Posted on 09/24/2022 8:36:23 AM PDT by simpson96
Cook County Board president Republican candidate Bob Fioretti is calling out Democratic lawmakers over the latest indictment of a member of the majority party after state Sen. Emil Jones III (D-Chicago) was charged with accepting a bribe.
Jones allegedly accepted $5,000 from a firm operating a red light camera system.
"Red-light cameras are a plague on our communities, and a license to steal from our communities!” Fioretti said in a press release. “They are a hidden tax on Cook County residents created by shady, backroom deals and corruption by our so-called 'public servants.' A billion dollars in 'fines' and a plethora of indictments prove this!"
Fioretti said that Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois "already have an infamous reputation for corruption, crime, and gross incompetence by government officials."
"Why would we continue to allow this pay-to-play, cronyism, and political-grifting to continue?” he argued. "If we're going to utilize these awful devices, we must adopt a system like Virginia and invest in our crumbling infrastructure. We need to put these resources to work and use it as investment as opposed to just another tax or penalty on residents. Ultimately, it is politically connected insiders who profit and corrupt public officials who skim off of those profits.”
Fioretti said that Toni Preckwinkle, the 35th president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, "leads a corrupt Democratic party."
Fioretti, who is an attorney at Roth Fioretti LLC where he practices complex law, has served two terms as alderman in Chicago’s 2nd Ward. He switched parties to run as a Republican.
"How many more indictments must be reported, and illegal schemes uncovered before ‘leaders’ like Toni Preckwinkle act and put an end to the nonstop corruption?" Fioretti said. "Cook County deserves far better than these constant failures.”
The Northern District of Illinois U.S. Attorney's Office disclosed the allegations on Tuesday. Jones is accused of accepting a $5,000 bribe to change a measure that would have done further research on red light cameras. According to the indictment, “Company A was a Chicago-area company that provided automated traffic enforcement systems, commonly known as red-light cameras, which enabled municipalities to enforce certain traffic violations and issue traffic violation tickets. Company A did not provide any automated traffic enforcement systems to the City of Chicago. Individual A had an ownership interest in Company A. Unbeknownst to JONES, Individual A was cooperating with law enforcement.”
Jones "corruptly solicited" the cash, according to the filing. and that “In or around 20L9, JONES agreed that, in exchange for benefits provided by Individual A to JONES and Individual B, JONES would oppose legislation that required the study of automated traffic enforcement systems located outside of Chicago, and would limit any legislation regarding IDOT's study of and recommendations concerning automated traffic law enforcement systems to those automated traffic enforcement systems utilized in Chicago, thereby excluding from study and recommendations automated traffic enforcement systems utilized in numerous other municipalities that Company A served,” the indictment reads, Chicago City Wire previously reported.
In June, Jones decried the criminal justice system. He is the sponsor of the SAFE-T Act which is opposed by 100 of the state’s 102 state’s attorneys, saying that “No one should be serving time for a crime they did not commit.” Jones also noted that “The criminal justice system at times proves to have no justice at all, especially for Black and Brown folks."
A despicable plague.
Why do some folks find it so hard not to run red lights...?
Just curious.
they did away with them in rochester ny because city employees and a certain segment of the population were the chief light runners. it was a damn joke and did not result in less accidents.
Red-light and speed cameras….a blight on everything. A taste of Big Brother, designed mostly for getting more revenue by not forcing points on you.
The “do you know who I am” bunch find traffic lights irritating—the lights fail to respect their high status.
I’ve seen stats that it actually causes more accidents. People slam on their brakes avoid a ticket when the safer action is to glide through a changing light.
I guess it’s easier to get away with murder than run a red light in Chicago.
Chicago’s “Race-Neutral” Traffic Cameras Ticket Black and Latino Drivers the Most
Summary:
Black and Latino drivers run more red lights and thus get more tickets and because they don't bother paying the fines, they get penalty fees slapped on.
“Why do some folks find it so hard not to run red lights...?
Just curious.”
Near Dulles Airport, the cops sit there by a traffic light with one of those remote control buttons. When a vehicle comes that has committed to going through the light..
Bam! Yellow for one second than red... aaannnd the traffic police are right there to issue the citation.
It is nothing but legalized theft.
The Georgia Legislature passed a law setting the minimum yellow light time as 4 seconds statewide. Redlight camera tickets dropped 80%. Nuff said, the cameras are a scam.
Because in Chicago, the red light cameras have been timed to turn red sooner than normal traffic lights.
This is old news, there, and it likely has been true across the country in Democrat governed areas.
When in Chicago, I always use a red light camera intersection’s “yellow” to mean an immediate “stop,” when I get there.
You can imagine others do the same, while others double the acceleration. Not a good situation.
If you don’t live in Chicago, you can’t easily fight the ticket and the fine is high.
Bkmk
Exactly. A sinister tax on people just living their lives trying to get by.
I guess the cameras are racist too!
Someone found the time of one of the yellow lights (or maybe more) had been shortened.
Thank you, you beat me to it.
Almost no one puts them in now is the result of having fair light timing.
I dunno, he appears honest enough...
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