Idris Yusuf outside Jerry Schaeffer's offices after being kicked out of a meeting on the medallion legislation.
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Welcome to “The Voice of DC Cab Drivers,” brought to you by the Dominion of Cab Drivers, here on WUST 1120 AM. I’m Pete Tucker with TheFightBack, TheFightBack.org. Happy May Day.
Leon Swain is no longer chair of the D.C. Taxicab Commission. Tuesday afternoon, Swain was fired by Mayor Vincent Gray. Wednesday Gray’s office sent out a press release which said, “City Administrator Allen Y. Lew informed Mr. Swain at close of business April 26 that he would not be reappointed and thanked him for his years of service to the Taxicab Commission and District government.”
Nathan Price, chair of the DC Professional Taxicab Drivers Association, responded to the firing: “Leon Swain was chosen to be the chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission in 2007, but like many other campaign workers before him, he was unqualified to be the head of a regulatory agency. Hopefully Mayor Gray will nominate a person with regulatory experience.”
The mayor’s press release said: “Dena Reed has been appointed Interim Chairperson of the D.C. Taxicab Commission as Mayor… Gray completes his search for a permanent Chairperson to replace former Chair Leon Swain… Ms. Reed served for the last year and a half as the Taxicab Commission’s General Counsel. She previously served more than two decades with the D.C. Office of the Attorney General.”
At the March 17th meeting of the D.C. Taxicab Commission Leon Swain wore a gun. We now turn to a piece that not only deals with that issue, but also sheds some light on Dena Reed, who attempted to kick Jason Smith, a Fox 5 photojournalist, out of a public meeting of the D.C. Taxicab Commission:
[Audio of Leon Swain and Dena Reed (3:25)]
That was a clip from the March 17th meeting of the D.C. Taxicab Commission in which then-General Counsel, now Interim Chair, Dena Reed attempted to ban Fox 5 photojournalist Jason Smith from the public meeting.
Wednesday, there was an important meeting at the offices of D.C. taxicab mogul Jerry Schaeffer at 3399 Benning Rd, NE. More than a dozen drivers and fleet owners met to discuss the medallion legislation. Among them was Mohammad Momen, owner of Silver Cab. Mr. Momen said that he had some concerns about the medallion bill but overall he supported it so long as he received enough medallions.
Initially, Mr. Schaeffer told me I was welcome to attend the meeting. However, John Ray, the former councilmember and leading medallion mouthpiece, kicked me out. About an hour later, Ray kicked out nearly all of the drivers, including Hermes, of UCC:
[Audio of Hermes interview (4:00)]
That was Hermes of UCC, directly following his being kicked out of a meeting with John Ray and other taxicab drivers and fleet owners at Jerry Schaeffer’s offices at 3399 Benning Rd, NE. Also kicked out was Dominion of Cab Drivers’ very own Ali and Idris Yusuf:
[Audio of Ali and Idris Yusuf interview (7:11)]
That was Ali and Idris Yusuf, two of the drivers kicked out of Wednesday’s meeting at Jerry Schaeffer’s offices by John Ray, the former councilmember and leading medallion mouthpiece.
This is “The Voice of D.C. Cab Drivers” brought to you by the Dominion of Cab Drivers. I’m Pete Tucker with TheFightBack, TheFightBack.org. For any listeners who would like to talk in person, I’ll be standing outside the gas station at 15th and U Streets, NW each and every night from around 8:00 – 9:15 p.m. for the foreseeable future.
I’m joined in studio by Ali and Pete Harman, both of whom are members of the Dominion of Cab Drivers.
Related Stories:
- Mayor Gray Fires D.C. Taxicab Commission Chair Leon Swain
- Leon Swain, Chairman at Arms
- How many D.C. taxicab drivers on the D.C. Taxicab Commission?
And more related stories:
First two shows of “The Voice of DC Cab Drivers”