[This article was syndicated via RSS from Illinois Review. The views represented do not necessarily represent those of the Chicago Daily Observer.]

Calls Urged to Other DuPage Legislators to Oppose “Big Brother” Proposal

DUPAGE - BanRedCams, a grass roots initiative to end the use of red light cameras in Illinois, is urging citizens in DuPage County to contact their state legislators to ask them to oppose Senate Bill 965, a plan by the City of Chicago to install automated speed cameras in locations covering nearly half the city. BanRedCams is taking special aim at Hinsdale Senator Kirk Dillard, the only DuPage County legislator to support the measure, leader of a group of three Republicans who broke with their party to provide the winning margin for the camera measure in the Illinois Senate. The bill was introduced on October 24, 2011, and rushed to a vote two days later on October 26. 

“We are extremely disappointed that Senator Dillard is ignoring the views of his constituents and giving red light camera companies and Chicago politicians another way to bleed taxpayers dry,” stated Peter Breen, the founder of BanRedCams. “It all starts in one jurisdiction and then morphs its way into other communities that are cash-strapped and looking for any short term solution. The people in many communities including my own have overwhelmingly rejected these ‘Big Brother’ cameras.”

State Representative Chris Nybo (R-Lombard) strongly opposes the bill and applauds the group's effort. “This bill is nothing more than another attempt by Chicago to solve its own budget mess on the backs of suburbanites, including those in DuPage County. Just like the water rate increases and the effort to tax suburban commuters, this bill is only about Chicago trying to get more money from our taxpayers. I am shocked that any suburban legislator would support a money-grab like this.”

BanRedCams.com was founded in 2009 by Peter Breen, to urge the end of the use of red light cameras in the state of Illinois. Breen, now a Lombard Village Trustee, coined the motto for the group: “Unsafe. Unnecessary. Unwanted.”