HBAC #165 - Hilliard, Unfiltered

This episode was recorded just prior to the severe storms that rocked the area Tuesday morning. The Beacon passes our sincere best wishes to those affected and thanks profusely those responding to all our neighbors in need. If you’d like to tell your storm story or discuss other local matters contact us [email protected] open this edition of the HBAC by discussing some of our favorite walks and new business stops in Hilliard before kicking things over to Tubi Time w/ Tim where we learned about R.O.T.O.R. (a hastily developed, mustachioed and disastrously implemented law enforcement technology run amok) and Tim’s tour through the lesser known works of Jim Varney…A brain without a heart... a conscience without recognition... a will without a soul. R.O.T.O.R.The importance of being ErnestOversight and EngagementTalk then shifts to legitimate local matters where we discuss the increasing and intentional fog around the “business” side of government and what is required of local elected officials to provide meaningful access. Certainly, and given the law, organizations like the Hilliard Development Corporation can be given critical responsibilities within city government but ultimately must remain fully accountable to democratic decision making and oversight.Efforts on the state and private level to obfuscate or hide business incentives behind layers of NDA (non-disclosure agreements) and general legislative prohibitions do not remove the responsibility of local elected officials to use government to not only implement programs like the HDC but to openly evaluate their effectiveness and their appropriateness for the task of economic development over time.With the state level (and similarly structured) JobsOhio economic development scheme coming under new bipartisan scrutiny the time has never been better to begin evaluation of its local extensions.Jordan discusses what the hotel occupancy rate can tell us about the type of revenue being generated for use at the city level and what a council level commission might do to improve how residents are involved with the allocation of these resources.Flock Flailing…Amid a wave of coast to coast national stories detailing specific abuses the country is re-evaluating its relationship with Flock and ALPR generally as an evolving surveillance technology. While no one can deny the power of the tool to interdict crime in new ways, similarly, no one can deny the traditional disappointments and vulnerabilities to personal abuse overflowing in any serious appraisal. It is the defining, cutting edge of mass surveillance technology under stress.Once again, having been largely re-assured the city and department are treating the technology carefully by Chief Woods in a direct interview the Beacon suggests in this discussion an additional, separate layer of city commission evaluation will be necessary to make clear what our residents find unacceptable about the use of the technology and to set guard rails alongside law enforcement. If we have any hope of equitably navigating this new technology at the municipal level both partners (the police and the people) have to share the responsibility of the nearly unlimited data harvesting taking place and guarding against those who will abuse it.Thank you for reading and listening to the Hilliard Beacon. We appreciate your support and could not do this work of local journalism without you. Please take a moment to consider signing up to support us in an ongoing way through the link below.The Hilliard Beacon is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hilliardbeacon.substack.com/subscribe