HEATH, Ohio -- This city's three-month experiment with traffic-enforcement cameras proves they slow motorists and increase revenue.

What's unclear is the political costs to be paid by city officials when residents vote in November on whether to keep the devices. People on both sides of the issue are saying that public sentiment against the cameras could translate into votes against candidates who are seen as supporting them.

In Heath, where cameras generated $554,729 in fees in their first two months of operation, Mayor Richard Waugh said he understands why the anti-camera crowd would want to make him the poster boy for photo enforcement.

"It's unfortunate that we always have to think politically," he said. "I got a lot of comments about, 'Why not wait until next year?' But if people only are worried about staying in office, it stagnates the political process."

Waugh said he does not believe that the majority of Heath residents are single-issue voters; he does believe that many longtime residents recognize that people are driving slower on Rt. 79. He said the decline in tickets, from more than 3,500 in the first week of July to fewer than 800 the first week of September, shows that the cameras are working.

That decrease also means less future revenue for the city, which had budgeted $100,000 in income from camera fees for 2009. Officials have not yet decided what to do with the money, which is being added into the city's general fund of about $7 million.

In Zanesville, where public officials have just begun to discuss using red-light cameras along the busy Maple Avenue corridor, the mere mention of photo enforcement is stirring debate.

Safety Director Robert Brandford said city officials are looking for ways to limit accidents along the corridor, which the Ohio Department of Transportation rated as one of the most dangerous sections of roadway in the state.

Branford said he knows that the cameras have caused controversy elsewhere and said the city will listen to residents' concerns.

"One thing we want to be sure of is that the public is educated about the process," he said.

Councilman D.J. Dittmar, who also is a member of the traffic committee, said he is worried that some members of city government might be more motivated by potential revenue than by safety. And with the public outcry the cameras have generated in places such as Heath and Chillicothe, he said it's unlikely members of the City Council will vote for them during an election year.

"Heath's heat is radiating all the way out here now," Dittmar said.

That's a message camera opponents in Chillicothe want their local politicians to hear, too. Bruce Arnold, a member of the group Citizens Against Photo Enforcement, said several of the organization's members are seeking City Council seats in the fall election. The proposed ordinance is similar to a charter amendment in Heath,

The group collected enough signatures to put an ordinance on the November ballot that would put an end to using photo enforcement in the city.

Arnold said public anger there is sure to work against the incumbents.

"A lot of people are pretty upset about how City Council handled the issue," he said.

jjarman@dispatch.com

Public opposition could translate into votes against those who support them.