LTE: Fourteen Months of Public Notice and You Missed It

Letter to the Editor:

There is a particular kind of outrage filling Fairfield's Facebook groups and comment sections since June 1st, and it deserves to be named directly.

It is the outrage of people who were not paying attention and are now blaming everyone else for it.

Fairfield's speed camera program did not appear overnight. It went through the RTM on February 24, 2025, with public deliberation and an opportunity for residents to weigh in. It went through the Police Commission, which voted unanimously in favor. It was debated openly at Board of Finance budget hearings where the Police Chief was questioned directly about violation projections and revenue. It was discussed at the Board of Selectpersons. It was reviewed and approved by CTDOT through a 209 page Municipal Plan process. It was covered extensively in local media throughout that entire period.

Every one of those meetings was public. Every one of those votes is on the record.

Republican RTM members were present for every deliberation and said nothing. Police Commission Chair Jamie Millington voted unanimously with his colleagues to approve it. Selectperson Kupchick, who is now questioning the program's legality, is a sitting elected official who had access to every meeting, every document, and every official channel throughout the fourteen months this program was being built and publicly reported on. If she had concerns about 24/7 enforcement, the time to raise them was then, not after the fines started arriving. Not one person now screaming about transparency raised a single concern during months of open public meetings. The due process crisis that is apparently keeping them up at night was completely invisible to all of them until the fines started arriving in mailboxes.

The people demanding transparency today were not at the RTM in February 2025. They were not at the Board of Finance hearings in March 2025. They were not submitting public comments, writing to their representatives, or showing up to voice concerns. They were not engaged in their local government at any point during the months this program was built, debated, and approved.

And that tells you everything you need to know, because it is the same entitlement driving both complaints.

These are people who believe they are entitled to speed past schools without consequence. And they believe they are entitled to a special form of democratic governance where they don't have to pay attention, don't have to show up, don't have to participate, and then get to point fingers at a lack of transparency when a decision they don't like catches up with them.

Transparency is not a guarantee that you will agree with the outcome. Public notice is not a personal concierge service that ensures every resident pays attention. The meetings were open. The agendas were posted. The votes were recorded. The media covered it. What changed on June 1st was not the availability of information. What changed was the consequence of ignoring it.

The program is working. Violations dropped 77 percent in a single month. Jefferson Street recorded 23 crashes and three injuries over three years. Unquowa Road recorded 10 crashes and three injuries. Redding Road had two fatal pedestrian crashes. These are the roads where children walk to school. These are the roads the cameras are protecting.

Local government works when residents engage with it. It works less well when entitled residents ignore it, get caught speeding past schools, and declare themselves victims of a process they chose not to participate in.

If you missed it, that is on you. Not on the children walking to school on Jefferson Street.

Patrick Smith