Board of Supervisors approves photo enforcement pilot program despite opposition

The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted along party lines Tuesday to begin a photo speed enforcement pilot program in unincorporated areas of the county.

The vote awarded a one-year contract for a photo traffic enforcement program to Scottsdale-based American Traffic Solutions Inc. The program is expected to bring in $1.5 million in estimated annual revenue to the county.

While Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said the program is a direct response to unchecked speeding and dangerous driving in the unincorporated county, Republican Supervisors Ann Day and Ray Carroll dissented.

Carroll said the program was merely meant to “fill corporate coffers,” and that photo enforcement was a slight against personal freedom.

“Let’s preserve the spirit of the West in Pima County by rejecting these cameras outright,” Carroll said before the vote.

County staff said that American Traffic Solutions will receive a portion of the fine for every citation issued. For each of the first 95 paid citations of every month, the company receives $60; any more than 95 citations and the company receives $23 per paid citation.

Board Chairman Richard Elias, a Democrat who represents District 5, said that the issue came down to public safety.

“Given the way people speed in my district, this is not a revenue generator, it’s a public safety issue,” he said.

Lt. Karl Woolridge of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said that there are only seven motorcycle deputies available to watch for speeders in the vast unincorporated regions of the county.

“We are not able to be everywhere at once,” Woolridge told the board. “We think this is one more tool we can use to slow people down.”

District 1 Supervisor Ann Day said she objected to the financial burden that may be put on drivers who receive tickets, especially in a time of deep recession. Day also objected to the fact that the item was on the board’s consent agenda and not on the regular agenda. Huckelberry said that this was normal for contracts of this kind, adding that there was no attempt to hide anything from the supervisors or the public.

Three members of the audience spoke against the program along civil liberties lines. One dissenter, Tucson resident Mark Spear, wore a hand-crafted top hat and read a re-writing of the Gettysburg Address off an envelope in protest.

Tim Hull is a freelance writer for the Green Valley News. His new book “Moon-Arizona” is available in local bookstores.