City Scraps Street Sweeping Camera Plan

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 16, 2010 6:40PM

Citing the cost of the project, the City is scrapping a plan to mount cameras on street sweepers that would film illegally parked cars, giving the City proof to ticket the scofflaws and generate more revenue. Street sweepers have been at the center of a lot of controversy lately, what with that new schedule in place. And, according to CBS 2, there are still issues with simply keeping the machines running.

Eighteen of the sweepers are under repair or getting maintenance, says Eileen Joyce, deputy commissioner in the Department of Fleet Management. All this while complaints from residents are up. Thirty complaints were being handled by Streets and Sanitation; nine new ones were reported Thursday.

Thirty-second Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) says he's been frustrated with the level of service in his district. He said sweepers show up late or break down. "In the last three days, it's happened every day," he said.

The plan to mount cameras on the street sweepers would have cost $7 million, a chunk of change Ald. Waguespack points out could go somewhere else: "The $7 million can be spent on hiring drivers to fill those sweepers and get the job done at the street level."