MaCo's Speed Camera Love Fest

The Maryland Association of Counties (MaCo) will be holding a speed camera symposium on December 4th, from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM at the Kenhill Center (Old Bowie City Hall: 2614 Kenhill Drive, Bowie, Maryland, 20715).

The agenda for this meeting will include Requirements for a Speed Camera Program, Partnerships, Vendor Contracts, Policies and Procedures, program results, Current Law, and Proposed Changes in 2014.

The Maryland Association of Counties performs lobbying on behalf of county governments, who fund the organization with your tax dollars. MaCo was the "bunt instrument" used by local governments including Montgomery County, Prince George's County, for killing off proposed "common sense" changes to require speed camera citations to provide sufficient evidence to detect speed errors after the fact (a change which the Maryland Drivers Alliance supported).

The organization also fought to keep in place the current "loophole" which permits speed camera contractors to be paid based on the number of tickets issued. Despite an existing provision of the law which even Governor O'Malley admitted was intended to ban paying contractors based on the number of tickets, this practice is now common across the state. Local governments all know by now that the law simply means whatever the government wants it to at any given time, and that the courts in Maryland will indulge any "loophole" or creative interpretation of the law which is convenient for local governments.

MaCo stood in opposition to the positions of the Maryland Drivers Alliance in both house and senate legislative committee hearings.

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