Red-light vote before Iowa City Council

IOWA CITY – The City Council is ready to take the first official step toward approving red-light cameras in Iowa City. Whether it takes the final step remains to be seen

The council is scheduled to vote Nov. 22 on an ordinance that would allow red-light cameras to be used in Iowa City. Three votes are needed for it to be approved, and a solid majority of the current seven-member council is in support of the cameras.

But the process likely will carry over into next year, police Chief Sam Hargadine said. The council will have three new members then, and one has said she opposes red-light cameras, one is leaning in support and the other is leaning against.

At a council work session in August, only Connie Champion spoke against the cameras. That means if three council members joined her, red-light cameras may not go up after all.

For now, there's support among most council members and city staff to join several cities in Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Davenport, with traffic-enforcement cameras. Iowa City is not considering speed cameras at this time.

Hargadine said the city is discussing installing eight to 10 cameras at intersections with a higher number of accidents or pedestrian traffic. A study of 10 intersections last spring determined some had more than 100 red-light violations a day.

“Given the density of pedestrian traffic and student traffic that we have, we think red-light cameras would increase the safety factor for those pedestrians and motorists,” Hargadine said.

Champion disagreed that public safety is the primary concern of city officials.

“I don't think it's a safety issue,” she said. “It's a revenue issue.”

The typical arrangement has private companies install and maintain the camera system, while a local police officer reviews possible violations. The ticket revenue is split between the company and the city.

“There's a real simple way to ensure the city doesn't get any revenue at all,” said red-light supporter and council member Mike Wright, “that's not to run red lights.”

The city requested proposals from vendors last month and plans to interview companies this month. Hargadine said the goal is to have a contract before the council in December.

If things continue to move forward, he expects the final council approval needed to get cameras in place to occur early next year. On Jan. 2, council members Wright, Regenia Bailey and Ross Wilburn will be replaced by newcomers Michelle Payne, Rick Dobyns and Jim Throgmorton, who won seats on the council in this month's election.

Payne has said she opposes the red-light cameras and doesn't believe they have community support.

Dobyns said he has privacy concerns about the cameras and wants to review the traffic data, but he leans toward backing cameras. He also said the data would have to be unconvincing for him to back reversing a previous council's vote approving cameras.

Throgmorton also said he wants to research the issue more but in general he is not in favor of red-light cameras.

If those positions hold, it appears the new council would favor red-light cameras by a four to three edge.

Regarding the timing of the vote, City Manager Tom Markus said moving forward was the right thing to do because it's unproductive for the city to speculate on how future council members might vote.