Greens Oppose “Big Blue Brother”

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

July 15 -- Despite outcries from its two Green Party members that “Big Brother” could be boarding Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus, the City Council Tuesday approved surveillance systems for many of the City’s transit fleet.

Without public comment, the council voted 5 to 2 to approve nearly $4.7 million to revamp 88 buses with refurbished wheelchair ramps and seat inserts and add security video systems to nearly 125 buses.

The cameras are designed to “help reduce vandalism and graffiti, improve security, provide information on passenger and driver disputes, and lower fraudulent claims,” according to the staff report.

It was the idea that the government could be watching you, however, that drew the ire of the council’s two Green Party members.

“Tracking the movements of our citizens is something that happened in the totalitarian regimes before the Iron Curtain fell,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown.

McKeown pulled the item from the consent agenda, but failed to gain support to hear it at a later date so it could be debated by the public.

Calling them the “rolling ambassadors” of Santa Monica, McKeown said he understood the value of upgrading the City buses.

However, in the post 9/11 age of the Patriot Act – which curtails civil liberties and gives the government wider powers to watch citizens – McKeown said he is “disturbed over the installation of video cameras” on public transit.

McKeown was not alone.

“The issue of civil liberties needs to be taken seriously,” said fellow Green Party member Michael Feinstein.

“This is the second time we’ve had a civil liberties issue buried deep inside a consent item,” said Feinstein, referring to an ordinance to mount cameras near stoplights to catch motorists who run red lights.

Despite a vocal minority, most on the council felt there were other factors to consider.

“This is more about public safety than surveillance or spying on people. More people are concerned about security,” Council member Pam O’Conner said.

Those who use the bus at night, women riding alone and the elderly are all bus patrons and may welcome the added protection, O’Connor said.

McKeown countered that the “Big Blue Bus is not like the New York subway or even the Los Angeles Mass Transit.”

Council members Robert Holbrook and Ken Genser argued that government intruding on the public’s privacy for increased safety is not without precedent.

Responding to a question by Holbrook, staff affirmed that, in fact, the local School District mounted cameras aboard school buses several years ago.

“Like the inside of an airplane,” Genser said, “the inside of a bus is not a public space. I do not see this as a civil liberties issue.”