San Francisco Locals, Bloggers And Press Needed In Front Of City Hall
Tuesday, October 16th From 12 Noon to 1:00
Indie Cab Drivers Need Show Of Numbers
October 12, 2012 (San Francisco, CA) — Small business owners will effectively be wiped out next week when the City of San Francisco once and for all takes taxi medallions from the waiting list and sells them for profit. Greed seems to be at the heart of this issue which local politicians either enforce or turn a blind eye to. Press and media have been silent on this story since August thereby leaving citizens uninformed.
San Francisco cab drivers, some of the City’s working poor, can be helped by local government representatives, like Supervisor Malia Cohen of District 10, if they will come to their aid on Tuesday. Cab drivers fervently hope that Supervisors, citizens and reporters will join them in front of City Hall on October 16th, 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM.
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has usurped rights to medallions (i.e. cab permits issued by the City). MTA has announced the cancellation of the medallion waiting list system effectively shutting out cab drivers who in San Francisco are forced to operate as independent businesses, but who are subject to restrictions and regulations unheard of in other industries including double taxation.
Under Prop K taxi medallions were non-transferable. They were issued exclusively to cab drivers who put their names on a waiting list. For cabbies medallion ownership brings significant advantages including choice of company to work for, shift scheduling and increased income (non-medallion cab driver income in San Francisco is approximately $20,000 a year including tips). Prop K allowed drivers who could never have afforded the purchase of a medallion to obtain one and to thereby have their own stake in the taxi industry. For the public this type of medallion system means a more experienced workforce, driving safer vehicles.
Currently about 1,400 drivers are on the medallion waiting list. Drivers like San Francisco native Iza Pardiñas, one of very few women cabbies in the City, have waited 16 years or more for a medallion (she is #246 on the list). Like Pardiñas, most drivers have little or no savings and cannot afford to buy medallions which now cost $300,000 per an MTA ruling in August (and will soon be sold for $400,000 or more).
Cab driver advocate Mark Gruberg and SF cab driver Iza Pardiñas are available for interviews, please contact Fly PR for details:
T. 323-667-1344
E. flypr@flypr.net