None of three Scottsdale, Arizona city council members succeeded in their bid for re-election yesterday. A surge of write-in candidates, none of whom secured the required majority of votes, have forced a May 16 runoff election. Many local issues fueled the disapproval of residents, but one activist places the city's unilateral decision to issue speed camera tickets on the Loop 101 freeway in February at the top of the list. As of March 8, the city had generated more than $1,538,286 in revenue from the program.

Michael Merrill, who headed the campaign to remove the council incumbent Kevin Osterman from his seat, told TheNewspaper that Osterman's vote in favor of photo radar was a primary motivation.

"We are doing what we believe needs to be done to send a message to the rest of the council that when we say we don't want you doing something this stupid, we mean it," Merrill said.

With all precincts reporting, Osterman landed only 23 percent of the vote while a challenger candidate, Tony Nelssen, secured the highest vote total of the four men named on the ballot.