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[In addition to listening to The Voice of DC Cab Drivers on the radio, you can listen live online at wust1120.com or on your phone at (712) 432-6620.]
Tonight, we continue to examine what’s going on with Prince George’s County’s taxicab industry.
The Prince George’s County Taxi Workers Alliance must get 3,300 valid signatures from registered Prince George’s County voters by August 28 in order to place the anti-driver legislation known as CB-3 on the ballot as a referendum in 2012.
The Taxi Workers Alliance put a great deal of effort into organizing signature gathering teams for Aug. 2, National Night Out. But at Beckett Field in New Carrollton, Dele Omonijo and Lemma Desalegne, both members of the Taxi Workers Alliance, say they were run off by a New Carrollton police officer.
Omonijo and Desalegne say that Officer Lyew, badge number 3112, told them they had to pre-register in order to collect petition signatures at a public event.
In an interview conducted Friday at Beckett Field, Omonijo and Desalegne discussed their attempts to bring the situation with Officer Lyew to the attention of New Carrollton Mayor Andrew Hanko, as well as New Carrollton Chief of Police David Rice.
Unfortunately, neither Mayor Hanko, nor Chief Rice, were available for comment Friday. Nor were they able to join us this evening.
New Carrollton City Administrative Officer Mike Downes did not respond to today’s invitation to join the program. But in an email to TheFightBack, Downes denied the accusations laid out by Omonijo and Desalegne. Downes wrote:
“The gentleman representing the taxicab company at the City’s National Night Out celebration was annoying the participants and was politely asked to stand at the main entrance and solicit his petition signatures as opposed to wandering around the premises annoying people. He agreed and that was that. He did not make contact with Mayor Hanko, but rather Chief Rice was the city representative with whom the gentleman conversed. Chief Rice conferred with me and I approved what I thought was a fair solution. He had access to all of the participants as they either entered or departed.”
Those are the words of New Carrollton City Administrative Officer Mike Downes. I’m sorry neither Mr. Downes, nor Mayor Hanko, nor Chief Rice could join us this evening.
We now turn to an interview I did Friday with Dele Omonijo and Lemma Desalegne at Beckett Field.
[Omonijo and Desalegne]
Drivers are collecting petition signatures in order to place the recently passed, anti-driver legislation, known as CB-3, on the Nov. 2012 ballot as a referendum. In order to achieve this they need to collect 3,300 valid signatures from registered Prince George’s County voters by Aug. 28 (and then they’ll need to get an additional 6,700 signatures by 45 days after Aug. 28).
Presently, the Taxi Workers Alliance has some 2,000 signatures. In a little bit, we’ll be speaking with Henock Wogderse, one of the lead organizers of the Taxi Workers Alliance. Wogderse will give us an update on where things stand with the petition gathering and he’ll explain how anyone interested, including D.C. drivers, can help out.
But before that, we turn to an interview from last month with Prince George’s County Councilmember Mary Lehman. Here on The Voice of DC Cab Drivers Lehman discussed the problems with CB-3, which overturned the driver-friendly legislation known as CB-36, which was unaniously passed by the Council just a year ago.
Here is District 1 Councilmember Mary Lehman.
[Councilmember Lehman]
Joining me on the phone is Henock Wogderse, one of the lead organizers for the Prince George’s County Taxi Workers Alliance.
[Phone conversation with Wogderse]
When we come back, we turn our attention to the District of Columbia, where the Taxicab Commission has a new chair in Ron Linton. Recently, I asked drivers at the gas station at 15th and U Streets, NW if they had any suggestions for Mr. Linton.
But first, Michael Franti’s “Bomb the World.”
[“Bomb the World”]
This is The Voice of DC Cab Drivers, brought to you by Dominion of Cab Drivers, a member of The Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers.
The Small Business Association consists of the following driver-owned cab companies and associations: Allied Cab, Ambassador, Black Pearl, Camel, DC Professional, Dominion, Grand, Luxury, Pleasant, Seasons, Swift, Travelers, UCC, Washingtonian, Welcome, and Wonder Cab.
Drivers affiliated with other companies, or independent drivers, can also become members of The Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers by visiting the officers of one of the driver-owned companies that make up the association, like UCC/Luxury/Black Pearl, whose office is located at 2711 26th St, NE, or Grand/Travelers’ offices.
For drivers interested in staying up on the D.C. taxi industry’s latest news, you can join the Saturday night 9:00-11:00 p.m. phone conference which is conducted in both Amharic and English. I work with Ermias Wosenu to produce the English segment of the phone conference. The call-in number is (712) 432-3100 and the code is 140-465.
The D.C. Taxicab Commission has a new chair. July 27, Mayor Gray named Ron Linton to the position. At the gas station at 15th and U St, NW, drivers offered some suggestions to the new taxi chair. We begin with Mr. Muhammad, followed by Dawit Negash and Sampson Dankwah.
[Driver suggestions for Linton]
Wednesday evening, I joined Haimanot Bizuayehu, board member of The Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers, as together we appeared as guests on the Latino Media Collective on WPFW 89.3 FM, Pacifica Radio. Haimanot and I discussed the latest D.C. taxi issues with host Oscar Fernandez.
[WPFW interview]
Past Shows:
- Taxi Leader Haimanot Bizuayehu, August 7, 2011
- Gray Names New Taxicab Commission Chair, July 31, 2011
- Examining Taxi Issues in D.C., Prince George’s and Arlington, July 24, 2011
- A Discussion on Service Animals in Cabs; Wells Removed as Chair of Transportation Committee, July 17, 2011
- A Debate on the Future of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, July 10, 2011
- P.G. County Pushes Forward with Anti-Taxi Driver Legislation, July 3, 2011
- Journalists Arrested at Public Meeting of Taxicab Commission, June 26, 2011
- Wells Calls Off Hearing on Medallion Bill, June 19, 2011
- John Ray Continues His Private Meetings on the Medallion Bill, June 12, 2011
- The Freedom Plaza Rally, June 5, 2011
- DCTC Locks Drivers Out, May 29, 2011