Chris Hayashi's New New Plan

Used to be that bureaucrats were predictably dull and boring. You could go to a meeting, take a seat and sleep behind a person with a weight challenge knowing that you wouldn't miss a thing.

Then along came Christiane Hayashi. Not satisfied with the new plan she presented on Friday, the Deputy Director came on yet another, more radical, one on Monday.

Did I say radical? In the long history of labor conflicts, there be may nothing quite like this.

What Ms Hayashi wants to do is negotiate an agreement between all the interested groups that would give something to everybody in such a way that what is taken away magically balances out. If that doesn't make any sense, it's because I don't fully understand everything that she is trying to do.

It'll take hours of discussion to begin to work this plan out. For the moment, all I can try to do is give you some highlights.

What Ms Hayashi proposes (if I understand this correctly) is a structured settlement agreement between the city and all other parties with a "recognized interest" in the taxi business to do the following things:

1. Suspend the lawsuits regarding the ADA and the Gates thus feeing up money that would be spent on legal fees by the city, the MHA, the UTW and others.
2. Raise $18 million for the City of San Francisco by selling 100 cabs to drivers on the list for $180,000 a piece.
3. Give another 100 cabs to people on The List without charge.
4. Qualified (10 years of driving + age 65) medallion holding drivers would be allowed to retire for the next three years. This retirement would be guaranteed regardless of whether the settlement continued or not.
5. There would be no permit fees for anybody during the next three years.
6. A driver's fund would be set up for non-medallion drivers.

There were also other features that would be traded in a Quid Pro Quo manner, such as:

• Taxi companies would be allowed to pass their credit card charges on to the drivers.
• But the drivers would pay the corporate rate of 2.5%
• In return, the Companies would reduce the Gates 5%.

And,

• Drivers on The List would have the choice of buying a medallion or taking one for no charge.
• It was assumed that most of them near the top would take pass on the buy option.
• But, at a certain point, people down on The List would opt to buy and could thus jump the people ahead of them. It was unclear whether there would be a fee charged for this or not.
• It was also unclear as to what guarantees the drivers buying the medallions would have that they would get their money back.

Many other points were also not clarified but we'll be discussing this plan for at least the next couple of weeks. Things should become clearer and clearer as we go along - or not?

Over the three year period $18 million would be dived thusly:

• $6 million would go to the MTA for no apparent reason.
• $6 million would go to the SFPD for enforcement of laws against phony taxis, illegal limos and other things.
• $6 million would go to the Taxi department to pay for staff, materials, driver training, etc etc.

The settlement would be binding as a legal contract, would last for three years and the signees would include:

• MTA
• Police
• Credit unions
• Taxicab companies
• Color schemes
• Litigants in related lawsuits
• MHA
• UTW
• Taxi coalition
• SFCDA

It would also include a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between different departments with the city, including:

• SFPD
• Treasurer
• SFMTA
• Department of Human Resources
• DA

A Request for Information (RFI) on rates of loaning money from credit companies would also be necessary in order to help finance the medallion purchases.

At the end of the three year period, the agreement could be renewed, modified or dumped.

There were a lot of questions asked and scenarios worked out. Most of the people were very interested. Some, including myself, were enthusiastic. The usual hardcore suspects, however, remained hardcore.

Mark Guberg of the UTW thought the plan too complicated and instead wanted to continue his vendetta against medallion holders by making these worthless freeloaders pay for the retirement of all drivers.

Barry Korengold of the SFCDA didn't like the idea of selling cabs for a fixed price because the buyers would lose money on the interest. He was also afraid that this would open the floodgates for future auctions which would unfair to the average driver.

Hansu Kim, who only last week was telling me that he could accept fixed price sales and wanted to maintain The List, reverted to form by singing a lengthy praise to auctions and saying that drivers not on The List should have a right to bid too.

Michael Spain claimed that everyone would think like him in 20 years so we should do the inevitable and start auctions now.

Deputy Director Hayashi said that what the final plan would consist of would be what everybody would agree to in writing.

"What if everybody won't sign the agreement?" a man asked.

"That's not an option," she told him. "We'll keep having meeting until we have an agreement."

Does she intend to take a page from Robert Kennedy Jr. and lock us all in a room until we all sign a settlement?

A Micro History of S.F. Taxicabs with Definitions

In order to understand the issues involving the Mayor and San Francisco cab drivers, a few definitions and a little background are necessary. For starters, it's impossible to understand anything unless you know what a medallion is.

• Medallion = a license to own and operate a taxicab. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that all U.S. cities have some form of medallion system. In all cities, except San Francisco (once again, correct me if you can) these medallions are for sale, usually at auctions. In New York City they cost upwards of $500,000. They are currently not for sale in San Francisco because of:
• Proposition K = which was passed by San Francisco voters in 1978 and gave the city a unique system. The medallions are not for individual sale but are owned by the city and the rights to use them are sold to working drivers for a fee. There is a limit of one medallion holder (often called an owner) per taxi. He or she can use the medallion as long as he or she follows certain rules. When the holder retires or dies, the medallion reverts to the city and the rights to use it is sold to the the first driver on a waiting list. Over the years, the rules covering the holding of medallion have evolved. Currently: 

1. It takes an average of fifteens years to get to the top of The List.
   
2. A driver has to have worked a minimum of 800 hours per year for five of the last six years to qualify for a medallion.
3. Medallion holders have to work a minimum of 800 hours per year to keep their medallions.
4. If the holders cannot work because of disability or illness, the medallions are be taken away and given back to the city.
5. The San Francisco Medallion Holders Association has filed a lawsuit against the above rule on the basis that it violates the American Disabilities Act. A verdict is pending in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
6. Proposition K could not be changed except by San Francisco voters. Numerous attempts to eliminate Prop K were all overwhelmingly voted down. 
7. Then along came:

• Proposition A = which was passed by the voters in 2007 as a way to raise money for the reform of the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA). The money was primarily to be used for the repair, rebuilding and improvement of the bus and rail system. The measure contained a one sentence rider that put taxicabs under the control of the MTA. The Mayor took this to mean that the voters had overturned Prop K.

Definitions 

• Independent Contractor = those who have signed an independent contract with companies rather than work for a salary. All the cab drivers in San Francisco are Independent Contractors. It is an accurate description of the condition of Medallion Holders. For ordinary drivers, however, the contract is pure fiction. About the only thing they are really independent of is the protection of most labor laws. Thanks to a Supreme Court reject named Robert Bork, independent contractors can't legally form a union.
• The List = the waiting list that cab drivers sign up for the right to own a medallion. The medallions are awarded on a first come first serve basis.
• Medallion Holders = guys who have bought the right to own and operate taxicabs. Often incorrectly called "owners."
• Medallion Holders Association (MHA) = what it sounds like. An organization devoted to the interests of the medallion holders.
• Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA, SFMTA) = The agency that controls San Francisco's buses, light rail, taxis and other vehicular sevices.
• Transferability = The right to transfer or sell a cab medallion to someone else.
• United Taxicab Workers (UTW) = what is sounds like. An organization devoted to the interests of non-owner cab drivers. It's an association, not a union.