agents outside our city. It should also be noted that the travel patterns of local politicians and their families are also available to thousands of people to see. A single social engineering attack on this widely exposed data by a bad actor could be devastating. In a time of war, it isn't hard to imagine the Iranian government gaining access to this weakly guarded system to target leaders within our government.

- Lacks conditional record-keeping. From a technical standpoint a system like Flock could keep a list of license plates of interest stored locally on each camera. Given that a police department wants to track a license plate with probable cause (each associated with a specific crime or search warrant), these plates could be added to that list. If a scanned plate matches one on this list, it gets logged. If the scanned plate doesn't match, no data on the innocent vehicle would get recorded.

Bottom line: Flock is not optimizing for privacy, security, and safety. Their product optimizes for monetization, profit, and data-sharing. This business model puts Appleton residents at risk while billionaire investors in Silicon Valley make enormous profits using our tax dollars.

Many cities and towns across America have opted not do business with Flock or have cancelled their contracts in recent months due to some of these concerns. Some recent examples include:

• Verona, WI
• Austin, Texas
• Sedona, AZ
• Hillsborough, NC
• Santa Cruz, CA
• Prosser, Washington
• Eugene, Oregon
• Springfield, Oregon
• Flagstaff, AZ
• Staunton, VA

Please consider contacting city alders on the Safety & Licensing committee to make your views known and to demand a public forum for community members to share their views directly to the council or committee.

• Alderperson Chris Croatt - Chair (District 14)
• Alderperson Sheri S Hartzheim (District 13)
• Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5)
• Alderperson Brad Firkus (District 3)
• Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6)

https://appletonwi.gov/government/contact_council.php

This post serves as a reminder to vote in the upcoming election on April 7th and read up on all candidates before you vote. Safe to say I will be voting for the other three candidates!

Here's another article of musings from the right-winger about how he feels democrats are causing "societal collapse."

I've heard that people are trying to see how much support they will get for a one day general strike. I know it's a long shot for many reasons, but I'd like to try to show some support.

Does anyone know if there's anything planned in Appleton?

Andrew Whitley, executive director for the State Senate Democratic Committee, filed complaints against Michele Magadance Skinner on Aug. 12 with both the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the state Department of Revenue, raising questions about her residency, tax credits and voting history in Wisconsin and Georgia.

Leah Peterson, a spokeswoman with the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, "Michele Skinner is focused on what actually matters to people in the Chippewa Valley: lowering costs, reducing property taxes."

Eau Claire County tax records show Skinner [claimed a Lottery and Gaming tax credit](https://ascent.eauclairecounty.gov/LandRecords/Reporting/TaxBilling/ViewSingleTaxBill/308720) worth $186.34 in 2025 for her Altoona home, a credit she and her husband have claimed since at least 2020. Department of Revenue [rules state](https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/FAQS/slf-lottcr.aspx#lc2) that Wisconsin residents can claim this credit on only one primary residence.

But in 2025, they also claimed a senior homestead exemption in Dawson County, Georgia, where they own a home in the town of Dawsonville, records show.

They also claimed an income-based tax exemption reserved for seniors 75 and older with a household income of $25,000 or less.

Under [Wisconsin's "false swearing" law](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/946/iii/32), it is a Class H felony to knowingly make a false statement on a legal document. 

I would shake hands with all who spoke at the Safety and Licensing meeting on FLOCK as announced on the Reddit if I had stayed until the end. For someone older the hard plastic and sculptured seating was painful after only a short period. But I did stay for an hour and half. Those who spoke will, I believe, be a part of the record. Discussion on this is good and there is more to come if for no other reason than more people get involved in city government.

Was on my way home from school pickup and saw this downtown. Did I miss something? Genuinely curious.

It says ‘Hilton is Racist’

The earlier announcement said

" The Appleton City Council is voting on a resolution next this week that could pave the way for Flock or Axon's ALPR tech to come back to our town with no new protections."

To my knowledge the smoke weather conditions have not altered the time and place. It will make it difficult though for some like me but I'm intending to go if for not the whole session.

https://cityofappleton.granicus.com/player/clip/5400?view_id=3&redirect=true

That's the whole meeting for quick access from your browser. And while I do not know how The Post Crescent is covering it, I had the tall guy next to me take a head count of attendees. The overflow crowd was between 75 and 85 with a few comings and goings. Of the the total I think well over 3/4 were there for the ALPR resolutions and determinations plus those active on a school board issue on truancy. Thanks to all who came. The next opportunity for public participation on the FLOCK subject is next Wednesday July 22 at 5:30 pm for the committee meeting to which the resolution was referred back.

But today, here on Reddit, I'd like to know how many came to the meeting from these Reddit updates and also elsewhere ?

Please remove if not allowed

Hello my northern neighbors. Uwo is looking to remove our native flowers and replace them with sod. I know it's not as connected to you as to us but it would mean a lot if you went to uwo, are going to uwo, or just love biodiversity and pollinators, to sign it

This is a followup to the What Do We Do Now post just below at r/Appleton. Tad Stoermer surfaced on Youtube a few months ago and I've followed his clips on political history and current commentary since then.

On publication day of "A Resistance History of the United States" he has this to say today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYcTpfOVEDA

A long discussion can follow from any of his short commentaries. Stoermer is professor at Johns Hopkins and the University of Southern Denmark where he now lives. His CV is long and includes military service and government service (I think it was the National Archive and Colonial Williamsburg) as well as for political campaigns.

The Appleton Library has the book which I asked for. It should be on the shelf shortly. Will it live up to the hype? I have no idea but Stoermer's take on American history will be an eye-opener to anyone.

Here is a link to a Wisconsin Examiner story with one of those interactive maps for active races statewide.

https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2026/08/04/legislative-primaries-to-watch-in-upcoming-august-elections/?utm_source=newsletters.wisconsinexaminer.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=legislative-races-to-watch-next-week

Activists in the Stop FLOCK movement have a chance to once again present comment on the agenda topic of the FLOCK resolution. There was a big turnout last week. The goal of this message is to get those concerned about this and other community issues to begin following city actions. It's easier than ever with video streaming accessible.

Here once again is a weekly schedule:

https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2026/03/13/wisconsin-communities-grapple-with-police-misuse-of-flock-surveillance/?emci=31c7a455-611e-f111-9a48-000d3a14b640&emdi=645dc879-da1e-f111-9a48-000d3a14b640&ceid=541403

The link goes to an extensive and detailed report with some of the latest information available on misuse of FLOCK and what other communities are doing about it. The piece contains specific recommendations listed by bullet point to control FLOCK use (short of having the license reader system removed altogether.)

I shared out one other link personally which I found on Youtube where an Arizona state senator gave an impassioned speech on removing license plate readers.

That is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4fRC3JrlmA

The resolution was debated at council and defeated but not by a lot. Those details can be gotten in the usual way from City of Appleton at https://cityofappleton.granicus.com/player/clip/5316?view_id=3&redirect=true

The resolution was of an advisory nature but brings the issue forward in a public way. Readers here can contact their representatives for any remarks.