Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE

TAXICAB COMMISSION OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

November 5, 2003



MEMBERS PRESENT

Chairman Wallace Archie, Mr. Mark Oropeza, Lt. Julius Ross, Mr. David Cassell,

Mr. Robert Kidd, Mr. James Brooks and Mr. Lorenzo Landrum.



MEMBERS ABSENT

Ms. Diane Quick









A meeting of the Taxicab Commission was held in the Ground Floor Conference

Room, of the Government Center. Chairman Archie, noted that a quorum was

present, called the November 5, 2003 meeting to order at 3:07 p.m.



Minutes of Previous Meeting:



Chairman Archie called attention to a correction that was pointed out by the

Recording Secretary in the July 15, 2003 Minutes, which reads ?(A copy of this

document was not provided.)? He said that the word not should be removed from

that sentence. He then called for a motion to accept the minutes. Mr. Oropeza

moved that the minutes be accepted. Seconded by Lt. Ross and carried

unanimously.





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Meeting for the month of October:



Chairman Archie apologized for last month?s meeting where there were not enough

members present for a quorum to conduct the meeting. He then thanked those

members that were present. To prevent this from happening in the future, He

suggested that 24 to 48 hours prior to the meeting date, that Deputy Clerk of

Council Davis would send the members a notice about the meeting and please

respond to let her know if you can or cannot attend the meeting. Mr. Brooks

suggested an alternate date be established if the commission is unable to meet

on the regularly scheduled meeting date. Chairman Archie expressed some

concerns with this suggestion. Lt. Ross said that he would have to plan to

have the first Wednesday and the second Wednesday open all the time. Mr.

Oropeza said that if there is an urgent issue; then, we could schedule a

special called meeting, but if not; then, we could wait until the next

regularly scheduled meeting.



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Proposed Vehicle For Hire Ordinance:



Chairman Archie advised that he was informed by Deputy Clerk of Council Davis

that the proposed Vehicle For Hire Ordinance has been sent to City Manager

Cavezza and City Attorney Fay. He made some further comments, which were

clarified by Deputy Clerk of Council Davis by stating that City Manager Cavezza

sends a summary sheet to each department that may or may not be affected by the

proposed amendments and request that suggestions and comments be submitted on

the matter. She explained that once the deadline for comments has been reached

and if there are no comments or suggestions from the various departments; then,

the amendments are sent to City Attorney Fay for him to draw up a draft

ordinance, which would include the amendments proposed by the commission. She

added that it would be presented to the Council on First Reading, and if there

are no delays, it would be voted on the following week. In response to a

question of Mr. Brooks, Deputy Clerk of Council Davis replied that the

ordinance would not come back to the commission, once the City Attorney has

made the necessary changes, but she could follow up with City Attorney Fay to

ask him to provide her with any changes made to the proposed ordinance and she

could submit that information to the commission members. Lt. Ross confirmed

that the ordinance has been sent to City Attorney Fay and the Police Department

has been contacted about the amendments. He pointed out that the ordinance is

being changed drastically, as far as the literature or language, to put it in

what they think is a more coded format. He said that he believes that it is

the intent of City Attorney Fay to allow the commission members to have a look

at it.



There was some discussion regarding the process for ordinance amendments, at

which time, Deputy Clerk of Council Davis responded to those questions.

Several members expressed concerns in that the commission would not have an

opportunity to review the changes before City Attorney Fay presents it to the

members of Council. Lt. Ross informed the members about possible changes that

he has been made aware of, which deals with the increased lapse in time before

sex offenders are allowed to obtain a taxicab driver?s permit.



SECTION 21-5. CRIMINAL RECORD OF DRIVER APPLICANT:



Mr. Brooks called attention to Sec. 21-5 (2)(a), which reads ?Convicted of, or

been on probation, parole, or served time on a sentence for a felony within the

last two (2) years.? He then expressed concerns with a particular situation

where a driver has obtained a driver?s permit, soon after being released from

prison. Lt. Ross being familiar with the situation, explained the

circumstances involved, which allows this individual to obtain a driver?s

permit. He maintained that the individual has served his time and is not on

parole or probation. He pointed out that the existing ordinance has a

conviction date, but it does not state how much time was served; therefore, his

conviction date is well within the time frame to obtain his taxicab driver?s

permit. He went on to say that this individual has incurred the raft of the

judge that has put him into a work release program for nonpayment of fine.

Making some observations, Mr. Cassell determined that the current ordinance

addresses date of conviction and that is when the time starts; instead of the

date of release, which means that a person could serve fifteen years in prison

and could get out and obtain a permit, because the time frame has elapsed since

the time of conviction. Lt. Ross explained that the time frame would be

revisited. Mr. Brooks suggested separating the provisions for sex offenders as

opposed to other types of offenders.



Driver?s Test:

Chairman Archie asked if everyone has had an opportunity to review the test for

the drivers. He then opened the floor to any suggestions. Mr. Oropeza called

attention to questions 14 and 20, which are basically the same question.

Chairman Archie said that he would replace one of the questions with another.

There were no other questions or concerns raised.



Police Inspection Sheet:

Chairman Archie reviewed the Police Inspection Sheet with the members, at which

time, Mr. Brooks commented about the inclusion of tire inspection on the Police

Inspection Sheet, which he feels is redundant. Mr. Cassell contended that the

Taxicab Inspection is for mechanical inspection; whereas, the Police Inspection

is for appearance. With this understanding, Mr. Cassell agreed that the tire

inspection should be on the Taxicab Inspection Sheet.



Several members expressed their opinion regarding wheel covers or hubcaps.

Chairman Archie envisioned that the Inspection Sheet would be posted at the

Taxicab Company; therefore, the drivers would know what to expect when they

bring their cars for inspection. Lt. Ross suggested that the Police Department

could devise a system for putting the inspection sheet in a carbon or copy

format; therefore, when a car passes or fails an inspection, they would know

the reason why, because a copy would be given to the driver. He recalls that

this has been a problem in the past, because drivers didn?t have anything to

present to the owners about the reason the car did not pass and would complain

about the inspection to the owner.



Mr. Brooks expressed his concerns regarding the appearance of the driver being

used as a factor to be considered when the inspections are conducted. Lt. Ross

explained that the Police Department has the authority to check the driver?s

appearance whether the individual is there for inspection or not and went on to

express the reasons for doing so.



In conclusion of this discussion, Chairman Archie pointed out that this is just

a draft, because when it comes down to it, the Police Department would make the

final decision about what they want or don?t want in there.



Driver?s Permit:



Chairman Archie suggested that whenever a driver goes to the Police Department

with that letter from the company owner that he is about to be hired, somewhere

on the letter it should state that the driver has taken the driver?s test, the

score and the signature of the owner. He contended that this would put the

responsibility of the test on the owners. Lt. Ross suggested that if this

statement could be included in a block on the driver?s permit application from

the owner, this would alleviate the need for additional paper work. After some

additional thought, he also suggested that there could be included an oath on

the bottom of the application that must be signed by the individual. He

maintained that it would be a felony if the individual makes a false swearing.



Several members made comments regarding the process the driver must follow

through the Police Department to obtain a driver?s permit. After Lt. Ross

pointed out that if we began conducting the national criminal history; then,

the process could take two or three weeks before the driver?s permit is issued,

Chairman Archie suggested a temporary permit, but Lt. Ross expressed his

concerns with temporary permits.



Current Vehicle For Hire Ordinance:

Lt. Ross brought to the attention of the commission members the concerns that

had been expressed to him by Ms. Diane Quick, who stated that new drivers are

getting a different kind of ordinance than what she has on file. He pointed

out that the Police Department does provide the drivers with the current

ordinance, but the drivers that had been in the business for a while, sometimes

continue to hold on to the older versions. He suggested that the company

owners could check to make sure that the drivers have a current copy of the

ordinance.



Police Department Receipt:

In response to a question from Mr. Brooks regarding receipts from the Police

Department, Lt. Ross and Chairman Archie joined in communicating that a driver

should receive a receipt with the permit each time.



Taxicab Commission Chairman:

Chairman Archie advised that nowhere in the ordinance does it state how long a

member would sit as the chairman. Consequently, he consistently opens the

floor for nominations. He informed the members that he would open the floor at

next months meeting for chairman.



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There being no further business to come before the commission, Mr. Kidd made a

motion for adjournment, which was seconded by Mr. Oropeza and carried

unanimously at 4:17 p.m.







By: _____________________________

Sandra T. Davis, Recording Secretary