City Commission - Regular Meeting

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat up here. Heat. Heat.

Heat up here. We're good. Okay, great. We'll get started. Uh for the Villaanga notice of violation 74211, additional time has been requested and so we're going to continue that hearing until the uh next hearing date and he'll get a new notice in the mail. Correct. Right.

Okay. A new notice will come to you in the mail, sir. Okay. Thank you very much. Have a good day. Okay. We'll get started with the uh contested hearings. Uh my name is Josh Brown. I'm a local attorney. I'm the hearing officer for the hearings today. Uh in a minute, you'll stand and be sworn in if you're going to go forward with the hearing. Uh my job today is to determine whether an infraction occurred or not. There's three types of violations. Straight through on red lights, left-hand turn on red lights, right-hand turn. Straight through and left-hand turns, I don't really have any discretion. It's just the position of the vehicle in relation to the stop bar. Uh right-hand turn, I do have some discretion as far as whether I think you were reasonably careful and prudent when you made the right-hand turn. Um uh when we start your hearing, your case will be called. You'll come up to the podium. The officer will present any evidence the city has in the form of video and photographs. And then you can present any testimony, argument, or evidence that you have for me. And then I'll make a decision about whether there's a violation or not. If I dismiss the violation, then there's you to owe nothing and you're free to go. If I uphold the violation, it's $158 statutory fine. We can impose an administrative fee of up to $250, but we typically limit it to $100 and you have 30 days to pay. Okay. Okay. So, with that being said, anybody that's going forward with the hearing today, if you could stand and be sworn in,

could stand and raise your right hand, please. Sir, just so we're clear for the record. Are you not going to raise your right hand and be sworn? Um, I'm here under protest. I'm appearing under understood. I had one I had one question. I had one question. That's all I needed from you. Okay. So, you're not you're not going to be sworn. Anybody that is going to be sworn, please raise your right hand. All right. Do you swear or form the testimony you give today will be the truth? The whole truth? I do. I do. Okay. Thank you very much. All right. We're going to call which case first. And just for the record, if we could say Mr. Monzingo was not sworn in. Yes. Not I will not sit down until I have been seen. I am standing here in front of you. Just so we're clear. Just so we're clear. And I'm asking for Nobody Nobody's asked you to sit down. We just

remain in this case. Got it. We asked if you wanted to be sworn in. You you refused and I understand. Officer, which which case are we calling first? Mr. Monzingo. Yes, sir. Okay. Would you like to come to the podium? No, I would not. Okay. All right. This is violation. Let the city go and then Mr. Monzingo, you'll have an opportunity to tell me what you have to say, but you will not be under oath.

This violation number 1242500179509. This violation occurred on 911 2025 at 8:18 a.m. The violated vehicle is a 2024 Grey Nissan Florida tag 83 Delta Mike Delta India 83DMDI as you see in the first photo. As we go to the next photo, this is a right turn. This is northbound Florida Avenue Memorial Boulevard. The yellow light time was 4.5 seconds. The red light time was 21.7 seconds. The speed limit with this intersection is 40 mph and the vehicle speed was 23 mph. As you see in the first photo, the vehicle is before the white stop bar and the light is red. As we go to the next photo, the vehicle proceeds through the intersection as we will show in the video.

Nope, you're not we're not we're not going to object. He can present his case. You can overruled. Officer, proceed. Objection. For the record, I object to the admission of this evidence. There is no sworn law enforcement officer, no calibration records, and no chain of custody. Only dismant overruled. Go ahead, officer. Respectfully, it is not. I overruled it. If you have another preserving for appeal, sir, it's it's it's preserved. Oh, thank you. C can we run it one more time at full speed, please? I object. signature

without verification and credentials. It's here lacking foundation and cannot be crossed down. I move to strike. Okay. Do you have any other evidence? Just so before the the city proceeds, are there any more? I'm here to argue evidence. Do you have any more evidentiary objections or is it all included in the objections you've already stated? I am not testifying. I'm here to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence. Okay. The evidentiary objection that you made so far are they're all overruled. Uh can you play that at quarter speed, please? Yes sir.

I object for the record. I object to the admission of this evidence. There's no sworn law enforcement. We're not going to restate this. We're not going to restate the same evidentiary objections. I've overruled them and they're custody. They're preserved. This was generated and mailed by a vendor in Tempe, Arizona without proper authentication authentication. The evidence is not competent or substantial under statute 316. I have overruled your evidentary objection. You can make any argument you want in a minute. It is not your turn. And I will tell and the city will state that. You can state whatever you want. The city will not interrupt you when you make any presentation you want to make and you're not going to interrupt the city when they're making their presentation. There are officers here to your to your right who are making the city. They make the presentation. City of Lakeland. I

represent the city. Yes, sir. You represent the city of Lakeland? Yes, sir. As a peace officer, police officer, ba? Police officer. Yes, sir. Staff. Hold on. After he is done presenting, if you have any cross-examination, you can ask questions. You're going to wait a second until they're finished, though. You will have an opportunity if you wish to ask them questions. One moment, though. Can I Overruled. Overruled. I want just please allow me to finish my question to the city. City is not its burden and I I I respectfully respect. Sir, we're going to keep we're going to keep ordering this. You can say anything you want, but you're going to wait till the proper time. Wait, waiting all day, good sir. Wait a moment. The city has not met his burden.

We The city has not had an opportunity to meet its burden because you will not stop talking to allow me to ask them questions. Hold on a second, please. Officer, can you please play a quarter speed so I can see the entire video in slow motion? Yes. Thank you.

Please note my objections for the record. You they're all everything that is being said by all of us is being recorded and you can get a you can use a copy of that recording and to preserve any of your objections and bring them to any appeal in any venue you wish. What you're going to do though is you're going to hold off until I see the video and until the city is done presenting. I just I want to say for the record also I renew and preserve all objections for they're all preserved. And could you just please note my objection for the record? There is a recorded video record. I have all I all I can do is say that I believe you have preserved your objections and appellet.

I would like for you to note on the record that my objections are on the record. They're on the record. So noted. They're overruled, but they're on the record and they're so noted and they're preserved. Okay. From the city. Anything else from the city? Um, this this uh violation overruled what grounds? Sir, I'm not The city is overruled on what grounds? O overruled on the grounds that there is no basis or merit for the objections. Go ahead.

Bas I'm not getting sir, I'm not getting into an argument with you about this. You are going to wait till the city finishes their presentation and then if you want to have a discussion with me, we can do that. The city is going to finish though. Okay. From the city, is there anything else from the city? Um, I just wanted to say that it this violation was reviewed before being issued by myself, a sworn police officer, and that the camera was tested before and after this violation was issued and passed both before and after. Okay. And then in terms of the factors uh regarding whether this was reasonably careful and prudent under the statute, what factors does the city think exist here that indicate to you that it was not reasonably careful and prudent in the right-hand turn on red?

Uh right hand turn on red. The vehicle did not come to complete stop. It was traveling at 23 mph which means it would take approximately 75 ft to stop. Um and also due to heavy traffic in the area. Okay. And the and the traffic is shown on the video. Correct? Yes, sir. Okay. Anything else from the city? No, sir. Okay, Mr. Monzingo, that you are Mr. Monzingo, correct? Sir, I do not answer questions. Okay, sir, they can't record your what? Your sir. No, if you're not at the Hold on before I I I got it. Listen, if you want any That's a great point that the city that the city attorney just made. If you want any of this preserved, you have to say it into the microphone because none of this is being I'm a living man. My voice in the in the wind and the mountains.

Great. Well, good luck bringing the wind in the mountains for your appeal. Okay. Because And I don't appeal to this court or any court. Fine. Then just I just want to make sure you understand because you seemed very concern I understand anything that you are saying. Great. Do you have any questions for the city?

I do not have any questions. I would like to just say pursuant to statute 316.83 and statute 316.640 Florida statutes the city still needs the burden to prove. They still have the bear the burden to prove by competent and substantial evidence that a violation occurred. All notice and service requirements were lawfully completed and the photoac the photographic and video evidence were reviewed by a sworn law enforcement officer meeting statutory certification requirements. Um to date the city has failed to produce um any competent evidence or sworn testimony identifying any such officer providing the accuracy, calibration and maintenance of the camera device relied upon. um absent a live witness with firsthand knowledge and proper authentification of the evidence. The alleged violation is unsupported and must be dismissed for lack of competent ev evidence and defective service for the record,

which again is not on the record because you're not saying it into the microphone. Is it can hear me just fine?

Okay. Do you have anything else to say? Uh, respondent, wherefore I respectfully move this honorable court um to dismiss the notice of violation number 12425001-79509 in its entirety. um order the city of Lakeland uh I also order the city of Lakeland to produce all demanded documentation prior to any further proceedings um and grant such other and further relief as it may be just and proper. I'm asking for maximum hearing remedy in this case.

Okay. Uh your orinous motion that was not made on the record because you're not talking to the microphone is denied. Uh is there anything else? So, did you guys receive my documents? Yes. Your wife dropped them off and I uploaded them to the case. They're in the evidence.

Awesome. Perfect. So, I am the registered owner appearing under protest. Um, I declined to provide information not required by statute. Um, and I cannot sign anything that waves rights. I can sign my name only. And I would like the final administrative paperwork from today's hearing. Anything else, sir? Anything else from you? Okay, I'll take that as a no. Anything else from the city? No, sir. I did not consent and I object to that.

Understood. Overruled. Uh the you don't have to sign anything today. First thing, um I am going to uphold the violation. I'm going to impose the $158 fine. It'll be a $100 administrative fee and 30 days to pay. Any further relief you seek, you would need to seek in another venue in a court uh that is not here. This is just city hall. Uh, have a good day and um, again, you don't have to sign anything today. Okay, sir. Do you understand? Okay. Well, we're I do not understand. Okay. Understood. We're going to move on. We've got another case to call. We're going to get through our Understood. We're going to we're going to go through our docket. Understand me?

Yes, sir. Your hearing is now over. Okay. Okay. So, I'm going to need you to step aside because there's another person here for their hearing. I would like the paperwork to show there's the the paperwork will be mailed to you. Correct. Will be mailed to you. It is not No paperwork is issued today. And as I said before, you do not have to sign anything today. Okay. For the record, I object to the admission of all photographic and digital evidence. Sir, your hearing is over. You're disrupting other hearings at this point. You've made all you've made all of the You've made all of these objections. Sufficiency and legality of the evidence presented. Understood. you then those to the extent you've said under the microphone if I caught any of it they're preserved anything in this appearance shall be deemed a waiver of constitutional protections or statutory rights.

Okay. Thank you very much sir. Have a good day. Next case Mr. Morales. Okay. Good morning Mr. Morales.

Good morning sir. All right. This is violation number 124250021 0635. This violation occurred on 1016 2025 at 4:31 p.m. The violation vehicle is a 2019 blue infiniti Florida tag foxtrot bravo foxtrot tango 23 FBFT23 as you see in the first photo. As we go to the next photo, this is a straight through violation northbound Florida Avenue Memorial Boulevard. The yellow light time was 4.5 seconds. The red light time was.1 seconds. The speed on this intersection is 40 mph and the vehicle speed was 55 mph. As you see in the first photo, the vehicles before the white stop bar light is red. As we go to the next photo, the vehicle continues through the intersection as we will show in the video. We'll now play at a quarter speed.

as you see in the video, the vehicles before the white stop line is red and the vehicle continues through the intersection. Okay. What was the speed? 55 miles an hour. Anything else from the city? No, sir. Okay. Morning, sir. Good morning, sir. Is that your vehicle? It is my vehicle. Were you driving? Uh, I don't know about that. You don't remember? Okay. Go ahead. What do you have to tell me? I have a few questions for the court. Um, just just I'm not a court. Just a just a hearing officer here to hear violations. I'm not I'm not a judge, just a hearing officer. But that being said, go ahead. Um, I would like to ask first, uh, does a private vendor manage the citation programs?

Uh, my understanding I'll let the city address that because they know way more about the the way that works, but it do you want to provide a brief be brief overview of the way the program works? Uh so the city of Lakeland has a contract with V uh Vero Mobility. So they're the ones that um which is a private company. Yes, sir. They're the ones that moni that um install the cameras and um how maintain them and so they the violation all that goes to them first. They create the document and then it is sent to us. We review everything to make sure it is a good violation and then we issue the violation. Okay. And a violation is only issued once a sworn law enforcement officer is has reviewed the evidence. Is that correct?

Yes, sir. Or T or a traffic enforcement officer, which would be Stacy Scott, who's got prior. There you go. Second question. Uh, does a vendor collect and review images before sending them to local authority? Yes, sir. Okay. Um, does the does the vendor forward all of these videos or just some? I'm sorry. Does the vendor uh does he collect and review all these images or just some? Does he forward these to you guys or just some? The the vendor reviews them to make sure it meets um what's in our contract before it to us. Do they do they view all of them? Yes. Yes, sir. They do. And and I think that to just to expound on a little bit, if they don't believe there's a violation, it doesn't get sent to the city. Correct.

Yes, sir. No, sir. That's all documented in our contract. Okay. So with that evidence uh with the fact that it is a private vendor um I move to dismiss the case due to improper delegation of police power. No problem. Uh I'm going to over I'm going to uh deny that motion to dismiss. Deny under the authority I mean this is under case law authority of Hastings versus City of Orlando. Understood. So this anything else in in terms of legal motions? Um no sir. Okay. Is there anything you want to tell me about that the video or the uh the photographs or your vehicle or the evidence or is that all you have for me?

There's also on the time stamp uh above the video where it says red one which is I believe the time Hang on. Are you talking about on one of the photographs? Yeah, right there on the in the black where it says red one red one. I see it. Okay. Yes, sir. That's the time stamp where the car I guess passed through the red light. Um, both of those times are different in both of my pictures. Um, one says 0.1 and one says point 4.

So that that is the red light time as it as it pertains to where you're at in those pictures and in the video. So when your vehicle is the first vehicle or picture where the vehicle is right before the white stop bar, that is 0.1 seconds. That means that the light was red for 0.1 seconds at that time. And then as you drive further into the intersection, it's 04 because 4.3 seconds has passed between the first photo and the second photo. That's why that's different. So the point for is how long it's been read at that point. Is that right? Yes, sir. Okay. This is not even half a second. Sure. In in part and officer, I assume in part the reason it's such a small amount of time is the speed of the vehicle. Correct. Yes, sir.

Okay. Versus if it was the vehicle's speed was slower, then the the uh amount of time that would elapse between those two photographs would be more. Correct? Yes, sir. Okay. Anything else? No, sir. Okay. Um, all right. I'm going to uphold the violation uh on the straight through uh based on the evidence that was presented to me. I'm going to uh impose $158 fine, $100 administrative fee, and 30 days to pay. Thank you very much for coming down here, Mr. Morales. Have a good day. Do we have any other hearings where folks didn't show up? We had one failure to appear. Which one is heel?

Okay. Heel. Yeah, just pull it up. We got to We got to go. All right. This violation is number number 181695 for James Hill. This violation occurred on 942025 at 11:04 a.m. The violator vehicle was a 2023 red Toyota Florida tag 7135 Victor Yankee 7135 VY. As you see in the first photo, as we go to the next photo, this is a left turn southbound Cleveland Heights Boulevard at Edgewood Drive. The yellow light time was 4.1 seconds. The red light time was2 seconds. The speed limit at this intersection is 35 mph. And the vehicle speed was 21 29 mph. As you see in the first photo, click on the vehicle before the white stop bar light is red. In the next photo, the vehicle continues through the intersection as we will show in the video. We'll play a quarter speed.

Light is red. The vehicle is before the white stop bar and the vehicle continues through the intersection. Okay. Thank you very much. That's a violation. $158 fine, $100 administrative fee, and 30 days to pay. That's all for the contested hearings. Yes, sir.

Okay. Um, so the rest of the folks have elected summary disposition. And so that is the $158 statutory fine, a reduced administrative fee of $12.50 and 60 days to pay. And for these folks, I'll read the last five of their notice number and their last name for the record. 49841 Anise 54981 Aras 48223 Azerelli 62505 Brooks 47365 Birch 51748 Cruz 56457 Griffin 49965 Hogan 85878 Irish 75986 Lopez 74948 Love 55889 Mattley 54 4130 Munoz 55970 Parker 90696 Pascalone 70797 PMPA 539-42 Ramos 57737 Rivera 84319 Sartin 49619 Turner 51672 Ventura and 51383 Vahos.

Thank you very much everybody. See you next time.