Automated Photo-Cam Parking Tickets Re Street-Sweeping? Sac'to Lawmakers Pass Bill Letting Cities Implement It; Will Gov. Schwarzenegger Veto It A Second Time?

(Sept. 2, 2010) -- State lawmakers have approved and sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill that would let cities use automated digital photo cam systems on street sweepers -- similar to "red light" cams -- to issue parking tickets to those parked contrary to posted restrictions on street sweeping days.

AB 2567, which would let City Halls implement photo enforcement of street sweeping parking violations, cleared the Assembly on a 42-18 floor vote (concurring in Senate amendments) with Assemblymembers Bonnie Lowenthal (D., LB) and Warren Furutani voting "yes"; 11 other Assemblymembers added their "yes" votes after the bill had received the minimum 41 votes needed to pass; Ass'ywoman Brownley also changed her "yes" vote to "not voting," making the final recorded tally 53-24.

The Senate approved the measure by a bare minimum 21-16 margin (21 votes needed) with Senators Alan Lowenthal (D., LB-Paramount) and Rod Wright (D., PV-LB-Inglewood) voting "yes." Sen. Tom Harman (R, Huntington Beach) said on the Senate floor that he viewed the measure as especially important for coastal cities since materials on the street could pollute ocean waters.

To view the final bill text as passed, click here.

A Senate committee legislative analysis says that according to the bill's author, Ass'yman Steven Bradford (D., Inglewood), the intent of the bill is "to reduce the amount of dirt, oil, and debris being washed into the storm drains, thereby having a positive environmental impact." The analysis continues:

The California Public Parking Association, sponsor of this bill, suggests that by allowing automated parking enforcement systems to be placed on street sweepers, this bill will effectively complement the work of existing parking enforcement personnel and help allocate scarce resources.

Currently, Chicago and the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.) use the automated street sweeper system, which uses photo-light sensing, character recognition, and global positioning system technology to spot parking violators.

In California, use of similar automated enforcement technology is authorized for red light violations by a governmental agency. Last session, usage of this technology was also authorized on a pilot project basis for the City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco) to issue citations based on photo-evidence of transit-only-lane parking violations. The authority granted to San Francisco was provided for in AB 101 (Ma), Chapter 377, Statutes of 2008.

A legislative analysis listed the bill's supporters (as of July 2) as the California Public Parking Association, California State Association of Counties, City and County of San Francisco, City of Los Angeles, City of San Diego, League of California Cities and Oakland City Council. The only listed opponent was the American Civil Liberties Union.

The legislative analysis summarized arguments in support and opposition as follows:

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author's office, street sweepers are used throughout the state and nation to safely remove debris and pollutants from the streets, thereby providing the community with a cleaner environment, a reduced risk of flooding from storm drain blockage, and cleaner water. Local governments routinely have to contend with illegally parked vehicles impeding street sweeping. One illegally parked vehicle can result in up to three or more parking spaces not being cleaned. These spaces become harbors for trash, debris and chemicals that can wash into storm drains. By enhancing enforcement efforts, this bill will facilitate street sweeping and thereby benefit the environment, improve water quality, decrease stormwater drain runoff, and help reduce ongoing habitat deterioration.

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: First of all, opponents believe that this bill is premature because the AB 101 pilot program allowing San Francisco to use cameras to cite parking violations in bus lanes has not yet been studied. Second, this bill raises privacy concerns for opponents. The system used in Washington, DC includes "license plate recognition technology," essentially scanners that read and store license plate numbers. Washington, DC has apparently stated that it may use the gathered information for other purposes, including law enforcement. While this bill requires that photos only be taken when a violation is detected and further prohibits the local public agency from using photos for any other purpose, opponents are concerned that the bill does not explicitly prohibit the use of scanning technology. Because violations can be documented with photos, there is no need for the use of scanners, and the bill should prohibit their use. In addition, opponents would like to see additional language to ensure that the images of any persons captured in photos are cropped or blurred to protect privacy. Lastly, opponents have suggested a number of specific questions to be answered in the required report.

The analysis notes that AB 2567 is basically identifical to a bill the legislature passed in 2009 (AB 1336) that was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. In his veto message, the Governor wrote, "This bill could present a significant risk of violating an individual's privacy unrelated to the enforcement of law. It may also lead to the unwarranted proliferation of camera enforcement in many other arenas."

However after vetoing AB 1336, the Governor introduced a budget proposal that called for a statewide speed camera program that would generate nearly $400 million in net profit to state and local government with over two million citations each year.

Below are the recorded votes on final passage of AB 2567:

MEASURE:	AB 2567
AUTHOR:	Bradford
TOPIC:	Vehicles: parking violations: digital photogr
DATE:	08/31/2010
LOCATION:	ASM. FLOOR
MOTION:	AB 2567 BRADFORD  Concurrence in Senate Amendments
	(AYES  53. NOES  24.)  (PASS)

	AYES
	****

Ammiano	Arambula	Bass	Beall
Block	Blumenfield	Bradford	Buchanan
Caballero	Charles Calderon	Carter	Chesbro
Coto	Davis	De La Torre	De Leon
Eng	Evans	Feuer	Fong
Fuentes	Furutani	Galgiani	Gatto
Hall	Hayashi	Hernandez	Hill
Huber	Huffman	Jones	Lieu
Bonnie Lowenthal	Ma	Mendoza	Monning
Nava	Nielsen	Norby	V. Manuel Perez
Portantino	Ruskin	Salas	Saldana
Silva	Skinner	Solorio	Swanson
Torlakson	Torres	Torrico	Yamada
John A. Perez

	NOES
	****

Adams	Anderson	Bill Berryhill	Tom Berryhill
Conway	Cook	DeVore	Fletcher
Fuller	Gaines	Garrick	Gilmore
Hagman	Harkey	Jeffries	Knight
Logue	Miller	Nestande	Niello
Smyth	Audra Strickland	Tran	Villines

	ABSENT, ABSTAINING, OR NOT VOTING
	*********************************

Brownley	Vacancy	Vacancy

**********************

MEASURE:	AB 2567
AUTHOR:	Bradford
TOPIC:	Vehicles: parking violations: digital photogr
DATE:	08/30/2010
LOCATION:	SEN. FLOOR
MOTION:	Assembly 3rd Reading AB2567 Bradford By Kehoe
	(AYES  21. NOES  16.)  (PASS)

	AYES
	****

Alquist	Ashburn	Calderon	Cedillo
DeSaulnier	Florez	Hancock	Harman
Huff	Kehoe	Leno	Liu
Lowenthal	Padilla	Pavley	Price
Simitian	Steinberg	Strickland	Wolk
Wright

	NOES
	****

Aanestad	Blakeslee	Cogdill	Corbett
Correa	Denham	Ducheny	Dutton
Emmerson	Hollingsworth	Negrete McLeod	Romero
Runner	Walters	Wyland	Yee

	NO VOTE RECORDED
	****************

Oropeza	Wiggins	Vacancy

Follow LBReport.com w/

Twitter

RSS

Facebook