(Thanks to www.stpetecameras.org for the link!)

ATS FUNDED FRONT GROUP SIGNS! 

http://tdn.com/news/local/article_b866ecea-fc3e-11e0-9c1a-001cc4c03286.html

Pro-camera signs sponsored by company, not city government
Pro-camera signs sponsored by company, not city government

By Amy M.E. Fischer / The Daily News The Daily News Online | Posted: Friday, October 21, 2011 8:15 pm |

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Amy M.E. Fischer / The Daily New
 

(Ban the Cams:  ATS ASTRO TURF SIGN POSTED on left!  Notice NO MENTION OF ATS IN THE SIGN!)
A campaign sign on Ocean Beach Highway in front of Lowe’s urges voters to support ballot measures to keep traffic enforcement cameras in Longview.

The city of Longview wants the public to know it has nothing to do with the recent crop of campaign signs urging Longview voters to support two ballot measures to retain the city's controversial traffic cameras.

"We're not behind it. ... It definitely wasn't the city," City Manager Bob Gregory said Friday. "We're not going to violate any election laws."

It is illegal in Washington to use government resources to campaign for any issue or candidate.

The signs say "NO: Measure One," "YES: Prop. One" and "YES: Prop. Two." A web address is also listed for www.saferoadslongview.com. A campaign spokeswoman who responded to The Daily News' inquiry Friday said the signs were funded by American Traffic Solutions, the traffic camera company that rents the red-light cameras and school-zone speed cameras to Longview.

"The company obviously has a vested interested in Longview, and the company exists to provide technology to try and make roads safer, so these campaigns are important to them," spokeswoman Cynara Lilly said. "This is totally, completely legal. ... It has nothing to do with the government."

Proposition No. 1 asks voters whether they want to continue using red-light cameras after the trial period ends May 1. Proposition No. 2 asks voters if the city should continue monitoring school zones with speed cameras. Both are advisory votes.

Measure One (Longview Initiative No. 1), the result of an initiative petition by camera opponents, would require that if the city adopts any ordinance authorizing the use of traffic cameras, the ordinance would be subject to an advisory vote at the next general election.

If Longview Initiative No. 1 passes, the city must hold another advisory vote in November 2012 on whether to keep the cameras. 

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