Taking on the Government Dubuque protestors speak out against traffic cameras
http://thegazette.com/2011/11/23/dubuque-protestors-speak-out-against-traffic-cameras/
Dubuque protestors speak out against traffic cameras
Council will seek proposals from vendors; some unhappy with process
A group of protestors in Dubuque doesn’t want the city to put up red light and speed cameras. And some say they’re frustrated with the way the city is handling the process.
Monday night, the city council agreed to ask camera vendors for proposals, even though some council members say they still need more information.
Right now, city leaders say they don’t know how many cameras they would install or where they would go.
They say that’s exactly why they are asking for those proposals. That way experts can study traffic patterns and look at crash data. Either way, protestors say this is all happening too fast.
Will Johnson says he represents the beliefs of both Occupy Dubuque as well as the Dubuque Tea Party. He believes some city leaders’ motivation is money.
“What is the incentive here? The incentive is for the fines and for the money,” Johnson said. “In a recession the money comes from somewhere. It comes from people and it goes to somewhere. It goes to the city.”
City leaders say the cameras would force people to obey the law, reducing crash rates. They say safety is priority.
Johnson and about a dozen other people held signs during Monday night’s city council meeting that read “No Red Lite Cameras.”
Before council members made their decision allowing studying the camera idea, Johnson asked to speak, but was not allowed.
Johnson said, “You guy’s could have tabled this. What’s a couple weeks? Obviously you see there is some sentiment against this. ”
It’s the mayor’s choice on allowing public input when council is not holding a public hearing. In this case, Mayor Buol did not allow the comment on the cameras. But city leaders did say there will be public hearings on the issue.
“I’m fine with safety per se,” Johnson said, “but there are other enforcement measures, such as extending the yellow lights that we already have, extending the length of them. ”
The city’s next step is to get those proposals from the camera vendors. They plan to hold a council work session at the end of January.
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