A hard fight to block real votes on ticket cameras | Letter to the Editor
Published 4:07 pm Tuesday, November 20, 2012
(In response to last issue’s City of Redmond, Tim Eyman traffic-enforcement cameras court hearing story.) Cities and camera companies fight HARD to block real votes on ticket cameras because they have lost the votes 90 percent of the time (27 of 30 public votes went against the cameras).
In Murietta, Calif., one lady and a small group of volunteers worked hard for 18 months to get an initiative on the ballot to end the use of red-light-camera tickets. A lawsuit tried to block the vote, but it was thrown out by an honorable judge. The camera vendors spent about $100,000 in the closing weeks before the November election to try to get people to vote to keep the cameras, versus about $2,000 or $3,000 spent by the initiative supporters. The cameras lost.
In truly honorable moves, several cities in California have passed city ordinances to prevent the future installation of ticket cameras without a positive vote of the people.
If fairness and justice prevail in the Washington State Appeals Court, initiatives like the one in Redmond will always be permitted to go forward. We will see if justice prevails.
James C. Walker, National Motorists Association
