Effort To Phase Out Red Light Cams Fizzles Out At City Council Meeting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An effort to begin phasing out Chicago's red light camera system was derailed at Wednesday's City Council meeting, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.
Alderman John Arena led the effort to jump start an ordinance that has been languishing in a City Council committee for months. He says it would eventually end the red light camera contract and make the cameras gradually go away.
"By phasing it out, it'll allow the City Council and the budget office to replace the revenue that we currently rely on from these systems," Arena said.
But Finance Committee Chairman Alderman Edward Burke says the measure would in his words throw the baby out with the bathwater. He said it would, "Essentially destroy the administrative hearing program that currently has been effective."
He moved to table the matter, which ended debate and the council voted by a more than two-to-one margin to keep the ordinance bottled up.