On Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 10:12 PM, Martz, Linda M.
Ronnie,
I saw the email you forwarded to Mansfield city council regarding the experience in Health. I’d like to talk to you for a story that probably will run a little later this week.
Did you start or lead the ballot campaign in Heath?
I was the lone protester at the first council meeting after the cameras were installed. I had been active in the Newark Advocate blogs and online comments to the Advocate articles about the cameras. A week or so later I was contacted by Duane and Becky Goodwin, the owners of a sign company in Heath. Between the first council meeting when I was alone (June 15th) and the next Council meeting July 6th our group grew to seven people. During that 3 weeks we started a Political Action Committee, drafted a petition to amend the City Charter to limit the use of photo enforcement and contacted other like minded groups in Cincinnati, Chillicothe and Toledo. We worked closely with the CAPE group in Chillicothe. Six members of their group joined us for a sign waving in early July when we picketed 3 businesses owned by City Council members. Besides attending one of the CAPE meetings in Yocktangee park in Chillicothe, I participated in 3 different sign wavings. From July through September our group held sign wavings on the front lawn of City Hall before each City Council meeting.
Twice the amount of signatures we needed for the petition were obtained in less than 2 weeks. We parked near Hebron Rd with a CAMERA BAN PETITION, SIGN UP HERE sign and got the signatures without having to go door to door. Half the signatures needed were obtained in one afternoon/evening at one location.
What made you get involved? (Were you ticketed yourself?)
I got involved when I saw the first camera on Memorial Day. On June 1st an article by the Mayor appeared in the Newark Advocate stressing the cameras were "100% for safety, not some scheme to make money". I felt this article should have appeared much earlier, when public input could have made a difference.
None of our group received a ticket from the cameras. Personally, I have never had a speeding or red light ticket in over 40 years of driving/motorcycle riding.
Is it true that Heath had a stretch of retail strip that had 7 cameras in a row installed to monitor speeding on it?
On the stretch of Hebron Rd between Coffman Blvd and Hopewell Drive there were 8 cameras, along with 2 cameras on 30th Street. Our intersection with the most accidents (Hopewell/Hebron Rd) only got one camera. Our 3rd and 4th most dangerous intersections got no cameras. An area with no history of accidents got two stand-alone speed cameras which accounted for 8600 tickets in July, the first month citations were issued. Each of the 8 cameras installed at intersections were speed cameras as well as red light cameras.
Did Heath post the locations for the cameras ahead of time?
The Mayor announced there would be a 30 day warning period for the cameras, beginning June 1st. The Coffman Blvd cameras were not active until June 29th. In June, 1000 warnings were issued. In July 12,858 $100.00 tickets were issued of which only 303 were red light violations. 8600 of the violations came from the Coffman Blvd speed cameras on the south end of Heath. These cameras were not included in the 30 day warning period.
Were most of the people who were ticketed out of towners passing through?
The Mayor claimed an 80% drop in violations from July until October. This was only possible due to two reasons. One: The no warning period for the Coffman cameras which created an artificially high starting point, and Two: a drastic reduction in traffic volume. From July until October the traffic volume dropped by 58,000 cars at one location. Many people were complaining that traffic had increased in residential areas. The lack of traffic on Hebron Rd was obvious along with a lack of cars in the parking lots at business locations.
Heath has a population of 8600 but has a large concentration of businesses bringing the daytime population to near 50,000. It is hard to say what the percentage was of tickets that went to residents versus those traveling through. In attending the weekly "Administrative hearings"/appeals at City Hall, I don't recall seeing Heath residents coming in for appeals the last 6-8 weeks before the election which makes me wonder if the tickets were not being screened by zip code. Only registered voters residing in Heath could vote on the issue.
Also, Mansfield’s police chief & its law director say they looked at what happened in other cities, including Heaht, and will try to avoid some of the mistakes made there. Do you think it’s possible they’re telling the truth?
In all the Cities where cameras have been installed, we hear the same thing, safety not money. The fact is that cameras do not make us safer. The only studies that show cameras reduce accidents come from studies backed by red light camera companies. Credible independent studies show that in the vast majority of the cases, red light cameras increase accidents.
There are some very undesirable side effects that go with the cameras. People avoid cameras when possible, which usually has a negative impact on residential streets. Businesses located in areas with cameras suffer not only from less traffic but also from a huge drain on disposable income being taken away from shoppers. From July through October over $2,000,000.00 worth of tickets were mailed out from the 10 cameras in Heath. The vast majority of those tickets came from speeding tickets issued in an area with an obviously under posted speed limit.
Would you have had a problem with photo enforcement if Heath had done a better job of PR?
Our group all had our own reasons for opposing the cameras. For me, it was the Constitution and Bill of Rights that had to be skirted in making a speeding or red light ticket into a "civil" violation. This creates a two tiered justice system, with the rights allowed under a misdemeanor traffic violation being taken away when the ticket is issued by a for-profit Corporation. My concerns were "equal justice" under the law, lack of the right to face (or cross examine) one's accuser, lack of the right to not self incriminate. The system only works due to the premise that one is guilty unless proven innocent. The ticket is issued to the owner of the vehicle instead of the driver. In Heath, the choices were to either pay the ticket, "nominate" someone else as the driver or pay the $100.00 in order to file an administrative appeal. The same private, for-profit company that calibrates the equipment makes the accusation, possesses the chain of evidence then profits from the accusation. Anytime law enforcement is outsourced to a for-profit company there will always be a motive and opportunity for abuse.
I have seen the presentations given by two red light camera companies. (Redflex and Gatso). They show some gruesome accidents that have one thing in common, they were all filmed by a red light camera. The presentations are slick and although they present it as safety, they are in business for one reason, to make money. So, the answer would be yes, I would have had a problem with red light/speed cameras regardless of how the City of Heath had launched the program. I will not sacrifice safety or give up rights my Ancestors fought to achieve to enrich a for-profit company and the City treasury. Law enforcement should be as it has always been, to protect and serve, not to generate revenue.
Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions. If you have local residents that wish to unite against the plans for photo enforcement, you are welcome to share my contact information with them. Our group (WE DEMAND A VOTE HEATH OHIO) along with the CAPE (Citizens Against Photo Enforcement) group in Chillicothe will assist the Citizens of Mansfield in any way we can.
If you would like to contact other members of the Heath group for their input for your upcoming article, let me know. We have a lot of information on our website, www.banthecameras.com
Ronnie Michael Kidd
740-281-0477
Linda Martz
Reporter
Mansfield News Journal
419-521-7229
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