BUFFALO, N.Y. — Frustration is still rising weeks after Mayor Byron Brown announced refunds would be issued to anyone who received and paid for a school zone speeding ticket that arrived more than two weeks after the citation was issued.
Community-wide concerns over the city's school zone camera program have only intensified since the start of the program. Over the past few months, more and more calls have been addressed to the city regarding violations that have been issued well after the incident.
With students back to virtual learning, many motorists have taken issue with the fact that tickets have been issued while students are at home, not in school.
Counselman Rasheed N.C. Wyatt has expressed concerns over the rollout of this program from the very start, and he says while intensions were good, the end execution has been beyond disappointing.
"Every time you turn there's another issue," Wyatt says.
The city has encouraged motorists to follow up with a scheduled hearing for anyone who has questions about citations that arrived within the 14-day timeframe. But for those that arrived after the fact, the mayor maintains that those who have not yet paid will not have to and those who have paid will receive a refund.
On December 7, the mayor commented on the problem.
"The City of Buffalo is aware that our School Zone Safety program vendor, Sensys Gatso, experienced a delay in the mailing of thousands of citations due to a combination of severe weather, pandemic related delays, and difficulties the United States Postal Service has experienced," he said.
As for how it is being rectified ...
"Individuals who received a citation that is postmarked more than 14 business days past the date of citation issuance will have their fines dismissed, while those who have already paid their fine will receive a complete refund," he continued.
The question is whether it's too late to fix this lingering problem.
Wyatt tells 2 On Your Side when it comes to this program, in particular, the city is going to struggle regaining the community's trust, which is why he is calling to get rid of it for the time being.
"I don't think there's a single person that says, 'You know, we don't want children to be safe,' but to the extent that this program has gone off the track, I think that we probably just need to eliminate it," he says.
One viewer from Newfane wrote to 2 On Your Side early Sunday afternoon expressing concerns over her late school zone ticket.
"I didn't even realize I was in a school zone until I had gotten the ticket," she says.
The citation was dated November 8 and it was due December 23; she received it three to four days later, like many others.
Parking Commissioner Kevin Helfer tells 2 On Your Side that the viewer's school zone ticket has already been processed for a refund by the vendor, as have many others in the same position.