Photo by Michael Whitney.
MONROE — The City Council is taking a step toward potentially authorizing automated traffic cameras in town without taking an advisory vote of the people.
Last week, the council voted 4-1 to accept the first reading of an ordinance which eliminates a city requirement to conduct a public advisory vote before the council authorizes cameras.
The final vote is set for the Oct. 22 council meeting.
Adopting this rule “does not necessitate that the city must move forward in implementing an automated traffic safety camera program,” Liam McKorkle, a management analyst with the city, said at the Oct. 8 meeting.
A memo McKorkle developed on the topic, though, has a sample timeline of early 2026 for cameras to be activated if council chooses to repeal having advisory votes.
Analysis work toward this could begin next month, with location selections during 2025.
Councilman Jason Gamble gave the ‘no’ vote on removing a public advisory vote as a requirement.
“I still don’t understand why we are repealing this,” said Gamble. He continued, “we put it in there so that we could hear from the public so it was a data point.”
Council members Kirk Scarboro and Kevin Hanford weren’t at the meeting.
As required by the city’s Council Rules and Procedures, the council must read an ordinance twice before adoption unless the council waives the second reading.
In 2012, the council, made up of mostly different members, had made it law to ask the city’s 4,000 or so voters through a ballot measure.
The city had cameras activated from 2011 to 2013. The call for an advisory vote came after a citizen-led ballot initiative was filed in 2011 attempting to force ending the camera program, which the council refused to put onto the ballot.
In late September, the council discussed an ordinance to revise the requirement for an advisory vote. At that time, council members directed the mayor and staff to bring back a new ordinance to fully repeal the ordinance that requires the city hold an advisory vote.
Prior to the September meeting, over several council sessions, the City Council reviewed automated traffic safety cameras, covering the program’s history, policy considerations, and financial estimates. On July 9, they received updates on potential camera locations and crash data. By July 23, further details on costs and violator data led the council to direct staff to prepare an ordinance for an advisory vote on the use of automatic ticketing cameras.
