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Residents press council on communication gaps and traffic enforcement after targeted ticketing
Summary
Residents urged the council to improve civic communication and questioned recent traffic-enforcement activity. A resident alleged officers were told to "pull over as many cars" and write tickets; the council and city attorney recommended contesting individual citations and discussed enforcement criteria.
Several residents used the Nov. 12 public-comment period to press the Washington Court House City Council on two related concerns: how the city communicates with residents, and whether a recent focused traffic enforcement effort produced unfair or quota-driven ticketing.
Jared Kesterke, who identified his address as 1311 Farmington Lane, told the council the city's public information is inconsistent and hard to find. He said event listings and meeting notices were not being updated on the website, that the Humane Society appeared closed with no posted contact information, and asked the city to explore more reliable channels for distributing local notices.
Rebecca ("Becky") Russell described a traffic stop on Oct. 22 in which she said the officer told her, "today was my day off, but I was called in for a mandatory 8 hour overtime shift. And I was instructed to pull over as many cars as I could and write as many tickets as I could." Russell said she was cited $174 for window tint that came on the car when she purchased it and expressed concern that enforcement felt like quota-driven revenue gathering rather than safety-focused policing. "Residents like me ... should not feel targeted or used to meet ticket numbers," she said.
Stella Kesterke, also of Farmington Lane, spoke about the tint issue and asked whether tinted-window checks could be a pretext for repeated stops; the city attorney and council explained state tint law is intended for officer safety (so officers can see occupants) and that children can be allowed in establishments under certain age/time conditions under state rules.
Council members and the city attorney urged residents that individual citations can be contested in court and noted that, in past instances, the city has sometimes obtained dismissals or worked with people who had legitimate reasons. One council member summarized past practice: fighting a citation may lead to dismissal when documentation shows a valid reason. The council did not adopt new policy or direct staff to change enforcement practices at the meeting but several members acknowledged the need for better public communication and suggested exploring consolidated channels (website, dedicated channel) to distribute notices.
The concerns raised touch on enforcement transparency and civic outreach; affected residents were advised to contest specific tickets through legal channels if they believe the stop or citation was improper.
