The Recall of Dave Woodward: How the Chairman of the Oakland County Appears as Flock’s Favorite Purchase

The Recall of Dave Woodward: How the Chairman of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners Seem to Have Become Flock’s Favorite Purchase

by The Archer

It was April 8th, 2026 and hundreds of Oakland County residents filled the Board of Commisssioner’s chambers to capacity seeking to voice their concerns about the rise of a surveillance company who’s technology is spreading like a virus throughout America. On that day’s agenda? Drones.

Let’s be clear, drone technology is not exactly new. As the military industrial complex’s love child of helicopters and UAV’s (Unmanned Ariel Vehicles), drones have been used around the world as a weapon, a courier service, battlefield surveillance, recreational hobby, and a way to capture aerial footage at any given time. However, in recent years, we have been seeing drones used for an alarming new reason: mass surveillance of law abiding citizens.

It was this exact reason that residents of Oakland County showed up en masse to the April 8th Board of Commissioners meeting. Residents of all backgrounds, data scientists, advocates, lawyers, parents, students, engineers, IT professionals, and cyber security experts packed the chambers to voice dissent over the mass surveillance giant, Flock Safety, and their ever-growing presence in Oakland County. Flock Safety’s infrastructure of ALPR (automated license plate reader) cameras, AI-powered pan-tilt-zoom cameras and sound recorders (marketed as gunshot detectors)(1) have been expanding throughout America at alarming rates, growing from a network of zero cameras in 2019 to over 90,000 in 2026, operating in over 5,000 communities across the country(2).

This rapid expansion of AI-powered image recognition and surveillance has sparked a lot of concern and outrage with many citing violations of the United States Constitution’s 4th Amendment, which protects citizens’ right to privacy, even in public, where case law backs that the amendment protects against prolonged surveillance. It’s also worth mentioning that in 2025, cybersecurity experts found flaws in Flock’s software that allowed anyone, at any time, to access camera feeds and private data from the company’s cameras(3). Additional concerns over data privacy, predictive policing, and Flock’s integration capability with known bad actor and federal government contractor, Palantir, have grown along side the surveillance giant. Peter Thiel, who launched Palantir in 2003, is quoted saying,”Governments will use AI-powered facial recognition technology to control people.”(4). This control is of particular interest to Oakland County residents with hundreds expressing these concerns.

Circling back to the April 8th Board of Commissioners meeting in Oakland County, per the originally published agenda(5), there were scheduled to be two opportunities for public comment. The first opportunity was between “Communications” and “Report of Standing Committees”, giving the Public a chance to voice concerns, opposition or support of Agenda items coming to vote. The second opportunity would occur at the end of the meeting, after voting happened. Before the first public comment began, Commissioner Angela Powell (Democrat, District 9, Majority Caucus Chair) put forth a motion for first public comment to be merged with the second public comment at the end of the meeting; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Marcia Gershensen (Democrat, District 11, Board Vice Chair). Commissioner Dave Woodward (Democrat, District 1, Board Chair) put it to a verbal vote, after which Woodward declared the “ayes” won the vote and the motion passed. In an effort to provide transparency to the public, who expressed outrage and disappointment at the act of moving public comment, Commissioner Charlie Cavell (Democrat, District 19) motioned for a roll call vote, which was seconded by Commissioner Kristen Nelson (Democrat, District 10). A roll call vote would require the commissioners to cast their vote via tablet and would display the results on a large screen for the public to see. Woodward, in violation Act 156 of 1851 (46.2) (Sec 2) (6), would not honor the motion for the roll call vote. The minutes of this meeting do not include the motion for a roll call vote, but the live stream on Oakland County’s YouTube Page show the truth(7). The first public comment was removed and the public who came to speak had their voices silenced until after the agenda items were voted on.

Now, why is this important and what does it have to do with Flock Safety?? This humble author is so glad you asked. A part of the agenda included Item 16b, approval of ‘Project Prove It’ with Flock Group for Unmanned Air Support as a Service (UASaaS) Program for Drone Response Services(8, a modified agenda). Unmanned, AI-powered drones are a largely criticized product in the ever-growing line-up of Flock’s surveillance tools. Approval of this agenda item would begin a nine month pilot program between the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department and Flock for use of unmanned drones in police practices. If this program is extended further, it would cost the tax payers $2.5 million over two years.

The item was approved after a 13-4 vote, enraging the residents in attendance. Many had come prepared to voice opposition to the use of unmanned drones and had their voices silenced. But, alas, the public was not deterred. Almost all residents stayed to voice their opposition in the opportunity for second public comment. There were dozens of speakers with 3 minutes to speak each causing comment to last nearly 4 hours. Speakers expressed concerns about privacy violations, data collection, mass surveillance, malicious actors, and government overreach and intrusion.

I, myself, was one of the speakers. As a professional working in data and technology, specializing in data privacy and security, I came to express my opposition and serious concerns over data collection, privacy, use of AI, and the ethical violations the use of unmanned drones presents to a county I have lived in my whole life and love so much. I was and am not alone in these thoughts, and that’s why we have organized a grassroots collective to begin a recall of the commissioners until their actions align with the cries of the people. First, up, Woodward-

We seek to have Dave Woodward held accountable for his actions related to this event, which are as follows:

• Denying the Roll Call Vote in violation of Act 156 of 1851 (46.2) (Sec 2), which addresses public accountability of officials in Michigan

• Moving 1st Public Comment and silencing the voice of the People

• Taking an All-Expenses-Paid trip to Flock Group Headquarters

• Failure to disclose said trip to Flock Group Headquarters

Wait, you may be asking, what is this “All-Expense-Paid trip to Flock Group Headquarters”? That caught the attention of our collective as well. Here are the details that we know: In the Fall of 2025, Dave Woodward traveled to Atlanta, Georgia with two representatives of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department (identities unknown) (9). This creates a conflict of interest with the resolution to obtain the Flock drones, especially considering Woodward co-sponsored this resolution(10). Furthering this conflict of interest, Woodward failed to disclose this trip to the rest of the Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Kristen Nelson stated, “An undisclosed, all-expense-paid trip from The Flock Group is exactly why stronger ethics and financial disclosure policies are needed in Oakland County. This continues a troubling pattern. Once again, the question is: Are decisions being made in the public’s best interest—or about personal financial interests?”

We can speculate on this, but it makes this author journey back in time to a not-so-distant past and a certain gas station.

Who remembers Sheetz?

Or more particularly the possibility of a brand new Sheetz gas station location coming to Waterford, MI. That’s the one.

Dave Woodward, through his private business, Woodward & Associates LLC, was seen at multiple community meetings alongside the Sheetz real estate manager as they both attempted to get approval for future Sheetz locations. Notably, Woodward appeared in Royal Oak, where a new Sheetz location was approved. When asked how much he was being paid by Sheetz to use his powerful position in Oakland County politics as a way to pressure local city councils, Woodward declared, “I’m not going to discuss my private business affairs.” So we must further ask: Did he get paid here with Sheetz? Did he get some financial incentive for choosing Flock?

Investigating further brings us to the Waterford Sheetz location. Using the site plan obtained by WXYZ-TV Detroit(11), one can see there is an egress onto Oakland County property. That egress “would link the potential Sheetz parking lot to Patterson Parkway, which is the entrance and exit road for the airport”(11). The egress would need approval from none other than Oakland County Aviation Manager, Cheryl Bush, who is on record saying, “Chairman Woodward has been a strong proponent of this, along with support from [Deputy County Executive] Sean Carlson. (Honestly, this is strongly against my better judgment but I have been overruled.)”(11).

It is worth noting that easements on airport property are typically not approved with officials citing safety concerns. It is also worth quoting from WXYZ-Detroit, “Once the 7 Investigators started asking Oakland County officials questions about this issue last week, the county announced to us on Thursday they are not going to grant the easement”(11).

It would appear that Oakland County officials can smell a conflict of interest with Dave Woodward’s involvement and support of the project. So, why can’t Dave?

Being that he is the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners in Oakland County, I would ask Dave Woodward: Why wouldn’t you want to discuss your private business affairs? Why wouldn’t you want to disclose your financial ties to any and all companies operating in the county? Why wouldn’t you chose ethics in your position of power?

Residents of the county are at their breaking point; a point at which they can no longer ignore Dave Woodward’s disturbing pattern of behavior. Hence, the recall effort currently gaining steam in Oakland County.

After the April 8th Board of Commissioners meeting, residents who shared ethics concerns regarding the silencing of dissent found that their only option was a drastic, but a legal one(12). A recall would allow the citizens of Woodward’s District 1 (Royal Oak and parts of Birmingham and Troy), to put the elected official immediately up for (re)vote during the next election before their term expires. Michigan was one of the first states, along with Oregon, to adopt statewide recall procedures in 1908 (13).

The collective mentioned above, alongside “I Am Oakland County“, has officially begun the recall of David Woodward. To date, the organizations have submitted and gained official approval of petition langauge, which Woodward has appealed. This pushed the petition language into Oakland County Curcuit Court, where a judge will determine if the language is factual and accurate. After this determination, organizers will have 60 days to gather around 9,000 signatures from within District 1. While the petition is working through the courts, our collective has begun a mailing list of supporters currently sitting at just around 3,000 residents with over 700 residents raising their hands to volunteer in signature collecting.

It’s safe to say this recall effort is the start of something larger. A community. A village. A network of organizers and activists who are not afraid to stand up to politicians and demand better. We want a government comprised of public servants who actual serve the public not of politicians who serve themselves and corporations.

Join the fight with us today!

Sources:

1. Guariglia, Matthew. “Flock’s Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening for Human Voices.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2 Oct. 2025, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/flocks-gunshot-detection-microphones-will-start-listening-human-voices.

1. Muller, Andrew. “Condition 1984: Flock AI Cameras Surveilling U.S.” The New American, 10 Mar. 2026, https://thenewamerican.com/us/tech/condition-1984-flock-ai-cameras-surveilling-u-s/.
2. Koebler, Jason. “Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves.” 404 Media, 22 Dec. 2025, https://www.404media.co/flock-exposed-its-ai-powered-cameras-to-the-internet-we-tracked-ourselves/.
3. Feiner, Lauren. “Peter Thiel Says AI Could Lead to a ‘Communist Totalitarian’ State.” CNBC, 20 Oct. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/20/peter-thiel-says-ai-could-lead-to-a-communist-totalitarian-state.html
4. Oakland County Board of Commissioners. Agenda for Event 1566. CivicClerk, n.d.https://oaklandcomi.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1566/files/agenda/13291
5. Michigan Legislature. Act 156 of 1851: County Boards of Commissioners Act. State of Michigan, https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-156-of-1851.pdf
6. Oakland County Board of Commissioners. Board Meeting 4-08-26. YouTube, uploaded by Oakland County Board of Commissioners, 8 Apr. 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8BjSIO2PV8
7. Oakland County Board of Commissioners. Agenda for Board Meeting, 6 Feb. 2025. Oakland County CivicClerk Portal, https://oaklandcomi.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1566/files/agenda/13221
8. Oakland County, Michigan. Approve Project Prove It with Flock Group for Unmanned Air Support as a Service (UASaaS) Program for Drone Response Services. Documents-on-Demand, n.d. https://oaklandcountymi.documents-on-demand.com/?l=1179cc8ed2f7ed11a3bd000c29a59557&d=5956b44b55f543a6bfd16ff705356d8a.
9. Catallo, Heather. “Oakland County Commission Chair Dave Woodward Faces Recall Effort as 7 Reveals New Trip Paid by Drone Company.” WXYZ, 17 Apr. 2026,https://www.wxyz.com/news/local-news/investigations/oakland-county-commission-chair-dave-woodward-faces-recall-effort-as-7-reveals-new-trip-paid-by-drone-company
10. WXYZ-TV Detroit. “Did Oakland County Commission Head Use Position to Help along Possible Sheetz in Waterford?” WXYZ, 22 May 2024,https://www.wxyz.com/news/local-news/investigations/did-oakland-county-commission-head-use-position-to-help-along-possible-sheetz-in-waterford
11. Michigan Bureau of Elections. Local Recall Key Points and Timeframes. Michigan Department of State, July 2021,https://www.michigan.gov/sos/-/media/Project/Websites/sos/02vanderroest/Recal_Summary_for_Counties.pdf.
12. Ballotpedia. “Laws Governing Recall in Michigan.” Ballotpedia, https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_governing_recall_in_Michigan