Senate hearing to reconsider cameras
| • | 46 lawmakers signed petition |
By Mike Leidemann and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writers
Forty-six of the Legislature's 76 members have signed a petition calling for immediate curtailment of the state's traffic camera program.
The petition, delivered to the office of Transportation Director Brian Minaai yesterday afternoon, asks for removal of all photo enforcement vans from O'ahu's major commuter highways. The only exceptions would be for school zones and roadways with a history of critical accidents.
Also yesterday, one of the staunchest supporters of the photo enforcement program, Sen. Cal Kawamoto, said he will hold a hearing on measures to repeal or modify the program.
The developments could signal a growing movement at the Legislature to reconsider the traffic-enforcement system that lawmakers approved nearly unanimously in 1998.
Petition co-organizer Sen. Bob Hogue said many, but not all, of the 15 senators and 31 representatives who signed the petition favor a repeal of the law authorizing citations based on camera evidence but they recognize it could take months.
"This is a way for the Legislature to make a statement now," said Hogue, R-24th (Kane'ohe, Kailua). "This is a call for immediate action."
The petition also asks the state to not expand the program until a full legislative review is conducted.
"The Neighbor Islands are especially concerned that the program will be implemented beyond O'ahu," said Senate Majority Floor Leader J. Kalani English, D-5th (Kahului, Upcountry Maui), the other organizer.
Hogue said he went door-to-door at State Capitol offices to gain bipartisan support for the petition, which has no binding power on state officials.
Minaai, who told senators in a public hearing that the Department of Transportation was already making some of the suggested changes in the program, was not in his office when Hogue presented the petition and was not available for comment last night.
Kawamoto, D-19th (Waipahu, Pearl City), has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday on two measures: a bill to repeal the program and a resolution asking the Department of Transportation to re-evaluate major aspects of the program such as the deployment of camera vans, speed limits and how much the private operator is paid per ticket.
The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. in Room 229 of the Capitol.
Kawamoto had opposed holding a hearing on a bill to repeal the program, leaving open the possibility that a majority of senators would override his power as committee chairman and force a hearing.
Senate President Robert Bunda, D-22nd (Wahiawa, Waialua, Sunset Beach), said he had told Kawamoto more than once that the issue deserved public input.
"I had to convince him that this was the way to go," Bunda said. "People are upset about this."
Kawamoto said that while he was not forced to hold a hearing, Bunda influenced him. "I still support the program. The program works," Kawamoto said. But a hearing, he said, will allow the Department of Transportation to address the community's concerns.
Some lawmakers have worried that it could be expensive for the state to back out of the program at this stage, because the state signed a contract with a vendor to run the pilot program. The state might have to buy out the contract to shut down the program.
"I personally, out of principle, believe it should be repealed regardless of the price," Hogue said. "If it's a bad law, it's a bad law. Let's get 'em off the highway."
