Swordsmyth
07-26-2017, 10:38 PM
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 5-2 Wednesday that the state’s restrictions on how cities use red-light cameras are unconstitutional.
Despite the decision, the city of Columbus has no plans to pursue red light cameras, Cathy Collins, assistant director of public safety, said. The decision would have to come from City Council to fund the cameras.
A former lobbyist in Columbus City Hall, John Raphael, was moved to a halfway house earlier this month after serving about a year in prison for extorting campaign contributions to city officials from Redflex, the city’s red-light-camera vendor.
And even if Columbus or other Ohio cities have ideas about restarting their traffic camera operations, some lawmakers are already looking to make Wednesday’s court ruling a short-lived win.
“I think the cities will find they’ve won themselves a Pyyrhic victory,” said Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, a member of House leadership who sponsored the law as a senator. “That is because we have other tools in the toolkit that we plan to deploy when we get back in September.”
More at: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170726/despite-court-ruling-columbus-wont-re-install-red-light-cameras
Despite the decision, the city of Columbus has no plans to pursue red light cameras, Cathy Collins, assistant director of public safety, said. The decision would have to come from City Council to fund the cameras.
A former lobbyist in Columbus City Hall, John Raphael, was moved to a halfway house earlier this month after serving about a year in prison for extorting campaign contributions to city officials from Redflex, the city’s red-light-camera vendor.
And even if Columbus or other Ohio cities have ideas about restarting their traffic camera operations, some lawmakers are already looking to make Wednesday’s court ruling a short-lived win.
“I think the cities will find they’ve won themselves a Pyyrhic victory,” said Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, a member of House leadership who sponsored the law as a senator. “That is because we have other tools in the toolkit that we plan to deploy when we get back in September.”
More at: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170726/despite-court-ruling-columbus-wont-re-install-red-light-cameras