Bandera, Texas (pop. ~900) voted 3-2 to end its Flock Safety LPR contract; a dissenting councilmember then proposed banning all cell phones, GPS devices, and internet services.
Key Takeaways
Bandera received a state grant for eight Flock Safety AI license plate reader cameras; vandals repeatedly destroyed the poles, forcing the town to cover replacement costs.
The 3-2 council vote immediately terminates the Flock contract after months of resident opposition at public meetings.
Councilmember Jeff Flowers, a Flock supporter, responded with the “Bandera Declaration of Digital Independence,” framing total tech prohibition as the logical endpoint of privacy arguments.
His proposals include a total ban on outward-facing cameras, cellular and GPS-capable devices within city limits, and all internet services and electronic record-keeping.
Flowers cited the 1880 standard: paper ledgers and cash only, positioning this as a reductio ad absurdum against privacy advocates.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters read Flowers’ proposal as deliberate bad-faith provocation rather than genuine policy, closer to Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” than a sincere legislative agenda.
Several commenters flagged that the intensity of Flowers’ personal reaction to the Flock cancellation is itself a signal worth scrutinizing, raising questions about undisclosed financial or political stakes.
The broader thread sees an opening: a sincere GDPR-style counter-proposal could call the bluff and reframe the privacy debate on stronger ground.
Notable Comments
@fred_is_fred: Notes Texas open records law as a tool to surface whether Flowers has a personal stake in the Flock contract outcome.
@VoidWhisperer: Argues Flowers publicly demonstrated he cannot govern with proportionality, damaging any future electoral prospects in the town.
