The morons on the city council and others; such as, the Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board pound their hands on the poppet and proclaim that this is all in the name of “safety!” The Eye begs to differ. We all know this is in the name of money. The City of Rio Rancho did not lie to their constituents’; they clearly stated that the Scam-era’s are to generate revenue. And, oh yeah, they might help out with that safety issue too… The City of Albuquerque lied and continues to lie.
All the local media who are played by the Berry Administration, report on the Scam-era’s and make unsubstantiated claims based on the City’s secret monitoring system that the City claims show red light violations increased over 200%. That’s strange; shouldn’t accidents at these intersections have increased by 200% accordingly? Someone is zooming someone else here and numbers do not match up. That basically means someone is lying and fudging the numbers.
Here is a thought for our City leaders; “We the people, for the people, by people.” The people of Albuquerque voted you into office to voice the will of the people. If you cannot do that, then send the Red Flex Scam-era’s to polling booths and let the people vote. This seems like a simple concept but our City leaders refuse to submit to the will of the people. Why would the City leaders and administrators like Chief Schultz be so reluctant to permanently shutting down the Scam-era’s? Do these people have some other type of interest in keeping the Scam-era’s proceeds flowing? Who has investment from the City in Red Flex? Does the City of Albuquerque’s have any investments in Red Flex? Any of these scenarios would clearly be inappropriate and a clear conflict of interest.
Red Flex is a for profit company; not a public safety none-profit agency. According to the Journal (Read here) Redflex lobbyist Dick Minzner said Redflex will reimburse the City for any administrative cost and at the same time stated that “the company hopes that enough citations are issued to make the program a money maker for the company…” Does anybody in Albuquerque really think that Redflex is going to take a loss when they are a for profit company? The answer is NO, we will see the cycles of the lights change again to ensure that Redflex remains profitable.
Shame on you City Councilors for condoning Reflex’s ripping off the public and to Councilor Sanchez who stated in the Journal, “I’m very pleased with the contract the administration has put together.” Councilor Sanchez, you should never be “pleased” when our citizens are being swindled.
Take a look at some of the people on the council and the predicament that their primary employers are in due in part to their inabilities or abilities such as Brad Winter. APS is in shambles and it’s getting worse daily. Some of the councilors need to clean out their own closets before they even open another door. The main issue that plagues APS is fiscal irresponsibility.
The citizens of Albuquerque have the right to decide how they wish to be policed. If it is the will of the voters to keep the Scam-era’s, so be it. However, if the public decides they do not want to be fleeced any longer by the City’s and Redflex’s greed, the Scam-era’s need to go dark forever.
What are our City leaders so afraid of? Is it loss of revenue to the City? It is loss of other investments? Below are a few other problems that will find their way into the debacle that has been created by Chief Schultz and company. Schultz is the one who brought Redflex to Albuquerque when he came from Scottsdale, Arizona. Take a look…
“Minnesota Supreme Court Strikes Down Red Light Cameras.” (Read here)
“Houston voters reject red-light cameras by wide margin.” (Read here)
“Missouri: Judge Finds Red Light Camera Program Illegal” (Read here)
5 comments:
It should be up to the voters to decide. The EYE makes several good points in the article and it makes me wonder who has an interst in Redflex. Who owns stock in the company ? Does Ray Schultz ? If he does it is most likely under another name. Why is The City Council affraid to let the voters decide? The city reports red light running went up 200% WHILE THE LIGHTS WERE TURNED OFF. This makes the citizens of Albuquerque a bunch mindless jerks. I think not, as The EYE stated where are all the accidents ? Here is a flash to The City Council,we the people are not stupid. To Ken Sanchez I am very disapointed.
I would have no problem with the red light cameras IF they also captured the drivers photo and went against the drivers license (for fines and points). The current system is very selective and only applies to those who have clear license plates (as required by law) and are willing to acknowledge their wrong doing. It does not apply to government (city, state, federal) license plates nor foreign plates nor those with tinted covers, trailer hitches and other obscuring objects. Totally unfair. The system needs to go away.
When can we expect APD to start enforcing traffic laws? Beyond the "selective" enforcement they conduct now. General enforcement seems to be very rare.
Add to your list Los Angeles. LA is also recommending getting rid of the back door tax.
If the cameras were turned off, how did the city determine that red light running went up 200%?
IF the "State of New Mexico" has banned THE REDFLEX Cash Cow from their "ROADS" along with 1000's more, what do they know that we don't ? The City of Albuquerque is simply playing a WORD GAME calling it a "CIVIL" action to SIDESTEP the Law. The "CITY" should at the very least pass out Condoms on every street corner. This would be a good job for "DICK" Minzner, at least his Mom and Dad named him right. ON the back of the RedFlex ticket it Clearly states;"It is YOUR burden to prove any of the following DEFENSES". In other words; "GUILTY until YOU prove yourself innocent" !!!
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