Purchasing policy amendment

The NAACP president called last meeting's 5-2 vote to strip the city manager's surveillance-equipment purchasing authority 'systemic racism,' questioned whether the city manager is trusted, and praised Commissioners Hoffman and Praedel for their votes.

Urged the commission to pass option C or D tonight, saying failure to act after a month would be unacceptable.

Supported options C or D and encouraged the city to adopt policies before deploying new technologies in the future.

Argued facial recognition technology exists and is used elsewhere, and played audio asserting aerial surveillance in downtown Kalamazoo that option D would not cover.