Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Photo Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Veteran urges Dayton commission to pause photo-enforcement program, alleges legal violations
Summary
At a Dayton City Commission meeting, resident Aaron Timmons urged a moratorium on the city's photo-enforcement program, alleging missing warning signs, unlawful threats to immobilize vehicles and withholding of records; city staff said they will follow up with a memo after consulting the law department.
Aaron Timmons, a disabled U.S. Air Force veteran, asked the Dayton City Commission on June 18 to place an immediate moratorium on the city's photo-enforcement program, arguing the program violates state law and city code and that the city has not produced requested records.
Timmons addressed the commission during the public-comment period, saying “the trailer sat in the same exact public spot for months, functioning like any other fixed camera,” and that Ohio law — as he cited it, Ohio Revised Code 4511.094 — requires a clearly posted warning sign within 300 feet of a device. He also asserted that notices sent by the city threatened vehicle immobilization and that Dayton city code 70.121 provides that the only remedy for nonpayment is filing a civil suit.
Timmons said he filed a motion to compel discovery and for sanctions in Dayton Municipal Court after the city produced no calibration logs or records he requested, and he told the commission he expects state legislative inquiries. “This isn't negligence. It's a pattern of obstruction and intimidation to protect revenue,” he said, adding he would explore a civil-rights complaint and a potential class action if the program continued.
The commission did not take formal action on the issue during the meeting. The city manager’s office told the commission it would follow up. “We obviously work very closely with our law department for the legal analysis with regards to all of our speed and red-light enforcement,” a city staff member said, and that a memo would be circulated to the commission with additional information.
Commissioner Dennis Laws thanked Timmons for his comments and noted the commission had received his correspondence; he said staff and the in-house legal team would provide additional information to the commission. No moratorium or other directive to halt enforcement was voted on at the meeting.
Timmons told the commission he had filed court papers alleging the city withheld records; the commission’s next steps will be limited to the internal follow-up and any developments in court. The municipal-court filing, legislative inquiries and any further production of records remain matters outside the commission’s immediate vote and are subject to the judicial and legislative processes.
