|
|
INDUSTRY IN REVIEWBy Don McCurdyWhoa there big fella! Aviation Director Sean Hunter is reportedly standing by his and his staff’s efforts to “tame” Louis Armstrong International Airport’s taxicab service. Reading the articles concerning the hearing I would have to believe that the airport managed to make every mistake it could have made in considering who would get the taxi service contract. Often these disputes end up in court, but this case seems to have more teeth than most. According to the article no proposal presented met even part of the required criteria and still the contract was awarded. I found it particularly amazing that the director didn't know that one of the players in the winning bid was the chairman of the City Planning Commission despite knowing him for years. Also brought to light was the fact that employees often delete emails which are only backed up for six weeks despite provisions that they be kept for three years. All in all the whole process seems pretty ugly. Even the Aviation Board Chairman, Dan Packer, is upset reportedly stating “we followed all of the procedures, and it makes me angry when people accuse you of rigging and bid fixing.” Yeah, well, sometimes a strong enough perception will do that, Dan. Especially if you have just a teeny bit of corruption history in local politics. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying anybody did anything wrong mind you, I’m just saying that it doesn’t smell like birthday cake. It was a smart move to tell the judge that you’re never going to issue a contract based on that bid. So I wonder why I didn’t read this in the paper? According to a news release which I may be the only one in the world reading, the union that alleges to represent the interests of taxicab drivers in Las Vegas has been compelled to allow drivers to quit the union. Huh? Apparently, the union did not realize that drivers are allowed to quit the union. The blurb was in a “news release” from the National Right to Work Foundation. The really interesting story, at least for me, was that the release was totally ignored by the news media, even by Las Vegas news outlets. Now it would seem to me that the guardians of liberty, the press, would at least mention that a local union got busted extorting money from drivers, but I guess it wasn’t newsworthy. I wonder how many Las Vegas taxicab drivers don’t know that they can drop out of the union any time they please? Kind of makes me wonder exactly what “news” is these days. Speaking of Las Vegas… It is being reported that there are two separate lawsuits, one from a customer and one from competing nightclubs, bemoaning the practice of strip clubs “tipping” taxicab drivers. In politics they’re called “campaign contributions” while most people just refer to them as bribes. Anyway, a southern California man is suing claiming that the entire practice is a tourist scam. A tourist scam? In Las Vegas? Dude, pay attention, the entire purpose of the city is to separate you from your money. Yes, you’re supposed to have a wonderful time at the strip clubs, casinos, shows, buffets and all but you are also supposed to fork over your cash. Everybody in the city has their hand out. While it’s hard for me to believe that anyone can be that naïve, he does have a bit of a point. When I hire a tradesman, pretending here that taxicab driving is actually considered a trade, I expect him to recommend the product that is best for me not who gives them the biggest kickback. The entire sad practice is dishonest and it is my fervent hope that the strip clubs will start acting like gentlemen. Yeah right. They’ve been jacking with this issue for years and just can’t get it done. The solution is fairly simple, make it a crime to give and to receive and start enforcing it. You know, kind of like regular laws. Well, you know, except for that whole immigration thing. To protect and to serve! The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the article didn’t say if this is a new bunch or the old bunch out on parole, is reported to have settled accusations against Yellow Cab of Pittsburgh. The company is reported to have paid $4,000 to settle the matter, commonly referred to as a “nuisance payment” in business, labelled “indicative of underlying problems” by one of the commissioners. Apparently, Yellow Cab may be low down dirty dogs, but a quick 4k to the state and all is forgiven. I loved the reported remark by the PUC’s spokeswoman, hey shouldn’t that be spokesperson, Jennifer Kocher, that the fine was “pretty standard.” Kind of like saying this is the standard amount we extort from companies from time to time. My own opinion would be that if Yellow has “underlying problems” this is not going to fix them. If they don’t then the good commission should stop denigrating Yellow’s reputation, and their own for the matter. However, if the commission sees fit to send me $4,000 I’ll forgive the entire matter.
In a recent article out of Boston the owner of PlanetTran, Seth Riney, expresses what he thinks the future will hold for companies in the US. He is reported to have stated "You're going to have to be able to prove, one way or the other, how you're minimizing [carbon emissions] in whatever way you can.” This will be good for his fleet since the article claims his company is the first “all hybrid livery service” in the US. Bad news there Seth, if the fiasco that is “cap and trade” becomes law there really won’t be a whole lot of people needing a livery service since they’ll be spending all of their discretionary dollars simply paying for electricity. In what I can only call the biggest hustle in the history of mankind the congress is about to unleash on the American people a tax that will reach every aspect of our lives. The “Climate Bill” is set to bankrupt coal fired electric plants which supply a huge portion of the US with electricity to fix a problem that politicians, calling themselves scientists, deem an emergency. I always like to keep in mind that “scientists” confirmed that the earth was flat. Let me just call it like I see it here folks and you can make your own decision. The “Climate Bill” is just another tax attempting to control our behavior by people who know better how we should act than we do. It is simply a way for politicians to separate the flock from the fleece. I wonder why Al Gore didn’t mention to congress that he stands to make billions from “saving the planet.” Don’t you have to wonder how much CO2 emissions would be reduced if he just shut up? And you were expecting? I am always amused when people whine when the government puts a tax on them. Today’s case in point is the limousine industry in New York. Recent articles report the industry up in arms because the legislature put a tax on limousine rides. Awwww. What exactly do you expect when you elect politicians who cannot grasp the concept of fiscal restraint? Like any other industry increasing cost will lead to decreasing demand. That is an economic reality. John Villanova, president of Limousinesworldwide.com in Mount Vernon is quoted as saying "Our government is balancing its books on the backs of the business people and causing everybody to lay more people off. As a result there'll be more people on unemployment." Do ya think? Of course they are, John. That’s whose back they’ve always used so don’t act so surprised. It just wasn’t your business last time. What really cracked me up was the reported comment of Guy Palumbo, secretary of the Luxury Base Operators Association, who declared the tax “unconstitutional.” That’s a joke right? The various levels of government have ignored the constitution for so long that it really seems that it’s a document from another galaxy, not just another century. While many have “litmus” tests for judges I would just prefer judges that can read. I had to laugh at the ruling of the judge in the lawsuit filed by the industry. He wouldn’t even give them a temporary restraining order. Probably ought to just save the attorney’s fees, boys. You’ll need it to pay the new tax. Whose money would they be saving? In the wise idea of the month category the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission is reported to be pitching the idea of shared rides. The real quick question would seem to me to be - is there are serious shortage of cabs? If not this scheme will simply lower the income of taxicab drivers. If properly done it would certainly save the passengers money, but whose money? If there’s a driver vacant behind the driver who scoops up the second passenger then it would most obviously be his money that was just shared away. You have to wonder if a young girl might feel pressured to allow a second passenger and what exactly the results of that adventure could potentially be. All in all, if there was enough business to require more taxicabs then the city would be issuing more medallions. Short of that they’re just making it harder for the drivers to pay for the medallions the city has already sold them. I don’t know how the New York taxicab drivers feel about it, but I know as a recovering taxicab driver I wouldn’t like it one bit. London black cab drivers voted best worst. London black cab drivers have been voted the best in the world, but the worst value. Huh? Personally I’d pay a couple of bucks extra to have someone I know can find my hotel. Throw in being voted safest, friendliest and having the cleanest cabs and I’d say that you’ve got a real potential bargain on your hands. Apparently, having a driver who gets lost, drives like a fool, is surly the entire trip and whose cab is filthy is a better value as long as it costs less. My own supposition is that it would depend on how much the black cab fare is to my real destination from where the “value” cab dropped me off. You have to wonder how people feel about “value” brain surgeons. But then if you can’t see the value in riding with the friendliest, cleanest, safest taxicab drivers in the world you probably would be requiring the services of a brain surgeon anyway. Say, that’s not very smart. Police in Austin, Texas are reportedly looking for a taxicab driver that ran over a man who had just gotten out of his cab and urinated on is tire. The driver is reported to have become enraged when he saw Shawn Neckelmann urinating on his tire and pulled forward, took aim, and knocked Shawn the genius to the ground. The driver is reported to have run over both of Shawn’s legs. Now that’s gotta hurt. Now I’m certainly not condoning what the driver is alleged to have done, but getting stupid drunk enough to urinate on a taxicab’s tire after an altercation with the driver, in front of a major hotel could lead one to believe that just possibly Shawn might have a teeny bit of a drinking problem. Or, perhaps, just an anger management problem. Either way, getting that close to getting kicked out of the gene pool has, hopefully, taught Shawn that not everybody is civilized enough to understand the symbolism of his gesture. I wonder if we can get Shawn to promise to not ever do that again? I know we can.
© 2015 TLC Magazine Online, Inc. |