http://www.khou.com/news/City-turns-off-red-light-cameras-sues-vendor-108255244.html

(Thanks to CameraFraud Facebook for the link)

City turns off red light cameras, sues vendor

by Gabe Gutierrez / 11 News
khou.com
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 6:06 PM

Updated yesterday at 6:09 PM

HOUSTON -- The city of Houston has turned off its 70 red light cameras after voters voted them down earlier this month.

City attorney David Feldman also announced Monday that the city was filing a civil lawsuit in federal district court against American Traffic Solutions, the cameras’ manufacturer. Essentially, the city is seeking a judgment on how much damages it needs to pay under the contract, which is set to expire in 2014.

"Sometimes the best defense is a good offense." Feldman said. "By bringing it in federal court, we have taken the politics out of the matter."

Feldman said the city will argue in court that since a charter amendment shut down the cameras, that overrides any contract.

But taxpayers could be on the hook for millions of dollars if the judge disagrees.

"That would be a matter of interpretation," said Mayor Annise Parker. "How much money would (ATS) have received without this ballot initiative?"

The lawsuit’s announcement came during a special city council meeting Monday to canvass the results of the Nov. 2 election. Some council members seemed surprised the city had sued ATS so quickly.

"I think it is the best route," councilmember Jolanda Jones said.

ATS released a written statement shortly after the meeting ended.

"ATS agrees with the city that red-light cameras are effective safety tools that change behaviors and saves lives," wrote Charles Territo, the company’s vice president of communications. "As disappointed as we are with the results, we respect the outcome of the election and have complied with the Mayor’s request to turn the cameras off.　 We will now work with the city to find a fair and reasonable solution to resolving outstanding issues."

Territo said the Arizona-based company had not yet decided whether to file any sort of countersuit.

(Ban the Cams note:  "effective" safety tool,  OHHHH  THAT IS WHY THE CITY DOESN'T WANT THE 2008 to 2010 Accident Data to see the light of day BEFORE THE VOTE!:  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/33/3310.asp  Quote:  "Suppression has been the modus operandi by the pro camera advocates during entirety of the campaign -- from trying to deny the people the right vote to suppressing data that would expose the lie that is the red light camera," the anti-camera group's spokesman, Philip Owens, told TheNewspaper. "Sadly this is nothing new, but we are engaged in the fight and plan on finishing")

But this could be just the beginning of the city's legal challenges.

A civil rights attorney said that while he's happy the cameras are off, drivers would still consider a class-action lawsuit if the city tries to collect money for old camera violations.

"The charter language clearly states that they cannot even collect past due violations," attorney Randall Kallinen said.

Supporters of the cameras, including HPD and several council members, argued the devices helped prevent crashes.

But opponents said the cameras actually caused more accidents than they prevented, and that they were just a moneymaker for the city. A group called "Citizens Against Red Light Cameras" petitioned to put the question on the ballot.

Mayor Parker said Monday that the drivers should not consider their turning off an approval to run red lights.

"I'm worried that the message gets twisted into, 'Well, you can run a red light and you don't have to worry about it.’ And that is not the case," Parker said, adding she hopes police officers will write more red light tickets, despite having less money for overtime.

When asked whether city lawyers should have been better prepared for all of the legal questions, Parker said she had not been mayor when the red light camera contract was negotiated.

"I think it would be rather ludicrous to think that someone would anticipate what we all believe is clearly a perversion of the charter amendment process in the city of Houston," she said.

(Ban the Cams note II:  Democracy a "preversion",,,,,,, Maybe the mayor should re-read that the US is a DEMOCRACY!  Not a Fiefdom!)

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