The close relationship between Rochester Assemblyman David Gantt and lobbyist Robert Scott Gaddy is again being questioned, this time over legislation to install red-light cameras at intersections in New York.

The criticism comes from industry officials who allege that Gantt, D-Rochester, the powerful Democratic head of the Assembly Transportation Committee, recently introduced a bill that would favor an Albany-area firm’s bid to install the cameras at intersections across the state.

Gaddy, according to state records, was hired last year for $80,000 by the company, CMA Consulting Services Inc. He served as an aide to Gantt from 1995 to 1998.

Gantt’s measure has befuddled other companies that install the cameras nationwide, in part because Gantt had previously opposed the cameras.

Gantt said he knows nothing about Gaddy’s clients and introduced the bill because some counties, including Erie, Broome and Nassau, want to be able to install the cameras. He said he’s not even sure he supports the legislation himself.

“I put in a bill,” he said. “I don’t have a right to put a bill in?”

Current law prohibits cameras in all communities except New York City, which uses the cameras to track drivers who speed through red lights. The legislation would allow any county to install the cameras.

The bill states that “red-light camera systems are aimed at helping reduce a major safety problem at urban and rural intersections, a problem that is estimated to produce more than 100,000 crashes and approximately 1,000 deaths per year in the United States.”

The bill also says that the size of the problem “establishes a need for a large-scale demonstration program in the state of New York to examine the effectiveness of such systems.”

Cristina Weekes, vice president of marketing at Redflex Traffic Systems in Scottsdale, Ariz., said the legislation would be fine if it didn’t specify radar technology that’s only produced by CMA.

“It’s an industry concern over the legislation that appears to favor one company over the vast majority of prevailing technology that is out there,” she said.

CMA did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday. The company is headed by Kay Stafford, a trustee of the State University of New York and widow of the late North Country state Sen. Ronald Stafford.

Gaddy declined comment Wednesday, but said earlier this week that the technology, which is created by Swedish firm Sensys Traffic, can be used by other businesses.

Gaddy’s relationship with Gantt — who has said that “Gaddy is like a son to me” — has come under fire in recent years.

After serving as a Gantt aide, Gaddy developed a sizable lobbying business, including work in Rochester for the Rochester Rhinos soccer team, the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority and the Rochester City School District.

In 2004, Gaddy was dumped by the school district after concerns that he didn’t adequately represent the district in a spat with Gantt over school aid.

James Bowers, a former city school board member and Gantt foe, has been critical of the relationship and said he’s not surprised the issue has been raised recently in Albany.

Gaddy and Gantt have denied there is any quid pro quo. But Bowers alleged that the hiring of Gaddy to curry favor with Gantt is “the cost of doing business. This is very similar to the experience I had when I was on the board.

“When I got there, Mr. Gaddy was the district’s lobbyist. And it was explained to me that this was our ‘Gantt tax.’ This is what we had to do to try to ensure that the assemblyman would respond to us.”

The battle to win the camera contract has been fierce. Another firm, American Traffic Solutions, also based in Arizona, has paid powerful lobbyist Patricia Lynch and Associates $78,000 over the past year to represent them in Albany.

It’s unclear if the legislation will receive approval before lawmakers head home in late June. Weekes said it is her understanding that the measure has not made it out of committee because of the strictness of the language that allegedly favors CMA.

Gantt declined to discuss the status of the bill, which has also been introduced in the state Senate.Source: Democrat and Chronicle