Austin Aslan
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.”
Arizona Daily Sun feature in its 2026 candidate question series, printing the written answers of Flagstaff City Council and mayoral candidates to a question about Flock cameras. The paper says the answers were limited to 150 words and printed unedited unless a candidate went over that limit.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
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.