Unconstitutional. A tyranny. Darth Vader.
Those were the terms various members of the public used to describe the red-light traffic cameras that have been a common sight at intersections throughout Apopka for 10 years.
However, despite locals’ vocal dissatisfaction with the cameras, the City Council voted 3-2 to renew the city’s five-year agreement with American Traffic Solutions, the company that provides the service for the Apopka Police Department’s enforcement of the camera program.
Commissioners Kyle Becker and Billie Dean voted against renewal of the agreement. Mayor Joe Kilsheimer and commissioners Diane Velazquez and Doug Bankson voted in favor.
Before the City Council vote, the agreement was set to expire this year. The renewed agreement will end December 31, 2022.
Residents at the meeting insisted the cameras were never about public safety, but about generating revenue.
American Traffic Solutions, Florida’s largest provider of such intersection safety, has been serving Apopka in this capacity for 10 years.
Highlights of the renewed agreement were the cost reduction from $4,750 per month, per approach to $4,250 per month, per approach; that either party may terminate the contract for convenience after December 1, 2018; that the contract may be terminated without penalty if the program is prohibited by state law; and that American Traffic Solutions will upgrade each existing approach with new technology.
Each City Council member spoke at length on the red-light camera program. Mayor Joe Kilsheimer said he understood the public’s frustration, but at the end of the day, voters elected the officials to decide.
“In weighing your arguments versus the quality of life aspects of the city of Apopka that we’re all trying to strive for and in terms of creating safer conditions, one of the things that Apopka needs is places where people feel safer,” Kilsheimer said. “This program contributes to that.”
Wayne Jackman, an Orlando resident, called the red-light cameras Darth Vader, the villain of the “Star Wars” film franchise, because they are “judge, jury and executioner.”
“Should you vote for these red cameras, I’ll look you straight in the eye and say you are Emperor Palpatine, that the council members are Governor Tarkin, and the people who have come here to oppose it are members of the Republic who are standing against tyranny, because that’s what these red-light cameras are,” Jackman said.
An extended version of this story can be found on page 1A of the Friday, June 23, issue of The Apopka Chief.
