Câmara Municipal de Esteio · Câmara Municipal de Esteio

Sessão Ordinária 24/03/2026

·1 hr 19 min·6 clips

A Black councilor warns that facial recognition systems often fail to identify people of his skin color, risking wrongful accusations.

1. This is the ordinary plenary session number 7 of the Câmara Municipal de Esteio, Rio Grande do Sul, held on March 24, 2026, featuring debates on public health funding, commercial surveillance legislation, and community sports recognition. 2. Councilor Claudio Duzic participated remotely after a health issue at São Camilo Hospital; other councilors present included Eliezer Machado, Leo Dahmer, Fernando Luz, Amaral Negrito, Welter, Luciano Batistella, and Protetora Dallem Oliveira. 3. The session's central tension was the conflict between commercial security interests—represented by the PL Luciano Hang surveillance bill—and civil liberties concerns around racial misidentification, data protection, and social-media mob justice. 4. The Health Commission, presented by Eliezer Machado, proposed Motion 21-2026 supporting the Esteio Health Secretariat's request for R$22,783,267 in federal TETUMAC resources, noting the municipality already allocates 30% of revenue to public health. 5. Secretary Gilson and his health team had already presented a quarterly health management report to the Health Commission before the motion was filed. 6. Councilor Leo Dahmer proposed redirecting the motion to federal deputies in Rio Grande do Sul and the Ministry of Health in Brasília, disclosing that Deputy Bongás had already visited the Ministry carrying Esteio's TETUMAC pleading. 7. Dahmer revealed the Rio Grande do Sul state government had cut annual transfers to Esteio by R$20 million without opening any recovery mechanism, contrasting this with the federal government, which opened the TETUMAC recovery pathway and recently rescued the City of Canoas. 8. Motion 23-2026 from Protetora Dallem Oliveira congratulated nine-year-old athlete Manuela Pacheco Pereira for winning a gold medal in the U11 category at the Supercopa São Leopoldo in judô on March 14, 2026, representing Morais Judô club. 9. Councilor Amaral Negrito added remarks about Manuela's father Edson, a childhood friend and municipal guard, and connected youth sports participation to keeping children away from harmful environments. 10. Councilor Welter presented Motion 25-2026 supporting PL 3630-2025 (PL Luciano Hang), authored by Deputy Bia Kicis and reported by Deputy Sanderson, which would allow commercial establishments to publicly disclose security footage of individuals caught committing crimes on their premises. 11. Welter cited Havan stores' eight-month campaign of publicly shaming shoplifters, which reportedly reduced theft by over 50%, followed by a return to record thefts after a court order stopped the practice. 12. Welter also cited two recent Esteio thefts: a coordinated two-woman theft of a JBL device worth approximately R$2,000 from Preciosa store, and a R$12,000 loss at Drago store three nights before the session. 13. Councilor Amaral Negrito voted in favor of the bill but raised a racial justice concern: facial recognition cameras have twice failed to identify him at the Porto Alegre administrative center, and a Black female friend cannot enter her own condominium because the system does not recognize her. 14. Amaral Negrito cited the January 2026 Porto Alegre incident in which a man's birthday party was raided because a neighbor described the gathering as involving 'a Black man,' resulting in two unjust arrests, as evidence that imprecise image-based identification carries severe consequences for Black citizens. 15. Councilor Leo Dahmer abstained, arguing that disclosing a suspect's face—as opposed to a convicted criminal's image, already permissible under a municipal law passed by former mayor Sandro Severo—is illegal under Brazil's General Data Protection Law and risks public lynchings. 16. Dahmer questioned whether Havan's statistical improvement reflected the shaming campaign alone or multiple simultaneous security interventions, and challenged the bill's constitutionality despite its passage through the Chamber of Deputies. 17. The motion passed with eight votes in favor and Leo Dahmer's abstention. 18. Community member Ajandio Valério Tavares used the Free Tribune to report that Jardim da Cegueira residents must arrive at UBSs at 4-5am for consultation cards, bus line 7 to São Camilo hospital no longer serves the neighborhood, and vascular surgeon Dr. Itadeu left public service due to insufficient pay. 19. The session maintained a formal procedural format with brief voting on infrastructure repairs; the PL Luciano Hang debate was the most substantively argued item, running well beyond the standard brief discussion. 20. Citizens interested in Brazilian security policy debates, public health access in smaller municipalities, or racial justice in emerging technology would find multiple substantive exchange points in this session.

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