Red-Light Cameras, Paranoia, Nosy Leece and a Female Sheriff (Maybe)

COUNCIL TONIGHT
No doubt tonight's Costa Mesa City Council Meeting will provide us with some blog fodder. There appears to be nothing particularly earth-shattering on the agenda, but one never knows what kind of controversial rabbit the members of the majority will pull out of their hats these days.

NEW RED-LIGHT CAMERAS PLANNED
One item on the agenda is the vote to add red-light cameras a more Costa Mesa intersections. Although some think it smacks of "Big Brotherism", I'm for the red light cameras. As a society we seem to have gotten much too lax when it comes to driving intelligently, particularly during rush hours. Costa Mesa has some of the busiest intersections in our county. If the red-light cameras can rein in the inconsiderate among us, that serves us all well.

MORE JOY IN MY HEART
On that subject, another Costa Mesa-based blogger doesn't think it's a good idea. Of course, these new lights being proposed are mainly in his end of town. One can logically assume that this fellow is among those inconsiderate jerks who regularly run red lights as he scampers from crime scene to crime scene in his "pressmobile". Snagging him a few times with a red-light camera would have the added advantage of bringing a smile to my face.

PARANOIA IN MESA NORTH
Speaking of him, which I don't do much any more, he seems to be going off the deep end these days. Several of his most recent posts reflect a man with a whole lot of paranoia going on. Now he complains of being stalked, for goodness sake! I assume he is feeling the pressure brought on by the challenge by another relatively new blogger, CMTRUTH, who takes none of his bullying and guff. Perhaps he'll be feeling better tonight when, as is his practice, he sits on his "Perch of Pontification" back in the last row of the council chambers and awaits his sycophants to pass and offer homage to him while he waits, like a hawk atop a pole, to swoop down to the speaker's podium and attack whatever issue, person, council member is his victim du jour. One can only feel sad for this fella - who seems to be in early-onset dementia.

WENDY CONTINUES TO SKULK AROUND SENIOR CENTER
Speaking of older people - I can do that because I am one myself - it seems that councilwoman Wendy Leece continues to harass the staff of the Senior Center with her little nit pick in hand. Some have said that Leece should just keep on nosing around the Senior Center, stirring up controversy where none exists. Horse Manure! That's not her job! Her job as the council liaison is to be just that - a liaison between the City Council and the Senior Center Board of Directors. They, the board, are the ones responsible for running the show at the Senior Center, NOT Ms. Leece. Her role is a NON-VOTING role. She seems unable to distinguish important issues from those brought up by one or two disgruntled patrons of the center. Rather than help things at the Senior Center, her actions have been the cause of much strife and that certainly doesn't serve the patrons well. My suggestion to Leece is to get a life, woman!

A FEMALE SHERIFF - MAYBE
Finally, I noted today that the county Board of Supervisors has winnowed the candidates for Sheriff from nine to two, with Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters and retired Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Division Chief Sandra Hutchens left standing as the final two. Looks like Riggy's prognostication about Ralph Martin and Walters being the final two is only half-right - pretty good for Riggy. As I've said before, on paper and as a result of the interview process, Hutchens looked like the strongest candidate. Do I think a woman can fix the Orange County Sheriff's Department? Well, not ANY woman, but I think THIS woman can. Everything in her background demonstrates that she has the kind of intelligence and leadership that it will take to get the job done. I don't care about the "political correctness" of this situation - I want the best person for the job, male or female, period. Let's see what kind of cojones the Board of Supervisors have on this one...

Red-Light Violations Ignored

THE REGISTER REPORTS ON RED-LIGHT SCOFFLAWS
The Orange County Register, in a report by Jennifer Muir today, tells us that the red-light camera program as currently administered in Orange County, is an abysmal failure, with thousands of drivers who ignore the tickets having their cases dismissed while those who identified themselves faced hefty fines, driving school and possible increases in their insurance rates.

COSTA MESA LOSING BIG BUCKS
One segment jumped right off the page at me. Early in the report there is the following paragraph:
"Because of the failure to follow up, taxpayers in some cities are subsidizing the cost of the red light cameras. When the cost of paying the camera vendors is subtracted from ticket revenue, Costa Mesa appears to have lost more than $250,000 for the year ending October 2007; Laguna Woods appears to be short $22,000. And those numbers don't include the cost of city personnel."

Now, that really ticks me off!

A GOOD IDEA GONE ASTRAY
When this program was first launched I thought it was a good idea - a way to effectively cite those careless clowns among us who brazenly run red lights throughout our city. I recall thinking to myself that this is a great way to make folks much more aware of the dangers of running red lights and, hopefully, making our city a safer place in which to drive. Now we are told that, because it's too difficult to follow-up on these people, we just let them get away with it and - even more distressing - it's costing the city a quarter of a million bucks a year, to boot!

IT'S TIME FOR COUNCIL ACTION
This issue has been discussed by the Costa Mesa City Council in the past and it's time to address it again. If the scofflaws are simply thumbing their noses - or using another digit to express their disregard for the law - we need to address this issue. If the darn lights are actually costing us money maybe we should just cut our losses and get rid of them. If we don't, we'd sure better find a way to make the system work.

READ IT AND WEEP
The entire article can be found HERE. You may have to register with The Register to read it.