Residents press council to cancel Flock contract and block Amazon warehouse; speakers link cameras to ICE and raise environmental, labor and traffic concerns

Forty-six residents addressed the Eugene City Council during a 90-minute public-comment period on Nov. 24, most urging action to stop an Amazon warehouse planned near West Eugene and to cancel the city's contract with Flock Safety camera surveillance.

Multiple speakers, including neighborhood association representatives, University of Oregon graduate students, union members and longtime residents, connected two recurring concerns: perceived collaboration between Flock camera data and federal enforcement and the local impacts of an Amazon distribution facility. Ralph Liam McDonald read a resolution from the Southwest Hills Neighborhood Association thanking the council for suspending active Flock camera surveillance and requesting the city seek an opinion from the Oregon Attorney General on the cameras' legality under the Oregon Constitution.

Many speakers told personal or secondhand accounts of recent arrests or "abductions" by federal immigration enforcement in Eugene and neighboring jurisdictions and said they believed Flock camera data could be used to facilitate such actions. Public commenters referenced out-of-jurisdiction court decisions and media reports, and several alleged security breaches and data-loopholes in Flock's systems; speakers asked that the city remove and cancel contracts rather than merely power the cameras down.

Speakers opposing the Amazon warehouse warned of wetlands loss, increased vehicle trips (one speaker cited a figure of roughly 2,592 daily vehicle trips from Amazon materials), traffic impacts on Highway 99, loss of farmland and low-quality, highly automated jobs. Union-affiliated commenters raised Amazon's record on wages and union-busting and urged the council to prioritize local, union-friendly employers. Several speakers cited the Clear Lake overlay and called on council to enforce overlay standards.

Other public comments covered related civic topics: a request to decriminalize entheogenic plants (a resolution read by an organizer), questions about state and city tools to respond to ICE enforcement, and appeals for stronger public-health permit checks and coordination with agencies for industrial sites. A nonprofit leader, Steve Yamamori of the Reveille Foundation, spoke in support of the council action earlier in the meeting regarding his organization's tax status and thanked staff for assistance.

Councilors thanked community members for their attendance and said staff would follow up with information about the process for declaring an emergency related to immigration enforcement. The meeting closed after council remarks and adjournment.

What speakers said (examples):

- "We ask that you prevent construction of an Amazon warehouse in West Eugene and that you cancel the city's contract with Flock Security and remove flock cameras as soon as possible," Christina (GTFF, UO) said.

- "The cameras track everything that we do... I think that, in order to show trust... we need to be able to protect everyone. Keeping those up is just not the way to do it," said Glenn Oh.

- "Please cancel the contract, like, 2 weeks ago. And any business relationship with Amazon, they are only bad news," Scott Lambert (GTFF) said.

The public comment record reflects broad community concern about surveillance, immigration enforcement, environmental impacts and job quality tied to corporate projects; speakers urged concrete council action including contract cancellation, removing cameras, and using land-use and permitting tools to stop the Amazon project.