Red Light Camera News Port Lavaca Red Light Cameras (Petition Submitted)
http://crossroadstoday.com/Port-Lavaca-Red-Light-Cameras/12097293
Posted: Wednesday, 25 January 2012 3:45PM
Port Lavaca Red Light Cameras
The Port Lavaca Citizens Against Red Light Cameras group has spent the last four to five months collecting signatures on a new petition, and then presented it to City Secretary Mandy Grant Wednesday morning.
The issue is making headlines in Houston and tonight the Port Lavaca citizens against red light cameras are one step closer to hitting their goal. A Petitioners Committee has collected hundred of signatures for a second time and this morning the group handed the paperwork over to the city.
I am at the intersection of 35 and the Port Lavaca Highway. As you can see, this is one of the intersections in Port Lavaca where the cameras are up and working. But tonight, petitioners are hoping they will not be operational for much longer.
After months of collecting signatures, Carl Baugh walked into City Hall Wednesday morning and placed 32 pages full of John Hancock’s on the City Secretary’s desk; all from citizens who want one thing, the removal of red light cameras in Port Lavaca.
"A lot of people are angry about the red light cameras. It affects a lot of people…People who drive through our county every day and it affects businesses…A lot of people don't even want to come through our town," commented Carl Baugh.
This is the second time Baugh has tried using a petition to get the cameras turned off. The first one, with over a thousand signatures, never made it to City Council because it was deemed a matter of public safety.
“They're really making things more dangerous... It's basically voter suppression. They wouldn't put it on a ballot for people to vote on."
Instead of accepting defeat, Baugh started the process all over again in a second attempt to turn the controversial cameras black.
"The next step will be to verify the signatures, and I will do that through Voter Registration. Once that's done then we have to verify the petition, then get with our City Attorney who will decide whether it goes through the council process," explained Mandy Grant, the City Secretary of Port Lavaca.
If the petition is verifies, the cameras should go dark until an election takes place, according to City Charter. But based on what has happened in the past, Baugh says he does not expect the city to play by the rules.
“I think they're going to basically tell the people of Port Lavaca that their voices are not going to be heard. It should go for a vote. All I want to see is a vote. They will hold off on that, and it's wrong," said Baugh.
City Secretary Mandy Grant says the petition should be ready to go to Council in March if it is verified. That meeting will be on the 2nd Monday of the month.
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