A summer update: water, roads, the budget, Flock, parks, and a few things that didn't go as planned

September is upon us; the kids are back to school, and summer is basically over, so I thought this might be a good time for an update on what City Council has been working on over the last few months.

This isn't intended to be an exhaustive list or a victory lap. Some things went well, some involved difficult tradeoffs, and there are definitely things we could have handled better.

Water

We spent much of the spring and summer dealing with the water emergency caused by problems with the raw water pipeline, aging treatment plant membranes, and delays to the water treatment plant expansion.

One of the more important things we did was authorize the emergency purchase of a full train of replacement membranes for the existing plant. Those started arriving ahead of schedule in July and gave us additional treatment capacity while the expansion continues, getting us out of water restrictions.

The larger lesson is that Pflugerville has outgrown the amount of redundancy we historically had in our water system. We're spending hundreds of millions of dollars right now on the new water treatment plant, wastewater expansion, transmission lines and other utility infrastructure. Getting those projects finished remains one of my highest priorities.

City management

We also went through a major leadership transition this summer.

Rather than conduct a lengthy national search, Council selected James Hartshorn as our new City Manager. James had already spent years working in Pflugerville, including as Deputy City Manager, and had been directly involved in many of the projects and challenges we're working through today.

There was a real tradeoff here. A national search might have produced other qualified candidates, but it also could have taken months during a period when the organization had already experienced significant leadership turnover. Council ultimately prioritized continuity and institutional knowledge.

No new city bond election this year

A resident bond committee spent months reviewing proposals for parks, a new animal shelter and downtown parking.

Ultimately, Council decided not to put roughly $87 million in new City bonds on the November ballot.

That doesn't mean those projects aren't needed. In fact, I think several of them absolutely are.

The concern was timing. Residents are already dealing with higher costs everywhere, we have substantial projects already underway, and some of the proposed projects weren't far enough through planning for me to be comfortable asking voters to borrow the money yet.

Instead, we've started looking at how to keep the highest priorities moving without issuing the construction debt today.

For FY27, we've directed staff to prioritize planning and immediate improvements for the animal shelter and Reunion Park. We've prioritized moving forward.

I'd much rather have projects substantially designed and ready to build before asking voters to finance construction than approve a bond and spend the next five or six years figuring out what we're actually building.

Roads and infrastructure

We approved a $3.17 million reconstruction of Parkway Drive, including drainage improvements, ADA sidewalks, lighting and other safety improvements. About $800,000 is being leveraged from federal Community Development Block Grant funding.

We also awarded the construction contract for improvements at FM 685 and Kelly Lane, including turn lanes, U-turn improvements and signal modifications.

At the same time, we decided not to increase roadway impact fees this year. There is a legitimate debate about these fees. Development should help pay for the infrastructure it requires, but fees can also reach a point where they discourage the restaurants, businesses and development we're trying to attract.

We're going to take a harder look at the underlying growth assumptions and fee structure rather than simply accepting the maximum calculated fee.

Economic development and tourism

We created Pflugerville's Tourism Public Improvement District.

This is funded through an assessment on larger hotels rather than property taxes on residents. It's expected to generate about $361,000 in its first year for marketing, events, group travel and efforts to bring more visitors and hotel stays to Pflugerville.

That's important because growing our commercial and sales tax base is one of the best long-term ways to reduce how much pressure we put on homeowners to pay for city services.

Flock and surveillance technology

This was probably the issue that generated the most attention at the end of the summer.

After Flock provided audit information showing Pflugerville's camera data had been accessible far more broadly than the City authorized, I worked with the City Manager to disable and cover the City's cameras.

Council subsequently voted unanimously to defund the system and not renew the contract.

I want to be clear that our police department found legitimate public safety value in the technology. The problem was trust and governance. If we tell residents their data is being handled one way, and the vendor's system is actually doing something materially different, that's unacceptable.

The bigger work now is making sure we don't simply replace Flock with another product without addressing the underlying issue. We're working on citywide rules for high-risk technology, inventories of what we're currently using, stronger contract requirements, auditing and a meaningful role for resident oversight.

And not everything went right

We didn't have City fireworks this July 4th.

There were legitimate circumstances that led to that outcome, including the budget, water restrictions and the inability to put together an alternative that I thought was worth spending taxpayer money on. But I also think the decision and communication process could have been better.

The proposed FY27 budget restores funding for Red, White & Boom in 2027.

That's part of governing too. When something doesn't go the way we want, figure out why and make it better next time.

If there's something from this summer you think I left out, or something above you'd like more detail on, ask. I have the meeting transcripts and I'm happy to dig into the actual votes, numbers and discussions rather than relying on memory.

Hello! We recently realized that we've got some invasive trees growing pretty rapidly on our property, and they're impacting the native plants we're trying to establish. Looking for recommendations for a somewhat affordable removal service, for about 4-6 trees. They're pretty tall, over 6 ft. I believe they are called china Berry trees.

Hey there people! I’m available today and tomorrow for any type of small trash clean up , trash bin clean up, house cleanup, window washing or gutter cleaning(if you can provide a ladder) or any other small job I can help with. Please let me know as soon as possible and thanks in advance.

Pflugerville resident Sam Aly said he was curious about the data from the Flock cameras used to read license plates in town.

He made a public information request to the city a few weeks ago for network audit logs that showed every outside agency that searched the data from the cameras.

What he found ultimately prompted the Pflugerville City Council to cancel the city's contract with Flock Safety on Tuesday. City employees have covered up the cameras.

When he received the data he requested, Aly said he discovered that 459 agencies had accessed the Pflugerville database 1.6 million times in the previous six months.

I'm a journalist creating a documentary about the backlash against flock cameras and their implementation in the state of Texas. I would love to learn more about the organization of protests and activities against flock development. Would anyone be interested in being a potential source for my story that is involved in protesting against these surveillance tools?

Dove hunting season opens every year on September 1, and since bird shot doesn't travel very far, hunters are allowed to hunt on surprisingly small plots of land--for instance, the fields between Stone Hill and Pflugerville Parkway.

So, don't be alarmed if you see hunters out and/or it sounds like a distant war zone at sunrise and sunset for the next few weeks. After the first couple of weeks of the season, the hunting typically dies down a lot.

Hey all -- I could use some beta testing on the new voting guide we just published. It's shortlinked at https://voting.claire11.org, and the real URL is https://www.clairereynoldsforcongress.org/volunteer-and-vote .

If you'd be a dear and review this for accuracy, typos, etc, I sure would appreciate it! The goal is to make sure that anyone who wants to vote has enough information to get their democracy on, but not so much detail that it feels intimidating. I just know that we have a ton of new voters in Pflugerville and the rest of TX-11, the maps are confusing, the rules and laws can be intimidating, and the primary turnout numbers imply a historic groundswell among Democrats is in the making this year.

In the end, I want to encourage basically everyone who can vote early to actually vote early, and specifically not to rely on mail-in ballots for reasons described on the site that hopefully aren't too doomer and dour.

Basically, I want to do anything I can to help people in Pflugerville to vote this fall (October 19-30, and November 3).

are they here?

To residents of Pflugerville- who would you recommend as the best Dentistry place in the city?

Sunny one minute, sideways rain the next

from my backyard

Does anyone know what is being built behind the JD's market at Dessau and Tudor House Rd.?

I was able to grab a few shots in my backyard right when it began but it very quickly clouded over. fortunatly the skies cleared in teh hill country just before maximum eclipse so i could grab a few shots

Fire alarm. Not sure if serious. Closed for now. Best avoid

New to the area and am looking for a new hair stylist! Normally do balayage with a trim. Appreciate any leads!

Hi everyone — I’m a news producer working for a major Japanese television network, and I’m working on a story about James Talarico’s Christian faith and how it is resonating with voters outside the Democratic base.

I’m looking to speak with Christians who identify as independent or Republican and who are planning to vote for Talarico in the November Senate election.

In particular, I’m interested in people who feel that Talarico’s approach to Christianity — his emphasis on love, compassion, service, and faith as a basis for public life — has appealed to them, even if they don't typically vote for Democrats.

I’m especially interested in hearing why his faith-based message resonates with you, how you see it differing from the way Christianity is represented in conservative politics, and whether his Christianity has influenced your decision to vote for him.

I’m specifically looking for people who:

• Live in the Austin area
• Identify as Republican or independent
• Are Christian
• Plan to vote for James Talarico for U.S. Senate
• Are comfortable speaking on camera for a news story

We are hoping to film the interview on August 30 or 31. The interview would be conducted in English and would be for a major Japanese television network’s news program.

If you're interested, please DM me with a little about yourself and why you're supporting Talarico. I’m happy to provide more information about myself, the network, and the story before you decide whether you'd like to participate.

Thanks!

An ever-growing part of the Pflugerville community has been fighting to get the Flock cameras taken down for months.

Let's all get together and have our Return of the Jedi "dancing ewoks party" moment. Everyone is welcome.

This Saturday at Old Greggs, 7pm

Next step, Axon

Are they building an overpass? Please be an overpass. It takes 4 rounds of green to get across from wells branch.

Just sent this email off to the contact for Stone Hill on NewQuest properties’ page ( https://www.newquest.com/property/stone-hill-town-center/ )please feel free to send your own!

Last night, City Council voted not to renew the City’s Flock camera contract.

This was not a decision I came to quickly. For the past several months, I have been reviewing the contract and Police Department policies, pushing for stronger safeguards, and talking with residents across the spectrum as well as our Police Department to better understand the public-safety benefits, privacy concerns, and civil-liberties implications.

I have confidence in our Police Department. Our officers put their lives on the line every day, and ALPR technology has been used here in cases involving violent offenders, shootings, gun theft, missing persons, and people experiencing a mental-health crisis. I also appreciate the time our officers spent explaining why they value the technology and how they use it.

At the same time, my concerns have never been limited to whether our officers are using the system appropriately. They include how much vehicle-location data is collected, how it can be searched and shared, what future capabilities could be added, whether the safeguards and audits are sufficient, and whether we have enough data to demonstrate the overall effectiveness of the system.

The day before our vote, a citizen received the results of a detailed public information request regarding searches of Pflugerville’s Flock data. The information showed that more than 459 agencies (80 had been authorized) had searched our data, including state and federal agencies, even though staff reviewed the City’s software settings, which reflected that state and federal access was turned off. That discovery deserves further review.

My decision not to support renewal had already been made before that information became available. But it reinforced why I have been pushing for stronger data-governance policies, meaningful audits, clear access controls, and safeguards that work not just on paper, but in practice.

Months ago, Councilmember Coffman brought forward a Citywide data-governance policy, which I seconded so Council could discuss it. I supported moving that work forward because this issue is bigger than Flock or any single technology. As cities adopt more tools that collect and analyze high-risk data, we need consistent standards for how that information is collected, retained, accessed, shared, audited, and protected.

I also believe the community should have meaningful input on major issues like this before a final decision is made. It was encouraging to see so many residents show up, speak, share different perspectives, and participate in the process. I personally related to many of the stories and concerns that were shared, because they reflected concerns I had also been weighing throughout this process. That kind of civic participation matters. Our system of self-government depends on people being informed, engaged, and willing to make their voices heard.

Public safety and civil liberties should not be competing goals. We need to find tools that help our officers keep Pflugerville safe while also protecting the rights and privacy of the people they serve.

I am confident that we can continue working with our City staff, Police Chief, and community to be innovative, use technology responsibly, and keep public safety at the center of what we do.

Until a complete and total ban on all general Surveillance Cameras is made, every city including ours will continue to try and find a loophole. If we start seeing Axon or any other kind of surveillance camera appear, we need to protest it as hard as we did with Flock.