Folks, when I read this article I couldn't believe a scamera salesman would think the paper wouldn’t check his facts!

This advocate ACTUALLY WORKS FOR A CAMERA COMPANY and he didn’t even mention it to the city council!  IT GETS EVEN BETTER:  The "death" he used to sell St. Pete on RLC.  THE PAPER CAN'T FIND IT!  They have checked HISTORICAL DATA BASES GOING BACK over 2 decades.  HECK THE St. PETE TIMES even tried looking at Social Security Data.  HIS BROTHERS NAME DIDN'T SHOW UP.

So I ask the readers on Ban the Cams.

Do you think this man is maybe not being completely Truthful???????  I don't know, the paper seemed to give the indication that he might not be.  But I will let you be the judge.  I will just laugh my butt off.

One thing to remind everyone though.  The SCAMERA SIDE loves to push emotional arguments.  The one below in the paper is a classic. 

The reality is that scamera vendors spend most of their time citing technical fouls.  In RLC case: like right turn on reds (and no I don't think HB 325 language really prohibits it, the language allows interpretation), stop line violations, and split second mistakes (beware that many towns will turn to shorten ambers next to churn tickets).

(In Speed cameras case, which this guy was trying to sell too, REQUIES a "speeding" problem you only get when you UNDERSET A LIMIT below 85% speeds.  There is a nice article on an ACS town Gaithersburg, MD DOING THIS:  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/31/3125.asp )

Without those technical fouls, THERE IS NO BUINSESS CASE FOR PHOTO ENFORCMENT!  That is fact! Otherwise Collier County wouldn't have stated a few months ago ATS would leave if the county stopped right turns on red citations.  (They have since started shortening their ambers, so I guess they have figured out how to churn some more tickets).

 
http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/passionate-advocate-of-red-light-cameras-wants-to-sell-them-too/1091453
 
Passionate advocate of red light cameras wants to sell them, too
By Michael Van Sickler, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, April 30, 2010

 
 
ST. PETERSBURG — On April 1, Robbie Marsade couldn't have been more convincing.
The City Council was voting on whether to approve the use of cameras to nab motorists who don't stop at red lights. Three residents spoke against the cameras, saying the cash-strapped city's real motivation was to make money.
But then, in a personal testimonial, Marsade told the council that the cameras were about saving lives, not raising revenue.
"My brother was killed by a speeder," said Marsade. "This person was driving so fast through red lights that the emergency medical service had to make a second trip to the car to get the other half. Now, do you want to apologize to me for not enforcing this law, and say, 'Well, you know, some people say it's a revenue generator?' "
Yet, in this graphic plea that was televised to thousands of homes, Marsade failed to disclose that he was in the business of selling cameras to cities. After the council voted 7-1 vote to approve cameras, Marsade met individually with council members to promote his company, Mobile Video Violation Detection Co.
He had already met with Mayor Bill Foster, who supports the cameras, before the vote.
No other vendor has made such a blatant appeal for support with the city. Now that state lawmakers have approved a bill that legalizes the cameras, Foster and the council must decide if the city will install and operate the cameras itself or hire a contractor — like Marsade.
Camera contracts can be quite lucrative because the vendor gets a percentage of the fines.
Marsade, 42, who lives near Crescent Lake, was the only one from the public to speak in favor the cameras at the hearing. He said this week that he didn't think it was necessary to mention that he potentially had a financial interest in the vote.
"It really wasn't the place for it," Marsade said. "The purpose for me to attend the meeting was to make sure the law was enforced."
He said he has only recently gone into the red light camera business. His business model is a bit different, placing cameras in vans that can shoot video of red light running and other traffic offenses.
His company isn't registered with the Florida Division of Corporations. Yet council member Karl Nurse said that Marsade told him in their meeting that his cameras were used in several other cities.
Not exactly, Marsade said.
"I'm working with other cities in Illinois and Arizona," he said.
In what capacity?
"I'm bidding on contracts in these states," he said.
But Marsade wouldn't say which cities, claiming it was privileged information.
In the same interview, Marsade repeated that the cameras were important to him because of his brother.
"The EMTs had to make a second trip to get his legs," Marsade said.
But when asked about the crash, Marsade refused to provide details. He said his brother's name was Sammy but wouldn't spell it or confirm that he had the same last name.
"It's been a while," Marsade said when asked when the crash happened. He wouldn't give a year or the name of the city or county where it happened.
"Please don't ask that question again," Marsade said. "I'd like to keep it private. It's a very sensitive subject to me."
Using the last name of Marsade, the Times searched for any mentions of a child or adult killed by an automobile. Robbie Marsade's background check does not show a relative of the correct age to be a deceased brother. A search of newspapers through the Lexis-Nexis publication database found only 2 mentions of that name, both about Robbie.
Since that database of newspapers goes back only to the mid 1990s, the Times also checked the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times historical archive for any occurrence of the name Marsade.
Nothing came up. Additionally, the Social Security Death Index shows no person in the entire nation who has died with that last name.
When Marsade was told that his brother's name didn't exist in the public records reviewed by Times, he still refused to provide more detail.
"I have to leave some things quiet," Marsade said. "When the timing is right, I'll talk about it."
Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this story. Michael Van Sickler can be reached at (727) 893-8037 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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