Red Light Camera News Haines City, FL: Crowd says of the RLC, "PULL 'EM"!!!!!!!
http://www.theledger.com/article/20110324/REPORTER/110329740/1001/business?p=all&tc=pgall
Officials Looking to State for Help With Red Light Cameras
By MARY HURST
THE REPORTER
Published: Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.
HAINES CITY | City Attorney Tom Cloud has contacted the State Attorney General's Office for an opinion about what city commissioners can do regarding red-light cameras.
At a March 17 workshop, commissioners concluded after much discussion that they either had to keep the cameras and follow state law or get rid of them.
Cloud said he hoped to report back to the commission at its next regular meeting at 7 p.m. April 7.
On March 17, the City Commission faced another standing-room only crowd of angry residents and nonresidents who continue to complain about the red-light cameras.
At its regular commission meeting later that night, two winter residents complained about their tickets.
Jim Manner said he was going to fight his right-turn-on-red citation.
"I don't go through a red light without stopping first," Manner said. "That's impossible."
He also said he's stopped shopping in Haines City and is encouraging others in his neighborhood to do the same.
He's started a petition drive where he lives as a way to raise awareness of the red-light cameras.
"We won't be bringing our money here anymore," he told commissioners. "And I will not make a right turn on red any more. I'll stay at that red light until it turns green."
L.D. Wilcox, who owns property in Haines City and lives just outside the city limits, got into a shouting match with Mayor Horace West.
"I've never gotten a ticket in my life," he said.
"And now, I've got $400 to come up with. You can't convince me that this was a safety reason you installed those lights."
He told commissioners they needed to be more sensitive to the city residents.
"You heard that other man," Wilcox said. "People aren't coming back to Haines City to do business — they're turning away."
He promised to fight the ticket "until hell freezes over." He also told West to "practice what you preach."
West told him that he and his family were "almost murdered" by someone running a red light on U.S. 27, and that because of that, he'd always felt the cameras were a safety issue.
Wilcox's and other speakers' comments provoked shouted outbursts from the audience.
West then told residents he would not have people shouting from the audience, and if they wanted to speak, they could sign up to come to the microphone.
Nurse Sherry Sanford told commissioners she'd gotten two tickets and doesn't have the money to pay them in a month's time.
"You have a real hot mess here," she said. "Why don't you have some kind of protocol in this city? Why don't we have a traffic court?"
Haines City's 10 cameras, installed at five intersections, went active in January after city officials signed a contract with Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions in June. Four are on U.S. 27 while the fifth is on U.S. 17/92.
Under a state law that took effect July 1, getting caught on camera while running a red light can bring a $158 fine, with $75 going to the city.
Another $83 goes to the state Department of Revenue.
The city pays the company out of its share. There is a move in the Legislature to repeal the law.
Commissioner Ron Tyler said during the workshop and in the regular meeting that the city had either to abide by the state law regarding the entire red-light camera statute or to pull them.
Some in the crowd shouted "pull 'em."
[ Mary Hurst can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 863-421-5577. ]
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