College Station's red light cameras will be coming down.
Voters on Tuesday opted to remove the city's nine cameras at seven intersections by a margin of 4,081 to 3,809.
For the first time since College Station resident Jim Ash began his crusade against he cameras, he had a hard time Tuesday night finding words to express his feelings.
"I'm ecstatic," he said. "People told me that to challenge the status quo, it's very difficult, and I could do nothing but agree with them after this."
The College Station City Council approved the use of red light cameras in 2007. Four were activated in February 2008, and five were added in May 2009.
Mayor Ben White commended and congratulated Ash for his hard work and fighting "a good fight." White said the passion on both sides of the issue was a positive reflection on the city's residents. City officials have stood steadfastly behind the cameras as a safety measure, but White said the "citizens have spoken, and that's what counts."
The cameras will come down beginning Nov. 12, White said, but in the meantime, drivers could still receive a $75 ticket for running through a red light.
Brazos County Clerk Karen McQueen said turnout for the election was higher than expected, probably because of the red light camera measure. McQueen said 12,664 people voted out of more than 85,500 registered voters in the county.
The measure to remove the cameras was failing early in the night when only the early voting totals had been disclosed. When early voting ended Friday, 2,859 College Station residents had voted on the issue. The proposition to remove the cameras was trailing by 196 votes early Tuesday evening. Things changed just after 8 p.m., when the proposition led by three votes. That quickly became 114 votes, and then 272 votes an hour later.
Applause and cheers rang throughout the Brazos Center as the first and the last of the polling place representatives brought their ballots to be counted.
White said the city would look for other ways to fund certain transportation projects. State law requires that money collected from red light camera tickets be used for traffic and safety improvements. White said city officials were planning to use money generated from the cameras for things such as replacing school zone signs, road striping and a mobility initiative with the city of Bryan and the Texas Department of Transportation. While the projects will still be done, White said, they may have to wait until the funds become available.
The city will notify American Traffic Solutions, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company that operates the cameras, on Wednesday of its intent to turn off the system once the votes have been canvassed by the City Council.
Emily Reiter, spokesperson for the company, said they're grateful to their supporters and the "thousands of College Station residents that came out in support of public safety and voted to Keep College Station Safe."
"We will continue to monitor the results of this election and its effect on our city streets," she said. "We sincerely hope that more families aren't injured or lives lost as a result of this election and the cameras being removed."
The cameras have generated more than $1.4 million in fines, which the city splits with the state after paying American Traffic Solutions. The state's portion goes toward funding trauma centers. The city has collected more than $435,000 from camera-issued citations since the program began.
Ash, who organized the political action committee Take Back Your City, began his battle against the cameras in October 2008 after he unsuccessfully appealed a red light citation. Ash has said over the months that the program was a violation of due process because there was no avenue for appeals beyond a municipal court hearing.
"My assertion all long, [council members are] not mean people, they're not evil people. There's nothing wrong with the city. I love College Station. I believe they just made an error of judgment," Ash said.
Ash joked Tuesday night he didn't know what he would do now that this battle was over but was relieved it had come to a close.
"For me, the biggest challenge was probably just staying on message and not let the emotion of the day rule your decisions. Whether it's ethics charges or trying to work through challenges ... at the city attorney's office or extract open records from the city, all those things are challenges. But the real challenge was to stay calm and stay focused on the task -- which was ultimately today, to win the election," he said.
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