Burns, Lauzen collide over red-light cameras
By Matt hanley mhanley@stmedianetwork.com February 16, 2012 7:40PM
State Sen. Chris Lauzen, who is running for Kane County board chair, talks about his opposition to red light cameras during a press conference as traffic passes behind him through the intersection of Randall Road and Williamsburg Drive. | Jeff Cagle~For Sun-Times Media
Kane GOP forum Sunday
Republican candidates for Kane County Board chairman will appear at a “Meet the Candidates” forum Sunday in Geneva. The event is sponsored by the Kane County Republican Advisory Council, along with the Kane County Republican Party and the Kane County Republican Women.
The event, open to the public, is scheduled for 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Eagle Brook Country Club, 2288 Fargo Blvd., Geneva.
The GOP chairman candidates — Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns and State Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora — are scheduled to appear. All Republican candidates on the March 20 primary election ballot in Kane County have been invited to attend.
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Updated: March 18, 2012 8:21AM
GENEVA — It’s been a contentious race since the word go, and now Republican Kane County Board chairman candidates Chris Lauzen and Kevin Burns are battling over red lights.
On Thursday afternoon, Lauzen held a press conference within a few feet of the busy intersection of Williamsburg Avenue and Randall Road in Geneva, practically underneath a red-light camera installed during Burns’ time as Geneva mayor. Lauzen, a state senator from Aurora, said he would lobby to remove the controversial cameras from all intersections controlled by the county.
“Just because we have the technology to do something doesn’t mean we should do it,” Lauzen said as traffic whizzed by. “I’ll do everything in my power to oppose them.”
The day before Lauzen’s press conference, Burns’ campaign put out its own red-light camera press release. Burns said he supports common-sense use of red-light cameras and pointed to Geneva as an example. The city has only two intersections where red-light cameras are in use, and tickets are not issued for right turns on red.
“The most dangerous intersections in Geneva required a new way to enforce the problems we’ve seen for years,” said Burns. “There is no room to post a police officer at these two intersections, so we explored ways to address the dangerous situations.”
Burns said it’s unlikely the city will apply to renew the red-light camera contract when it reaches its sunset clause next year.
Before Lauzen’s brief comments about the cameras, he received endorsements from red-light camera opponents BanRedCams president Peter Breen and state Sen. Dan Duffy, a Barrington Republican. Duffy has sponsored legislation to outlaw the cameras in Illinois. Both men said the cameras are a tax on citizens, bad for business and reminiscent of a Big Brother society with cameras doing the work of police officers.
They said the cameras do not reduce crashes, although there is conflicting evidence about this claim.
“That mayor (Burns) is the one who thinks so little of the plight of small business that he would welcome customers to one of Geneva’s largest shopping centers with a red light camera,” Breen said. “That mayor is dedicated to the cause of lining the pockets of government.”
Duffy — who got two red-light tickets before he was a state senator — said he supports what he claims is a safer solution: increasing all yellow lights by one second and no tickets on right turns.
Before the point was even made, Burns agreed with it.
“This (Duffy’s legislation) is the common-sense direction we took with the installation of cameras while I have been mayor,” said Burns. “These two bills reflect exactly what we have done here in Geneva.”
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