Post new cops behind billboards?

Our mayor was quoted as saying the city’s budget can be balanced without any pain to law-abiding citizens. She intends to do this by moving fines received from the red-light cameras and from parking tickets into the general fund and, thus, balance the budget, courtesy of all the lawbreakers out there.

I applaud the red-light cameras as a potential safety mechanism since many drivers seem to be red/green colorblind. And I, like most Spokanites, put up with the occasional parking ticket when I have inadvertently overstayed my welcome at a parking meter.

But one has to wonder at the wisdom of changing the emphasis of these fines from being punishment for wrongdoing and incentive not to repeat to being a necessary revenue source for balancing the budget.

Ms. Verner has already named target amounts that these are supposed to generate. If these targets aren’t met, does law enforcement get transformed into a quota system? This has the makings of the old speed traps of some small towns in the not-too-distant past. The mayor would do well to rethink this approach to funding the city budget.

Tim Rundquist

Spokane