LEAGUE CITY — League City voters will have an opportunity to weigh in on the city’s use of Flock license plate-reading cameras after City Council voted Tuesday evening to place a nonbinding referendum on the November ballot.
Council approved the measure in a 6-1 vote following extensive public discussion from residents both supporting and opposing the cameras. Councilman Chad Tressler cast the lone opposing vote.
Mayor Nick Long added the proposal to the council’s agenda as concerns continue over the cameras’ public-safety benefits, data collection and potential effects on personal privacy.
Long said the city gained the ability to hold advisory referendums following a charter review two years ago. He described the Flock camera debate as an appropriate issue to bring directly to residents.
“This is, I think, a perfect issue to take to the voters,” Long said. “In a time where everything is hyperpartisan, this is really a nonpartisan issue. It’s a bipartisan issue.”
The referendum will be advisory, meaning its result will not legally require City Council to keep or remove the cameras. Long said, however, that council members should respect the voters’ decision.
“Even though it is nonbinding, I think it would be very foolish not to listen to the will of the people after they go out and vote for something,” Long said.
During public comment, some residents defended the cameras as an effective tool for helping police identify vehicles connected to crimes and investigations. Others warned that the technology creates privacy risks and could be misused.
League City resident Julius Segelquist said he attended the meeting because of his concerns about privacy and individual rights.
“I imagine they’re legal. I don’t think there’s constitutional issues with them, but I don’t think that they’re effective, and I don’t think that they’re right,” Segelquist said.
Segelquist said he supported allowing residents to vote on the issue but questioned whether the council would ultimately follow the referendum’s result.
“It’s advisory. It’s purely advisory,” Segelquist said. “It’s just to see how the citizens feel, and then it’s up to council to act on that result or not to — and I’m worried that they may not.”
Segelquist also announced that he intends to run for a seat on the League City Council but had not filed as of Tuesday evening.
Long said communication between his office and the League City Police Department regarding the cameras has been positive. Although he expressed confidence in the department, he said additional safeguards could reduce the potential for misuse and strengthen public trust.
Long proposed limiting the number of people authorized to access camera data, connecting searches to police case numbers and requiring multiple people to be involved in accessing certain information.
He also supports creating a citizen-led accountability committee that would review how the city and Flock handle the information collected by the cameras.
Under the proposal, the committee would receive assistance from the city auditor, who reports directly to the council rather than city management. The auditor could examine whether city employees are following access procedures and whether Flock is deleting data as required under its contract.
Long also proposed creating a public portal on the city’s website showing camera locations and providing information about how frequently the system is accessed and why it is used.
“We’ll work immediately on creating a better system to control this data, a better system to hold ourselves accountable and to hold Flock accountable, and to really put sunshine on what we’re using the cameras for and how that data is being protected,” Long said.
Long said work on the proposed accountability measures will begin before the November election. If voters support keeping the cameras, he said the city would continue developing protections and auditing procedures governing their use.
The referendum is expected to appear on League City voters’ ballots in November, but City Council will retain the final authority to determine the future of the cameras.
