top of page

All Posts

New Year, New Footings

Happy New Year to everyone!


Over the past two months, I’ve been thinking carefully about how best to turn my campaign priorities into real action. As part of that process, I’ve spent time looking at how other municipalities manage their operations and at software systems I’ve encountered through my work as an engineer working with local governments.


What has become clear to me, is that many of the challenges we face as a town aren’t isolated problems, but rather, are the product of fragmented systems and outdated (or lack of any) workflows and procedures.


These fragments show themselves in how some capital improvement projects have been organized, budgeted, and executed. Projects like those on Roe Fields Drive that have been incomplete for years, work at the Transfer Station that was not fully scoped out prior to starting, the wavy sidewalk and curbing installation on Alder Drive, and most recently the Town Hall renovation being over-budget all expose gaps in the system/lack of system.

In the case of Town Hall, these gaps contributed to a confirmed over-commitment of funds beyond what had been allocated.


Related to permitting, the disagreement between the Town and Batham Properties, LLC likely would have never been able to get to the point that it did if procedures, management, and checks and balances were in place.

Less recently (May 2024), had financial and planning procedures with internal controls been in place, the health provider that was intending to occupy the old pharmacy would not have been pushed away and we would have another small business in Town in the currently vacant storefront.


More personally, accurate accounting, proper communication, and documented approvals for use of escrow funds for the major site plan review for Happy Valley would have prevented disagreements in what is owed to the Town for the process (still unresolved).


More human-facing, Town employees (and citizens) deserve a better system to provide feedback and file grievances that is auditable and maintains privacy and compliance.


These anecdotes and my own experiences led me to simplify my first-year priorities into one focus, implementing a town-wide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.


An ERP system connects permitting, procurement, project management, financial accounting, and other enterprise functions into a single, transparent platform.


Rather than chasing individual issues after they arise, this approach addresses the root cause which is a lack of organization across all departments and the siloing of data and communication.


Attached is a proposal I have written that I will be presenting at the Town Council Workshop this evening, 01/06/2026.


Thanks for reading!

Yours Truly,

Sam Flinkstrom


 
 
 

Mass Surveillance and Why I Will Never Support It

Updated: Dec 9, 2025

UPDATE:

I sent an email inquiry to the Town to see if they had any current or future intentions to utilize this type of technology. There is not. Here is my inquiry and their responses:

ORIGINAL POST:

Over the past year, more towns in Maine (and around the country) have begun installing AI-enabled license-plate cameras and other automated surveillance systems. These tools are often marketed as simple public-safety upgrades. The companies behind them promise the data won’t be misused, and police departments and IT departments say they won’t share the information collected.

Recently the Portland Press Herald reported that several Maine communities have already deployed these systems despite major privacy concerns. More locally, York has implemented and continues to use these systems.


Despite these communities’ promises not to share the data from these systems, just this month in Washington State, a judge ordered that the information collected by Flock Safety’s cameras qualified as a public record and ruled it must be released. In response to this order, both Washington departments immediately shut the systems off.


This ruling confirms what many residents have worried about: once a surveillance system is installed and begins logging data on everyone, the Town no longer fully controls where that information goes, how long it exists, or who can legally request it.


These systems don’t just capture “the bad guys.” They capture everyone. That means ordinary residents’ daily routines, work schedules, school drop-offs, and personal errands all end up recorded, timestamped, and stored.

The companies involved may promise that data won’t be shared. Local departments may promise to use it responsibly. But as the Washington case showed, once the data exists, courts can compel its release, systems can be hacked, and future leadership can make different decisions than the ones promised today.


It is not worth creating a permanent surveillance system that tracks all of us, when we have no way of fully guaranteeing how the data will be used down the road. Period.


Public safety is essential, but it does not require building a database of residents’ movements. Mass surveillance does not build trust, it erodes it.

As a Councilor, I will not support the implementation of mass surveillance infrastructure. I believe the risks (long-term data storage, future misuse, legal exposure, and the loss of privacy) far outweigh the promised benefits.


If residents have thoughts, concerns, or experiences with this type of technology, I welcome your input. You can email any public comment to the Council before any meeting – whether the topic is on the agenda or not. In your email, you should include the phrase “Public Comment” in the subject line and include your name and address in the body of the email.


Email public comments to: councilors@sbmaine.us 


South Berwick works best when we build systems that strengthen trust and not ones that quietly chip away at it. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

 

--Sam Flinkstrom


More info:

 
 
 

© 2025 by Sam Flinkstrom

bottom of page