A visiting judge decided Wednesday to keep the College Station red light cameras up for nine more days after two residents filed court documents challenging an election that calls for them to come down.
A hearing has been set for 1 p.m. Nov. 20 in the 85th District Court to address the petition filed by John Hemrick and Gary Ives. They did so on the grounds that the election — which opposed the cameras by a vote of 4,081 to 3,809 — should never have never been called because it violated the city’s charter.
Roger Gordon, an Austin attorney representing the pair, said that if someone wanted to call an election to overturn a new policy, the city charter calls for the petition for a referendum to be submitted no later than 20 days after the ordinance is passed.
College Station resident Jim Ash filed the petition seeking to ban red light cameras 609 days after that deadline, Gordon said.
Gordon requested the nine-day restraining order to prevent the city from interfering with the operation of the cameras until the charter question are resolved.
The cameras were scheduled to be turned off after the College Station City Council canvassed the election vote Wednesday morning.
The city is refuting each charge brought against them, according to the response the city filed. The document states that in August, Jim Ash talked to City Manager Glenn Brown who informed Ash that the city would accept the petition as a referendum but the city would not act to reject the petition from being filed.
“From the time the petition was filed with the city, College Station has consistently informed Mr. Ash that the petition was a referendum that was invalid as untimely filed. For this reason and because of the proximity of the votes, College Station looks to the court for a declaration as to the validly or invalidity of the petition,” according to the response.
City Attorney Harvey Cargill said the city was conflicted as to whether there was any harm in allowing the cameras to stay for a few more days, because the cameras have always been about safety.
Gordon’s law firm received $1,000 for legal fees from Keep College Station Safe prior to last week’s vote, according to a campaign finance report filed by the political action committee. Neither Hemrick nor Ives were mentioned in the report. Neither are employed by American Traffic Solutions, the company that operates the cameras, Gordon said.
George Hittner, general counsel for American Traffic Solutions, said in a statement that the company was aware of the petition and would await the courts’ decision.
“ATS has no ties to the plaintiffs. As you are aware, Mr. Gordon was the attorney for the Keep College Station Safe PAC, and we have previously worked with his firm on other photo enforcement projects. However, let me be clear, ATS is neither a party nor a potential party to the litigation that Mr. Gordon is currently handling,” he said.
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