Expressing Opinions

I find it hard to believe people would let the following go on, not be outraged, and demand some accountability.

I like this headline on today’s Philly.com, “Red lights mean green for GOP”. You think the article is about the red light camera but as you read on in the story you realize there is some dubious dealing go on there. Corruption!

Here are some quotes from the story, but you should follow the news link and read the story in it’s entirety.

Although the installation, equipment, ticketing and collections for the red-light program are handled by outside contractors, the Parking Authority has established a red-light unit with five employees. It’s run by a Republican ward leader, Christopher Vogler, who has two GOP committeemen among his four staff members.

The bulk of the $6 million that the Parking Authority has spent on the program so far has gone to a single company: American Traffic Solutions, the Scottsdale, Ariz., firm that owns the 52 red-light cameras installed at 10 Philadelphia intersections.

ATS is paid $4,995 a month for each of the 52 cameras now in place. Its operations produce about $3 million a year in revenues for the company, and potentially more if the red-light-camera program is expanded, as the Parking Authority wants to do.

Mark Poserina, in charge of the local ATS office, is the son of a former Republican ward leader - Philadelphia Senior Judge John J. Poserina Jr., who gave up the GOP leadership of the 31st ward when he was elected judge in 1983. Poserina’s successor as ward leader was Vincent J. Fenerty Jr. - now the Parking Authority’s executive director.

Is this what we are willing to accept? Shouldn’t we expect and demand more? Is there political cronieism and possibly contract fixing going on in Philadelphia? Remember the Red Light Cameras Too Good posting on Sunday? In a different news story, the city of Dallas paid $3,799 for each of their red light cameras. Did the city of Philadelphia take the most competitive bid or did they take the most profitable bid the Republican Party? Philadelphia is paying $1,195 more per light, plus there is the profits from the lights themselves, and all the money seems to be going to the Republican party in Philly. Do you think the founding fathers would be proud?

Thank you for visiting Expressing Opinions.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 10:45 am and is filed under politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.