Thanks to the MJM for giving the zoning initiative a fair shake. I’m excited about it and I hope we can help make a difference citywide. However, it doesn’t seem as though we’lle ever escape the notion that the actions the City government takes are somehow secretly aimed at overcrowding. A “backdoor” attack on the problem as it were. Well, let me reassure you nattering nabobs of negativity that there is no such intent. The idea is to get the City cleaned up and zoning enforcement is about nuts and bolts municipal authority. The authority to run a well-ordered municipality goes back to Roman times, if not before. We’re not breaking new ground here. For instance, take a look at the picture below. Does it give a good impression of our City?

Now, to be fair, this is a commercial property and I have plenty of pictures of residential properties that have 5(!) cars parked in the back yard but this property has been the subject of City action so I thought it would be appropriate to post it. Blighted buildings, cars in yards and dumpsters with junk littered about. Enough’s enough.

The GA has passed the measure allowing Red Light Cameras.  It’s on the way to the Governor’s desk.  I hope he doesn’t sign it.  I don’t like Red Light Cameras.  It isn’t really due to privacy concerns as they point at the pavement and take pictures of cars.  I can lean out the window of my office and do that.  I also don’t really believe that they cause more rear-end collisions.  People tell me the data is there but to me, it’s more a symptom of the problem than a problem itself.  Stated another way, I think that people have become so used to driving w/o using turn signals and accelerating through yellow lights that any change that forces them to actually obey the law will cause problems.

So, what’s my beef?  Well, I  see the Red Light Camera more as a revenue stream for government than I do a real safety device.  The companies that operate these devices spend huge sums lobbying for their installation.  It seems too cozy.  It is essentially a cash register at every intersection.  I think the only way I would support these things would be for the resulting revenue to go to some good public cause.  Earmark the proceeds for parks or charity or something.  What does everyone out there think?