Xerox subsidiary and Arizona firm set to operate speed camera program
by Mark Reutter 7:20 pm EST 15 May 2017
Nearly $10 million is headed to two vendors to restart the troubled program. A surprise winner: public relations guru Sandy Hillman who was a 'Money Bundler' for the mayor.
"The Pugh administration is set to award nearly $10 million to relaunch Baltimore’s problem-plagued speed and red light camera programs designed to catch errant drivers.
American Traffic Solutions of Mesa, AZ., will be paid $5.4 million to operate the city’s speed cameras under a contract coming before the Board of Estimates on Wednesday, according to the board’s agenda.At the same time, Conduent State & Local Solutions, a subsidiary of Xerox, will be paid $4.17 million to run the red light program under a parallel contract.
“Splitting the award between two vendors,” according to the city Department of Transportation, “provides assurance that if one vendor fails to perform, another vendor under contract [is] ready to to provide these services. . .
A total of 36 fixed and portable cameras are expected to be operating on city streets over the next month. They will include 10 red light cameras, 10 fixed speed cameras, 10 portable speed cameras and 6 cameras designed to detect commercial trucks using car-only streets.
Both contracts will be in effect for five years, according to the agenda, with two 2-year renewal options.
Traffic cameras deliver money to cities where they get installed:
Mayor Pugh has budgeted $8 million in revenues from the electronic ticketing of drivers who run red lights or drive too fast in school zones in her new budget, which begins July 1.
How did ATS come up for the contract award?
the biggest winner of the 16-month-long process, American Traffic Solutions, was represented by Frank D. Boston III, who was paid $20,000 to lobby city officials between February 22, 2016 to December 31, 2016, according to his self-reported statement for 2016.
How's that work, again??? . . . and note this
The PR firm was a "Money Bundler" for the mayor
Another clear winner of the upcoming ticketing program is Sandra S. “Sandy” Hillman.Her Towson public relations firm, Sandy Hillman Communications, is in line for a $625,000 slice of the red light contract apparently to establish a “public information and outreach campaign (PI&O), public relations and advertising,” according to city DOT.
She was awarded the money as a woman-owned enterprise under the city’s minority business program.
Hillman and her husband, Robert, a former city labor commissioner, have been important money bundlers for Mayor Pugh.
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