LITH candidates on infrastructure, red-light cameras

Village trustee candidates in Lake in the Hills have differing views regarding what needs to get fixed first and whether red-light cameras are a help or a hindrance.

Incumbents Paul Mulcahy and Ray Bogdanowski are running for re-election. Also running are challengers William Dustin, a business owner, Joe Wright, a CTA electrician, and Russell Ruzanski, a sales manager. Three seats are up for election.

The village’s recreational facilities need improvements, such as night lights for the baseball fields, Dustin said during a recent Daily Herald editorial board interview. All the candidates attended the meeting except Mulcahy, who was interviewed by phone.

“It’s a pretty new village, except for the northeast section. We’ve got new roads, new sewer, a lot of underground wiring. I’m not sure what else would need to be done,” Dustin said.

But even in newer parts of town, streets need to be redone and water mains need to be checked, Bogdanowski said. “We have a plan to do that, but if we had extra money it would be nice to accelerate that from a 5-year to a 3-year program,” he said. More sidewalks are also needed throughout the village, he said.

Ruzanski said that installing more street lighting, especially on the west side, would be his priority. “Sometimes there are kids walking down the road, and it’s hard to see (them),” he said. He suggested surveying residents to see if they are willing to coordinate keeping their coach lights on at night as a stopgap measure.

The lack of maintenance in public parks is a big problem, Wright said. He also said sidewalks are needed, especially along Miller Road. “More parents would get out and walk around if they had a sidewalk to do that on,” he said.

The village has been working on drainage and water main improvements for several years, and those projects are a priority, Mulcahy said. “The new areas are beginning to age, too,” he said. “Sidewalks will eventually need to be replaced on the west side,” he said.

As for the village’s lone red-light camera at Randall Road and Acorn Lane, Wright said he is skeptical of its usefulness. “I’d like to see how many accidents it’s saved front-on, and how many it’s caused rear-end. I think it’s kind of a wash,” he said.

Bogdanowski pointed to a decline in the number of tickets issued since the camera was installed more than three years ago. “Our intention was not to generate revenues; it was safety,” he said.

Revenue from ticket violations cover the cost of leasing the camera, or $4,495 per month. Two other red-light cameras in Lake in the Hills were removed Jan. 1, 2010, because they weren’t profitable.

Dustin said he likes agreements where municipalities don’t pay for the red-light cameras but share ticket revenues with the company that owns them. “It’s a money game, but you also have the light there for the safety of the citizens,” he said.

Ruzanski said he worries about the choice of intersection for the red-light camera. “It’s tough to stop if there is any moisture on the road,” he said. However, he also said he’s been more careful driving through intersections after he was ticketed for a red-light camera violation in Chicago.

Mulcahy said he would support installing more red-light cameras. “It has nothing to do with revenues,” he said. “Studies have shown that even if accidents don’t decrease in number, they decrease in severity.”