Oakland County chair's ties to surveillance vendor fuel broad public backlash and recall drive

Hundreds of residents packed the Oakland County commission chambers and told commissioners on May 14 that they want the county to cancel or pause surveillance contracts with private vendors and to take immediate steps on ethics and immigrant relief.

The meeting’s extended public-comment period — which lasted several hours and repeatedly returned to the same themes — followed a contentious April vote, which speakers said approved an expanded surveillance program. "Cancel this contract," Sam Garen, a Ferndale resident, told the board, calling the vendor's technology an "invitation for state-sanctioned violence." Justine Galbraith of Troy said the chair should have recused himself after an all-expenses-paid trip to a vendor's headquarters; she called the April process "insulting." Jake Hycoup, a Lakeland High School senior, said the decision violated the public’s trust: "You didn’t just break procedure. You broke a promise."

Many speakers tied their concerns…