Mukilteo

Mukilteo Initiative No. 2 — Let The People Decide on Red Light Cameras in Mukilteo

Dear Mr. Mayor and City Council members:

This letter provides you with our official notification that, starting today, we will work very hard over the coming weeks to collect enough signatures – at least 1804 valid ones – on petitions for Mukilteo Initiative No. 2 to ensure a reconsideration of Ordinance #1246, adopted by the City Council on a split vote last week, concerning automated ticketing machines. We are targeting the Aug. 17 primary ballot.

We firmly believe that Mukilteo’s citizens oppose this Big Brother, profit-making policy and oppose the process by which it was adopted. Our signature drive for Mukilteo Initiative No. 2 will give the citizens of this community the chance to decide this issue. Here’s what Mukilteo I-2 does:

• Repeals government-imposed automated ticketing machines in Mukilteo

• Requires Mukilteo’s city government to get voter approval if they try again

• Removes the profit-motive by limiting fines

• Protects democracy and due process

The language of the petition is clear: We, the undersigned voters of Mukilteo, require that, unless passed by the City Council, this ordinance – Mukilteo Initiative No. 2 – be submitted to a vote of the registered voters of the city of Mukilteo, subject to the requirements of RCW 35.17.260.

Please notify us immediately by telephone at (425) 493-9127 if there are any additional actions we are required to take followed by a letter providing that information. If you have any questions, please call.

Respectively submitted,
Nick Sherwood -BanCams.com , Alex Rion- WA State Campaign for Liberty, Tim Eyman-VotersWantMoreChoices.com

Mukilteo votes for traffic cameras near Olympic View Middle School

By Oscar Halpert
Herald Writer

MUKILTEO — Every car heading to Old Town passes Olympic View Middle School.

Many of them drive too fast.

Studies conducted for the city show four out of five drivers exceeded the 20 mph speed limit along Mukilteo Speedway in front of the school during afternoon school hours.

Compared with school zones throughout the city, Olympic View Middle School stood out.
“It’s a scary place and it’s hard for a lot of people roaring up the Speedway to realize they’re going through a school zone,” Randy Lord, City Council president, said Tuesday.

That’s why the council passed a plan on Monday to place traffic cameras along the Speedway in front of the school next September.

The council also approved installing two red-light cameras on the Speedway at Harbour Pointe Boulevard. Details on those are still being worked out.

The new get-tough approach is part of a city plan to crack down on speeding near the school and red-light-running on Mukilteo Speedway and at the intersection of Harbour Pointe Boulevard — the northern portion of the road closest to the water.

The council, however, wasn’t as united about the second part of that plan.

In fact, it took a tie-breaking vote by Mayor Joe Marine to approve the contract between the city and American Traffic Solutions Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz., which already runs traffic cameras in Lynnwood. …Read More…

Does city need red-light cameras?
MUKILTEO – The number of Mukilteo drivers making illegal right turns at over 10 miles per hour is “surprisingly high,” according to a recently released report.
American Traffic Solutions, the leading red-light camera company in the country, released a study last week to give the City Council enough data to decide whether Mukilteo needs traffic cameras installed.
Of the almost 150 traffic violations traffic engineers witnessed at five major intersections over the course of a 16-hour business day, only three were not high-speed illegal right turns.
The busiest intersection for violations is southbound Mukilteo Speedway at Harbour Pointe Boulevard. The intersection had 56 violations, all of which were high-speed illegal right turns. Drivers going north on Mukilteo Speedway had eight high-speed illegal right turns at the same intersection.
Three other intersections with especially high numbers of violations were also located along Mukilteo Speedway: …Read more…

Lights, camera – tickets!

Mukilteo City Council drove around in circles discussing the pros and cons of traffic safety cameras Monday before voting 4-2 to approve installation of two in town – one to monitor the speed in the school zone outside Olympic View Middle School, the other to cover the traffic signal at Harbour Pointe Boulevard North and SR 525.

Council Vice President Richard Emery and Councilmember Jennifer Gregerson voted no; Kevin Stoltz was absent.

The council followed up by narrowly approving a service agreement with American Traffic Solutions, a company that provides the cameras. They will be installed on a one-year pilot basis, if the company agrees to the city’s preferred trial period rather than its standard three-year minimum contract.

With Stoltz absent, it took Mayor Joe Marine to break a 3-3 tie.  Council President Randy Lord and councilmembers Linda Grafer and Emily Vanderwielen voted in favor; Emery, Gregerson and Tony Tinsley voted no. …Read More…