Red Light Camera News League City Council: Vote on red-light cameras
http://galvestondailynews.com/story/278514
League City Council: Vote on red-light cameras
By Christopher Smith Gonzalez
The Daily News
Published December 11, 2011
LEAGUE CITY — Two League City councilmen want voters to decide the fate of the city’s red-light cameras.
Councilmen Mike Lee and Mick Phalen have proposed asking city residents to vote on whether they want to continue the red-light camera program when the contract runs out in 2014.
“I just think when you have an issue like this that truly affects every one of our 83,000 people, it’s something that those guys should be the ones to decide,” Lee said.
The cameras went up in 2009. Since that time, the League City Police Department has said the number of accidents has decreased overall at the three intersections with the cameras and traffic flow has improved.
(Ban the Cams note: We have heard this claim before. Is that a boilerplate reponse scamera side????
Regardless, WHAT WERE THE RLR CRASHES BEFORE AND AFTER GUYS. What were the TRAFFIC FLOWS (and traffic counts) before and after too. In Chicago, another Redflex site, they claimed less "accidents', but a independent review found NO SAFETY BENEFIT to the RLC. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/31/3175.asp The city in fact "defined" accidents in a way as to limit reporting of rear end collisions!
Taking "stats" from someone whose departments are no doubt FINANICALLY dependent upon the outcome is like taking medical claims from a snake oil sales man or carpetbagger trying to sell his garbage product.)
The cameras are at three intersections along FM 518 — at Marina Bay Drive, Interstate 45 and state Highway 3.
The police department reviews violation videos, and officers have some leeway on whether to send a citation.
Safelight Program Officer Jim Bitner said the goal was to promote safety. He said the cameras were “the best awareness program in 80 years.”
But Byron Schirmbeck, who fought to bring down the red-light cameras in Baytown, disagrees with department’s findings. The cameras make drivers less safe, he said.
Schirmbeck said he hopes city leaders who campaigned on getting rid of the cameras will vote the cameras down.
Phalen and other council members said they have received weekly and even daily emails about the cameras. Phalen said he was not for or against the cameras, but he said placing the issue on the May ballot would allow the city to have a communitywide debate.
“It gives us five months for this city to have a tremendous debate about a very contentious issue in the city,” Phalen said at a council workshop Tuesday.
Not all his colleagues on the council agree.
Councilman Dennis OKeeffe, who campaigned against the red-light cameras, said he was opposed to leaving the matter up to the voters.
Because the council took action to put up the red-light cameras two years ago, the council is entitled to dissolve the red-light program at the end of the contract, OKeeffe said.
He said he has questions about what the city could do to mitigate the number of red-light runners and perhaps encourage the red-light company, Redflex Traffic Systems, to leave on its own.
The city pays Redflex Traffic Systems a monthly maintenance fee of $38,960 to operate the cameras.
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