BELLINGHAM - Voters this November will decide whether Bellingham should have red-light cameras and school-zone speed cameras.
After holding a closed-to-the-public session on Monday, July 11, to discuss legal options with the city attorney, the City Council decided to forward the initiative restricting the cameras to voters. The council voted 7-0 to inform staff that it planned to take no action on the initiative. Under city law, that means it goes to voters. "We are still very, very excited," said Johnny Weaver, a member of the group backing the initiative, Transportation Safety Coalition. "Neither (camera company American Traffic Solutions) nor the city should be making a decision like this without a vote by the people."
"We are now confident that when the people vote, the council will honor the vote of the people," he added. The council's other options were to approve the initiative, send it and an alternative version to voters, or authorize filing a lawsuit seeking to disqualify it from the ballot. "I'd recommend that we take no action on this, allowing it to go its natural course on the ballot," council member Terry Bornemann said before the vote. Council member Barry Buchanan said he thinks the city should maintain a position of neutrality, and deferring to voters is the right decision. The initiative would require removing any cameras that have been installed, and it would require voter approval of any plans to re-install them. It would also limit the fine amounts to the same as the least expensive parking ticket, currently $10. Before the council vote, City Attorney Joan Hoisington laid out in public a summary of the council's option. The council didn't publicly debate the options. The council in November voted 6-1, with Seth Fleetwood opposed, to allow cameras in the city. Transportation Safety Coalition formed to oppose the cameras by backing an initiative. The group needed 3,880 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot. They submitted a total of 6,775 signatures, more than enough to qualify. The county auditor on June 30 certified they had enough. The initiative is similar to others in Monroe, Wenatchee, Redmond and Longview. In Wenatchee and Longview, city leaders decided to legally fight to keep them off the ballot. In Wenatchee, a superior court judge agreed that the power to decide on the camera rests with legislative bodies - in these cases, city councils - not citizens through the initiative process. The lawsuit in Longview, filed before the local initiative was certified to have enough signatures, was recently dismissed, and the city will discuss its next steps. In Monroe, the city council voted to authorize the mayor to sue to block it from reaching the ballot, but the mayor hasn't filed the lawsuit yet. Initiative supporters are still gathering signatures in Redmond. Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike said he didn't want to go that route, and he wanted to let voters consider the initiative. Tim Eyman, the initiative activist who supports the cities' anti-camera initiatives, mailed Pike a "Let the Voters Decide" T-shirt as thanks.
"Really, the decision by the mayor and the City Council in Bellingham may have blazed a trail of respect for the citizenry," Eyman said. "The biggest thing the City Council and Pike showed is that you don't have to sue your own citizens. You have a choice." "Suing your citizens is very expensive, both financially and politically," he added. On Monday, Hoisington said staff would return to the council for appointments to committees that write the pro and con arguments in the voter guide. Putting the initiative on the ballot won't cost the city any more money, because it already has various items on the ballot, said Debbie Adelstein, chief deputy auditor for Whatcom County. The Auditor's Office billed the city $4,380 for the costs of checking the initiative signatures, she said. The city will move forward with plans to install the cameras. It has already signed an agreement with Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions for four red-light cameras and two school-zone cameras. A city official previously said they'd likely be installed around early October. The contract says "the city shall make every effort to adhere to the project time line mutually agreed to by the parties," but it also says the parties can mutually agree to change the timeline for implementation. Under the contract, the first month after the cameras are activated would be a warning period in which no tickets are issued. Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/07/12/2098679/bellingham-voters-will-decide.html#ixzz1XMh98iy1
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