Yesterday I asked the El Cajon City Council to allow me to explore the possibility of removing the Red Light Cameras from El Cajon. We currently have seven intersections with these cameras. I was surprised to see that it has become a controversial issue between me and my colleagues. I would very much like for you to read the U-T San Diego article linked below and give me your thoughts.
I’ll summarize. I’m against the cameras due to an incursion on civil liberties and a massive cost to the public of over $2 Million. I also am not in the least convinced that they work. I’ve seen statistics from across the board and it seems that you can find any conclusion you desire, based upon your bias and massaging of the statistical data. This, by the way, goes for most any other issue from global warming to medical marijuana. My fellow council members seem to object on the basis of safety. I fear however that selling freedom for security is a bad business.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/12/red-light-camera-el-cajon/
Please let me know your thoughts.
Bill Wells, Mayor Pro Tem, City of El Cajon
Comments 2
Thank you for your leadership Bill. If even Mayor Bob Filner is against these, this should be a no-brainer. This program sucks $2M out of the El Cajon (mostly) economy each year with only a fraction coming back.
CA tickets are incredibly high. Red-light camera ticket $490. Next highest state is $250. Most are around $100.
http://reason.org/blog/show/red-light-cameras-and-the-enigmatic