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Resident Tim Doyle urges officials to stop 'geofencing' and redirect funds to parks
Summary
At the May 19 meeting, resident Tim Doyle criticized a reported $5,000 purchase of geofence/tracking technology, said the city was 'spying' on event attendees and urged commissioners to spend parks funds on staff and programs instead. The remarks were public comment; city staff did not rebut those specific claims on the record.
Tim Doyle, a North Port resident who spoke during the meeting’s public comment period on May 19, criticized the city’s reported $5,000 purchase of geofence-tracking technology and urged commissioners to redirect parks funding toward staff and local programs.
"Don't be spending $5,000 on spying on people who come to your events," Doyle said, adding that he was told the vendor reported more than 600,000 people attended events. He said parks money "should stay in the parks" and argued the city should prioritize raises for staff and local nonprofit programs instead of paying outside technology companies.
Doyle repeated several privacy and legal concerns later in the meeting, saying he believed the technology could track cellphones even when batteries are removed and calling the practice a Fourth Amendment violation. "This is getting crazy," he said, and warned of possible legal consequences if the city continued similar purchases.
City officials in the meeting record did not provide a technical response or vendor details during Doyle’s remarks, and no staff member disputed the specific numbers or legal assertions on the record. Fletcher (City Manager) was present and answered procedural items earlier in the meeting but did not offer a detailed defense of procurement or vendor practices in the hearing record.
The commission did not take formal action on the geofencing issue during this meeting. Doyle’s statements remain public-comment allegations in the record; any factual claims about vendor data, tracking capabilities or legal violations would require additional documentation and staff response for verification.
