Spare_change
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- Jun 27, 2011
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The fight over traffic cameras in one Texas city has both sides seeing red - and hired protesters making $18 an hour.
Voters in Arlington, Texas, will head to the polls Saturday to decide whether red light cameras should stay or go, after a charter amendment was placed on the ballot that, if passed, would ban them. Tea Party leader Kelly Canon and another woman, Faith Bussey, spearheaded a petition drive last year to eliminate the cameras, claiming they are money-making machines that do little to deter drivers from running red lights.
Meanwhile, city officials, police officers and the camera company, American Traffic Solutions (ATS), argue the cameras are essential live-saving tools required at traffic spots.While the debate over red light cameras is an old one that spans several states, the situation in Arlington has taken a unusual twist.
A political action committee called, "Save Lives, Save the Cameras," hired a Cleveland, Ohio-based marketing firm to pay people $18 an hour to act as protesters against the amendment, according to Canon and others, including Arlington City Councilman Robert Rivera.
While the firm, Extreme Marketing and Promotions, declined to comment on their involvement, FoxNews.com obtained emails and archived Facebook posts from a firm employee, recruiting "sign holders" and "brand ambassadors" to get "a certain message across with holding signs, during the voting process."
The advertisement calls for candidates who are "outgoing and have high energy" and requires they wear khakis and a "solid nice white top."
"The marketing firm is trying to create an illusion of local support for the cameras," said Canon, who is vice president of the Arlington Tea Party. "You basically have a camera company trying to save their monetary hide. They are creating fake groups that they hide behind."
Voters in Arlington, Texas, will head to the polls Saturday to decide whether red light cameras should stay or go, after a charter amendment was placed on the ballot that, if passed, would ban them. Tea Party leader Kelly Canon and another woman, Faith Bussey, spearheaded a petition drive last year to eliminate the cameras, claiming they are money-making machines that do little to deter drivers from running red lights.
Meanwhile, city officials, police officers and the camera company, American Traffic Solutions (ATS), argue the cameras are essential live-saving tools required at traffic spots.While the debate over red light cameras is an old one that spans several states, the situation in Arlington has taken a unusual twist.
A political action committee called, "Save Lives, Save the Cameras," hired a Cleveland, Ohio-based marketing firm to pay people $18 an hour to act as protesters against the amendment, according to Canon and others, including Arlington City Councilman Robert Rivera.
While the firm, Extreme Marketing and Promotions, declined to comment on their involvement, FoxNews.com obtained emails and archived Facebook posts from a firm employee, recruiting "sign holders" and "brand ambassadors" to get "a certain message across with holding signs, during the voting process."
The advertisement calls for candidates who are "outgoing and have high energy" and requires they wear khakis and a "solid nice white top."
"The marketing firm is trying to create an illusion of local support for the cameras," said Canon, who is vice president of the Arlington Tea Party. "You basically have a camera company trying to save their monetary hide. They are creating fake groups that they hide behind."