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Resident says Indigenous Peoples' Day resolution is 'bare minimum,' raises concerns about ‘Flock’ surveillance and community harms
Summary
During public comment at the Oct. 13 Ferndale City Council meeting, a resident who identified as Lumbee urged stronger actions beyond a resolution confirming Indigenous Peoples' Day and raised concerns that vendor systems (referred to as 'Flock') and related technologies target vulnerable neighbors and immigrant communities.
At the Ferndale City Council meeting on Oct. 13, resident Angela Lapard of East Breckenridge, who identified as a member of the Lumbee tribe, urged the council to go beyond a ceremonial resolution confirming Indigenous Peoples' Day and to consult broadly with communities affected by municipal partnerships.
Lapard said the council's resolution represented "the bare minimum" and asked elected officials to speak with their federal representative about use of funds that in her view support military actions harming civilians. She also expressed concerns about a local vendor system she called "the flock system," saying it targets neighbors to the south and is used by federal immigration enforcement to pursue people who have lived on the land longer than others. She urged the council to seek out diverse perspectives and to protect vulnerable community members rather than rely on symbolic actions alone.
Lapard told the council she and her family have historic ties to the area and said Indigenous identity motivates her request that Ferndale engage with a wider set of voices when adopting resolutions or renewing contracts. She closed by asking council members to reach out to communities that look different from them and to take substantive steps beyond symbolic recognition.
The council did not debate Ms. Lapard's remarks on the record at that time; the meeting proceeded to the consent agenda. Another member of the public, Sharon Chess (identified as president of the Ferndale Community Concert Band), spoke separately about the band's Oct. 26 concert and a neighborhood sight-line safety issue; a third resident asked that town halls include critics of a prospective contract renewal to provide balance.
