Who’s watching now?

OPINION:

As if the District doesn’t have enough surveillance cameras already, the D.C. Council voted unanimously this week in favor of Council Chairman Vincent Gray’s Street Sweeping Improvement Enforcement Amendment Act of 2007, which doesn’t make sweeping changes in street cleaning but does give Big Brother new eyes to crack down on parking violators. At a cost of $40,000 each (an annual salary for some in the workforce) street sweepers would be outfitted with cameras to photograph illegally parked cars for ticketing. If passed next month in a final vote, the legislation will equip just two sweepers to start. If the sweepers encounter any illegally parked cars during their rounds, the cameras will photograph the cars and scan the license plates. From there, the Department of Public Works takes over by issuing tickets.

The council seems to imply that without these additional cameras, the streets would be overrun by litter and scofflaws. But the real problem lies with the management of parking enforcement. Public-works officials say that only 20 percent of the street-sweeper routes have sufficient patrols. Well, has public works given any thought to rerouting ticket writers?

We certainly appreciate the city’s dedication to keeping our streets clean, but this move is nothing but another opportunity to fleece city residents — and to do so in the name of clean streets.

Policies don’t necessarily have to be either or situations: Either the city sweeps neighborhoods streets or residents get to park near their homes. This new idea from City Hall sounds like something straight out of nickle-and-dime days of the old Barry and Dixon administrations. The only difference now is that council members themselves won’t be ticketed because a Republican — Carol Schwartz — took the lead a few years back in making sure that lawmakers can’t park as they please without getting hit by parking enforcers. Ordinary, hard working taxpayers won’t be so lucky.

The impetus of Mr. Gray’s bill was financial. But at $40,000, surely it’s cheaper to deploy parttime ticket writers based on public works’ calendars. If those ticket-writers become familiar with the neighborhood, they at least give Mrs. Jane Q. Public a knock on the door and a chance to move her car.

The District already has an extensive network of eyes — traffic, crime and homeland security cameras — watching all corners of the city. Keeping streets clean is a necessity, but not at any and all costs.