Scott Harlan and his supporters took a historic step closer to putting the controversial issue of traffic-enforcement cameras to a vote of Redmond residents Wednesday afternoon.
Harlan, joined by Washington initiative activist Tim Eyman and a handful of supporters, delivered nearly twice the number of needed signatures to the Redmond city clerk in an effort to get the city’s first-ever citizen-driven initiative on the ballot of next February’s special election. Now it’s up to King County to validate the signatures.
Standing near the front steps of city hall, Eyman announced to a small gathering of media that Harlan and fellow volunteers gathered 6,050 signatures, well over the 3,845 signatures needed to get the initiative on the upcoming ballot. If Redmond Initiative No. 1 — “Let The People Decide on Red Light Cameras in Redmond” is put on the February ballot and passed, it would ban the use of traffic-enforcement cameras unless approved by council members and the voters. A February special election would cost the city between $70,000-80,000.
“More people signed this petition than voted for the mayor in the last race,” Eyman said. “It’s really mind boggling the number of people that were willing to sign the petition.”
The announcement capped nearly six months of signature gathering by Harlan and his team of 15-20 volunteers. Harlan’s initiative effort here in Redmond is one of many across the state fueled by Eyman, the state’s ballot-measure king.
Harlan, a Union Hill resident, said he hopes his efforts send a message to city leaders that Redmond residents oppose the use of these cameras as Redmond City Council members move closer to a decision to extend the one-year pilot program or not.
“Hopefully a key criteria in whether or not they vote to extend the pilot program is the public’s perception of the program,” Harlan said. “We have displayed the public’s view that they want to vote on the program overall.”
City Council member Hank Myers, chair of the public safety committee, said he is taking notice.
“I can’t speak for other members, but if this really is referendum No. 1 in the history of Redmond it shows the amount of work going out to get this thing qualified,” Myers said. “As an individual member, I’m impressed by that.”
When asked Monday if he would vote to extend the camera program, Myers said, “I don’t know what I would do at this point.”
Myers said he wants to analyze more data before he makes a final decision.
Eyman, Harlan and other supporters plan to attend Tuesday’s council meeting and show council members the signed petitions and state their case.
“I think there is a symbolic point to be made and we’ve made it,” Harlan said. “There is no way to ignore the fact that six thousand signatures have been put in front of you.”
The program, which features red-light cameras at three busy intersections and one school-zone speeding camera, began Feb. 1 with a one-month warning period and has generated nearly $600,000 in fines and more than 7,000 citations since March, according to city documents.
Nearly 95 percent of the violations are for illegal right-hand turns at red lights — “that’s an incredibly expensive driver’s education program,” Harlan said.
City clerk Michelle McGehee is required to turn in the 1,908 pages of signatures to King County within three business days. From there, the county will verify the number of valid signatures. Harlan said he and his supporters gathered well over the required number of signatures knowing that some of the people who signed the petition live outside the city limits, making their signature invalid.
Once the signatures are validated, council members would have to approve a resolution to put the initiative on the February 14, 2012 ballot, according to McGehee. The deadline to submit the resolution to the county is Dec. 30, she said.
COUNCIL DECISION COMING SOON
Harlan’s delivery of the signatures comes just weeks before the council is set to decide whether to renew to the city’s contract with the camera vendor, American Traffic Solutions (ATS).
The council will have a study session on the matter at its Oct. 11 meeting and then will vote whether to extend the program or not shortly thereafter, according to council president Richard Cole. The city must notify ATS by Dec. 1, Cole said.
Cole said the council’s decision on the ATS contract is a “separate process” from Harlan’s efforts.
“We will evaluate the program, look at the efficiencies and consider the pros and cons,” Cole said of the council’s decision-making process. “We would have done that without the signatures.”
Cole said he has been lobbying for traffic-enforcement cameras for years and said he feels they make the community a safer place for drivers and pedestrians.
But if the data suggests otherwise, he said he will reconsider. Accidents have actually increased from 11 in 2010 to 14 in 2011 between January and June at the three intersections, according to city documents.
“Safety cameras are a good idea, however, when we see more data in October and the data shows they are not working, then I would re-think my decision,” Cole said.
Mayor John Marchione released a statement on Wednesday, explaining the city’s decision-making plan for the program.
“As I indicated on this issue last month, the Traffic Safety Program has always been a one-year pilot program and the city continues to gather data and community input to make the best decision by Dec. 1 of this year,” Marchione said. “Residents have been very forthcoming with their opinions and the Council and I continue to listen to the wide variety of views being expressed. As part of our open, transparent pilot evaluation process, we welcome residents’ opinions at mayorcouncil@redmond.gov. This fall we will review our residents’ feedback, along with Mr. Harlan’s efforts, in the context of recent court rulings in this area as we consider next steps for Redmond.”
EYMAN LEADS STATE-WIDE ANTI-CAMERA EFFORT
Redmond is not the only city in the state facing Eyman’s wrath against the cameras.
Last year, Eyman led an initiative in his hometown of Mukilteo, where 71 percent of the voters said they wanted to ban the cameras. The camera measures are headed for the November ballot in Longview, Bellingham and Monroe; Wenatchee is in the signature-gathering process. Redmond is the only city that has not gone to court concerning the issue as Redmond city officials follow how other court cases unfold.
The most recent court ruling came last week in Bellingham as a three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals recently ruled Bellingham’s initiative to ban the cameras can stay on the November ballot, but it will not be legally binding.
Cole said that decision will “carry a lot of weight” as other cities, like Redmond, grapple with the camera issue.
Eyman said as long as the issue can be put to a vote of the people, a strong point will be made to city leaders. Eyman said a public vote concerning traffic-enforcement cameras has been held in 18 cities across the nation and in each of those elections, residents voted against the cameras.
“It’s really hard for elected officials to ignore a public vote,” Eyman said. “As long as the voters get a chance to vote, 99 times out of a 100, the voters will get the policies that they voted for.”
Below is a Google map showing with green markers, indicating all the registered voters who signed the petition for Redmond Initiative No. 1. Courtesy of Scott Harlan.
