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Council tables red-light vote

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Less than an hour after Jeff Seifried, regional development manager for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, was sworn in as the new Zone 1 councilman Feb. 27, he yielded a decisive vote. Seifried was one of five Springfield City Council members to approve tabling a revamped red-light camera ordinance following a Feb. 17 Circuit Court ruling that struck down a similar system in St. Louis.

Council had two bills tied to the red-light camera system to consider: putting the issue on the ballot or reinstating an altered version of its former red-light camera system.

Councilman Tom Bieker moved to table both measures citing concerns raised by the St. Louis ruling. He first asked council to hold off on the ordinance he sponsored to put the issue before voters on the Aug. 7 ballot. The call to table the ballot ordinance failed 3-6.

Mayor Jim O’Neal said though he voted for tabling the ballot ordinance, he couldn’t support putting the divisive issue before the people.

“This is a contentious issue. Though I am dismayed and confused at the reasons why it is, I can’t support this bill,” O’Neal said.

Seven council members voted down the ballot measure.

Bieker also spoke against the bill that reinstates the city’s red-light camera system to be administered by the municipal court. In May 2010, the Missouri Supreme Court invalidated the administrative hearing process the city utilized with the red-light camera system.

Councilman Doug Burlison agreed with Bieker that postponing a vote until a higher court could address the red-light system in St. Louis was wise. Burlison said he opposed the system, but he believed the city was trying to reinstate a modified red-light ordinance as a way to discourage unsafe driving.

“I can’t stress enough that … revenue is just not part of the equation,” Burlison said. “At the same time, those folks that oppose this ordinance are not all red-light camera runners.”

City Attorney Dan Wichmer said the St. Louis system was very similar to the one Springfield was looking to reinstate. The 22nd Circuit Court judge ruled the city of St. Louis' system was unconstitutional because it didn’t allow proper due process unless vehicle owners claimed they weren’t driving the car. Judge Mark Neill said in his decision that without a state law that supports photo enforcement, the ordinance was voided.

In October, a state appeals court upheld Creve Coeur's red-light camera ordinance, but Neill said in his ruling the ordinance in that city works more like a nonmoving violation, ticketing the vehicle for being in the intersection during a red light as opposed to holding the driver responsible.

Wichmer said he didn’t agree with the St. Louis decision, citing a state statute that allows municipalities to create additional traffic laws, but he acknowledged the violation could be invalidated by state courts.

“We were the city that got sued and lost,” said Wichmer, referring to the Missouri Supreme Court case brought against the city by former highway patrolman Adolph Belt Jr.

Despite the fact that six council members co-sponsored the ordinance to reinstate the modified red-light system, the motion was tabled with a 5-4 vote. Councilman Robert Stephens and Scott Bailes were co-sponsors that voted to hold back the initiative.

The contract with Georgia-based camera vendor Lasercraft was suspended following the Supreme Court ruling, and the city does not currently owe the company any money, according to city staff at the meeting.[[In-content Ad]]

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