Most suburbs favor opting out of county's red-light cameras
Now that Cook County commissioners have allowed suburbs to opt out of the county's proposed red-light camera program, the biggest question is how many of the cameras will actually be installed.
Most of the eight Northwest suburbs that had been on the list to potentially get cameras Wednesday were leaning against allowing them, with the chances of their opting out ranging from a strong possibility to an absolute certainty.
Schaumburg officials had been preparing for a legal fight against the county's plan to put the cameras at six county-controlled intersections in the village.
"I'm happy it didn't turn into any protracted conflict or debate," Schaumburg Village Manager Ken Fritz said.
At the beginning of the month, the county named 30 suburban intersections under consideration for 20 red-light cameras for a yearlong trial period. Leaders of suburbs both in favor of and opposed to having red-light cameras of their own reacted negatively to the fact that county officials never informed them in advance.
On Tuesday, the county board voted 9-4 in favor of Commissioner Tim Schneider's proposal for an opt-out option for municipalities.
Among the affected Northwest suburbs, Elk Grove Village seemed the most interested in further discussions with the county Wednesday.
The village already has a red-light camera program of its own and Mayor Craig Johnson has been a big proponent of the cameras. He said he plans to share the results of the village's enforcement record to date with both county officials and the public in about two weeks.
"I'm hoping they'll realize these things have an effect in a positive way," Johnson said. "We felt we ran the red-light cameras the right way. We want (the county) to enforce them the way we do in the village."
Johnson said the aspect of red-light camera enforcement that seems to have been the most controversial is the handling of right turns on red. While some communities have issued tickets whenever there was not a complete stop at the white line, Elk Grove police declined to do so when the intent to stop was clear or weather was a factor, Johnson said.
He is looking forward to discussing the possibility of installing red-light cameras not only at the three intersections already identified by the county, but at some that weren't - like Arlington Heights and Biesterfield roads.
No other communities seemed as open to embracing the county program Wednesday. Most were still celebrating the opt-out option and looking forward to discussing it at their next council meetings.
"We were really ecstatic that our message was heard," Arlington Heights Village President Arlene Mulder said. When the village looked at installing its own cameras, "there was an agreement that there was no need for them."
Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen said the village council would discuss the possibility of opting out in July, but had already expressed concern about the county program and how the intersections were chosen, though the village has installed five cameras of its own.
"It didn't make sense," Ottesen said of the county's plan. "We do all the policing at these intersections."
The mayors of Buffalo Grove, Wheeling and Northbrook said they strongly anticipated opt-out votes in the next couple of weeks.
Deerfield Mayor Harriet Rosenthal joined her counterparts from Arlington Heights and Schaumburg in declaring opting out a certainty.
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<li><a href="/story/?id=388064">Cook board lets suburbs opt out of red light cameras <span class="date">[06/15/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=387555">County Board president hopefuls wary of suburban red-light cameras <span class="date">[06/13/10]</span></a></li>
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