More evidence that the City of Redmond is not concerned with citizens desires or taxpayers "interference". Who cares if we disagree, we're just citizens, not elected officials.

Guess it's time to vote out a mayor and city council.

$70,000 to $80,000 for a special election?? It would have been unfair to require the city of Redmond taxpayers to foot that bill.

Democracy at risk
Regardless of whether people support or oppose red light cameras, everyone should be outraged when authorities and/or courts prevent the voters from expressing their views. If the vote is binding, then cameras are allowed or prevented by the vote. If the vote is advisory, then local authorities are morally obligated to accept the result. When authorities and courts in Houston wavered and tried to deny the majority will of the voters to get rid of the cameras, part of the outrage came from people who were camera supporters, but nonetheless were appalled that the authorities tried to thwart the majority will of the people who voted them out. Any city council that prevents a vote of the people and/or retains the cameras against the will of the majority of their voters needs to be discharged at the next election and replaced with representatives that respect the will of the people on this issue. James C. Walker, National Motorists Association, www.motorists.org, Ann Arbor, MI

I sure am glad that people from so very far away care enough about the welfare of our little city to speak up about this issue...
Not.
This is a Redmond issue. If you really want it changed, put it on the ballot in the next regular election. If it's all about money, as the opponents have claimed, then why would there ever have been a thought that the city would accept spending money on a special election to deal with this issue?
There is a process. Use it. Put your information out for the City Council. And if you are a single issue voter (who even lives here and has a voice in local politics) then vote for candidates who support your issue, regardless of where they stand on others.
I would be happy to vote on this topic. For no additional cost in the next regular election cycle. And to keep the cameras. I remain unappalled by the choices of our public servants, no matter how much people from far away would like me to be.

Thanks everyone for your comments. To follow up with Malia and C. Wittel's remarks, in our conversation yesterday the mayor did bring up that if the petition had made the November ballot the results would have been more helpful to the city's council's process because they would have had the election results before their Dec. 1 deadline to notify ATS. I asked him if city officials would have been more likely to allow the vote to occur in that situation and this was his response: "I'm not saying would have or wouldn't have, I'm just saying it would have fit with the process a lot better." I didn't have a chance to put that into the story, but thought I'd add it in here since it was brought up in discussion.

People are ignorant. The petition process is there for a reason and there are laws that need to be followed. Now there will be lawsuits, more expenses, and eventually a special election. We will pay more for the mayor's ignorance.

Wow. I expected a more rational comment about the mayor's decision, based on similarities to another dismissed petition, from someone whose other comments all include phrases about hating politicians.
Oh, wait. No I didn't.
Caitlin - thanks for the additional information. That's useful to know.

Ah Malia apparently nobody outside of Redmond drives or works there. I really dislike pontificating elitist. So how much you getting paid to troll forums supporting traffic camera's?

Haaahaaahaaaaaaaa.... Well, I work here. As in here. So I get paid to write a parenting column. And as a parent, I like people driving slowly. But thanks for your comment. I'm thrilled to learn that someone from Ann Arbor works or drives through Redmond.

Who lives in Ann Arbor? I'm local. In fact one of my co-workers is one of the Duvall city council.

Um, that's great? Then I'd give your opinion more weight than James C. Walker's... well, if you hadn't called me a troll for commenting on an article on a site I work for. Again, heeheehee...

I'm glad my employer gives me the right to have an opinion. And allow you a forum to have yours as well, no matter how personal you'd like to make it. I'm not a journalist, so I don't have to be objective. They are, and do a darn good job of it. I'm done with this argument. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. I look forward to voting for the unopposed mayor, whom I believe to have made sensible decisions. I wish you luck on your own path to do whatever it is you're trying to do.

Apparently you can't read C Wittel. My comment about china was the fact she agreed with not allowing a vote. She's allowed to have an opinion, but she wants to take away everyone else's right to express that opinion through a vote.

Charlie. Democracy isn't always easy, especially when you feel so passionately about an issue. The council is acting within the democratic process, and has nothing to do with taking away someone's right to vote. One way to look at it (and this may be your view) is that the council and mayor have taken away your right to vote in a special election. Another way to look at it is that citizens of Redmond voted to have this council and mayor represent us and make these decisions. I don't want to vote on every divisive issue that comes up -- that's what the council is there for. If a petition is turned into our council and does not meet the criteria for submitting it for a special election, and they choose not to submit it, then that is part of our democratic process. If you don't like the decisions made by our council or mayor, there will be a chance to vote them out of office. I hope we are able to vote on this one day in a regular election cycle.

Malia clearly you're a drama queen. Your last name had nothing to do with my comment. Your husband is also a drama queen. My inlaws happen to be Korean.

And lets be clear Malia I made no threats to your safety. You might want to look up the word libel.

Thank you once again, everyone, for offering your thoughts on this issue. At this juncture, I feel I must remind everyone of our terms of use, available here: http://redmond.patch.com/terms. Please scroll down to "Acceptable Use Policy" for our specific guidelines regarding user comments. I know this issue can be very controversial, but please let's all refrain from personal attacks--there's a civil, non-personal way to discuss the matter at hand.

Maybe you should have a policy against your own employees spamming the comment boards without disclosure, and attacking those of us who live in Redmond as not living in Redmond. I won't be visiting this site again. The editorial policies are dishonest and make the site appear like shills for the Mayor. Maybe Malia should choose between her "job" and her opinions. That's a pretty standard editorial policy elsewhere.

I think we all want the same thing -- a good life and a good place to live. We disagree about what makes a good life and how to get it, but the name calling contributes nothing but animosity, and puts a stop to an intelligent conversation. Who cares if Malia writes a parenting column? Who cares if Tim Eyman doesn't live anywhere near Redmond. They are entitled to their opinions. If my opinion is valid, it will hold up under questioning and challenges. This makes me realize why we face such difficult challenges on a global level -- we can't even be courteous and respectful to each other in a small forum within our small city of Redmond. Maybe we need to lighten up and listen. I am very opinionated, but realize I am only one person with one opinion. Everyone else is too.

As I have said:

GUESS WHAT PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you just follow the LAW and not run red lights, the issue would just GO AWAY!!!!!!!!! Apparently that is just too simple.

BUT the bottom line is this, we can not hold a special election every time you think you know better. You voted in folks to represent YOU. This is not NEW and yet none of you are running for city council or the mayors office. So go out and make a difference or stop wasting tax payer dollars on elections so you can speed and run red lights! JUST STOP RUNNING THEM and the lights will go away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I personally can not wait for them to end so the Redmond Police can give you a REAL ticket and then maybe you will learn! I will gladly put up with the traffic jams from police cars pulling people over at these intersections. Bring it on!!!

Nice Charlie! I am happy you have never ran a red light. I never said YOU did. You really are a bit of a bully. You may want to look up what that means. :-)

Thanks everyone for your comments. I'd like to reiterate Caitlin's earlier note about avoiding personal attacks so we can keep discussing this controversial issue:
"At this juncture, I feel I must remind everyone of our terms of use, available here: http://redmond.patch.com/terms. Please scroll down to "Acceptable Use Policy" for our specific guidelines regarding user comments. I know this issue can be very controversial, but please let's all refrain from personal attacks--there's a civil, non-personal way to discuss the matter at hand."

Jeanne, I hope I did not cross a line. I was not pleased with his reply and thought he was being a bully as I have read with his comments towards others. I have read the rules. Thank you.

No problem, I just want to help ensure that the discussion doesn't devolve.

Malia says she likes cameras because she is a parent and would like people to drive slow, but what about all the rear end crashes that have been associated with the cameras? I have been rear ended and my back and neck were hurt. Back injuries are something you never quite recover from. Is she is ok with the rising number of rearending at traffic lights? This could happen to her own children, and as someone who has been affected by this, I can assure anyone out there that it will have a massive effect on the front cars life. The impact could also potentially kill people. When I was rear ended, I was hit so hard that I was pushed into oncoming traffic. I was lucky that the driver in the lane was able to stop.

If there is a petition, we need to hold an election. That is how the law works, and if you would like that law changed, go and make a petition to have it changed just as we did for traffic cameras.

To the moderation of this site, as an online writer myself, I would never dream of trolling an article on a website I worked for. I believe Malia's comments are very unprofessional. She is of course entitled to her opinion, but she should NOT use her power as a writer of this site to try to show superiority over the other commenters.