HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - 19EMitre -Ramirez, Norma
From: Huizar, Maria
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2015 4:31 PM
To: Rojas, Carlos; Cavazos, David; Carvalho, Sonia R.
Cc: Carroll, Robert
Subject: CORRESPONDENCE ON AGENDA ITEM 19E - REDFLEX
Attachments: CCF02172015_0001.pdf
Mayor and City Council,
Below please find correspondence received on Agenda Item 19E that has been entered into the record.
From: Jim [mailto:jim@vivahermosa.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2015 3:22 PM
To: Huizar, Maria
Subject: Santa Ana council meeting Feb 17 - item 19E-1 - red light cameras
For City staff: Please distribute this email to all councilmembers, and make it available to the public, for
tonight's meeting.
2-17-15
Venue: Red light camera item 19E-1, council meeting of Feb. 17, red light cameras
Honorable Councilmembers -
There is a major item the Chief did not consider in his report: The cost of the ill will the tickets generate toward
the city and toward the police. I think it is a BIG number. In 2013 Santa Ana issued 9450 tickets for rolling
right turns (see annual CVC 21455.5(1) report, attached), and even the top management at Redflex now admits
that that is a bad idea, to wit:
In late 2014 we saw this, in a Dec. 26 Wall Street Journal interview of the president of RedFlex: "Mr. [James]
Saunders [president of RedFlex] suggests jurisdictions refrain from issuing a [rolling right] ticket except when
a pedestrian is in the crosswalk. " The headline was, "Can the Red -Light Camera Be Saved? - Money -hungry
politicians discredit a hopeful safety innovation. " (A Jan. 22, 2015 column in the Dallas Morning News
confirmed the statement The Journal had attributed to Saunders: "When I asked Redflex spokeswoman Jody
Ryan about her boss' comments urging cities to lighten up on rolling reds, she answered, "It only makes sense
that Jim is going to say, `Look, we need people to be thoughtful about how they are implementing these
programs and how they are issuing citations. 'It wasn't that shocking. ' )
Further, I can't figure out how the Chief came up with that $1 million loss figure. The City receives about
$100,000 each month from the court, and out of that it pays Redflex $78,000, leaving $22,000 to pay for the the
City staff (police, city attorney, city prosecutor, public works) involved in the program. So, the City will be
giving up a net profit of MAYBE $10,000 a month, but that will be more than replaced by an "un -signing
bonus," the gain of about $500,000 the City will see in the second half of 2015 when it is still collecting fines
but is not having to pay any rent to Redflex.
Please stand by your 2014 decision to let the program expire. CCM 02/17/2015
19E
Sincerely,
Jim Lissner
i Viva Hermosa !
/ REDFLEX MAKING A SAFER WORLD.
TRAFFIC SYSTEMS
OR
To remain in compliance with California Vehicle Code 21455.5 (i) Redflex Traffic System and our
contracted Government Agency has produced this report for the Judicial Counsel for the calendar year
2013:
Government Agency: Santa Ana Police Department
The number of alleged violations in 2013 captured by the systems they operate:
25,024
The number of citations issued in 2013 by a law enforcement agency based on information collected
from the automated traffic enforcement system:
23,521 Citations filed with the
Court
For citations identified in paragraphs (2), the number of violations that involved traveling straight
through the intersection, turning right and turning left (if known)
Straight: 13,734
Right: 3,450
Left: 337
The number and percentage of citations that are dismissed by the court:
11046(4.4%)
The number of traffic collisions at each intersection that occurred priorto; and after the installation of,
the automated traffic enforcement system:
Information not available.