Vote, What Vote?

Albuquerque Citizens put the Redflex cameras to the test on October 4, 2011. The citizens overwhelmingly voted against all of the cameras. Although city council members as well as the Mayor, stated they would "listen" to the voters, the cameras are yet to come down. In fact, there are at least half a dozen employees that are dedicated solely to the red light cameras, none of which have received notice that their employment is no longer needed. The Eye was recently contacted in reference to the red light cameras. This anonymous man went to his mailbox only to find a notice from a Texas collection agency. The agency accused him of owing 300 dollars for a ticket he never recieved. The man contacted the agency and was told he had to pay the full amount immediately or else suffer the consequences of having his creadit tarnished for at least ten years. This was the first time he had even heard of receiving the ticket. Needless to say, that ticket will go unpaid, because he refuses to submit a payment of $300 for something he has no proof of doing. If this is happening to him, it is happening to many more people. Come on Mayor Berry, come on City Council. The citizens of Albuquerque have spoken------ NO MORE RED LIGHT CAMERAS.
Admit you are wrong, and look elsewhere for the revenue. Why hold a vote if the voice of the citizens does not count for anything. Mayor Berry, it is ok to admit you were wrong. It is ok to admit that the cameras have nothing to do with public safety, but has everything to do with money. It is ok to admit that public safety employees do not support you. It is ok to realize the citizens are smart individuals and this bluff involving credit agencies will not work. Our advice.... BRING IT ON, we are ready and the CITIZENS HAVE SPOKEN!

Thanks to our Readers

Due to your diligence; Fairy Berry Land was put to a halt for now and the red light scam was voted down.

OUR THANKS TO YOU!

We have received several e-mails asking if the Eye is still active? The answer to this question is, "YES." The Eye does not make things up. Our staff finds stories we need to verify. We are working on some great stories for the coming weeks.

If anybody noticed, Berry has kept Schultzie on a tight leash. Recently, we have only seen the other court jesters out and about like: Banks. Too bad his family relative who he managed to sneak into APD wasn't availble for the photo shoot.

Stay tuned!

Listen to Mayor Berry; Vote His Way

You read the headline correctly! The Eye is recommending that you vote in accordance with Mayor Berry’s statements. Below you will find a link to a video where Mayor Berry clearly states, “You take care of the Fire Department, you take care of the Police Department. ‘You take care of the people who keep us safe every day first.’ ” Berry continues to state, “…and then you work on boutique projects after you’ve got those main dollars in place.” (Bolded added for emphasis)

HELP MAYOR BERRY KEEP HIS WORD! VOTE “NO” ON ANY BOUTIQUE TAX BONDS!!!

Listen to your Mayor; vote "NO" to the Faire Berry Botique bonds.

No more taxes till the City can restore all the losses Mayor Berry has slammed the citizens of Albuquerque and the City employees with.

NO MORE TAXES; PERIOD! Vote “NO” on the Redflex Scameras and vote for ANYBODY but Brad Winter or Trudy Jones. These two candidates are anti-public safety.

The Eye would like to thank our local firefighters and the Local 244 Union for their contribution to the link below.

Click HERE for video link.

COMMIT TO TELL TEN TO VOTE “NO” ON ALL BONDS AND “NO” TO THE RED LIGHT CAMERAS!

The Eye, as many others in our community, are tired of the incompetence of our City’s Leadership. The Eye is asking that you tell ten people to VOTE “NO” on all bond issues and “NO” on the Red Light Cameras. What does this mean; it means no more new taxes and the City continues as it is now. It also means, no more supporting Redflex; a company who is not in Albuquerque, let alone in New Mexico.

We are in the worst economy that we will ever see in our lifetime and the City is demanding the citizens pay more and more to compensate for their incompetence. So many people are out of work, losing their homes and cannot put groceries on the table and the City leadership is still trying to “squeeze blood out of a turnip.” New Mexico is the second poorest state in the Country. According to Channel 7 News (see it here) the average yearly income is the same amount of money that Reflex donate to a local fly-by-night outfit to keep the Scamera’s in place. We are a struggling community and any new taxes hurt our kids and our families directly. This is wrong on many levels.
Until the City’s leadership is able to handle (budget) the money that we have already entrusted them with and are able to bring the City up to where it was prior to Berry; we do not trust giving this incompetent group another penny. Mayor Berry wants his Faire Berry Land on the Bosque with our tax dollars. Ask this question, if we don’t have the money to run the City now, how is the City going to pay for costs associated with Faire Berry Land? Where are the additional law enforcement personnel? Where are the maintenance and grounds keepers, supervisors and other required staff and equipment? Who is going to pay for it? This is going to cost the tax payers a fortune!

This is plain stupid. The City leadership needs to become competent and prove they can handle it. Maybe then the tax payers might consider more taxes. For now, we are in the “Great Depression of our era.” The City needs to learn to “live within its’ means; just like the rest of us.” No New Taxes!

And for those liberals who have stated, “Well, it will only cost this much more per household per year…” If you think the cost is “affordable,” then you can pay the tab and there should be no need for any tax increases.

Redflex who owns the Red Light Scamera’s donated $45,000.00 to Safe Streets Albuquerque in hopes of fooling the citizens of Albuquerque into keeping their “Gravy Train.” Don’t be FOOLED! Send a true message to Redflex and the City Leadership and VOTE “NO” on the Scamera’s!

One last thought, Berry owns a few goons on the City Council and it is time to create an equal playing field for the citizens. It is time to get rid of a few problems. The Eye is recommending that you do not vote for Brad Winter who has failed to do his job with the council and continues to wreck APS. The Eye also recommends that you do not vote for Trudy Jones; “Tutti Frutti” who has shown that she cannot handle the job or responsibilities of the position. We are not endorsing anyone and especially NOT endorsing Winter or Jones. Remember these two clowns have been covering Berry’s track, including blocking a federal investigation into the twenty police shootings. If nothing was done wrong why would they oppose an outside investigation? Think about it before you cast your vote. The Eye is not asking you to vote Republican or Democrat; the Eye is asking you to make a better choice. This is not a partisan issue but a logical one.

Please commit to tell ten people to VOTE “NO” on all bonds and the Scamera’s! Ask those ten to tell ten more people to VOTE “NO!”

Smile! You're on Scammer Camera!

Checked your mail lately? This week many citizens of Albuquerque are getting a piece of propaganda in the mail that on the outside looks like a great campaign. Luckily, not all of us are that stupid. Not all of us are willing to buy beachfront property in Arizona. Safe Roads Albuquerque sent out a mailing that depicts a graphic car accident on one side and meaningless and biased statistics on the other. Safe Roads is wanting the citizens to "Vote Yes on October 4 and help save lives". Very dramatic, yet very misleading. KRQE provides two separate statistics. One states, "Red light running decreased by 50% in one year at city intersections with traffic safety cameras. KRQE, 7/24/10". WOW, again looks pretty impressive from the outside. The next statistic is "Traffic safety violations increased by 584% when traffic safety cameras were turned off at three intersections" KRQE 5/28/10". AMAZING, not only is KRQE able to predict the weather and broadcast the news, they are now clairvoyant! How would anyone know that violations were increased when the cameras were turned off? Not to mention that KRQE is Darren White's very own personal newstation (and the term news is used very loosely).
So many questions come to mind. WHO is RedFlex and who exactly is Safe Roads Albuquerque. For those who haven't been keeping up Albuquerque news, RedFlex is the company that is responsible for the implementation of all of the red light cameras throughout Albuquerque. The same cameras that Mayor Berry wanted to get rid of. The same cameras that were shut off for some time because the benefits and validity of the cameras came into question. It was even implied by law enforcement that the grossly inflated statistics were because the accidents were not properly measured and documented correctly to correlate with the cameras.
Craig Loy, retired APD Captain, and former City Council member, quoted the following:"Why should reckless drivers get away with breaking the law? Safety cameras save lives. That's why we need to keep them." This is the same Craig Loy that is the Chairman of Safe Roads Albuquerque, that is behind this ludicrous campaign. It is mind boggling to imagine the cost of printing tens of thousands, or even more, of this colorful two sided-deceptive piece of propaganda. Our Eyes found out that the top contributor to Safe Roads Albuquerque was none other than RedFlex; to the tune of $45,000.00. There was however, another contributor, that was an unknown female who contributed a whopping $50!

The Eye wonders why this information wasn't printed on their fancy little flyer:

A 2008 University of South Florida report found:
"Comprehensive studies conclude cameras actually increase crashes and injuries, providing a safety argument not to install them.... public policy should avoid conflicts of interest that enhance revenues for government and private interests at the risk of public safety."

Or how about this- In October of 2010, the University of New Mexico released The Albuquerque Red Light Camera Study. "The report dismissed the increase in the overall number of crashes by providing an accident cost analysis not based on any examination of the collisions in Albuquerque, but by applying a generic formula designed to downplay the importance of rear end collisions. The report recommended that the city use engineering countermeasures to improve safety. Mayor Berry issued a statement confirming his willingness to do so -- including giving drivers longer yellow times." There was no question that the installment of the cameras was nothing more than a money driven exercise. "The study, which was funded by the city of Albuquerque, presented automated enforcement as favorable a light as it could. The study measured the number of accidents in thirty-eight camera-free control intersections used for comparison with the twenty photo-enforced intersections. The total number of crashes at the photo enforced intersections increased while camera-free intersections saw a decrease. While injury accidents decreased at the camera intersections, the decrease was much more prominent, 29 percent, at camera-free locations." See for yourself at http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/33/3303.asp.

This is nothing more than a lame attempt to pick pocket the citizens of Albuquerque and question the intelligence of every single citizen. What does Craig Loy gain by this Safe Roads Campaign? As the campaign states, "Vote YES for Safe Roads on October 4". The Eye sees things differently. On the contrary, Vote NO and tell RedFlex we have Albuquerque Police Officers that are there to keep our roads safe and issue their own citations, and not some meaningless citation generated by a faulty, money driven camera.

Money Hungry Redflex Opposes Public Vote on Scam-era’s

According to the Albuquerque Journal (read it Here), “Albuquerque city councilors want the fate of the red-light camera program to be decided at the polls Oct. 4.” This of course is a lie. Part of the Council wants it to go to the votes but the other half does not and is seeking a “legal opinion” in hopes that they do not have to abide by the voters wishes. It appears that half of the Council is trying to protect Reflex’s “Cash Cow.”

The Journal stated City Councilor Dan Lewis sponsored the ballot measure. He said politicians have made all the camera decisions so far, and it’s time the public weighs in directly. “It’s time that we hear the citizens of Albuquerque speak,” said Lewis, who’s been critical of the cameras.

In the story by the Journal, “opponents of the measure raised legal questions about whether it’s appropriate for the council to delegate a public-safety decision to voters. The election results won’t be legally binding on the council – just advisory – and that fact may be lost on voters, critics said.” The people speak their will and the dictators on the council want to consider it as “advisory.”

According to Tutti-Frutti Trudy (Jones), “This is a representative government,” Councilor Trudy Jones said. “We were elected to make decisions.” This statement by Tutti-Frutti Trudy shows her ignorance. Yes, City councilors are elected to represent but their elected purpose is to voice the “will” of the people they serve. If the people vote the Scam-era’s out; that is the will of the people. City Council has absolutely no right to challenge the will of the people. This is a flagrant ethics violation and shows a complete contempt for the public they swore to serve.

Here is a surprise, Reflex’s’ big dollar attorney, Dick Minzner, “also questioned whether the issue is proper for the ballot.” Is anyone wondering why Reflex is getting involved? Anyone remember Dick telling the City Council last month that he hoped that Redflex would issue enough citations to keep Redflex profitable? Anybody see a problem here?

Dick went on to give the City “free legal advice” stating, “The proposal to put this on the ballot runs close to violating the City Charter,” he said. “The council cannot delegate its legislative power to the voters.” The Eye is guessing that Dick plays a lot of Horseshoes. His statement is more of a comedy show, the statement that “it runs close to violating the City Charter” is compatible to almost being pregnant; either you are or you’re not. City Attorney Perry better be careful, Dick may be after his job.

Making the correct decision to send the Scam-era’s to voters were Don Harris, Ken Sanchez, Brad Winter, Michael Cook and Lewis. The “I want to play GOD over the Citizen’s of Albuquerque” who opposed the measure were Jones, Rey Garduño, Debbie O’Malley and Isaac Benton.

Council Sanchez stated, “It’s time the voters have their voices heard once and for all.” You can see why Sanchez is re-elected time after time. What a concept; allowing the publics’ voices to be heard.
O’Malley was quoted in the Journal as saying; it doesn’t make sense to put the question before voters. “It essentially asks … ‘should we fine you if you violate the law?’ They don’t really have any authority to say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ ” O’Malley Negated to state that the fines are civil and not criminal and she negated to state that this scam is making Redflex extremely wealthy.

Of interest, according to the Journal, “Monday’s meeting grew especially testy at one point, when Lewis questioned Minzner, who had identified himself as an attorney for Redflex. ‘I wonder why you’re here,’ Lewis said. ‘I question the motive.’ Lewis repeatedly mentioned that Redflex makes money from the program. Other councilors said Redflex had every right to have a representative argue on its behalf, just as anyone else can. Jones apologized to Dick. ‘I don’t believe it’s our place to tell someone they shouldn’t be here,’ she said.”

Councilor Dan Lewis is completely correct for asking the public how they wish to be policed. It is also completely appropriate for Lewis to question the motives of Dick Minzner who represents money hungry Redflex. Cutting through the chase, Redflex knows that the Scam-era’s are a “Cash Cow” and will fight “tooth and nail” against anyone who threatens that cash flow. Redflex is becoming like the Mexican Drug Cartel…Money, Money, Money…

Tutti-Frutti Trudy and the rest of the “Napoleons,” need to remember this; we the people, by the people and for the people. Take stock in these words. You know what happened to Napoleon.

One last thought; if the public votes in favor of the Scam-era’s, would the dictators still want to seek a legal opinion? The answer is no, the tyrants would have gotten their way and they would not need to use your tax dollars against you, to fight you.

City elects to take a shot at ruining your Credit!

Lights, Action; Scamera! According to the City, it is allegedly owed over ten million dollars in “red light scamera” fines. Does anybody recall Mayoral Candidate, Richard J. Berry making the statement that the red light scamera’s would be removed if he were elected? The Eye remembers this statement well. Berry has yet to keep his campaign promise and rid the City of this menacing scam. Now, the City wants to ruin your credit by sending you to collections.

As reported on Channel 13 News (see here), Public Safety Director, Darren White, stated, "If you are issued a citation, we want you to pay that and if you don't we need to go after you," Oddly enough, White who was a former law enforcement officer, does not state or encourage the public to exercise their rights to challenge the citation. No, he stated “pay that” or “we will…go after you.” This is outright harassment because the public refuses to take part in the City’s fleecing of the citizenry. These tactics are similar to Jim Jones who instructed members of his congregation in Jonestown Guyana to drink poisoned cool aide. The days of “do what I say or else” is not acceptable to a public who are educated and understand the processes and procedures unlike White obviously.

Not too long ago, Mayor Berry admitted that the red light scamera’s were causing rear-end crashes. People were panicked and were stopping at the intersection to avoid receiving a phony citation from the City and became victims of rear-end crashes. This was a result of a UNM study that the City authorized. In response, the City turned off the speed portion of the scamera’s. Was this too little, too late? Perhaps all the citizens who were involved in crashes at all these intersections should file a ten million dollar lawsuit against the City since they have already admitted wrong doing with the scamera’s?

The City by proxy is a collection agency. Part of the money collected from the Red light scamera’s go to Redflex. Thank Chief Ray Schultz for bringing his baggage (Redflex) back with him from Scottsdale, Arizona. The Eye is sure that Redflex appreciates the City filling their pockets with money from fleecing the citizens of Albuquerque.

Berry should be honest and keep his campaign promises. First, instructing the City to revoke the Redflex contract and abolish the program. Two, if the City is so concerned about money, they can tighten their belt like the rest of us. Along with that, Berry could fulfill one his other campaign promises; eliminate the Public Safety Directors’ position. There are several other areas where the City could do some house cleaning and save a bundle of money.

Some are calling for change. The City of Albuquerque needs new, better, and more professional leadership. This debacle has ruined their chance; it’s time to move forward and correct the ill of this group.

Hopefully, the City Council will not allow this bulling by White and the rest of the clan at City Hall.

All About the Money

Recently in a 5th floor conference room not far enough away... APD's brain trust met to talk about revenue, money, moolaah. The meeting's main man was more than a little miffed that the New Mexico Transportation Commission had ordered the city to take down the city's red light (and green light) revenue generators at 6 of the most profitable intersections.

The solution Ray and the boys came up with? Add another 50 scam-eras to intersections around the city that aren't on state roads - a plan that was apparently confirmed on 94 Rock this morning. And if our Ears heard right, Mayor Berry confirmed that the city needed the additional cameras for their revenue generating capabilities. Our Eyes confirmed for us that Chief Schultz' 5th floor confab focused on the need for additional revenue to help bridge the $54 MILLION chasm that runs right through the city's 2010-2011 budget.

Due process be damned! Public safety be damned! Liberty be damned! The scam-eras were always about the money.

The one good thing is that you won't have to waste your time wading through the creative writing project better known as the UNM "study" on the red light camera system. By confirming for radio listeners that the city can't afford to lose the revenue, they study's outcome is already painfully clear.

In fact, our Eyes tell us that The 5th Floor isn't taking any chances... they're cooking the study's books by releasing data that favors the STOP program.

It's about time someone drained the swamp up on APD's 5th floor. We're sure that there's more muck than water despite the efforts of a few who are simply trying to keep their heads above the water and their feet out of the mud.

Scam-era Misinformation

A couple of weeks ago, the New Mexico Transportation Commission ordered the City of Albuquerque and every other scam-era city to shut down the scam and remove the scam-eras on state roads. Tuesday, the Albuquerque Journal reported Mayor Berry's response.

"It is my understanding that the state does very little in the area of traffic enforcement along these roadways ... ," Mayor Richard Berry wrote to Transportation Secretary Gary Girón on Friday. "Therefore, given the (state Transportation) commission's recent decision to adopt a policy directly affecting the safety and enforcement of traffic laws within the city of Albuquerque, I would like to discuss with you a potential plan for the State Police to assume additional responsibilities for the safety and enforcement of these roads."

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

 Actually Mayor Berry, the Albuquerque Police Department does very little in the area of traffic law enforcement on any of the 20 intersections where scam-eras are present. In point of fact, scam-eras themselves don't enforce traffic law as a criminal violation but rather alleged violations by a vehicle of the city's civil code.


The city's STOP program is based on civil nuisance abatement. Citations issued by Redflex on behalf of the city are not - repeat NOT - criminal citations. Despite that very inconvenient fact, Mayor Berry, Public Safety Director, Darren White, and Chief, Ray Schultz are intentionally mixing criminal law enforcement with civil code enforcement by asking for the State Police as a replacement for the state road scam-eras.

Look... there has been no independently verified data that proves the scam-eras increase public safety. What we have seen is repeated attempts by the city, APD, and Chief Ray Schultz (read it here, here and here) to sell the program as a form of law enforcement and public safety. In fact, the only independent data provided by the PRC at the request of Bernalillo County Commissioner Michael Brasher indicated that accidents had initially increased at a number of intersections (view the data here).

[Sidebar]
In an odd bit of irony, the 2007 story that exposed the initial lie... uh, exaggerations of APD's public safety claims was written by none other than APD's current Public Information Officer, T.J. Wilham. You can read the Journal story here (subscription).
[End Sidebar]

Unfortunately Berry's response to Transportation Secretary, Gary Giron sounds an awful lot like a letter that would have been penned by the Formerly Almighty Alcalde. It's a mixture of misinformation and mischaracterization aimed at making the public think that somehow scam-eras make them safer despite any proof.

Worse... Mayor Berry is defending a program that is supposedly under review by the University of New Mexico. This staunch defense of the STOP program during the study makes it look as if the study's outcome is a foregone conclusion and that the new mayor same as the old mayor intends to keep the scam-eras. Despite a new lead singer, the city's still singin' the same old tune. What a shame.

Not on Our Roads

The New Mexico Transportation Commission has done with one vote what thousands of New Mexican's have failed to do... shutter the scam-eras. A Thursday morning ruling by the commission gives cities in New Mexico including Albuquerque - the birthplace of the scam - 60 days to pull the scam-eras and the scam-era van off of state highways.

The commission said there's no convincing proof such cameras make streets and highways safer.

"While the true safety impact of the use of these cameras is still murky at best, one thing has become clear to the commission — more and more New Mexico cities seem to be putting driver-generated revenues ahead of sound traffic management techniques," Commission Chairman Johnny Cope said in a statement. "Frankly, that concept really troubles me."

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Troubling indeed. Revenue and results - scam-eras have been rich in the former and devoid of the latter. Three years ago, County Commissioner Michael Brasher asked the state's Superintendent of Insurance whether or not the city's scam-eras were reducing accidents and if so, shouldn't car insurance rates be dropped? (read it here)

Take a few moments to look at your insurance rates. We'd bet that you've never seen a reduction in your rates since the scam-era installation.

Understand that the ruling only affects two of Albuquerque's scam-era intersections - scam-eras on Paseo Del Norte and on Coors. In Santa Fe, the ruling directly affects the most profitable roads.

[T]he [City of Santa Fe] was awaiting permits from the Department of Transportation before putting up cameras along Cerrillos, St. Francis and St. Michael's roads, where the largest number and most severe crashes occur in Santa Fe.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Unfortunately, the ruling will not affect the other 18 intersections afflicted by the scam. Hopefully, the UNM "study" group will discover what is patently obvious to us. Scam-eras don't improve safety, they don't save lives, and they aren't Constitutional. Don't hold your breath.

Protecting the Scam

Red or green, stop or speed, city scam-eras will make you pay. Last week, District Court Judge Theresa Baca struck down the green. Video from the city's green light scam-eras have been ruled inadmissible in the case of Joel Widman vs. the City of Albuquerque.

In a state Appeals Court case, N.M. v. Henderson, justices ruled that a particular photo was admissible, but they set out certain standards for permitting such evidence. They ruled that photo evidence can be admitted if the photo "speaks for itself" or if someone with personal knowledge can testify that it's a fair and accurate representation of what occurred.

Widman argues that traffic-camera videos don't meet that standard, at least for speeding violations. In his case, for example, he said the video simply showed his vehicle driving down the street. It wasn't clear he was speeding, Widman said, and no one would have personal knowledge that he was.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Admittedly, this is a hole in the scam that we hadn't considered. The video in and of itself is not proof of speeding. The system uses ordinary speed radar to detect the speed of a vehicle. Unlike the radar's criminal cousin, there's no one present to testify to the green light scam-era's calibration or even which vehicle actually triggered the violation.

Frankly, we're surprised that the city even let this thing go to District Court. Our Eyes tell us that the city's first and best defense of the scam has been to dismiss the citations of those who are determined to appeal scam-era "court" to real courts with real judges. In fact, the city's trying to remedy the Widman problem by retroactively dismissing his citation.

The city dismissed Widman's citation "because of issues with the record" that were entirely unrelated to his appeal.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

"Issues with the record?" Reeeeeaally? The issue with the record is that the city and City Attorney Bob White got their, uh... hind quarters handed to them by Judge Theresa Baca. (Yet another example of White's legal prowess.)

It's clear that the city DOES NOT WANT a real court to set a precedent that would shutter the scam-eras and they'll do anything protect the scam - even re-write history.

Bluff?

It's been quite a while since we talked about Marty's Scam-eras. Since that time, the tireless mechanized shutterbugs have been snapping away at Albuquerque drivers. Sunday night, KOAT reported that the scam was owed some $8 MILLION because it seems that according to the city some 25% of drivers are either ignoring the tainted tickets or aren't receiving them in the first place.

City Attorney Bob White told KOAT that the "tickets" will be turned over to a collection agency and that failure to pay would result in potential harm to the owner of the vehicle's credit rating. Remember, scam-era citations are sent to the owner of the vehicle not to the driver of the vehicle - seemingly under the theory that you are your Chrysler's keeper.

Understand that the scam has been running since 2005. Over the past 5 years 25% of drivers have simply ignored the shutterbug citations leading to $8 MILLION in unpaid fines. While the city claims that unpaid citations are sent for collection - and they may be - we have yet to hear of a case where a collection agency has sued on behalf of the city in order to collect an unpaid scam-era fine.

You see... the city and any collection agency have a number of a problems when it comes to collection of fines alleged by scam-eras - not the least of which is proving that the violation ever happened. The debt alleged by the city has never been acknowledged by the owner of the vehicle or proven by the city in court - even to the lower civil standard of preponderance of the evidence. The owner of the vehicle has not contractually agreed to pay the fine and there is no civil version of implied consent. There's not even any proof that the owner of the unruly vehicle received notification. In short, the city doesn't have a case.

Just try taking your neighbor to court over an unpaid debt without any proof whatsoever that your neighbor ever borrowed your money or even knew about the debt in the first place. That's the predicament that the city finds itself in when vehicle owners don't respond to the citations.

There are also a number constitutional questions regarding the constitutionality of underlying nuisance abatement ordinance - the ordinance upon which the scam-era program is built. But suffice it to say, the city's enforcement of scam-era citations has relied on voluntary compliance and the threat of attacking someone's credit rating.

We all live in fear of some miscreant stealing our identity and ruining our credit. Restoring one's credit takes an inordinate amount of time and can prevent us from obtaining credit to buy a home or a car, and can even prevent someone from getting a job.

Just imagine the liability of the agency that attacks your credit rating on behalf of the City of Albuquerque based on a claim of an outstanding debt with no supporting adjudication or shred of evidence that the accused received notification of said debt. If someone was prevented from getting a job because of an action alleging an unverified or adjudicated debt, exactly how much would a jury award the victim?

Sunday night's story on KOAT just smells bad. Our Eyes tell us that while overall the number of scam-era unpaid scam-era citations is 25%, the current number is around 33%. That means that the number of people voluntarily paying citations is decreasing. Further, our Eyes tell us that most of the scam-era revenue comes not from red light violations but from green light speeding violations.

[Sidebar]
Our Eyes also tell us that falling revenue from scam-era intersections has become problem. As a result, The 5th Floor has lowered the triggering speed from 10 mph over the posted speed limit to 4 mph over the posted speed limit. Remember, this is supposed to be about public safety.
[End Sidebar]

The scam-era system has been built on the false premise of law enforcement and fueled by the voluntary cooperation of the general public. In our opinion, The 5th Floor was using KOAT in an effort to scare the public into voluntary compliance knowing full well that their scam can't stand. In other words, it looked a lot like a bluff.

Looking in the Wrong Places

The Berry Administration has decided to study whether or not the Redflex Scam-eras are having a positive impact (forgive the pun) on public safety.

[T]he city is asking the University of New Mexico's Institute for Social Research to study whether Albuquerque's streets have become safer in the five-plus years since cameras began snapping pictures of speeders and red light runners.

That's the key to the program's future, according to the mayor's office.

The revenue "is something the study will look at, but the mayor has always said the red light camera program has to be about public safety," said T.J. Wilham, Albuquerque's public safety spokesman.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

We've been told repeatedly by the Chavez Administration and their Chief of Police Ray Schultz that the Scam-eras are for public safety and more importantly that they change behavior. If Albuquerque Scam-eras really changed driver behavior, wouldn't the revenue generated by the program decrease?

During the first 18 months of the program the city's cash cameras clicked off 80,000 $100 citations (USA Today) that's roughly $5.3 MILLION a year. According to the Journal, last year the Albuquerque program took in some $8.6 MILLION despite the state's cap on fines ($75) - an increase of roughly $3.3 MILLION. The only difference between then and now is who gets the money.

If program revenues are increasing then it follows that driver behavior isn't changing at all. If drivers continue to behave as they always have, no one is safer no matter what the crash statistics are.

APD has claimed a 30 percent to 40 percent decrease in crashes at red-light camera intersections in 2006.

But according to data obtained from APD by the state Public Regulation Commission, accidents near some of these intersections have actually increased.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

So... to sum up. Back in 2007 Scam-eras were raking in roughly $5.3 MILLION a year and the PRC found that APD had lie... uh, exaggerated the effectiveness of the system when in fact some of the accident data indicated an increase in the number of accidents. Fast forward to 2009 when the scam bagged $8.6 MILLION (sending half to the state and half to Redflex) roughly $3.3 MILLION a year more than it did initially. Safer? Hardly.

But all of these statistics miss the most important point. The Scam-era program deprives the accused with the ability to present even the most basic defense. In other words, the accused are denied their due process rights.

The accused are not immediately notified of the alleged infraction, they are deprived of the ability to gather their own evidence, and are forced to rely on the state's evidence for their defense. In other words, guilty until proven innocent and the proof comes from the state.

In the final analysis, it doesn't matter what the UNM study says because they're looking in the wrong place. Citizens are guaranteed due process rights by the U.S. Constitution. Redflex and their partner governments including the City of Albuquerque are blatantly denying citizens of their constitutionally guaranteed rights. No study will change that fact. No study can change that fact.

Eye Poll: Scam-eras Don't Work

There are a lot of reasons why Albuquerque's "Photo Enforcement" program shouldn't be in operation, but chief among them is that the city cannot prove that it works. Marty and the boys on the 5th Floor have been trying to support the program for with claims of accident reduction for some time. The truth is that the city has no conclusive evidence that the scam-eras have made us any safer by reducing accidents at photo enforced intersections.

Unfortunately, four-plus years later no credible safety stats have been released; the lone attempt at posting crash data on the Albuquerque Police Department's Web site in 2007 ended with a retraction.

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Despite Journal columnist and scam-era shill D'Val Westphal's recent attempt to sell the ill-advised program (ABQ Journal - Subscription), Eye readers just aren't buying that the program works. In fact, 59% of Eye readers that participated in our unscientific poll said there was "no way" that the city's scam-era works. 37% felt that the program absolutely worked, 2% didn't know, 2% didn't care.

Proponents of the scam-eras like to claim that the program changes driver behavior and on this point we agree - drivers either stop short risking rear end collisions or avoid the photo enforced intersections all together. Technically, the program changed driver behavior. However, there's no evidence that this "change" made anyone safer as it either moved the problem or created a new one.

This week we're taking on the Democrat's spending, uh... stimulus package. You might want to remember that every last dime that is spent by government at any level comes from our pockets or the pockets of generations to come.

A Lot Less Safe

Public safety - an altar before which every politician kneels during their campaigns, but like many church-goers, they're more interested appearing to embrace the faith than actually doing so. The result is passionate support during an election and tepid support when governing. That's at least one why reason cities like Albuquerque have continuously escalating crime rates.

In last week's Eye Poll we asked the question "Is the City of Albuquerque safer than it was four years ago." You'll remember the Almighty Alcalde kneeling at the altar of 1,100 officers - a number that still hasn't been achieved. In fact, APD hasn't seen significant gains in personnel in the four years since Marty's campaign promise.

Eye readers have weighed in with 64% believing that they are not as safe as they were four years ago and 47% believe that the are "a lot less safe" (view it here). Only 12% believed they were a lot safer, 3% somewhat safer, and 21% said they were about as safe.

The responsibility for public safety rests squarely with the mayor. He has the authority to hire and fire the Chief of Police therefore - he is responsible for the chief's performance or lack thereof.

This week we're taking yet another look at the scam-era program. Scam-era shill D'Val Westphal told us on Saturday that the scam has resulted in a whopping 39% reduction in accidents in four intersections (ABQ Journal -Subscription).

There are so many problems with this "study" and Westphal's story that environmentalists should be suing the Journal for wasting paper and endangering the public with toxic ink. First and foremost the "study" only looked at four hand-picked intersections, yet Westphal would have you extend the results to the whole scam.

Second and most damning, the study only looked at accidents within the intersection box, thereby excluding any increases in rear-end accidents caused by the scam-eras. Lest you forget, this is the exact scheme Chief Schultz implemented after statistics indicated that accidents had actually increased at photo enforced intersections.

Our Eyes tell us that Chief Schultz has the 5th floor working on changing the criteria used for counting accidents at intersections. Under this new scheme, only accidents that take place inside the box formed by the crosswalks would be considered accidents at that intersection. The rest would be reported as occurring on the street leading to the intersection.

- eyeonalbuquerque.com

Since APD's numbers are meaningless and Westphal's story is simply a blatant attempt to paint a positive face on an established pig, your opinion is just as valid as their statistics. Let us know what you think in this week's Eye Poll.

Scam-eras and Profit

Arizona's Pinal County residents can drive without fear of having to pay a Redflex ticket for exceeding the speed limit. The county's Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to shutter the speed cameras at the urging of their new County Sheriff, Paul Babeau.

"I'm against photo speed enforcement completely," Babeu said, walking the three-member panel through a detailed PowerPoint presentation. "Here in Pinal, it's failed miserably."

- The Arizona Republic

Interestingly, the reason that Babeu gave for pulling the plug on the program was that only a third of the citations were actually being paid. The paid citations brought in $134,199.43, but after paying Redflex the county only netted some $12,391.58

Moreover, Babeu said, total motor-vehicle accidents increased by 16 percent in the same time period, and fatal collisions in the Queen Creek area doubled from three to six.

The sheriff said he couldn't be certain that speed cameras were to blame for the crashes, but he believes they were a factor.

- The Arizona Republic

Babeu's reasoning is only half right. The sheriff cites public safety concerns as only part of the reason that he wants to replace scam-era vans with deputies. What seems to be the real concern is the "paltry" profit generated by the program.

Last week Councilor Harris told KOB-TV that Albuquerque's scam-era program could only operate for another 4 years without costing the city money unless the legislature repealed the restrictions on Albuquerque's program (read it here). Just today it was revealed that some unnamed administration official signed a five year contract extension with Redflex (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

[Sidebar]
Exactly which bonehead signed this contract? It has to be someone with some level of executive authority. Marty's Minions are acting like a bunch of children who got caught eating stolen cookies. No one seems to know who was responsible for the cookie caper despite the chocolate smeared all over their faces.

That leaves just one person who's ultimately responsible... Mayor Martin Chavez. He hired these guys, he brought the Redflex scam-eras to Albuquerque, and he's responsible for both the new contract and the chaos surrounding it.
[End Sidebar]

Scam-eras are proliferating across the state - Farmington wants them, Santa Fe is negotiating with Redflex, and Las Cruces has signed on to the scam. Folks, this is about money - yours flowing directly into government coffers.

A quick search of news articles shows that local governments in San Jose California, Tulsa Oklahoma, and Richmond Hill Georgia have already or are considering raising traffic fines to pay for various government programs. The small community of Richmond Hill anticipates that the added fees will generate around $20,000 to pay for internet service inside their police cars. In California, speeding drivers who request a driving school to keep their insurance rates down saw that fee rise from $24 to $94 after January 1st.

-National Safety Commission

Governments all across the country are trying to find ways to generate revenue. At the top of the list are items like scam-era programs and traffic enforcement. These types of programs can be instituted under the cover of "public safety" with the sole purpose of funding government programs and the excuse that if you don't want to pay don't break the law.

Who cares about due process, the right to face your accuser, or even whether or not you are guilty. In scam-era court you are guilty until proven innocent and are forced to rely solely on the state's evidence without any ability to question its accuracy (see a scam-era malfunction here).

To make matters worse, when government makes revenue its primary objective there's pressure to make sure that a certain amount of revenue continues to flow into its coffers. The simplest way to maintain revenue is to shorten the duration of yellow lights or change the light's timing (read it here).

Short yellow light times at intersections have been shown to increase the number of traffic violations and accidents. Conversely, increasing the yellow light duration can dramatically reduce red-light violations at an intersection.

Some local governments have ignored the safety benefit of increasing the yellow light time and decided to install red-light cameras, shorten the yellow light duration, and collect the profits instead.

-motorists.org

Unfettered, the Redflex scam-eras are a great way to raise revenue for the city. If you'll remember the program brought in over $6 MILLION in just a few months (read it here). The money has been so addictive that Marty and his Minions have even lied to the public about the effectiveness of the program (read it here).

Look... It all comes down to what you believe the role of law enforcement in society truly is. Should we use our sheriffs and police officers to protect the public and punish criminals or should we use them to collect revenue for the state - a tax collector behind a badge?

We've said it before... Law enforcement should not be about profit. Whenever the state relies on enforcement action for a source of revenue there's an incentive to break the very laws that government is tasked with enforcing.

Red Ink in Scam-era Land

Wednesday, KOB-TV reported that Marty's Scam-eras are losing money (kobtv.com). Councilor Don Harris told channel 4 that because of the state mandated caps on fines and the associated transfer of funds from the city to the state.

The city was getting rich until state lawmakers stepped in and voted to take a big chunk of what the city makes.

City leaders say the state is taking so much that it now has to use its own money to keep the program going.

The state capped fines at $75 and is taking a huge cut, so big that Albuquerque is now losing money.

-kobtv.com

Look, this system has been bankrupt from the start. It was installed for revenue, runs on a principle of guilty until proven innocent, and makes the accused rely on the veracity of the state's evidence.

More importantly, we were fed a constant diet of, well... aromatic platitudes the smelliest of which was that the system was for public safety. We never bought it and now Councilor Harris is simply admitting what we knew all along.

Harris says the problem is that the city no longer gets enough money to even pay for the program.

Officials say in 2009, the city will pay about $1.5[MILLION] out of its own pocket.

-kobtv.com

Ask yourself, when's the last time APD turned a profit? Even if APD could turn a profit would you want them to? Adding a profit motive to law enforcement leads inevitably to corruption.

"It's like a tax on the city from the state or confiscation from money from the program. I think it goes one step too far," says City Councilor Don Harris.

-kobtv.com

Funny how Councilor Harris compared the state's raid on scam-era money to a tax on the city. The scam-eras are a tax on the drivers of Albuquerque - levied for the sole purpose of filling city coffers. Now that the program is costing the city money we no longer hear about safety, just revenue - which is what it was all about in the first place. Let the scam-eras drown in their red ink.

Scam-eras in the City Different

The City Different has decided to be the same as Albuquerque. Wednesday night the Santa Fe City Council decided they wanted a piece of the action and approved their own red light scam-era program.

The Santa Fe Scammers plan to rake in about $1.1 MILLION a year from the program (ABQ Journal - Subscription). All that's left to do is find someone to install the equipment and run the program. Tell you what... we'd be happy to sell you some lightly used (Ok, there was that paint ball incident), universally disliked scam-eras at a rock bottom price. Simply contact The Almighty Alcalde perched high atop city hall for information.

What'll be even more entertaining is the number of legislators that have their photos taken by the scam-eras during next year's sixty day legislative session. On second thought, that might be the fastest way to put an end to this type of traffic travesty.

Money Money Money

If there was ever any doubt that the City of Albuquerque's Red Light Scam-era program was all about the money (there wasn't) it's completely gone now. According to KOB-TV Marty's former treasurer and perhaps closest political ally on the council has had the bright idea to shutdown the scam-eras in intersections that aren't turning the profit that they used to (KOB-TV).

Apparently, Councilor Sanchez spent a little time reading a report on MSNBC.com about the city of Dallas' plan to turn off their scam-eras (read it here). The city council in the lone star state has figured out that while the public safety benefits are negligible not to mention in dispute, the monetary benefit is that was initially substantial starts to dwindle if for no other reason than people are generally smarter than the council and simply avoid the stationary revenue generators.

At the heart of the discussions taking place in city councils and county commissions is tension between the twin benefits that were touted when local governments began installing cameras about a decade and a half ago. Officials were promised that the cameras — which take snapshots of busy intersections, capturing the license plates of any cars that are running the light — would simultaneously save lives and generate millions of dollars in extra fines. [emphasis added]

-MSNBC.com

Now that revenue is down - way down - the City of Dallas is considering shuttering as many as a quarter of their installed cameras and Councilor Sanchez wants to look at following their lead. We also don't think it's a coincidence that Sanchez's move comes just after the legislature voted to confiscate the profit from The Almighty Alcalde's scam.

What is particularly alarming here is that people like Councilor Sanchez will shutdown the cameras in a second if they fail to bring home the bacon but could care less about the little things like due process, liberty, justice, and The Constitution for that matter. They claim that their overriding concern is public safety, but when the crash reduction efficacy of the scam-eras cannot be proven those same politicians continue to support its continuation - right up until the revenue dries up.

It has always been about the money. It will always be about the money. And now these yahoos in the city councils of both Dallas and right here in Albuquerque are all but admitting that the only thing that will end the scam is a lack of... money. They should be ashamed of themselves and we should think twice before we send them back their respective legislative bodies.

They're On - They're Off - They're On Again

The Mayor of Albuquerque continued to play his childish games today when he announced the return of his red light scam at high noon tomorrow. The Almighty One claimed that the scam has squirreled away enough money to keep it running for another 4 years before the "excess revenue" runs out - that is of course if the city's looming budget crisis doesn't catch up with him first.

For those of you who have some kind of political ambitions or are simply political junkies, since bringing the scam-eras online, Marty has provided you with an example of how not to implement a controversial public program.

Last week's attempt to stick it to Big Bill and the Legislature by taking his shovel... uh, scam-eras and going home has clearly failed. Now he's making the attempt to save face by turning the scam back on under the cover of needing the past week "to study the effects of the Legislature's action and what would happen if the cameras weren't sending people tickets (ABQ Journal - Subscription)."

Horsepuckey! We'd love to hear the Almighty One's technical explanation of how the operation of the scam-eras would affect an audit of the system and a review of the legislation. Those damn cameras have been flashing away since 2005 and the administration has been making all sorts of claims about their effectiveness. They haven't had to pull the plug to manufacture those numbers... Why now?

Even more unbelievable is the claim that "Red-light and speeding violations doubled after the cameras were turned off, Chávez said (ABQ Journal - Subscription)." That's an even bigger load than that "study" crap. We don't know about you but we didn't observe any madcap rush to go out and run red lights. Besides, how could we believe any numbers presented by the city after their recent history of using creative math (intersection crash statistics, the number of police officers at APD, the number of animals in shelters, greenhouse gas emissions, etc.).

Marty's claims are simply idiotic. We should all be insulted by his attempt make us swallow this crap. More importantly, we should also be terrified that this impulsive, vindictive, childlike mayor is making the decisions that directly affect our wallets and our safety.