Mumpower bills target speed cameras, drug centers

Drivers who don’t want to smile for speed and red light cameras have found a sympathetic ear in the Tennessee General Assembly.

On Monday, House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol, introduced legislation seeking to regulate how Tennessee localities use the cameras or do away with the devices.

The move drew the ire of Bluff City Police Chief David Nelson, who said the cameras are about safety.

“People in the community are very concerned about [traffic cameras] and the effect they are having on their lives,” said Mumpower, who represents Johnson County and the eastern half of Sullivan County in the 99-member House of Representatives.

He also introduced four bills seeking to regulate where drug treatment centers can be placed in relation to a day care center or school. The legislation was prompted by a controversy in Bristol over the location of a facility by the Haven of Rest beside the YWCA’s day care center.

The bills are among more than 600 that House members have introduced since this year’s regular legislative session started Monday. House and Senate members have until Thursday to introduce new bills if they want them considered in this session.

Speed cameras

In a Tuesday phone interview from Nashville, Mumpower said he has “rarely had such a high level of contact” from constituents as he has experienced regarding the red light or speed cameras used in Bluff City, Kingsport, Morristown and Mount Carmel.

He said the top two concerns are what local governments do with the money generated by the cameras and the amount of money that goes to the out-of-state companies operating the cameras and collecting the fines.

Mumpower said the community is losing money that could be used to boost the local economy.

His package of traffic enforcement camera bills includes:
* House Bill 2735, which would immediately bar localities from using speed and red light cameras and require those who already have them to stop when their contracts expire.
* House Bill 2736, which would bar localities from using traffic cameras after Jan. 1, 2011.
* House Bill 2737, which would require localities to only use traffic cameras operated by people or businesses based in Tennessee.
* House Bill 2632, which would require local governments to give any money raised from traffic cameras to the state’s highway safety program.
* House Bill 2733, which would require local governments to spend traffic camera revenues on education.
* House Bill 2734, which would require local governments to spend traffic camera revenues on transportation.
* House Bill 2737, which would require local governments using the cameras to post information about the number of citations and the fines collected on a Web site every four months.
* House Bill 2739, which would require local governments to place a 2-by-3-foot sign warning drivers about the cameras 100 feet and 500 feet ahead of the devices.

Though insisting he respects Mumpower and others in the state legislature, Nelson harshly criticized the bills.

“The purpose of these cameras is safety,” Nelson said Tuesday. “They ask us to uphold the law and to enforce the law but they aren’t giving us the means to do it.”

In November, Bluff City installed two speed cameras at the intersection of U.S. Highway 11E and Poplar Ridge Road to monitor either side of a 45 mph zone that runs through Piney Flats.

The cameras issued nearly 2,300 warning citations to speeders during a 30-day warning period that started Dec. 1, 2009. On Jan. 1, the city started charging speeders caught by the cameras a $90 civil fine per violation. The fine includes a $40 administrative fee for American Traffic Solutions, a Scottsdale, Ariz., company that collects the fines and maintains the cameras.

Nelson said the cameras are already achieving their main goal – there have only been two accidents on the 45-mph section of 11E since Dec. 1, while at least nine happened on that section of highway in November.

Nelson also objected to any bills dictating how localities use their speed camera revenues, even if the money is dedicated to the state’s highway safety fund.

“I want to be able to put more officers on the street so I can do more traffic enforcement out here,” Nelson said, adding that the only way to do that would be to keep the money in the community.

Treatment centers

Mumpower’s four drug treatment center bills include two, House Bill 2677 and 2731, that seek to ban drug and alcohol treatment centers from being built within 1,000 feet of a child care center.

Two others, House Bill 2678 and 2730, would extend that ban to schools, public parks, private residences and places of worship. Both would require existing treatment centers to install security fences, cameras and lighting if they’re within 1,000 feet of a protected business or institution.

Mumpower said he got the idea for the bills when a controversy exploded over the Haven of Rest’s plans to build beside the YWCA in Bristol, Tenn., what the nonprofit calls a spiritual treatment center dedicated to helping people with addictions.

The city’s Planning Commission signed off on the facility in December despite vocal concerns raised by people worried about its proximity to the YWCA.

During the debate, Mumpower said he learned there are no state regulations dealing with where drug treatment centers can be placed and “that was something we thought should be looked at.”

He said the proposed bills are based on existing state laws barring certain businesses, including liquor stores, from being built within 1,000 feet of a school or church.

When asked about Mumpower’s bills, Haven of Rest Executive Director Wayne Sheridan said he doesn’t think the legislation would apply to his facility because it will not offer medical detoxification services or mental therapy to addicts.

“That’s not part of what we do,” Sheridan said, adding that bids for construction of the facility will go out in the next two weeks. “It might be a good idea to have some space between those clinics [that offer detox services, etc.] and a school.”

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