I know it may be hard to believe, but Larry Foerster, the city attorney for Willis just said that a voter petition calling for a vote on red light cameras was “illegal” and “void”. The city council voted unanimously to throw away the petition signed by hundreds of registered voters like an old newspaper. This petition was certified by the city secretary after verifying the hundreds of signatures all calling for a vote on the red light cameras just like six other Texas towns have already done.
Perhaps the city attorney should be reading the constitution instead of legal arguments the camera company
Willis Texas – Voting Free Zone
coached him with so he could help save their millions of dollars in camera money. The people have a first amendment right to petition their government. The city council might need an American history lesson on the causes of the American Revolution. The complaints in the Declaration of Independence still apply today where the Willis mayor and council are acting more like kings than public servants.
“In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” Declaration of Independence 1776.
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The city attorney waved his hand and dismissed the petition just like the lawyers for the camera company told him to do. Apparently the camera company lawyers who fed the city attorney the legal cases failed to inform him that the case he cited at the council meeting was overturned by the 5th circuit of appeals. The petition in Houston, which we copied, is still on the books. There are no more red light cameras in Houston! This desperate attempt by the city attorney and the camera company to save their revenue program is very transparent. The mayor and the council that are supposed to represent the people jumped at the chance to agree with the lawyer and threw your right to vote and petition your government in the trash!
The message from the voters is clear, the people want a vote!
We have the right to demand our voices be heard by those we elected not ignored and called “illegal”. Texas state law governs these petitions and we followed the law. We got enough signatures. The city secretary said the petition was sufficient. The petition is required by state law to be placed on the ballot for the residents to vote on. But Willis’s mayor and council care more about the millions in camera dollars than they do about the people’s rights and safety.
Our right of self governance is being denied by the city officials. The city council can still place this issue on the ballot just like Conroe and League City did, on their own even without a petition. It’s time the council stop standing with the camera company and start standing with the people. We demand the city place the issue on the ballot for the people to decide.
Call the Mayor and city council and demand they put the red light camera issue on the ballot. Even if you don’t live in Willis how long until these abuses come to your town? We need everyone to contact the city and tell them to honor the will of the people.
