Warning: 100 More Red Light Cameras Coming to Broward County!!!
If you thought red light cameras were everywhere in Broward County, you ain't seen nothin' yet. According to the latest news, the county is about to add 100 additional red light cameras.
100!?! Are you kidding me?
Apparently all the cavier and bon-bons American Traffic Solutions (ATS) is shoving down the throats of our politicos seems to be working. What's so incredible, is that apparently ATS figured out that they don't even have to go through the expense of installing their own cameras. They came up with the brilliant idea of just utilizing the cameras that Broward County installed to monitor traffic flow. Talk about a two-fer.
Let's see if I understand what's happening here. The taxpayers foot the bill for cameras to be installed to assist traffic engineers to monitor traffic flow so they can better optimize the timing of all the lights in Broward County. Sounds like a good deal. Finally, our tax dollars going towards something the citizens want. . . less traffic delays. But now, we come to find out, that this was all an elaborate scam, a wolf in sheep's clothing, to get the taxpayers to pay for cameras that are going to be used to catch them running red lights.
Stop the madness!!
The vote is set for later this month. "They need us," said Broward Commissioner John Rodstrom," talking about ATS. "They can't run this program without us." The "us" in that sentence is referring to the other Broward County Commissioner's who are voting.
Hey Rodstrom, I have some news for you. You need us. The "us" in that sentence, are the citizens of Broward County who vote on whether you and every other commissioner gets to keep their job.
Let's put it to a vote!!
Ask the citizens if they want to be in bed with a private company whose sole purpose is to make money. Even Rodstrom knows it's about the money. When the city of Pembroke Pines' Mayor, Frank Ortis stated that his city is ready for more cameras because of all the safety they provide, not the money, Rodstrom went to him with his hand out. "Since it's not about the money, will you split it with us?" he asked. You can guess the Mayor's response.
See, that's the part of this that is making me nuts. The constant talking out of both sides of their mouths. Under the guise of public safety, these "elected officials" are reaching into our pockets and getting into bed with private companies.
Here's a crazy proposition. As much as we all hate these cameras, unless the citizens vote them out (which has been done in Houston and other cities), they aren't going anywhere. The cash genie is out of the bottle. We might hate them less if they generated more money and perhaps provided more of a financial benefit to us. Of course I'm not suggesting they incease the fines, they are too high already.
What I'm suggesting, is that we take back control of these cameras. Why do we need ATS anyway? Even Commissioner Rodstrom acknowledged that when he said, "They need us." Think about it. We have already paid to have the cameras installed. We already pay police to write tickets. What in the world do we need to split half the revenue generated by these things with a company in Arizona (that isn't providing any jobs here in Florida)? Why doesn't Broward County use the cameras and issue the tickets, keep the fines the same (or dare I say lower them), and keep 100% of the money. That would double the current revenue stream!
To quote Rodstrom's words back to him when he was describing the potential expansion of the relationship with ATS, "It may be very, very profitable."
Tell me what you think
Do you hate these cameras? Do you think they make our roads safer? Do you think our government should continue to be in bed with a private entity whose sole mission is to make money? Do you like the idea of telling ATS to "take a hike" and keep the money for ourselves? Sound off!!
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