City Council OKs red-light cameras

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Red-light runners, beware.

The City Council unanimously decided Monday to go ahead with plans to

install cameras designed to catch drivers who run red lights.

The decision, council members said, puts saving lives above any

concerns about profit-making.

Councilman Gary Monahan had said he was concerned the system was

designed to put money into the pockets of the designers, San Diego-based

Nestor Traffic Systems.

“Quite frankly, I’ve been convinced that the safety concerns far

outweigh any financial concerns,” Monahan said.

Members of the audience, however, were not convinced. Speakers said

they had a problem with the large profit Nestor stands to make from the

system.

“If safety is really the main concern, then why don’t we put in the

avoidance system and leave the enforcement -- and large profits for a

private company -- out of it?” resident Allan Mansoor asked the council.

Councilwoman Linda Dixon said it wasn’t important if Nestor made

money.

“Who really cares if Nestor makes some money if it saves the life of a

mother, father or brother?” she asked.

City staff members have recommended a “turnkey” program, in which the

company would install cameras at designated intersections at no cost, in

return for a portion of the fine resulting from a violation. Nestor would

receive $97.56 for every $271 fine captured by the system, a staff report

shows.

Similar surveillance systems are controversial in part because of the

agreements that cities sign with private companies that install and

operate the systems. The companies mail out the tickets and get a share

of the money collected from them.

Other opponents in the audience cited a recent San Diego court case in

which a judge overturned more than 300 tickets and deemed the city’s

red-light camera system illegal.

Superior Court Judge Ronald Styn criticized San Diego’s policy of

giving the company a fee for every conviction -- a policy, he said, that

taints the company’s role as a “neutral evaluator of the evidence.”

Officials assured residents that Nestor’s system was different because

it provided video, not a still picture. They also told the public that

Nestor was not the manufacturer of the system in San Diego.

City Atty. Jerry Scheer said he would only recommend the system after

he determined the final contract with Nestor would stand up in court.

“We would need to draft an agreement and work with them, which would

avoid pitfalls,” Scheer said.

From Jan. 1, 1998, to May 31, 2000, there were 881 traffic collisions

caused by people running red lights in Costa Mesa, Scheer said. Of those,

419 resulted in injuries and two were fatal, he said.

-- Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .