LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF DC CAB DRIVERS, JUNE 6:
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[The next scheduled meeting of the D.C. Taxicab Commission – according to the DCTC website (dctaxi.dc.gov) – is Wednesday, June 15, 2011 10:00 a.m. at the U.S. Park Police, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW, 2nd Floor Auditorium]
Wednesday, June 1, hundreds of D.C. taxicab drivers rallied at Freedom Plaza in front of the John A. Wilson Building to call for an end to the attacks on the industry. Drivers highlighted two main issues: the medallion bill and the attempted change to Title 31, the legal framework that governs the taxicab industry. The rally was organized by The Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers.
Haimanot Bizuayehu is a board member of the group, as well as chair of UVC. Bizuayehu said, “our industry is under attack… by the Council [and] the D.C. Taxicab Commission.”
[Haimanot Bizuayehu]
Nathan Price is also a board member of the Association, as well as chair of DC Professional Taxicab Drivers’ Association. He laid out some of the proud history of the D.C. taxicab profession and asked, “How can you justify destroying 6,000 jobs?”
[Nathan Price]
Nathan Price, who was the MC for the rally, raised the possibility of boycotting Jerry Schaeffer’s taxi companies. In a recent article in City Paper, Alan Suderman, aka Loose Lips, noted, “[T]here’s one driving force behind the [medallion] bill: Jerry Schaeffer, the city’s taxi king, who owns more than a dozen cab companies, sells cabbie insurance, and owns a whole lot of District land.” Price said, “If he doesn’t back off of us, we will unite and we will boycott the Schaeffers.”
[Nathan Price 2]
Nathan Price discussed the recent incident at the D.C. Taxicab Commission. May 27, a dozen drivers attempted to submit a petition of more than 900 signatures in opposition to Interim D.C. Taxicab Commission Chair Dena Reed’s attempted rewrite of Title 31. Instead of accepting the signatures, drivers were pushed out, the doors were locked, the lights were turned out, the police were called, and Ms. Reed referred to the drivers as “a mob.” At Wednesday’s rally at Freedom Plaza Nathan Price said, “Dena Reed must go.”
[Nathan Price 3]
John Capozzi is the former shadow representative for the District of Columbia and a regular taxicab passenger. Capozzi said, “Maybe we need a medallion bill for lawyers like John Ray in this city. Maybe we could limit them.” Capozzi also pointed out that the all-important primary elections for D.C. Council are in April, less than a year away.
[John Capozzi]
Tony Norman is a lawyer with deep community roots, as well as an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 1. Norman was recently brought on by The Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers to assist with community outreach. He said, “We need to raise the consciousness of the passengers and the… citizens of the District of Columbia [so they know] that this is not just a fight about cab drivers.”
[Tony Norman]
Negede Abebe is a board member of the Association and chair of Grand and Travelers Cab Company. Abebe said, “the [medallion] bill is a coverup… It is all about money.”
[Negede Abebe]
Ali is a member of the Association and a board member of Dominion. Addressing the crowd at Wednesday’s rally Ali said, “There are a few city councilmembers who knowingly or unknowingly are… selling out thousands of people to a few fat cats who have already become millionaires on the back of hardworking taxicab drivers.”
[Ali]
Idris Yusuf is also a member of both The Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers, as well as Dominion. Yusuf discussed Interim Chair Dena Reed’s attempt to rewrite Title 31 and the lack of driver representation on the D.C. Taxicab Commission.
[Idris Yusuf]
That was Idris Yusuf. Just a few hours before Wednesday’s rally, at the mayor’s weekly press briefing, I asked Vincent Gray about the conduct of the D.C. Taxicab Commission as well as Ms. Reed’s attempt to rewrite Title 31. Gray avoided the question, saying, “I think like any industry there will be some things that the drivers will like, there will be some things that they probably will not like.”
[Mayor Gray]
Despite the fact that the D.C. Taxicab Commission falls under his purview, Mayor Gray declined to discuss the Commission’s recent actions and conduct.
While D.C.’s highest elected official may be turning a blind eye to the attacks on independent owner/operators, one of D.C.’s leading journalists is doing just the opposite. This week on NewsTalk on TBD/NewsChannel8, Bruce DePuyt continued his coverage of the District’s taxicab industry.
Appearing on Wednesday’s NewsTalk were Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser, Ward 5 Councilmember Harry “Tommy” Thomas Jr. and Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells. All three are members of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, to which the medallion bill has been referred.
Mr. Wells chairs the Committee.
[Councilmember Wells on NewsTalk]
Host Bruce DePuyt put the medallion question to Councilmember Thomas.
[Councilmember Thomas on NewsTalk]
That was Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. appearing on NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt on tbd/NewsChannel8. Thomas said he authored the medallion legislation. However, according to a May 22 editorial in the Sunday Washington Post, Thomas may not be the bill’s author.
The Washington Post editorial, entitled “Taxi trouble” reads, “[Councilmember Marion] Barry acknowledged to us there were problems with the bill, which he said was written by John Ray, a former council member representing cab owners and drivers.”
In front of the John A. Wilson Building, directly following a heated March 30 press conference on the medallion bill, drivers engaged Ray who said he “played a big role in writing the bill.”
[John Ray]
The May 22 Washington Post editorial said, “That Mr. Thomas – who wouldn’t talk to us about why medallions are a good idea – has personally used Mr. Ray to represent him in the separate matter of still-unresolved questions about his nonprofit should add to the unease. Mr. Ray told us he saw no problem in writing legislation to benefit one group of clients while getting another client to advance it.”
This past Tuesday, I joined Bruce DePuyt on NewsTalk to discuss last week’s taxi raly and some of the major issues drivers are facing.
[Pete on Newstalk]
Past shows of The Voice of DC Cab Drivers:
- The Voice of DC Cab Drivers, May 29, 2011: DCTC Locks Drivers Out
- The Voice of DC Cab Drivers, May 22, 2011