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Officials: Red-light fines necessary

By Peter Rice
Tuesday, April 17, 2007

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Mayor Martin Chavez and Police Chief Ray Schultz say a proposal to warn, not fine, first-time red-light runners could kill the city's controversial red-light camera program.

Councilor Ken Sanchez originally proposed to reduce fines for the first offense to $74, from $100.

But at Monday's council meeting, he went further and proposed only issuing warnings, with graduated fines for second, third and subsequent offenses.

"It's now basically gotten totally out of hand," Sanchez said of the red-light camera program. "This should not be a backdoor tax."

The program has raised more than $6 million in fines, which the city says is used to operate the camera program at 20 intersections.

Action on Sanchez's proposal was put off until the May 7 council meeting, but as the bill is written, Schultz said it wouldn't leave enough money to keep operating the cameras. The only option, he said, would be to ask the council for money to keep it going.

"All taxpayers would have to pay for that," Schultz said.

Chavez was even more blunt when reached later: "It would destroy the red-light program," he said.

Subsidies are an option, but Chavez said, "Why make the general taxpayers suffer?"

The cameras, which debuted in May 2005, issue fines to drivers who run red lights or speed through the intersections deemed worst by city traffic officials.

So far, the program has issued close to 50,000 tickets, netting the city more than $6 million.

The mayor and police staunchly defend the cameras, saying they have reduced accident rates by 30 percent to 40 percent at the intersections where they're installed and by 8 percent citywide.

Critics frame the program as an unaccountable cash cow and a case of Big Brother gone horribly awry.

The Legislature passed a bill requiring the city to give up a portion of each fine to the state. Gov. Bill Richardson vetoed the measure, but he approved another bill requiring the city to install additional warnings at red-light intersections, such as rumble strips or blinking yellow lights.

The council, meanwhile, is moving to tinker with the program on several other fronts. Proposals include:

Lowering the late fee for paying a fine. Council President Debbie O'Malley is floating that measure, which as written would reduce the fine to $50. It currently is double the fine amount.

But the details of her plan are in flux, and the council deferred the bill to the May 7 meeting. Councilor Brad Winter moved to attack the problem from the opposite flank, amending the bill to extend the payment deadline to 35 days, up from 20.

Placing a six-month freeze on the program. The proposal, from Sanchez, would halt new cameras from being installed and prevent existing cameras from being shifted to other intersections. The councilor introduced the bill Monday. It now heads to committee.

Schultz said the city has no plans to expand the program beyond the current 20 cameras.

Allowing people to work off their fines with community service. Councilor Sally Mayer said she will soon introduce a bill to allow for that.

Separating the hearing process from the rest of city government. Winter has introduced a bill to create an independent office to hear appeals, which he said would ensure impartiality.

Auditing the whole thing. A bill by Councilor Don Harris, meant to spotlight the financial details of the program, is in committee.