Red-Light Camera Petitioner Awaits Official Signature Count

Murrieta resident Diana Serafin knows a lot about voter registration now that she single-handedly collected more than 6,000 signatures for a petition to ban red-light cameras in the city of Murrieta.

"I verified every single signature," Serafin said Tuesday, after she spent the morning at Murrieta City Hall, where she submitted the petition to the City Clerk's office.

Serafin said she registered more than 1,000 people to vote in her quest for signatures that began in the spring. To gather the signatures, Serafin set up tables outside grocery stores, post offices and at public events, as well as went door-to-door.

"I discovered because of the high foreclosure rate, people thought the voter registration went with them when they moved," Serafin said. "I am really concerned that people don't know they are not registered."

She also discovered that signatures of those who live in unincorporated Murrieta, such as in Rancho Bella Vista south of Winchester Road, can not count toward a city initiative.

She needed 4,470 valid signatures of Murrieta residents in order for the initiative to be considered; she gathered 6,332 but only 4,823 were valid, according to her calculations.

"It looks good that I have reached the goal...I am feeling confident that I did go through every signature."

City Clerk Kay Vinson confirmed the petition was received Tuesday morning at City Hall.

"It was accepted today based on the number of signatures on the face of it," Vinson said.

"We will contract with the Registrar of Voters office to verify the signatures...we have 30 working days to do that and the city will be examining the petition format during that same time frame."

The fee for verification is 50 cents per signature.

Serafin began her campaign against the red-light cameras when City Council voted in January to renew contracts with camera installer and operator, American Traffic Solutions.

Four cameras are installed among three intersections in Murrieta: Nutmeg Street and Clinton Keith Road, Murrieta Hot Springs Road and Whitewood Road and Murrieta Hot Springs Road and Margarita Road. Set by the state, fines for drivers caught running red lights range from $438 to $540.

The City Council voted in January to add cameras at the freeway off-ramps at northbound Interstate 15 and Murrieta Hot Springs Road, and southbound Interstate 215 at Murrieta Hot Springs Road, but those will not be added any time soon, Murrieta Mayor Randon Lane said in March.

"We are kind of in limbo. There is a lot of cost to putting more equipment in," Lane said. "We are working on a contract that will allow us to keep [existing ones] in place until we see how the initiative goes. Then if they pass, we won't be out that money."

Vinson told Patch in January, when Serafin submittted her initial request to petition, that once the petition was received and verified it will go before the City Council.

"The City Council has three choices: they can adopt it, ask for a report, or have it put on the ballot," Vinson said.

Serafin is hoping the initiative will make it on the November 2012 ballot. Vinson agreed in January that 2012 would be the earliest it could appear on the ballot should City Council go that route.

In July, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to stop issuing red light camera tickets because citations were un-enforced by the Los Angeles Superior Court and going upaid, causing a loss to the city for its operation contracts. Los Angeles camera contracts were with the same company Murrieta uses.

Tickets, however, are enforced in Riverside County, The Californian reported.