Opinion: Fairfield RTM Ignores the Room

Fairfield, CT - In a disappointing move, the RTM chose to discount the concerns of a standing-room-only audience rather than pause the speed camera program that has been mired in controversy from the beginning. This was an opportunity to finally do what should have happened from the start: hold a public hearing, listen to residents, and then create an ordinance benefiting from that public input. Instead, we're revising an ordinance on the fly after the program is already in place. That's not good public policy, and it's not the way the government should make decisions that directly affect the people it represents.

Forming a committee to study the ordinance after the fact does not change that. Residents came out in force to say this program needs work, and the RTM's response was to delay the real conversation rather than have it now. The Fairfield RTC calls on the RTM to move with real urgency: populate this committee immediately, and set a real deadline for its work.

Residents should stay engaged and watch the recording of this week's meeting to see exactly how this played out.