Tell the Fairfield RTM Which Changes You Want

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The RTM can still set the terms of the school-zone speed-camera program. Check the changes you'd support, pick your tone, and we'll draft either a written comment to send in advance or spoken testimony for the Aug 24 public-comment meeting. Pick as many or as few as you like.

Step 1 · Your details

First name

Last name

Street address (Fairfield) RTM district (fills in above — or pick it yourself) Your email

What these checkboxes are

On Aug 24, the RTM — the town's 40-member legislature — votes on the speed-camera program. Everything below is a dial the RTM has the power to set: when the cameras run, what a ticket costs, where your data goes, and where the money lands. Check the settings you'd support — skip anything you don't care about — pick your tone, and we'll turn your choices into a written comment or spoken testimony in your own voice.

Step 2 · The process (the big one)

The step the timeline is about — what state law requires before cameras go live.

Do the required hearing & vote firstHold the public hearing and recorded vote state law requires (C.G.S. § 14-307e) before the program continues — don't just "recommit" to it.

Step 3 · Do you want speed cams in Fairfield?

Where you stand overall. Skip if you only want to weigh in on specifics below.

Keep the camerasI support speed cameras in school zones — I just want fair, clear terms set in the open. End the programI don't support the automated speed-camera program and don't want it continued or expanded. Other — in my own wordsSay where you stand your own way.

Now select the options that make the most sense for Fairfield ↓

Step 4 · When the cameras run

Pick one for the hours — then check any extras you agree with.

Only at arrival & dismissalOn only when kids are actually being dropped off and picked up. Only during school hoursOn while children are in the building; off nights — and off any day school isn't in session. 24 hours a dayEnforce around the clock. Turn them off — we don't need themNo camera enforcement hours at all. Whatever the hours: off when school's out of sessionIf enforcement runs beyond school hours, at least go dark on weekends, summer, and holidays. (Redundant if you chose "only during school hours.") Review the lowered speed limits themselvesCommission a proper engineering study of the new 20-mph zones — and restore the previous limits wherever the data doesn't support the change.

Step 5 · Signals

Check all the options you agree with.

Flashing lights when activeRequire beacons so drivers can see when the cameras are actually enforcing. Signage is fine as-isThe current warning signs are adequate — no change needed here. Something elseYour own idea for how drivers should be warned.

Step 6 · The processing fee

The add-on fee tacked onto each ticket. Pick one.

No fee — town absorbs itCharge $0; the town covers the processing cost instead of passing it on. Cap it at $5Keep the fee low. State maximum ($15)Set the fee at the ceiling state law allows. Suggest your own amountName the fee you think is fair.

Step 7 · The fines

Check all the options you agree with.

First ticket is a warningNo fine on a resident's first violation. Flat $50, no escalationKeep fines at $50 with no ramp-up for repeats — a bonus: no escalation means no need to track repeat offenders or keep plate data long-term. Suggest your own fine amountName the number you think is fair. Reset the count each yearRepeat-violation tallies start fresh every calendar year. Outreach for frequent ticketsMore than 5 tickets in a year gets a personal call from the Complete Streets Coordinator, Sarah Mason — a safety conversation, not just a bigger bill. Community-service optionLet a fine be worked off with 3 verified hours picking up roadside litter.

Step 8 · Appeals

A real 30-day appeal windowThe town's ordinance gives you only 10 days to contest a ticket — while the town's own materials say 30. Write 30 days into the ordinance.

Step 9 · Data & privacy

Check all the options you agree with.

Delete plate data within 30 daysKeep license-plate reads only as long as needed, and use them only for speed-camera enforcement. No data sharing — and show the access logNever share plate or location data with outside, state, or federal agencies. Disclose who can access it — and publish a log of who has. Right to be forgottenOnce a citation is resolved, a resident can request their data be deleted — and get confirmation it was. Breach penalty — protect it or payIf the vendor's data is breached, every affected resident gets refunded everything they paid. Guard the data or write the checks.

Step 10 · The vendor

Flat fee, not a cut of ticketsPay the camera company a flat monthly fee per camera — costs can scale with the number of cameras, but never with the number of tickets, so no vendor profits from writing more of them.

Step 11 · Growth of the program

A hearing before any new camerasNo new camera locations added without a separate public hearing first. (Nine more zones are already filed with the state.)

Step 12 · Accountability

Check all the options you agree with.

Sunset & annual reviewThe program expires after a year unless the RTM re-authorizes it following a public review of the data. Success means removalIf a zone shows sustained compliance — speeding below a set threshold for six straight months — that zone's cameras come off. If it's about safety, success should end enforcement, not extend it.

Step 13 · Where the money goes

Check all the options you agree with.

Dedicated, segregated fundKeep camera revenue out of general funds so residents can see exactly where it goes. Daily public dashboardPost a running total on the town website — money collected, tickets issued vs. paid — updated daily.

Step 14 · Anything else?

Optional — anything you'd like to add in your own words. It'll be included in your email.

Step 15 · How will you deliver it?

Written comment, sent in advanceWe'll draft an email you can send through the Town's official RTM contact form before the meeting. Spoken testimony — Aug 24 meetingWe'll draft remarks you can read at the mic during public comment (about two minutes). Tip: for spoken remarks, consider selecting only your top 3 items above. Education Center, 501 Kings Highway East, 8:00 pm.

Your tone

Fair & balancedFirm but even-handed. Concedes what's fair, asks for what's right. FrustratedPatience running out — you've been watching this for a year. IncredulousYou've read the record and you can hardly believe it. AngryDirect and heated — but aimed at the process, not at people.

This drafts a message and sends you to the Town's official “Contact the RTM” form. Choosing your district points you to the form for your four district representatives; otherwise it's the form for all 40. So residents can see where the town stands, this page records your details and the options you choose — but only anonymous, aggregate totals are ever displayed (below). Your draft and your personal details are never shown publicly. Organizers may follow up with you.

📊 What Fairfield is asking for — live

Aggregated from every draft created on this page. No names, no drafts — just the tally.

The changes residents want

Keep it or end it?

The mood

Tell the RTM which changes you want