Chris Hayashi on the Amnesty Program

The SFMTA send shock waves though the medallion holder community with a letter that said it would be, "YOUR ONLY NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SFMTA'S MEDALLION AMNESTY PROGRAM."

This gentle message appeared a third of the way down the letter but it was the first thing that I read. Only later did I lean that the "amnesty" was being offered to drivers who were "under the age of 70" as of 12-31-2010 and had not fully met the full-time driving requirement of 156 shifts or 800 hours each year.

Under this amnesty, a medallion holder who had not followed the rules would still have to turn his or her medallion back into the city but would not have a pay a fine of $24,000 a year or $30 for each hour that is "short of satisfying the requirement" ... if the medallion is returned by April 2, 2010.

This follows in the wake of medallions that were turned in by four former members of Royal Cab who were made infamous by Dan Noyes for allegedly never working a single shift: Lauretta Tacchini (a police captain's wife), muli-millionaires Jack and Sylvia Dudum, and Martha Barrakah (a paralegal).

The incident and the letter raised a some questions that I was able to put to Director Hayashi after Mayor Newson's hybrid sound-bite yesterday. I forgot my tape recorder (amateur!), so what follows is a summary of the conversation.

1. Taxi Services is going after the medallions (which no previous director has done) in order to make the Pilot Program work. The permits are needed to move The List and give the SFMTA medallions to sell.
2. Although she would not tell me how many medallions the SFMTA is going after, Hayashi said, "30 revocations are already in the works and 30 more are on the front burner."
3. Director Hayashi is mainly going after "egregious offenders."
4. If the medallions are not turned in by April 2nd, Taxi Services will revoke the permits and hit the violators with the above fines.
5. Although the Dudums, Tacchini and Barrakah have turned in their medallions, the SFMTA still wants it's money, which could be as much as $240,000 each. A hearing is set on the matter for early April.
6. Minor violations (like being a little short of 800 hours) will be dealt with by fines, not revocation.
7. Hayashi wants to emphasize that although the companies must also keep records, the main responsibility for proving that they have met the driving requirement belongs to the drivers.

Jarvis Murray, Enforcement and Legal Affairs Manager for Taxi Services, added that his "main emphasis is to clean up this situation once and for all" so that by next year "we won't have the perpetual problem of medallion holders who don't follow the rules."

Hayashi finished by saying that the "goal and mission" of her department is to make San Francisco a place where people from all over the world praise the quality of the taxicab service. "That starts, " she said, "with having general compliance with enforceable laws."