Gates Mills Seeks Lower Threshold on Speed Cameras, Goes Dark On Limit
GATES MILLS - The Village of Gates Mills endured some controversy in 2023 when they proceeded to go live with a controversial revenue stream with speed cameras on the State Route 322 hill that cuts between Mayfield Heights and Geauga county. The Village had argued the move was strictly for safety and vowed to the public, which was overwhelmingly against it, that they would only be issued citations from the controversial program for vehicles speeding in excess of 61 mph. In a July meeting, Mayor Siemborski has broached the conversation of lowering the threshold for speeding tickets from 61 mph to 58 mph, though he is now going silent on when the change may occur or how low the threshold could reach.
The move was initially discussed in a Finance and Budget Committee meeting in July, where the committee had floated the idea of lowering the threshold even further, to around 55 mph, however Police chief Gregg Minichello stated he did not believe his department would be able to handle the added workload that such a decrease would lead to. According to Minichello, if the village decided to lower the threshold to the 58 mph suggested, the village would see an estimated increase in citations by around 1300 more citations per month.
Despite previous statements regarding the speed cameras being implemented purely for safety, and stating any deviation from the agreed upon issuing limit would need to be approved by the village council, Mayor Siemborski and Chief Minichello have stated unilateral authority in lowering the threshold, provided it is within the 55 mph - 65 mph range originally agreed upon by council when the resolution was passed in 2022. In the July council meeting, a resident spoke up about concerns the village may be mismanaging its speed camera program or at the very least failing to utilize the funds for safety concerns further into Gates Mills, rather than its intense focus on a small strip of road that is on the city limits. Council Member Michael Press echoed this sentiment as he stated he does not see the strip of 322 that cuts through Gates Mills as even technically part of the village. During the meeting, Mayor Siemborski admitted the reason for the change in limit was to raise additional funds for the village.
“Well our safety has already improved, and we want to keep it at that level. It is to raise some additional funds because the costs that have been passed onto us have not passed on to anybody else,” Siemborski said.
According to the mayor, the village does not see its current relationship with the program and the fees paid to the Lyndhurst court that processes payments for the village as subsidizing the court, but rather paying them for their service. Follow up inquiries to this move has yielded a complete blackout for the public.
During the September meeting, Gates Mills Council member David Atton inquired with the mayor on if the police department was still going to proceed with issuing citations to drivers at the newly lowered speed. In his response, Mayor Siemborski stated the matter would be decided internally without council communication or approval.
“After the last meeting we discussed that internally and we have decided that we are not going to provide that information publicly, it is of no use to us,” Siemborski said. “We are not going to indicate to people that we have changes the speed or to what level or what number or up or down.”
Drivers should be aware that at this time, the mayor and Police Chief will no longer be communicating with the public on the matter and will be operating autonomously from council. Previous council discussions had stated the threshold drop from 61-58 mph for citation issuance could happen as soon as September, though there is no word on if it has yet occurred.
