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Mayor Jackson Laments Loss Of Traffic Cameras

Mayor Jackson; traffic cam (pic: Brian Bull, Flickr.com's Nicholas Eckhart)
Mayor Jackson; traffic cam (pic: Brian Bull, Flickr.com's Nicholas Eckhart)

Last night, a majority of voters said “YES” to Issue 35, which bans traffic cameras. They can now only be used if a police officer is also present to write a ticket.

Speaking to reporters today, Mayor Jackson says he’s troubled that reckless drivers could speed through intersections without fear of accountability. And he says it also makes deployment of city police much more challenging.

“If I take them out of enforcement for gun suppression and put them at a school zone or at a traffic light, do I take them out of just responding to 911?" asks Mayor Jackson. "These are deployment issues that we’re going to have to resolve. But there will be a reduction in coverage for traffic safety. Because there’s no way that we can find additional $19-20 million to cover the same amount of coverage you can get with these cameras.”

The loss of the cameras also means an estimated loss of $6 million in revenues from tickets. Mayor Jackson says he’s unsure where they’ll cut to accommodate that hole.

Voters in Maple Heights put similar restrictions on their traffic cams, yesterday.

Story by ideastream's Brian Bull.