COLUMBUS – Acting on the advice of Columbus City Attorney Rick Pfeiffer, the city has cancelled its contract with the red light camera company Redflex, which has been embroiled in a bribery scandal.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
After a former Redflex executive pleaded guilty to bribing Columbus officials to install the cameras and keep them operating in the city, City Council President Andrew Ginther asked Pfeiffer to examine the way the city handled the awarding of the red light camera contract and whether the city can get out of it, according to a release Wednesday morning from the office of Mayor Michael Coleman.
Pfeiffer’s office concluded the city acted appropriately told Coleman the city has power to terminate the Redflex contract.
“Based upon the City’s contract authority, we will be terminating the contract with Redflex immediately. I support a photo red light camera program because it saves lives, however the actions of the Redflex executives have raised questions about the integrity of their program,” Coleman said in the statement.
Karen Finley, 55, of Cave Creek, Ariz. pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery.
Court records show that, from 2005 to 2013, Finley made campaign contributions via the state Democratic Party to elected public officials in Columbus and Cincinnati.
Ginther, a Democrat, was not named in court documents but media reports indicated he was believed to be one of the officials who received contributions that originated with Redflex. Ginther, a candidate for mayor, says has never met Finley and has no say in whom the state party supports.
The cameras were installed in Columbus in 2006 but were turned off in March after state law limited their use.