REQUEST TO BUY THIS PHOTOAndy Ginther

Columbus City Council President Andy Ginther said he feels vindicated by an official review that concluded procedures were followed when council approved multiple contracts with the city's red-light camera provider.

Responding to a report released Wednesday, July 1, byCity Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr., Ginther said "our unprecedented 10-step process of checks and balances worked in awarding contracts for photo red-light cameras," according to a statement.

"While the first contract process began three years before I joined council, the city attorney reconfirmed city laws were followed and the process was transparent for each contract," the statement said.

Ginther, also a candidate for mayor this fall, was swept up in a bribery scandal in which Karen L. Finley, former CEO for Redflex, the city's red-light camera provider, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal-programs bribery.

Finley, 55, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, according to U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Ohio. She told federal authorities the company made campaign contributions from 2005-13 to influence winning contracts in Columbus and Cincinnati.

Ginther was not named in the document but was identified as one of potentially several elected city officials involved in the scandal. Federal law-enforcement officials traced campaign contributions from Redflex via the Ohio Democratic Party to Ginther's campaign through well-connected lobbyist John Raphael, according to published reports.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman, whom Ginther seeks to replace, also was questioned in the investigation after money was traced to his campaign and he sold his house at 1362 E. Haddon St. on the city's East Side for more than its market value.

Ginther's opponent in the race for mayor, Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott, said Ginther is far from being exonerated.

"I'm confident the contract was probably sufficiently written and all the documentation was appropriate," Scott said, referring to Pfeiffer's review. "The contract is not what's in question. The contract has nothing to do with the investigation. The investigation's about bribery."

Both Ginther and Coleman have denied any wrongdoing.

In his report, Pfeiffer pointed out that the idea for implementing red-light cameras came from Columbus police Lt. Jeff Blackwell, "who initiated the formation of a committee of city officials from various departments and offices to explore and consider the use of photo red-light cameras as a means to reduce the number of traffic accidents at intersections caused by motorists running red lights."

Council approved the first of three contracts with Redflex in 2005. The cameras went live the following year.

The city's 44 red-light cameras went dark earlier this year after the state legislature essentially made it illegal to operate them. The city of Columbus is appealing that decision.