Local News
Mayor in national spotlight again
Pennington on Fox & Friends
Dalton Mayor David Pennington appeared Monday on Fox & Friends, a morning news program of the Fox News Channel, a week after being featured in a USA Today article.
Both times the city’s removal last year of traffic light cameras was the story, and the reasons why the mayor and council decided to stop what some believed were just revenue raisers.
“For some reason I’ve become quite popular lately,” Pennington said after the segment. “They called (Sunday) and asked if I would be willing to appear and I said yes. I just happened to be in Atlanta for a meeting of the Georgia Municipal Association, so a car picked me up at 6:30 (a.m.) and took me to their studio.”
Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson of Fox & Friends conducted the interview from their studio in New York City. Doocy introduced the segment by saying of red light cameras, “They’re supposed to reduce accidents, right? Nope, one mayor down in Georgia says they’re all about making money, but not for the people of his city, but somebody else.”
Carlson asked Pennington, “So, you decided to take action — your constituents did not like these cameras — and you took them down, right? ... And what has been the feedback now?”
“The only feedback we’ve really gotten has been positive feedback,” Pennington replied, noting a couple of calls had been against taking the cameras down. He said the city had done a “lengthy study” about the cameras’ effectiveness.
Doocy said the cameras did not really reduce accidents, and that a lot of the money from fines go back to the company that installs them. He asked Pennington what the actual “take” was for the city from fines on those who ran red lights and were caught on camera.
“Fifty cents or more on each dollar goes to the companies that install them and maintain them,” Pennington said. “And then we also have other costs — the policemen that had to review every ticket, municipal court had to collect the fines. So it’s a very inefficient way of raising revenue if that’s what your mission is.”
Carlson said “interestingly enough” the city was able to cut 20 percent off its budget after the cameras were taken down.
“Well, we did it by cutting spending,” Pennington said. “The traffic cameras, there’s only two logical reasons to have them. Number one, they have a meaningful impact on public safety, which we couldn’t see any studies, or our own experience, certainly didn’t show that. Or, number two, to raise revenue. Well, this mayor and council did not feel like our budget issues were revenue issues. We feel like as they are national, state or local, they’re (also) spending issues. So we cut the spending — we had to reduce the labor force obviously — but we cut our budget by almost 23 percent, I would say.”
Doocy said it appears such cameras are installed as a way for towns or cities to make money.
“There’s no doubt about that,” Pennington responded, “and like I said, it’s a very inefficient way to raise revenue because every dollar’s not going to the city, and also it has a negative impact on the local economy, because every $75 ticket (and) the hundreds of thousands of dollars that come in are not going to be spent in local restaurants and local businesses.”
Pennington said he believed what the network was “really after” was showing that cutting taxes is a successful tactic for “cash-strapped” cities.
“I’ve thought this way for 30 years, and now it finally seems like they’re coming my way,” he said.
To watch the clip of Dalton Mayor David Pennington on Fox & Friends, visit foxnews.com/search-results/m/28534293/red-light-cameras-not-wanted.htm.
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