Letter and response to/from Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton: Dear Mr. Losquadro, We called for a halt this morning. Majority Leader Norma Gonsalves has to address our request. I will continue to request but you may also want to send her an email as well. You make very good points. To: DeRiggi-Whitton, Delia Subject: Speed cameras LEGISLATOR DELIA DERIGGI-WHITTON Nassau County Legislature 1550 Franklin Ave, Suite 239 Mineola, NY 1150 via Email [email protected] November 1, 2014 Dear Legislator Delia Deriggi-Whitton, I have been dismayed with the County’s and YOUR decision to implement speed cameras. I understand the county was pressured by NIFA to adopt ways to increase county revenues in the face of declining sales tax collections and increasing costs. However, placing the county’s budget problems onto motorists is a bad idea for the reasons I will list below: TAX: Cameras are really just a way for the county to tax residents without calling it a tax. Except it costs us an extra 40% to pay American Traffic Solutions (ATS) their commission from the receipts. Also, this tax is non-deductible against income unlike property taxes. DATA: There have been no traffic studies presented that suggest that speed related pedestrian-vehicle accidents are an issue in school zones. Most students board buses and cars on the school campus without even venturing into the street. No DOT studies were done on a per district basis to see if there are other solutions to improving school safety such as warning lights, sidewalks, barriers, and crossing guards. No studies were conducted by traffic engineers to measure and tabulate vehicle speeds during school hours. FAIRNESS: The cameras are not as flawless in catching speeders as ATS wants you to believe, and it is not possible to cross-examine a computer if you want to fight a summons in court. Therefore these devices are patently unfair. There are three firehouses in close proximity to the camera, volunteer fireman now must drive at 25 mph when responding to the fire alarm. Likewise, if a motorist sees an emergency vehicle in the rear, he can’t get out of the way without worrying about the camera. SENIORS: The camera systems are a regressive tax on senior citizens, some of whom have received multiple tickets within one week. The cameras shift property taxes to fines, which is a non-deductible burden for those on fixed income. Also, a police office may exercise discretion with a senior before issuing a ticket, camera systems have no such mercy. FALSE SAFETY CLAIMS: Furthermore, there has not been once accident attributed to speed on Glen Cove Avenue at North Shore High School in the history of the district. That is until one week after the camera was installed a student was hit at Kissam Lane. So much for the ballyhooed safety improvement. American Traffic Solutions is nothing more than a vulture circling cash hungry municipalities seeking to gorge itself at motorist’s expense. There are thousands of Nassau County residents that are extremely angry and motivated on this issue. You need to find a way to extricate the county from the ATS contract, otherwise your political career, along with others that voted for it, is in peril. This issue crosses all political lines and socio-economic classes because we all use cars. The anti-camera activists are dedicated to seeing this issue resolved with removal of the cameras, along with any legislator that stands in the way of that goal. Democrats will vote Republican, and Republican will vote Democrat to create change. Every “scam-cam” ticket the county and ATS issues only grows our ranks of supporters. Forget about the signage, GET RID OF THESE CAMERAS! Sincerely yours, Anthony Losquadro Sea Cliff Property Owners Committee
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 23:07:07 +0000