Now that Michael Mukasey is our nation’s attorney general, let’s put aside our differences over the questionable practice known as waterboarding (not really — keep the pressure on, good people), and turn our attention to a local problem within our “fare” city.
At the start of the month, a leading local news website (okay, maybe the leading local news website, Chattanoogan.com) reported on the most recent meeting of the Taxi Board, and immediately raised a few eyebrows in the process. (Note: further research revealed that television station WRCB was investigating the matter as early as summer 2007.) The crux of the matter is a pair of votes by the board that reek of conflict of interest, and that possibly point to corruption.
The first vote tabled the question, until next month’s meeting, of the ability for an entrepreneurial-minded taxi driver to start his own firm. Even though the issue was tabled, it should be noted that the intent of the board seems to be to prevent any new taxi company from starting up. The second is even worse, as the board declined to significantly punish one of the major taxi firms for blatant violations of its license by one of its drivers. These outcomes are thought provoking because the five-member board contains two members who, taken together, happen to own or control some 85 percent of the taxi business in the city.
The first question you may be asking is, “How does a member of the taxicab industry become seated on the board that regulates the taxicab industry?” The answer to that comes as somewhat of a surprise: in an ordinance dated August 1993, the City Council provided for it. “Such Board shall consist of three representatives of the Tourism Industry, four taxicab industry members, and two citizens at-large . . .” That’s nine persons, by my count. Four from the taxicab industry would not make up a majority. However, the ordinance was later revised to require only five members, and some contend that a quorum of only three can meet and make decisions. Any way you look at it, the taxicab industry appears to enjoy an unfair, conflicted presence in the agency that is supposed to oversee its operations.
Are there really enough taxicabs currently in operation in Chattanooga? Not to mention the expansive tourism industry that brings more than a million people to town every year, we just found out that the U.S. Census Bureau had under-counted our population by over 13,000 souls — and I’m willing to bet that some of those people need to call a cab from time to time. If a competitor can offer better service, and there is market demand, then the decision ought to be a simple one: bring on the competition!
The bigger question — how can a regulatory agency properly oversee an industry when the industry has undue influence on the oversight board? — outlines the ugliest side of this city’s landscape since all those nightclub burnings a few years back. With verbal threats and intimidating postures (according to one attendee at the last meeting), the existing industry captains evoke a corrupt atmosphere that begs for a fresh approach. The waiting list for new permits includes existing companies — multiple times — and deceased persons, ahead of people who legitimately want to provide taxi service to city patrons.
The saga isn’t over, as City Council member Manuel Rico has engaged the veritable swarm of city attorneys to rewrite the governing ordinance yet again. Let’s pay attention, and let’s hope that they set some better ground rules this time. In the meantime, take the bus.
