http://camerafraud.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/houston-chronicle-outs-annise-parker/

Houston Chronicle Outs Annise Parker

And the other shoe drops. Annise Parker could have used an escape clause to get Houston out of its contract with ATS, following last November’s vote to ban red light cameras.

There’s nowhere else to hide for Mayor Parker who has clearly chosen the interests of American Traffic Solutions over her own city. The Chronicle has the story..

Red-light saga leaves Houston no cheap way out

City could’ve opted out early on for $3 million, but now costs could go to $20 million

By CHRIS MORAN
July 7, 2011
 

The city of Houston might have been able to shut off its red-light cameras within four months of voters demanding it in last November’s elections, but the Parker administration opted not to use an escape clause that would have meant more than $3 million in continuing costs while the clock ran out.

Eight months later, the city continues to grapple in court with the company that operates the cameras and contends that damages could reach $20 million over the life of the contract if the controversial devices are not reactivated.

Faced with that potential liability, Mayor Annise Parker declared Wednesday that the cameras soon would resume issuing citations.

Instead of using its four-month escape clause in November, the city declared that the election immediately voided the contract and ordered Scottsdale, Ariz.-based American Traffic Solutions to shut off the cameras within days. Litigation ensued, of course.

Last month, a federal judge ruled that it was the election, not the contract, that was void. The city now faces a fight with ATS over what to do about the eight months the cameras were off before Parker’s announcement.

The escape clause is called a termination for convenience, and it allows public agencies to unilaterally end contracts when done in the government’s best interest.

http://drev.me/nJoYTA  or http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7644185.html#ixzz1RTopMlYz

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