Ron Strand and the Ridgecrest City Council are Hazardous to Your Freedom and your Civil Rights. Get the Flock out of Ridgecrest and Vote with Your Feet!

October 8, 2026

Ridgecrest California

Publisher’s Note: You know what they’re doing don’t you? It’s called a “crying session”. Don’t you feel better now?

Flock Safety surveillance cameras are becoming increasingly controversial as more Americans become aware that their towns and cities are using them. As many as 4,000 cities use them, but now many cities are cancelling their contracts and removing the cameras. The City of Scottdale Arizona will decide in December whether or not to cancel their program, which has 85 Flock cameras.

Obstinate City Council remains unanimous in support of Flock surveillance cameras despite community objections

Publisher’s Note Number Two: The Ridgecrest City Council clown show continues. The team of Endicott, Hayman, Blades, Strand and Bruen have turned the city into a laughingstock as well as a militarized police surveillance city. I wouldn’t recommend anyone who values their civil liberties to either visit or shop in Ridgecrest much less live or work there. You’ll likely regret buying a house if you do move there. If you live in Ridgecrest California, I suggest you vote with your feet and move someplace outside of the state (for any number of reasons).

Police Chief Mario Ysit of Ridgecrest began giving a presentation and no sooner than he started, members of the public began interrupting him. The crowd of Ridgecrest residents were well-equipped with “Get the Flock Out” signs, and many came with prepared remarks.

Ridgecrest is a Militarized Police-Surveillance State

Protesters angry over the use of the surveillance cameras have become a regular scene in Ridgecrest as a result of community organizers Brenda and Mike Licitra, two former Google employees who recently moved to Ridgecrest. Brenda Licitra is running for the city council and is the organizer of both the 50501 “No Kings” protests as well as the Facebook group “DeFlock Ridgecrest”. Opposition to militarized police-State surveillance is not a left or right issue, and Americans across the political spectrum are uniting in opposition to the invasive technology of Flock’s license plate readers.

If You Hate Flock, You’re Really Going to Hate Placer.AI and Ron Strand

Former city manager Ron Strand and former Mayor Eric Bruen were the primary proponents of the cameras, which were purchased as a result of a simple budget expense in early 2024, with no debate or vote by the council. The process of implementing controversial technology follows a similar pattern used by the city when they began using Placer.AI, a GPS tracking program that uses anonymized commercially available data as well as publicly available data to combine location, demographic, and census information, in order to track someone wherever they go if their cellphone’s location service is turned on.

Two years ago, Mayor Endicott ran for mayor with the primary goal of removing Placer.AI GPS surveillance from the city’s economic toolkit, but he oddly supports the use of Flock’s surveillance cameras. A former professor with a PhD in Political Science, he pretends he’s a civil rights and Constitutional expert. Ron Strand intends to bring Placer.AI back if he has anything to say about it.

The Meeting Was a “Crying Session” and Indoctrination, a Tried-and-True Method of Calming the Locals

In what has become somewhat similar to a “crying session”, the city is allowing residents of Ridgecrest to vent their frustrations with city policies after already making the decision to use controversial surveillance technology. Sometimes the presentations are by city staff, and in this case, it was the police chief. Previously, after the city began using Placer.AI, a representative of the company gave a remote presentation by video. The same funding mechanism was used to enter into the contract without any prior debate or vote by the council.

Chief Ysit came prepared to give a 2-hour presentation indoctrination which was cut short after objections from residents, many of whom were parents who had kids that needed babysitters and who had to go to work the next day. The meeting lasted over 6 hours, and it was well after midnight before the meeting was adjourned, hours after it had turned into an unruly and vocal shout-a-thon. At one point, Mayor Travis Endicott was forced to call a time-out for a cooling down period.

Political Analysis (Councilwoman she-her Debilyn Kinzler? Look at those eyes!)

Notably absent from the “debate” were candidates who are proponents of Flock, both Ron Strand and Debilyn Kinzler, who’s rumored to be BFF with chief Mario’s wife. Also, Jeremy “JV” Vaughan, a candidate for mayor, came prepared with suggested changes to the city code in support of the cameras. It looks like he’s prepared to run the city with an iron fist like he’s a former military commander or something. Mayor candidate Megan Washington was also in attendance and politely opposed Flock after introducing herself to the crowd.

Publisher’s Note Number Three: None of the current members of the council were willing to oppose the city’s use of the surveillance cameras, and no vote was needed to approve or cancel the contract.

Mayor Travis Endicott pulled papers to run for re-election but decided he’d had enough after two years, he’d be a proven weak candidate, and he withdrew from the race the same day that Jeremy Vaughn, a former CO and current employee at NAWS China Lake, decided to replace him.

Councilman Scott Hayman is running for the water district board after being termed-out. Hayman is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and responsible for the mess at the IWV Groundwater Authority. Why Hayman is running for the water district is beyond thinking like an adult. It’s ridiculous.

As for Ron Strand, Ridgecrest should absolutely say, “Get the Flock Out”. No more of Ron Strand if you know what’s best for the city and your freedom.

Former Mayor and new Planning Commissioner Eric Bruen, who was appointed by his employee at Desert Valleys Credit Union, Councilman Solomon Rajartnam, is also a primary proponent of the cameras, but he was not in attendance. Desert Valleys is a “private investor” in Flock surveillance cameras, and Bruen is a big, very big, supporter of Ron Strand, although we hear he’s lost a lot of weight recently so he might be less big.

And what can we say about Ms. Kinzler? Don’t be distracted by the pink hair or the rainbow scarf, look at those truly frightening eyes.

A depressingly sad state of affairs exists in Ridgecrest California, and that’s exactly how the Ridgecrest City Council intended you to be. Now go home and eat your noodles.

End of story.

Flock in the News

Arizona Statewide, August 20, 2026

63% Oppose use of Flock cameras

82% Concerned about misuse of data

Town of Payson Announces Discontinuation of Flock Camera System Contract – September 10, 2026

Payson, AZ. Following an evaluation of the Flock camera system’s role within the Town’s broader public safety strategy, the Town of Payson has determined not to continue its contract for the system. This decision follows administrative review of the program’s operational value, policy considerations, and its alignment with community expectations.

Wisconsin Statewide, October 1, 2026

63% Unacceptable invasion of privacy

Cut the cameras: Flock surveillance cameras spur rare bipartisan backlash – September 5, 2026

Data and polling from the Washington Post show that social media posts about Flock have increased since July, and about 46% of Americans oppose ALPRs being used in their community – up 13 points from the previous year.

Vigilantes are posting videos of themselves destroying the cameras to digital applause. According to privacy and surveillance experts, hatred of Flock cameras has become bipartisan.

The bipartisan backlash against Flock Safety cameras resembles nationwide rage toward the construction of large datacenters that power artificial intelligence. Polling shows roughly 75% of Americans oppose new datacenter construction in their areas.

California (Newsom) kills bill regulating Flock cameras even as public rage grows

Of course, the Ridgecrest City Council won’t do this, they’d rather screw everyone who needs to drink water (and that includes Councilman Skip Gorman, who’s running for re-election):