We knew it was only a matter of time before the big money would come out and attack us… and now they have.

Mukilteo Initiate #2 is under attack! The red light camera vendor, American Traffic Solutions (ATS), through their lawyer, has informed us and the City of Mukilteo that they are launching an attack against all of your hard work, dedication and the initiative process itself.

A group calling itself “Mukilteo Citizens for Simple Government” has filed a lawsuit against the city of Mukilteo and Snohomish County, in an attempt to stop our initiative from going on the November ballot.

Peek-a-boo! I see you!

They think they can hide behind the name “Mukilteo Citizens for Simple Government”, but it didn’t take long to connect the dots. The plaintiff, (the only named member of the “group”) Christine Preston, a Boeing employee, who lives in a modest home, doesn’t really seem like a person who would hire an expensive Seattle law firm to file a lawsuit over such an issue. But it starts to make sense once you find out that Christine Preston runs in the same circles as the Mukilteo mayor, Joe Marine, and the city manager, Joe Hannan, and the law firm “she” hired is the same expensive law firm that represents the camera vendor ATS. Additionally, the stated reasons for the lawsuit, match the arguments that Joe Hannan used when he was advising the city counsel about what to do with the initiative 2 weeks ago.

We need your help to raise enough money to defend our position and continue our goal to let the voters decide on Mukilteo Initiative #2 in November.  We’re fighting for the right of the people to vote. Mukilteo is the first city in Washington to have an initiative about Red Light/Speed cameras, failure to keep our initiative on the ballot could jeopardize our efforts statewide, and make us appear weak. In politics, momentum in very important.

In the short time that the supporters of BanCams.Com have been fighting to keep cameras out of Mukilteo we have accomplished a lot. We have been on the front page of the Mukilteo Beacon for 8 consecutive weeks. Articles about our efforts have also been published in the Everett Herald, The News Tribune, the Seattle PI and we were even mentioned in USA Today with it’s circulation of over 1.6 million.

The efforts of BanCams.com supporters like you, in getting way more than the required number of signatures to qualify for the ballot resulted in our cause being discussed by KING 5, KIRO, KOMO, Q13 and 2 interviews on the Dori Monson Show.

But one greedy out-of-state corporation has bought access to the Mukilteo city government through it’s allies Mayor Joe Marine and City Manager Joe Hannan and together they want to to shut you up and stamp out the flame of Liberty that has ignited in Mukilteo. Their actions threatening to invalidate our success, but I know you won’t let that happen!

We need the financial resources to defend Mukilteo initiative #2 and make sure the citizens of Mukilteo get their day at the ballot box. Please continue to support our cause!

Last November citizens in Chillicothe, Ohio voted to ban photo enforcement by 72%. Steubenville, Ohio voters rejected photo radar in 2006 to the tune of 76%. In the mid-1990s, speed cameras lost by a two-to-one margin in Peoria, Arizona and Batavia, Illinois. In 2009 a whopping 86% percent of Sulphur, Louisiana voters rejected speed cameras.

All told, 11 cities have rejected photo-fraud and a municipal initiative has never failed once it got on the ballot! This fact has ATS and it’s ally Major Joe Marine running scared. They know they can’t win if we get the initiative on the ballot so they want to try to keep our initiative off of the ballot by using dirty tactics and technical challenges.

When we win in Mukilteo we can show the State Legislature what citizens really think about photo enforcement and push for a statewide ban! But first we need your help, please make a generous donation, $10, $20, $100 or even $1,000, every bit counts. To continue the fight, please make a donation online through our fellow co-sponsor of the initiative, Washington Campaign for Liberty. Or you can make checks payable to: Groen Stephens Law Firm and write Mukilteo Initiative #2 in the“Note” field and send the checks to : Groen Stephens Law Firm – Mukilteo Initiative ; 11100 Northeast 8th Street;  Bellevue, WA 98004-4469

We appreciate everything you have done to help us push back Big Brother and create a safer driving experience, people like you really make a difference. We have successfully passed many milestones along our journey to end photo-fraud statewide and we are anxious to report the next victory, thank you for your contribution.