Newark Mayor calls for continuation of red light program

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is joined by various political operatives doing the bidding of a couple corporations who want to share the swag from those red-light cameras that produce millions in revenue but no perceptible gains in safety,

(Robert Sciarrino - NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

The new mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, has clearly never learned the first rule of politics:

Whatever else you do, don't get up there and blurt out the truth.

That's what Baraka did on the subject of those red-light cameras that will soon be outlawed.

"We need that money. I think it's a good program," Baraka said Thursday during a brief interview. "The city is bringing in about $4 million a year...that's why we (are) speaking out about it."

No, no, no, Mr. Mayor. That's not how you play the game.

You're supposed to pretend that all you care about is the safety of the citizenry. What about all of that swag those companies send your way? Why, that has nothing to do with your motivations! Who would even suggest that?

But I guess Baraka doesn't yet have the skill to say that with a straight face, perhaps because he knows those alleged safety gains are based on data torture of the very worst kind.

It would take a real pro to defend those money-making machines when even his own people can't explain a 1,100-percent increase in instances of cars hitting pedestrians at one of the city's most lucrative intersections.

And then there's the case in which a number of drivers were ticketed in Newark even though a cop had waved them through the light (same link).

A good politician could just get up there and ignore all those facts while making a lot of obviously false statements without cracking a smile.

At a press conference Friday, a bunch of the usual suspects peddled the party line without breaking a sweat. Take state Sen. Richard Codey. He's been around a long time so he had no trouble uttering a sentiment that was obviously complete nonsense.

"To me this is about safety," he said. "It's as simple as that."

Really? He's concerned about making sure drivers obey the letter of the law?

Whenever I hear one of these guys spouting on about how he's so concerned about safety, I ask to see his E-ZPass statements. Is Codey the one legislator who makes that drive down the Turnpike to Trenton without ever exceeding the limit? Let's check those statements and see.

I would love to help Codey and all his fellow legislators drive more safely by publishing how their average speeds relate to the speed limit. But somehow I suspect Codey's smart enough not to let me, just as Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Redflex) declined an offer to have a traffic-safety monitor installed in his car. (Read here how he broke the law by talking on a cell phone while driving.)

Now that's how a pro handles things. Total hypocrisy will do the trick every time.

Codey made his statement knowing full well that the two companies that run the programs are famed for spreading tens of thousands of dollars around to politicians to get them to mutter such inanities. One has even been charged with bribing public officials.

And then there was the representative of the state League of Municipalities. The league exists to promote the financial interests of cities and the politicians that run them. If you think league officials give a damn about driver safety, then you are a trusting soul indeed.

Declan O'Scanlon and a red-light cameras.

That press conference got to be fun when a guy who wasn't a member of the press got to ask a question. Rich Short of the Stop Robo Cops citizen advocacy group asked Baraka to support some of the obviously false statistics he was spouting.

Baraka had no answer. That was bad enough. Worse, he won't even let us reporters talk to his alleged traffic experts. You know, the guys who can't explain that shocking rise in pedestrian collisions? They're kept away from the press.

There's one politician representing the motorists in all this. Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon is on a crusade to end all of this enrichment at the expense of drivers just trying to make it around the state with the most miserable commutes in America.

Here's the release O'Scanlon issued after that press conference: