Columbus, Georgia

TAXICAB COMMISSION

June 5, 2002







A meeting of the Taxicab Commission was held on Wednesday, June 5, 2002 in the

City Manager?s Conference Room, Sixth Floor, Government Center, Columbus,

Georgia.



MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Wallace Archie, Mr. Mark Oropeza, Ms. Diane Quick and

Lt. Julius Ross.



MEMBERS ABSENT: Mr. Charles D. Pattillo and Mr. Darren Phillips.





This meeting was called to order at 3:15 p.m.



MINUTES:



The motion to waive May 8, 2002 Minutes until the next meeting was made by

Mr. Oropeza and seconded by Lt. Ross and carried unanimously by the members

present.



At this time, Lt. Ross apologized for being absent from the last meeting and

requested the number of current Taxicab Commission members. He asked with the

addition of the new members, do we have a quorum today to conduct a meeting.

Mr. Archie replied there is a quorum today, because the new members have not

officially gone through the swearing- in process, and technically until they

have done so, they are not members. So therefore, we have a quorum today, but

said the meeting could be waived if the board decided, until such time the new

members were present. (There was not a motion)



OLD BUSINESS:



Chairman Archiecalled attention to the revised copy of Sec. 21-14.Columbus

Taxicab Commission submitted by Mr. Oropeza. He said it looks good except

for the statement ?the members of the commission shall serve for four years ?

which he said there was an addition which said , ? one can serve

more with the approval of the Council? Mr. Oropeza explained that there was

only a discussion regarding adding this statement; however, it would not be a

problem to add it.



In addition, Chairman Archie pointed out that if a person is willing to serve

more than eight years, he feels they should be allowed to do so, but could be

replaced based on the decision rendered by the Council.



At the request of Mr. Oropeza, Mr. Archie restated the sentence to read, ? the

members of the Commission shall serve for four years and shall be eligible to

serve two full terms which can be extended with the permission of the City

Council.?



For clarification, Mr. Oropeza named the members of the commission as follows:

Two (2) taxicab owners; one (1) taxicab driver; one (1) representative from

the Chamber of Commerce; one (1) from the police department; one (1) airport

representative; one (1) from the hotel/motel Industry; and two (2) at-large

positions).



SECTION 21-8, (10). Dress Code:



Ms. Quick read that ?all taxicab drivers shall wear, as minimum dress, shoes,

pants to ankle length or shorts which are no shorter than two inches above the

knee? applies to dresses also? Chairman Archie concurred that this was a valid

question, and asked Mr. Oropeza to copy the entire draft of revised ordinance

for the next meeting to be taken home and reviewed by the members to be

discussed during the next meeting.



DUAL INSPECTIONS:



At this point, Chairman Archie advised the members that there is a need to

compare White? s Automotive and the Police Department Inspection Sheets side by

side to determine if they are dual inspections and in the interest of cost

effectiveness and time , this process could be eliminated.



Lt. Ross concurred with the concern addressed by Chairman Archie to have the

two inspections coincide. He advised the members that he would approach Major

Graham with the recommendation to see what could be done to make the change to

get an inspection sticker from White?s and a Courtesy? ???? Inspection from

headquarters.



Recommendations:



? Ms. Quick: Stagger inspections ;i.e. inspect Independent in May and

another company in July, etc. instead of inspecting them all at one time.



? Lt. Ross ? Recommend to the Major Graham to continue the Special day Taxicab

Inspection every year.



? Mr. Archie - If the driver is driving to the inspection point, by placing

the ?Not For Hire Sign? in view , the driver would not be required to have a

permit.



At this point, Chairman Archie referred to Sec. 21-4 (par. H). Taxicab Permits

and asked the members to come up with ideas on how to educate the driver .

Some of the ideas expressed were : (1) The driver would be required to pass

a written and oral exam. ( 2) The permit has to be carried with them at all

times while operating a taxicab. It was agreed that this is something the

owners will have to do.





There being no further business to discuss, this meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.











Gloria Carey

Recording Secretary