Nov
20
Written by:
Andy Hogue
11/20/2009 5:09 PM
According to the Bryan-College Station Eagle (click here for story), a district judge in Conroe ordered pro- and anti-red light camera activists into mediation -- which means that, effectively, the judge did not make a decision on the matter.
A Nov. 3 referendum in College Station, to take away enforcement powers for traffic violations caught on camera, passed 52-48 percent with 7,890 residents voting.
The Eagle reported that 85th District Judge Suzanne Stovall sent both sides into a room at 1:40 p.m. and asked them to come up with a resolution by 3 p.m. By 2 p.m., according to the paper, city officials still were meeting with the city attorney and lawyers. Attorney Roger Gordon, who represents the pro-red light camera side, could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.
In the Nov. 13 edition of LSR, Gordon said the measure should have been worded as a referendum and not an initiative. The organizer of the anti-red-light camera group Take Back Your City claims the city of College Station made an error on the paperwork and that the group wanted it to be an initiative. A referendum, according to College Station's city charter, must be filed within 20 days of an ordinance's passage -- which made the ballot drive about 600 days late.
City workers were poised to take the cameras down following the Nov. 3 election -- until a temporary restraining order was obtained by two members of the pro-red-light-camera group Keep College Station Safe on Nov. 12. The College Station City Council later voted unanimously to support the taking down of the cameras.
Gordon said in an interview with LSR Thursday that he is backing away from injunctive relief in the case. "We're not going to try to tie the city council's hands anymore," he said.
UPDATE: (1:50 p.m. Tuesday) The College Station City Council voted Monday night, and it looks like the cameras are coming down today. See story.