Ardmore recall petition open for signatures as commissioners weigh covering Flock cameras

ARDMORE, Okla. (KXII) - A petition seeking the recall of four Ardmore commissioners is now open for signatures. Petition backers need more than 1,000 signatures to remove the commissioners.

The push follows a vote to renew the city’s Flock contract last month.

“I don’t want to be tracked and traced. I don’t believe my neighbors want to be tracked and traced,” petition signer Jeri Keith said.

“We, as citizens shouldn’t be monitored when there’s no crime that we’re supposedly having committed,” petition signer Chance Johnson said.

Mayor proposes ballot measure

After the initial petition gained steam, Mayor David Plesher said he had a solution. Commissioners decide Monday night whether to put the future of Flock in Ardmore voters’ hands on a future ballot.

“We did it because there’s a lot of interest in it and it’s something people believe they should have a say so in,” Plesher said.

If approved, commissioners will then decide whether or not to cover the cameras until a special election.

“My opinion is that we will not cover them, but it’s going to take a vote of the commission to decide which way that’ll go,” Plesher said.

Commissioners respond to petition

The petition claims commissioners failed to represent the people or appear to. Each commissioner submitted a response Monday night.

“All five of us represent the people of this city and we voted as we spoke with our constituents,” Plesher said.

But many signers say the issues run deeper than Flock.

“One has just been in way too long and the others, I don’t feel have really listened to the people over the years, so we’re just ready for a major change,” Keith said.

“I think we’re kind of at a point where what we do here could matter down the road,” Johnson said.

Petition organizers have 30 days to collect the signatures needed.