Future plans for speed enforcement keeps Marion in the past

Marion’s police chief is once again crying wolf over red light runners and speeders. Council member Steve Jensen was quoted in The Gazette as saying that Marion has always had a reputation for being tough on speeding and he wants to keep that reputation.

Growing up as teenagers in Cedar Rapids we would cruise First Avenue but we always stopped short of entering Marion because we knew that the Marion cops were tough on speeders. Let that sink in. We would always stop before entering Marion because we knew that Marion cops were especially tough on traffic violators.

Let’s talk about now. Marion has sunk a ton of money in to a new downtown landscape and roundabouts to help prevent accidents. We have numerous parks and celebrations. We want people to come to our city. We don’t want them to stop because of the reputation for which Jensen is so proud. People have other options and we want to keep Marion as one of them.

It makes no sense to subject visitors to Marion, as well as residents, to numerous red light and speed cameras and whatever else the police chief and council can do to keep Marion’s reputation as being tough on speeding.

Make up your mind and wake up! Do you want to come into the present and welcome visitors to Marion, or stay in the past by building on an outdated reputation?

Mark Hazlett

Marion