Houston RLC FIGHT ABOUT ATS and City of Houston "attempt to litigate the sacrosanct will of the voters into oblivion."

http://verdeforcitycouncil.com/wp/?p=112

I Oppose Red Light Cameras. Here’s Why:

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Josh
 

As one politically-minded acquaintance put it recently, “You know most of the people in your district supported red light cameras, right?” – Well, not exactly. Maybe a slight majority of the people who actually voted in my district favored the cameras, but this was before the issue went from intersection safety to honoring the will of the voters. That is an important distinction to make. This debate, if you can call it that, is no longer about the claim of increased safety as a result of camera placement. It is now about a company based in Arizona, along with a complicit Houston city government, and their attempt to litigate the sacrosanct will of the voters into oblivion. (Sounds dramatic, I know.)

I spent the bulk of my professional career concerned with safety. It wasn’t just an afterthought – it was my number one concern as an airline pilot. Each decision I made as a Captain was done only after analyzing that decision’s direct impact on the safety of my flight. I even have a minor degree in Human Factors & Aviation Safety. That is why I am skeptical when I am given statistics on intersection crashes pre- and post-camera. I believe the data is twisted by whomever benefits from a different data viewpoint. Sure, maybe t-bone accidents go down, but do rear end accidents go up? The point is: this is no longer about crashes. I’m not so sure it ever was. Shortly after Prop 3 failed, Mayor Parker was making comments during City Council meetings lamenting the budget shortfall that would ensue. Was that her primary concern? Few people will disagree that the red light cameras were a money making device for the City.

I oppose red light cameras because the voters spoke at the ballot box and a majority of Houstonians said, “No thanks.” Federal Judge Lynn Hughes, who recently ruled that our vote was invalid, says that there are other ways to fight an ordinance. Specifically, he says we had 30 days after the Red Light Camera ordinance was passed (back in 2004) to challenge the ordinance the proper way. 30 days? There is no reasonable way an effort could be mounted in 30 days to obtain the signatures necessary for a referendum. It took 6 years of red light camera operation for the citizens of Houston to realize how ineffective they were. It took 6 years to realize we had made a mistake. The judge did not consider this. Instead, he said:

…people have an alternative, recurring way to repeal an offending ordinance. Since the referendum deadline passed, the city has held three general elections for the mayor and council. The same energy and organization that went into the effort to repeal the ordinance may be applied in future elections as an alternative to a referendum.

In other words: If you wanted to get rid of red light cameras, you could have spoken at the ballot box. We did that, Judge – we just took out the middle man: the City Councilmembers who were influenced by PAC money and the lobbyists. The voters spoke and the career politicians replied by saying they knew better.

I’m not the only one who feels this way. While block walking in District C recently, I asked residents if they thought the red light cameras should be turned back on. Almost 80% said no. This included some people who originally voted to keep the red light cameras. When I asked why they opposed reactivation the response was nearly unanimous: “We voted to turn them off, right? Why would they go against the vote?”

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