Installing traffic cameras at some locations in Bellingham is a good idea.

It's unfortunate that the Bellingham City Council has decided to cancel a planned public hearing on the idea, but if the cameras help stop even one serious accident, they are worth it. If they slow drivers speeding in school zones, that is a good thing for a community.

If you get a ticket from an infraction caught on one of the cameras and you were breaking the law, you deserve little sympathy from your fellow citizens. The law is the law. If you can't abide by it then you should expect to be punished if you are caught.

The Bellingham Police Department first proposed installing the cameras earlier this year, though they have been talked about for a couple years now. Police officials want red-light cameras at four intersections: westbound Holly Street at Forest Street; northbound Meridian Street at Telegraph Road; southbound Samish Way at 36th Street; and northbound Ellis Street at Lakeway Drive.

They would also like speeding cameras placed in two school zones; on Northwest Avenue by Shuksan Middle School and on Alabama Street a couple blocks from Roosevelt Elementary School.

Police say those locations are the places they most see problems and where they think using the automated devices will make the biggest difference in terms of safety.

How bad are the violations in these locations? A police department study found 52 speeding violations in one hour on Alabama during the school zone time and 30 cars running red lights at Holly and Forest streets during a 7-hour period one day.

Installing the cameras is also an efficiency measure for a city department that, like all departments, is dealing with cutbacks due to the economy. Police Chief Todd Ramsay says it's significantly more expensive to have a police officer on duty at those locations at the needed times every day.

His arguments make sense.

It's the City Council that has made a mess of things. They agreed in September, by a 6-0 vote, to hold a public hearing on the issue and let concerned citizens have a chance to share their thoughts. Then, earlier this month, they canceled the public hearing and announced they had already made up their minds.

We can't imagine why any elected official would ever do such a thing. Why would you promise the citizens you represent that you would listen to them and then cancel their opportunity saying you already made up your mind without their input? That's just bad community management.

The arrival of Tim Eyman in town to argue about the issue brings a bit of a three-ring-circus atmosphere to the discussion that probably makes some council members weary. Eyman, the well-known state initiative proposer, was successful in passing an anti-traffic-cameras initiative in his hometown of Mukilteo this fall. And Eyman knows as well as anyone that his participation in the discussions tends to stir up strong positive and negative reactions.

But this decision has nothing to do with Tim Eyman. It has everything to do with what's right for the citizens of Bellingham. We believe, in the end, installing traffic cameras is a good idea. But the ends do not justify the means and the City Council owes citizens the chance to talk about this issue that they promised them.