By Gregory Korte
Enquirer staff writer

Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken said Thursday he would veto any ordinance by City Council to install cameras at intersections to catch red-light runners.

"I think it's Big Brother. I think it's an invasion of privacy," Luken said, a week after City Council voted 6-3 to seek proposals from camera makers. "I am troubled by the installation of cameras by government to watch our every step."

Luken said he was making his intentions known now to be fair to those who might bid on the city contract. He said he would depart from his previous policy and veto the legislation even if the first council vote showed overwhelming support. The council can override a veto with six votes.

City Manager Valerie Lemmie proposed the cameras in March as a way to make some intersections safer, while possibly increasing revenue.

She imported the idea from her previous job in Dayton, where cameras helped reduce crashes at intersections 60 percent from the previous year and the tickets have generated $175,200, paying for new police cruisers.

Councilman David Pepper, who chairs the Law and Public Safety Committee and supported the cameras as a way to concentrate police resources on fighting violent crime, said Luken should have raised his privacy concerns long before now.

"You shouldn't have a setup where the mayor is vetoing his own administration's proposal. Does he know how much time they've put into this?" Pepper said. "That's totally dysfunctional, broken government."

Luken has used the veto only twice since the new "stronger mayor" charter amendment gave him that power in 2001.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com