Leslie Belfor, publisher of the Culver City News.

I was recently blessed with the knowledge that a chunk of my hard-earned money would be going to support Culver City. Now, I don’t mind supporting Culver City per se … I love Culver City … but I would have much preferred to buy some good stuff at local shops or some fabulous food at local restaurants and spread that expenditure out over a few months rather than get a $500+ camera ticket at the intersection of Beethoven Street and Washington Boulevard!

That isn’t even a busy intersection. I think the only reason a camera is there is to make money … not to control traffic. Who wants a ticket of any amount, right? Well … right … but … $500+ for running the tail end of a yellow light at a tiny intersection which rarely has cross traffic anyway?

I’m not saying I’m innocent or that I didn’t deserve to get a ticket. I obviously did. I saw the photo … and the video. I was guilty! But, come on … was I more than $500 guilty? If I had been caught by an actual officer, my ticket would have been a fraction of that amount. I don’t make a lot of money and that month I incurred a $700-auto repair bill. Throw in the $500 ticket and another $135 for traffic school … I was in a bad position when it came to paying my rent.

Robert Zirgulis pretty much based his City Council campaign on getting rid of the unreasonable, expensive and unfair Culver City camera tickets. Although he didn’t win, I’m with him on this point.

Am I more aware of that intersection at Beethoven and Washington? Heck yes! It scares me to death every time I drive through it. Is the idea to have people scared to death while driving? Or is it to deter them from making the same mistake again? I could be deterred for $50 … big deterrence would be $150. But $500 = scared to death.

I say, charge me more for parking in Culver City and give me a break with the camera tickets. Does anyone agree with me? … I bet you’ll agree when you get your Culver City camera ticket!