From the archives

The flash bulbs at intersections rigged with red light cameras may have had drivers seeing red, but it had cities seeing green while also touting the safety benefits of photo enforcement the week of May 31, 2008.

The costly tickets caused by pesky cameras were being praised by law enforcement and, as a result, began popping up in cities across San Mateo County. San Mateo, Millbrae, Redwood City and Menlo Park already had photo enforcement while other cities like Belmont and San Carlos had approved their installation. More cities were likely to follow suit.

They reduce accidents, increase revenue and free up police officers for other types of crimes, police officers claimed.

Millbrae installed the cameras approximately a year and a half before to monitor four approaches at Millbrae Avenue and Rollins Road. The City Council approved a conservative budget revenue of $100,000. A rough estimate had put ticket revenue closer to $400,000.

The city issued a total of 4,672 citations to red light runners. Each ticket is $385 and of that, $138.50 goes to Millbrae's general fund. If everyone paid his or her tickets, the city would be due $633,000. In reality, approximately 70 percent of tickets are paid, bringing the actual revenue to $443,000. The city rents the cameras from American Traffic Solutions for $5,395 a month - or $64,740 annually.

Land plan moves to Senate

A bill that would save Half Moon Bay from paying $41 million for a federal judgment passed out of the state's Assembly with a 45-19 vote, taking it one step closer to becoming law the week of May 31, 2008.

Assembly Bill 1991, sponsored by Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-South San Francisco, narrowly passed the Assembly May 28, 2008.

Attorneys representing the city claimed AB 1991 was a one-time-only bill custom-built for Half Moon Bay's dire situation. Environmentalists worried it would set a precedent for future developments on wetlands.

Ex-mayor to begin jail term

Former San Carlos mayor Mike King waqs to begin serving a 45-day sentence in July 2008 on two counts of felony fraud, ending a two-year battle to overturn his conviction for defrauding the then-named South County Fire Authority of more than $13,000 to pay a political consultant.

Judge Barbara Mallach affirmed her previous sentence of 45 days jail and three years probation for King, 66, at his first court appearance since an appellate court refused to reverse his 2006 conviction.

The week of May 24, 2008, an appellate court ruled 3-0 not to overturn King's convictions over the defense argument the jury was improperly influenced by faulty instructions and prosecutorial misconduct.

Rather than ask for time to seek further review of the decision, King's defense attorney Chuck Smith asked Mallach to lift a stay on the previously-imposed sentence.

From the archives highlights stories originally printed five years ago this week. It appears in the Friday edition of the Daily Journal.