Voters in eight cities and three states cast ballots on Tuesday to decide if red light cameras and speed cameras should be used in their communities. Seven of the eight races went against the use of photo ticketing.
TheNewspaper.com reports that Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia contributed at least $108,000 to the campaign for the cameras in Garfield Heights and South Euclid, Ohio. But the unfunded effort to put a stop to the cameras won 55% of the vote.
Local officials in East Cleveland, however, succeeded by using strong-arm tactics to badger voters into supporting cameras. Off duty police officers, in uniform and with their police cruisers parked on the curb, were ordered to go door to door to convince residents to vote to return the cameras. The mayor mailed layoff notices to 36 police officers and 14 firefighters saying the city would have to fire them if it lost photo ticketing revenue. This worked and the city got 54% of the vote, the only victory for the cameras on Tuesday.
Earlier this year, traffic cameras were voted out of Los Angeles, Houston and Albuquerque.
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