Little love for red-light cameras

IOWA CITY – Most of the at-large candidates for the City Council here would put up a stop sign to red-light cameras.

Six of the seven candidates said at a forum Wednesday night that they oppose the traffic-enforcement cameras, which Iowa City is considering implementing.

“This is a revenue grab, and we should not dress it up … as a safety issue,” said Richard Finley, a Rockwell Collins project manager.

He spoke at a forum at the Iowa City Public Library sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Johnson County. About 35 people attended, and the forum was televised and will be rebroadcast.

An Oct. 11 primary is scheduled for the at-large race to reduce the field to four candidates, with two to be elected in the Nov. 8 city election.

The candidates are: Finley, coffee shop owner Jarrett Mitchell, attorney and current Mayor Matt Hayek, real estate agent and developer Mark McCallum, recent University of Iowa graduate Josh Eklow, current UI student Raj Patel and MidAmerican Energy operations supervisor Michelle Payne.

The District A and C seats also are up for election, although there were not enough candidates to trigger primaries for those.

Hayek was the only candidate Wednesday night to say he supports red-light cameras. He said they've been shown to decrease the number of accidents in cities that use them, like Cedar Rapids. They also would free up police officers for other duties, he said.

A majority of the current City Council members in August directed city staff to work on an ordinance allowing for the cameras. It's unclear if a final decision will drag into next year, when at least three new people will sit on the council.

The other candidates said they saw the city's interest more as an attempt to boost its budget and were skeptical of the claims of improved public safety.

“It's a money grab, in my opinion,” McCallum said.

The candidates were asked about another hot-button issue that has recently been before the council: immigration.

The City Council has rejected a proposal to name Iowa City a “sanctuary city,” but this week members said they were interested in exploring ways the city could be more welcoming to immigrants.

Patel said his parents immigrated legally to the United States from India and said he believed all people here have certain rights.

“I do believe the residents who are here illegally deserve to live with dignity,” he said.

Eklow said he recently started working at the after-school program at Grant Wood Elementary. He said it's hard to tell which kids and parents may be legal and illegal, but none are free-riders.

“Something people in Iowa City have always wanted is more diversity,” he said.

Payne came at it from a different angle.

“I don't support illegal people coming here and protecting them. … If people want to come here and work, that's great,” she said.

Iowa City's expensive housing market also was discussed.

No one was an outspoken supporter of requiring builders to include a certain amount of affording housing in their developments, but several candidates said using incentives was worth exploring.

Mitchell said his Iowa City rent is more expensive than apartments he's had in San Francisco and Portland, Ore. He liked the idea of incentives, but doesn't believe developers should be forced to do anything.

“In the private sector, it's not about mandating it,” he said.