9 Cities Where Citizens Voted To Ban Ticket Cameras
November 5th, 2009 Posted in Red-Light Cameras, Speed Cameras | 4 Comments »
Despite claims by the ticket camera industry that most drivers support the use of ticket cameras, the automatic ticketing devices have never survived a public vote. That trend continued this week as three more cities were forced to shut down their cameras due to citizen ballot initiatives.
From the archives of TheNewspaper.com, here is a compilation of nine cities that have voted to ban ticket cameras:
1) Chillicothe, Ohio November 2009
In addition to kicking two camera supporters off the city council, 72 percent of those voting in Chillicothe, Ohio approved a total prohibition on the use of red light cameras and speed cameras. Prior to the vote, in order to protect their revenue stream, Redflex Traffic Systems sent a glossy mailer to every voter while the mayor demanded that the Ohio Supreme Court ban the public from even voting on the issue — a move high court justices swiftly rejected.
2) Heath, Ohio November 2009
In Heath, voters were bombarded with the same advertisements from Redflex, but they failed to persuade a majority. Voters also defeated Mayor Richard Waugh who had introduced photo enforcement as the signature issue of his administration.
3) College Station, Texas November 2009
The city’s automated ticketing vendor American Traffic Solutions (ATS) bankrolled a front group to conduct mass mailings and push polling in an effort to save the program that would have earned the company more than $11 million over the life of the contract. The ATS-funded group reported raising $71,240 in contributions, but not one dollar came from anyone living in the local community. To supplement the vendor’s effort, the city allocated taxpayer money to send red light camera promotional material to every voter. Despite all this, local citizens still voted to get rid of the cameras.




