Joe Kubicki, the City of St. Petersburg’s Director of Transportation and face of the city’s controversial red-light camera program, is retiring.
Kubicki’s last day at City Hall is May 5th, according to Benjamin Kirby, spokesman for St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.
Kubicki joined the city in 2003 following a 30-year career in transportation planning and neighborhood design issues, including transportation consulting work with such projects as Tropicana Field and the Pinellas Trail.
As director of this department, Kubicki oversaw short and long range transportation planning, including neighborhood traffic calming programs, bicycle and pedestrian planning, and garage and on-street parking. He also functioned as a liaison with regional, state and federal transportation agencies.
However, it’s Kubicki’s management of the red-light camera program for which he has become best known. Kubicki has had to defend the program to elected officials and citizen activists like Matt Florell against charges that it is primarily a revenue-generating program for the city.
The red light program is slated to end when it stops becoming profitable or by Sept. 30.
