The chief advocates on each side of the red light camera debate sparred Sunday over safety, civil liberties and outside influence in the campaign. It was their first face-off before Tuesday's election.
College Station residents will vote whether to approve Proposition 1, which would remove the city's nine cameras that snap photos of red light scofflaws and slap them with a $75 citation.
Jim Ash from Take Back Your City, the group opposed to the cameras, sat next to Emily Reiter from Keep College Station Safe, the group formed to support the cameras, during the 45-minute debate in the studio of local radio station KEOS 89.1 FM.
They met with a cordial, if light, and unenthusiastic handshake.
"They heighten driver awareness," the College Station mother said of her support for the cameras. "You're going to be watching how you're driving just a little bit more. ... This is one more thing to bring our senses back to the road."
Ash said safety isn't the driving force behind support of the cameras. Instead, he said, it's money -- for the city and American Traffic Solutions, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company that operates the cameras.
"The safety issue is a red herring," said Ash, 50.
The company is the largest donor to Keep College Station Safe, providing $20,000 of its total $48,000 reported in the latest campaign finance statements. In the filing period that ended Oct. 24, the group listed four other donors, including $10,100 from Questmark, a Houston company that provides services to American Traffic Solutions, and $8,000 from Signal Electric Inc., a Washington state company that installs traffic signals and traffic camera systems. No contributors were from Brazos County.
Reiter, who said she was not receiving any compensation from American Traffic Solutions, said local residents have donated services more valuable than money, such as knocking on doors and putting up yard signs. She also said that she was worried about the safety and well-being of local donors, whose names would become public.
"We have refused financial contributions from citizens because they would be put under scrutiny by Jim Ash and Take Back Your City," Reiter said after the debate, adding that she had seven signs stolen from her front yard.
All but two of Take Back Your City's contributions above $50 came from Bryan or College Station. The debate's moderator, Teddy Wilson, noted that the group's largest contributor was Houston resident Paul Kubosh, who gave $8,000.
Ash said Kubosh has a history of opposing photographic traffic enforcement.
"Paul Kubosh will not make a penny if we keep red light cameras in this community, and he won't make a penny if we get rid of them," Ash said.
According to city traffic statistics from the first four intersections to get cameras, there were three red light-related crashes in 2007, before the program began. In 2008, the first year of the program, seven crashes were reported. Through September, there had been none this year.
Those intersections are Texas Avenue at Walton Drive, Harvey Road at Munson Avenue, Harvey Road at George Bush Drive East and Wellborn Road at George Bush Drive.
The program has resulted in more than $900,000 of fines in fiscal year 2009. American Traffic Solutions received $322,000 of that. About $75,000 went toward administrative costs, and the state and city each received nearly $254,000.
"The city of College Station went through a lengthy process of seeking out other camera vendors," Reiter said. "ATS was the cheapest vendor out there. ... They were the most efficient at performing a service that the city of College Station needed and wanted."
Ash, whose crusade began in October 2008 when he unsuccessfully appealed a red light violation, said he first approached the topic as a classic liberty-versus-security issue, but that it became more complicated and disturbing as he realized it was about the for-profit privatization of security.
He said the program was a violation of due process because there is no avenue for appeals beyond a municipal court hearing. That wouldn't be the case if a police officer were to write the ticket, he said.
"The city of College Station has a financial interest in this, and ATS has a financial interest in this, and they will say whatever it takes to continue this," he said.
In an interview before the debate, Ash said he's confident about Tuesday's vote. His Facebook page, he noted, has more than 3,000 members. But Ash isn't sure whether the support from the social networking site will materialize in the election.
"I don't know if that translates to a vote," Ash said. "If you could tell me that, I'd give you a hug."
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