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Ulster County approves two Axon contracts amid concerns about large vendors
Summary
The Ulster County Legislature approved two contracts totaling about $677,431 with Axon Enterprise Inc. despite voiced concerns from one legislator and public callers about corporate concentration and surveillance implications. Both measures passed 17–1 with a single dissent from Legislator McCullough.
The Ulster County Legislature voted to approve two contracts with Axon Enterprise Inc., authorizing $216,688.80 for the Office of the Public Defender and $460,742.40 for the District Attorney’s office.
Legislator Hewitt told colleagues he has been "a long term no on Axon resolutions for a variety of reasons," citing concerns about large corporations and market concentration even as he said he supports body-worn camera technology for law enforcement. "So I'm a yes on this, and we'll be wary of monopolies in the future," Hewitt said, urging the county to consider ways local communities might financially benefit when the county contracts with large firms.
Another legislator, McCullough, voted no on both resolutions; the clerk recorded both measures as adopted 17 to 1.
Members of the public also raised objections. Alexandra Wojcick urged future divestment from companies such as Axon, arguing local contracts support "greenlighting monopolies" and raise ethical concerns about surveillance and artificial intelligence. Wojcick told the legislature she was concerned about recent Axon business ties she described as entangling public-safety technology with overseas military or private sector partners; she said Axon had "closed a huge, $624,000,000 deal with this Israeli company" and urged a multiyear approach to divestment.
The resolutions in the meeting materials are recorded as Resolution 5 91 (Public Defender contract) and Resolution 5 92 (District Attorney contract). The meeting record shows the clerk read the contracts' amounts and the roll calls that produced the 17–1 tallies. The legislature did not adopt any additional restrictions or a formal divestment policy during the session.
The county clerk’s reading and the roll calls constitute the formal record of adoption; no further amendments or referral were recorded in this meeting.
