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What's Wrong
with the
Taxi Permit Holders' Ballot Measure... |
Why would anyone oppose
a measure that would allow taxi permit holders a disability
exemption from their driving requirement? Read on.
Permit holders have been issued city-owned
taxi permits (medallions), obtained for a nominal application
fee. Permit issuance is not based on seniority.
Permits are issued to persons who have placed their
names on a waiting list. A permit applicant need only
drive 156 four-hour shifts to qualify for a medallion. |
Most permit holders turn the medallion over to a
cab company and typically receive lease fees of $1,800
a month for its use. The permit gives the holder a
number of other advantages, such as choice of shift,
the best cabs, etc. In return, permit holders are
required to drive the cab an annual minimum of 156
shifts of at least four hours. That’s an average
of only three four-hour shifts a week.
Fewer than 1,000 of San Francisco’s
5-6,000 cab drivers have taxi permits. The
permit applicants’ waiting list has over 3,000
names on it. The current wait of
12 years is sure to increase dramatically
owing to the size of the list and the dearth of available
permits.
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Endorsers
of No on N include:
San
Francisco Democratic Party
Log
Cabin Republicans of San Francisco
S.F.
Labor Council
S.F. Planning
and Urban Research Assn. (S.P.U.R.)
S.F. Chamber
of Commerce
Service Employees International Union, Local 790
Pride
at Work, AFL-CIO
United Taxicab
Workers/CWA
Franklin
D. Roosevelt Democratic Club
(serving the senior and disabled communities)
Noe Valley Democratic Club
Irish-American
Democratic Club
Filipino American Democratic Empowerment Council
S.F. League
of Conservation Voters
Assemblyman Leland
Yee
Supervisor Tom Ammiano
and
Supervisor Gavin Newsom
Former Supervisor
Sue Bierman
Former Supervisor
Leslie Katz
Mara Kopp
John Shanley
Rebecca Silverberg
Agar Jaicks
Jane Morrison
Richard Ow
Jeff Sheehy
Criss Romero
Debra Walker
Ramona Albright
Howard Wallace
Carolyn Blair
Sharon Bretz
Ron Dicks
Christina Olague
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School Board Member
Jill Wynns
School Board Member
Eric Mar
Taxi Commissioner.
Paul Gillespie*
Taxi Commissioner
Jack Barry*
Former Police Chief
Tony Ribera
Esther Marks
Esperanza Macias
Denise D’Anne
Lucrecia Bermudez
Robert Pender
Jim Reid
Barry Hermanson
Ron Colthirst
August Longo
Karen Young-Simmons
Jewel McGinnis
Jeanne Lynch
Osserman Caceres
Michael Kwok
Bruce Oka
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* For identification purposes only.
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This is
an exclusionary measure. |
It gives the privileged
minority of taxi permit holders a lifetime
income in case of permanent disability, but provides
nothing for a disabled driver without a permit. A
fair measure would provide disability protections for
EVERYBODY. |
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It is really
a retirement scheme. |
Although couched
in the language of disability, this measure will allow
a permit holder to keep the medallion for life
once he or she can no longer drive a cab. Conventional
disability benefits last only until retirement.
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ALL permit
holders will be eligible for this retirement |
Even if they've been
cab drivers for less than a year. Even if they work
three four-hour shifts a week.
Even if they have other full-time jobs, with disability
benefits and retirement pensions.
In contrast, drivers without permits get NOTHING.
Even if they’ve been driving for 20 years and
work 60 hours a week.
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It will
be paid for by the labor of the excluded group. |
Permit lease fees
are paid for through the "gate" fees cab drivers
pay to the cab companies for renting taxis. Typically,
about $30 a shift or more, or about one-third the driver's
gate, goes to pay the permit holder's fee. |
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Non-permit
holders get NOTHING |
Even if they've been
driving for 20 years, and work 50 hours a week or more. |
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The potential
for fraud is enormous |
Cheating on the driving
requirement has been rampant for many years. This measure
gives cheaters an out from driving. Permit holders will
find out what flies: bad backs, pinched nerves, what
have you. Proposition N contains no standards
or guidelines for what constitutes a disability,
or how that is to be determined.
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The wait
for a medallion will be endless |
The applicants list
will go at a crawl as 3,000-plus permit applicants wait
decades for their medallions. Meanwhile, retired permit
holders will get their monthly checks without lifting
a finger. Some will get them for 30 years or more. |
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Absentee
permit holding makes for bad public policy. |
| The public is better served
when the person responsible for the cab is also behind
the wheel. |
We
need disability protections
for ALL cab drivers,
NOT just
the privileged ones.
VOTE NO ON N
We
can stop this from happening. Here's what
you can do:
- Come to our
next campaign committee meeting. Meetings are held
every Thursday at 1p.m. at 2940 16th St, room 314.
- Talk to your
fellow drivers. Let them know about this threat
and ask them to help fight it.
- Talk to your
passangers, family and friends. Written materials
to hand our to the public are available from United Taxicab
Workers.
- Make a donation
to the campaign. Permit holders will be spending
lots of money to get this passed. We need
your finanzial help to fight it effectively. Bring or send
your contribution to UTW, 2940 26th St.,#203, San
Francisco, CA 94103. Make checks payable to "No on
N." Or simple click on the Donation button on the left.
- Call for more information
about how you can help: 864-8294.
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