Immediately after Paul and Mike Kubosh, the founders of Citizens against Red Light Cameras, spoke to the assembled supporters, onlookers and media, the spokespeople for the ATS-funded Keep Houston Safe took their turn at the podium. Andy Taylor, a local lawyer and political spokesperson, claimed that the petition was”dead on arrival” implying that this issue would never see that ballot in 2010, because August 9th was too late to turn in the petitions.
However simple investigation shows that within the past 10 years alone (only 4 previous City of Houston cycles) that at least 3 other Charter Amendment have been accepted by the city of Houston after the date of August 9.
- On August 20, 2001, a petition calling for a Charter Amendment relation to Same Sex Partner Benefits and Privileges’ was accepted by the City Secretary’s office.
- On September 4, 2001, a petition calling for a Charter Amendment relating to rail projects was accepted by the City Secretary’s office.
And
- On September 7, 2001, (nearly a full month later in the year relative to the Aug 9th date for the Red Light Camera Ban) a petition calling for a Charter Amendment to require voter approval before the City could increase total revenue was accepted by the City Secretary’ office.
As you can clearly see, if the City of Houston wishes to allow its citizens the opportunity to vote, the city is capable of making the effort to facilitate that election. And for now, it seems as if the city leaders are attempting to do just that. On August 17, Michael Kubosh addressed City Council in its open meeting and after questioning from the Mayor and Council members ,City Secretary Anna Russell admitted that of 16,000 of the 31,000 signatures turned in, 14,400 had been accepted. With a week left until the City’s alleged cutoff date to get the charter amendment on the ballot, and another 15,000 registered voters’ signatures to review, only another 6,000 verified signatures are needed to meet the threshold. And in fact a large enough sample size has already been reached to verify the petition if the city so chooses to take advantage of the State Statutes allowing for sample size. Do the math, calculate the odds – we are there. And Mayor Parker had approved $10,000 in overtime for the City Secretary’s office to make a sincere effort to respect the will of the people.
Why then would the spokesperson for Keep Houston Silent…err…Safe be so adamant that the voters would not be allowed a chance to vote on this issue this November? The simple and obvious answer seems to be that the profiteers of the Red Light Camera program don’t want the people to be heard because they understand that their Piggy Bank, which we know as our home town, would vote to ban the use of these “revenue enhancement devices”. Simple investigation will show that has never been about “safety”.
The most comprehensive studies prove Red light cameras serve to line the pockets of Government and private companies and the expense of safety.
A 2007 Virginia Department of Transportation study found:
“The cameras were associated with an increase in total crashes… The aggregate EB results suggested that this increase was 29{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}… The cameras were associated with an increase in the frequency of injury crashes… The aggregate EB results suggested an 18{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} increase, although the point estimates for individual jurisdictions were substantially higher (59{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}, 79{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}, or 89{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} increases) or lower (6{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} increase or a 5{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} decrease).”
http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/07-r2.pdf
A 2008 University of South Florida report found:
“Comprehensive studies conclude cameras actually increase crashes and injuries, providing a safety argument not to install them…. public policy should avoid conflicts of interest that enhance revenues for government and private interests at the risk of public safety.” “The rigorous studies clearly show red-light cameras don’t work,” said lead author Barbara Langland-Orban, professor and chair of health policy and management at the USF College of Public Health. “Instead, they increase crashes and injuries as drivers attempt to abruptly stop at camera intersections.”
http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2008/fl-orban.pdf
And from the May 2001 Congressional Report published by Office of US House of Representative Majority Leader.
Red Light Cameras present a perverse disincentive for local jurisdictions to fix intersections with excessive red light entries. It’s hard to fix a “problem” that brings in million in revenue. In others words, red light cameras aren’t fixing a safety problem they’re creating one.
Time and time against across this State and Nation when put to a vote your fellow citizens see this issue for what it really is, A violation of our rights for the sake of a few dollars. ATS and its operative do not wish for a vote because they already know the outcome.
The Cameras are coming down. Message to ATS and its fellow vendors and profiteers.
The piggy bank you know as Houston is closed, time for you to go home.
Click to visit Citizens Against Red Light Cameras website.