MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE
TAXICAB COMMISSION OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA
APRIL 2, 2008
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mr. Wallace Archie, Lt. Julius Ross, Mr. James Brooks, Mr. David Cassell, Mr.
Robert Kidd and Ms. Diane Quick.
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Mr. James E. Nash
VISITORS: Jeff Johnston
A meeting of the Taxicab Commission was held in the Ground Floor Conference
Room of the Government Center. Chairman Wallace Archie noted that a quorum was
present and called the April 2, 2008 meeting to order at 3:10 p.m.
Approval of Minutes:
Chairman Wallace Archie immediately called attention to the January 2, 2008
minutes. Mr. Robert Kidd made a motion for acceptance of the minutes, seconded
by Ms. Diane Quick and approved unanimously by the members present for this
meeting.
Taxicab Public Agenda Request:
Chairman Archie called attention to several applications that were submitted by
Mr. Jeff Johnson to appear before the Commission. Chairman Archie said he would
read each item listed on the applications. He said if there were any questions
from the members of the Commission he would address them and there would be no
more than five minutes of discussion on each topic.
A) One Price Taxi Fare:
Chairman Archie said the first item states, the Taxicab Commission needs to
have only one price for taxi fares. Chairman Archie said his belief is that
the Columbus Taxicab Commission does not set the prices, the Columbus Council
does. He said consequently this has nothing to do with the Columbus Taxicab
Commission. Chairman Archie stated the Columbus Council set one price and it is
the owner?s decision to use it or not.
Lt. Ross informed the Commission that Council had revisited this item and
elected not to make any changes.
B) Drug Test:
In the second item Mr. Johnson made a request for all taxicab drivers to submit
to a drug test after an accident within twelve hours or lose their permit to
drive a taxicab in Columbus. Chairman Archie asked what was the status on this
situation.
Lt. Ross said the drug test would come into effect if there were probable cause
to indicate that there is some impairment. He said if there is not reason to
believe that there is impairment, the testing couldn?t be done. He said if the
Company wants to do a random drug test on a driver that is involved in an
accident whether the driver is impaired or not, then the company can make that
a contractual agreement.
C) No Smoking:
In the third item Mr. Johnston requested that there be no smoking in taxicabs.
Chairman Archie said that he had never read the Georgia Free Air Act of 2005
and asked was there any information that pertains to cabs.
Lt. Ross said there is nothing in the Georgia Free Air Act that pertains to
cabs, but company owners could make it a policy.
D) Drug Screening:
The fourth item requested by Mr. Johnson was that all Columbus taxi drivers
submit to a drug screening to receive a taxi permit with each driver paying for
their own drug test.
Chairman Archie said the Commission has talked about this before and the City
Attorney advised that this would have to be a requirement enforced by the
company owner.
E) Police Department & Ft. Benning MWR:
The fifth item requested by Mr. Johnson was for the Columbus Police Department
to work hand and hand with Ft. Benning MWR Taxicab Commission to crack down on
taxicab drivers abusing drugs.
Chairman Archie stated the MWR does not have a Taxicab Commission and then
turned the discussion over to Lt. Ross.
Lt. Ross said Ft. Benning has a contract with their cab drivers and as part of
that contract the drivers agreed to be drug tested. He said once you enter
into this contract it becomes a medical bit of information that only the
contract person can use and said by law Ft. Benning cannot disclose any
information pertaining to the driver as it relates to drug test results. He
said unless a criminal charge is made, Ft. Benning cannot disclose that
information.
F) Seven Year Old Taxi:
In the sixth item listed Mr. Johnson requested that their be a ban on taxis
that are older than seven years. He explained that this would provide newer,
better, and cleaner taxis for citizens to travel in.
Chair Archie said this is something that we have discussed before and as of
right now there will be no changes made.
G) One Price On Cabs:
In the seventh item listed Mr. Johnson requested that all taxicabs have one
price.
Mr. Johnson explained that there is a lot of conflict deriving from the
difference in pricing in the taxicab industry. He said some customers feel
mistreated or taken advantage of because they may see a taxicab with a lower
rate than the one they chose to ride in.
Chairman Archie said he has not ran into any of those problems and said as long
as the price on the door is the same as the price on the meter it should not be
a problem.
H) Monthly Meetings:
In the eighth item listed Mr. Johnson requested that the Taxicab Commission go
back to having monthly meetings.
Chairman Archie said he does not think the Commission should go back to monthly
meetings because we have the means to call a meeting if it is an emergency.
Old Business
A) Raising Of The Rates:
Chairman Archie said there was a committee formed to do research on raising the
taxicab rates and at that time Chairman Archie opened the floor for the
committee to bring forth their recommendations.
Mr. Brooks distributed handouts to all Commissioners outlining recommendations
for raising the rates. Mr. Brooks read through the handouts and explained each
recommendation made.
Lt. Ross distributed a chart that he put together showing taxicab rates of
various cities in Georgia.
Mr. Cassell said he pulled rates for all U.S. cities and all are different. He
said he likes the chart that was put together by Lt. Ross and said Columbus
falls in the mid range of the charges.
Discussion went on about this matter for another thirty minutes with all of the
Commissioners expressing their views and ideas about raising the taxicab rates.
Chairman Archie said that he does not agree with going before the Council
asking for a rate increase when most cab drivers do not take advantage of using
the maximum rate. He said that he would like to impose upon the Commission to
look at eliminating, all together, going to City Council and asking for a
raise. He said he would like to be specific and look into three primary items:
surcharge, minimum fare and hot meter. He said he would like the Commission to
concentrate on those items because it would not be considered asking for a
raise.
Mr. Brooks suggested that the Commission visit this issue a couple more times
and asked the Commission how much time did they think it would take to do more
research and come up with a solution. Mr. Brooks said that he would like to do
a called meeting to discuss these issues again.
Lt. Ross disagreed with having any further discussion on this matter. He said
until the City of Columbus has come up to the maximum rate he does not see a
reason to change anything.
B) Resignation:
Chairman Archie announced his resignation from the Commission. He said after
this meeting he would be resigning and would accept nominations for a new
chairman.
Ms. Diane Quick made a motion for Mr. Cassell to fill the seat of the chairman,
seconded by Mr. James Brooks and approved unanimously by the members present
for this meeting.
Meeting adjourned @ 4:31 p.m.
________________________________
Tameka J. Colbert
Recording Secretary
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