Austin Aslan is a member of the Flagstaff City Council in Arizona, first elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022. He is a novelist whose books include The Islands at the End of the World, a certified emergency medical technician and a conservation biologist with degrees from the University of Arizona and the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
Case
Networked automated license-plate cameras can assemble searchable records of vehicle movements. Candidates and officials disagree over whether to ban the systems, keep them with limits, or defend them as investigative tools. This tracker separates outright bans from narrower restrictions.
Role at the time: Flagstaff City Council member running for reelection
Statement summary
Flagstaff City Council member Austin Aslan said he was the only council member to recommend cancelling the city's Flock contract at all three meetings where its renewal was considered, and that surveillance technology should be a policy decision for the city.
“Following Trump’s subsequent weaponization of ICE, the community was right to demand Council take an actual policy stance. A Flock contract renewal was considered during three separate Council meetings involving hours of public comment last Fall. I was the only councilmember to recommend cancelling the contract at all three meetings. I’m proud that I consistently side with valid public concerns on this and other important topics. Surveillance technology should be a city’s policy decision, not an administrative rubber stamp.”
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. Aslan wrote that he was the only council member to recommend cancelling Flagstaff's Flock contract at all three meetings where renewal was considered, and that the community was right to demand a policy stance. He presents ending the contract as his position, so Condemned fits.
Statement dates: August 16, 2026
Statement dates: August 16, 2026
Statement dates: August 16, 2026
Statement dates: August 16, 2026
