Red Light Camera News The RLC Revolt Continues, Nassau, NY!
The RLC Revolt Continues, Nassau, NY!
Activist wants referendum on red-light cameras
3:06 PM By Celeste Hadrick
Photo credit: Newsday / Michael E. Ach
Nassau political activist Pat Friedman, a longtime registered Conservative, is now taking on red-light cameras.
She said she will be collecting signatures Wednesday outside the county’s Traffic and Parking Violations Agency in Hempstead on petitions to put a referendum on the November ballot that would ask voters to repeal Nassau’s red-light camera law.
Friedman said she will lead the effort as the head of a newly formed group called the Peoples’ Rights Committee. Former Judge Sam Levine, who has mounted a so-far unsuccessful challenge to the constitutionality of the red light camera ticketing program, is counsel to the new group, she said.
She acknowledges her campaign was sparked by getting two of the tickets, issued when cameras allegedly catch motorists running red lights. She contends that amber lights have been shortened at intersections where red-light cameras are located, so that more motorists get caught and the county collects more money — a $50 fine plus an $15 administrative surcharge for every violation. The administration of County Executive Edward Mangano, a Republican, is asking the state to allow Nassau to expand its program and increase the fine.
The motivation “is money, not safety,” Friedman said,
Friedman has organized many campaigns over the years, including high-profile opposition to Donald Trump’s proposed restaurant at Jones Beach.
She said she is sure that an overwhelming majority of residents would vote to repeal the law.
However, just collecting petitions doesn’t mean a referendum will be on the ballot. According the county charter, residents can petition the legislature to change a law, but the legislature doesn't have to act on the petitions.
Just ask Nassau Republicans, who collected thousands of petition signatures in 2007 when the party was in the minority on the county legislature. The petitions asked for a freeze on property tax assessments. The then-Democratic majority deemed the petitions flawed and refused to consider them.
The charter also allows residents to petition for a referedum, but only on specific issues, which do not include red-light cameras. Those referendum-allowed issues include changing provisions in laws relating to public bidding, purchases or contracts, special assessments, the right to issue county bonds, the auditing of county's accounts, the leasing of county property, the administration of the county pension system and increases in salaries of elected officials during his or her term in office.
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