industry. not for the profit of the regulatory agency. i think this is an untenable situation for the long-term future of the cab industry in san francisco. it is a cry for help from the taxi industry. you have got a lot of first- generation immigrants in this industry, english language skills are perhaps not great. they do not have time to go to these meetings, they have a hard time expressing their feelings at these meetings, but it is an issue that needs to be addressed. thank you for your time. >> good afternoon. i am here with my friend to protest the intention of the sf mta to [unintelligible] tesellein -- to sell in the

city. that would make the revenue [unintelligible] the corporations are making a profit, the city is making or royalty of $12 million to $15 million annually. it is time to start considering the rights of the drivers. looking at the driver in a derogatory term a derogatory eye, the driver needs to be well-treated. in the sense we do not have any health insurance at all and our job is very risky. most of the drivers start getting chronic diseases. we do not have any benefits of retirement. they are taken away, the medallion system from us.

we do not have any -- even workers' comp that we already have. is well known that if a driver goes ahead, another worker will come. they're putting themselves in the line to get fired. we have no benefits whatsoever. sf mta is taking away the medallion from us. i want to protest with the rest of the cabdrivers that are here. thank you very much. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> i am a san francisco taxi cab driver. the sf mta regulates us and they write the regulations and enforce the regulations. they profit from the cab industry, and thyey are the ones who are to decide how many cabs are to be out there. s if mta staff has proposed

leasing 500 + medallions to taxicab driver -- companies that would otherwise have gone to taxicab drivers. there would be up to 500 cabdrivers who would be denied the possibility of being small business owners. these drivers are largely minority and occasionally female. instead, this revenue would be going to this sf mta to pay for muni drivers' retirement whereas we have none and there would be going to certain favored companies. i trust the current head of taxi services, i do not trust to the might put in there in the future and frankly, i do not trust the influences and pressure the taxis services will come under as to what companies would get

these medallions and how difficult it would be. is that my 30 seconds? we are going to be asking you, supervisors, to support us and help put a ballot measure on the november ballot, only two simple things, on medallions and [unintelligible] cab drivers and all taxi revenue must be used for tax purposes. there is so much that can be improved. do not let this be a cash cow for the mta. thank you. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> i am a cab driver. i would take this opportunity to express the anger and fear of thousands of cab drivers who cannot express or speak well. it continues fear, the threat

from the mta about those 500 medallions which they are supposed to get and are entitled to get an going to the cab companies, as long as safety, two of my known drivers, my friends, they have died while they were on duty. they do not have any health insurance. thousands do not have any health insurance or protection. they do not have retirement. i believe every single medallion issued should go to the cab drivers and they are entitled to have them. other than that, they do not have any retirement plan. they rely on them, their situation of psychology because the situation is pretty bad. the fear every day is the threat is on their neck every day. thank you very much. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> good afternoon.

i am a disabled combat veteran. i am proud i defended the nation, i am proud i am a san francisco taxi driver. what i am going to say, who makes money, and up with the losers -- [unintelligible] they do not make money. we make money and we serve people. lettis -- let us out of mta. and we the people and medallions must go to the people, not to some companies or mta's or name it, with the people. let us have our medallions. thank you. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> my name is [unintelligible] i am totally against this 500

medallions to be turned to corporate medallions to benefit mta. according to the pilot program, they had a year ago, there were saying 12.5% of the revenue of the medallion goes to the interest of the drivers. nothing has done -- been done about it. -- 2010 medallions. the drivers have not benefited. on top of that, mta wants to [unintelligible] for their own interests. mta is trying to help the municipal transportation, the buses and cable cars and all those people who are working for the city at the expense of the

taxi drivers. very low benefits. we have been driving taxis and after all these years, we get our medallion. we are not benefiting from this. i think we should -- the board of supervisors has to take the taxi section out from mta control. [bell] president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> >> the afternoon -- >> good afternoon. i purchased a cab company last year and is a challenge to do with the san francisco taxi industry. the reason taxi speakers are here today is because of something that is being proposed here. some of you know i have been involved as a transportation

consultant for many years and supported the idea that medallions being sold but to the taxicab drivers. the pilot program which i thought would never happen has been enormously successful. the city has raised enormous amount of revenue by selling these medallions and there are literally hundreds of potential medallion holders, preapproved to purchase these medallions. they're extremely valuable and the purchase of this medallion is affordable because of the extra income you have for the medallion. having said that, the concern i have in front of you is the board of supervisors and the mta needs to be focused not just on the interest of drivers or cab companies, but in the public's interest and we are family. we are -- we are failing. we are failing to provide the right services to this public. that means taxicabs that do not provide dispatch services. these things need to be reformed. one of the things on the table is something that this industry will all poes. that is the city replacing the

medallion holder with themselves as the monthly income earner of the medallion. that is being proposed right now. in other words, the medallion not issued to a qualified working driver who is the pride of ownership in making sure the medallion is servicing the city but ran to -- rent it out to the city and the city becoming the landlord to the medallion. and want to give you pause before we go down this trajectory because the city can make $300 million selling medallions in a politically correct way or they can read them and replace them with themselves which we oppose. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> i want to take the opportunity while i am here to remind you of the existence of an important document. the san francisco arts task

force report issued six years ago. we are seeing legislation moving forward that had to do with this document. if you have not ready yet, please be aware that exist. i would be glad to hand deliver copy to each of your offices. these are an invaluable contributor to the tourist industry and the tax coffers have francisco needs to operate. i want to remind people exists and please take it seriously and adopt as many of these proposals as possible. as we move forward with some legislation, san francisco and many economies go through cycles. the great recession has groups on many communities. we are in an upswing of development. i point to the recent article. as we are evaluating or implementing future fees touse stabilize developments, and neighborhoods, this would be one of the greatest impact.

as far as looking as -- to [unintelligible] maybe we should look at what the budgets are and have san francisco operate as a business and look for what it can expect out of its development community so has the budget and the fees to go into balancing the communities and preserving the diversity we have in the city. consider as future projects are coming forward if there is a way to ask the community to engage in april -- a true discussion of profits, we can evaluate what we can ask for or what is not reasonable. i believe you should be greatly concerned about the politicization of the prosecution of ross mirkarimi, a former peer many of yours on the board of supervisors. what has happened has torn this family apart and has served injustice to the domestic violence advocates. you should look at this serious ly as to how it impacts of the

politicians and san francisco. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. taiex i am here in support of my fellow cabdrivers to send a message to you that there is a huge conflict of interest in the mta's regulation of the taxi industry. they have the right to regulate us and they have the right without any bounds to extract money from our industry, from our drivers for their own purposes and this cannot be allowed to stand. this is not good government. there are no checks and balances here. there are no appeals here. they simply can use us as a cash cow as they wish. the latest scheme is to lease one-third of the taxi fleet, over 500 cabs directly to cab companies, cutting out 500 drivers who would otherwise have an opportunity to have these medallions as -- their

consolation prize -- they are a consolation prize because they have no benefits or sales in the terms of conditions -- they have no say in the terms of and conditions of their being employed. we can get back their lease revenues that cannot be allowed to stand. it is more than about money. the mta is getting money out of this, but it is about robbing people of their futures. it is about foreclosing on the hopes and dreams of -- is that my time? >> you have 26 seconds. >> we need to put an end to this. we need a ballot measure. we need to stop the mta from using our industry as a cash cow and we need to ensure all medallions go to qualified working drivers. thank you.

president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> hi. i am a san francisco born and raised citizen. i am no. 4 under 92 on the medallion list. -- 492 on the medallion less. i have been driving since 1996. what this is proposing is ridiculous. they're selling medallions now. i have been on the list to get it when my name came up. now my name came up, i do not have $250,000 to pay for it so i am waiting for my name to come up, it will never come up is -- if this goes through. if you look at the classification of drivers, it is the most stressful job, period. firefighters, ceos, next to us. we serve the community, we do a great job. i do a great job. i deserve what i have been

waiting for four years. i am the taxi drivers here today. i came on my off day and will have to keep coming to speak my mind. i do not feel like saying this. i do not like being here, but my number is 492 on the list. please respect what we do. thank you. by the way, we are independent cabdrivers. we are by law forced to take credit cards. we have to pay for our cabs and cash at the end of the day. when they pay with credit cards we do not get it until four days later. thank you. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> hello, i am renata and i have been a cab driver for 19 years. i received my italian -- medallion in 19 -- 2009.

all the drivers behind me on the list, they are waiting, too. i've waited 15 years for my medallion. 15 years, that is a long time. in 1978, when the voters voted to allow the cab drivers to have a medallion until they die, that is something the drivers work towards getting. it is like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. that is what we're working for. now the mta has hijacked the medallions, they're stealing them from the drivers. it is not right. they should not even be selling them. they should be going down the list and giving -- when the driver dies, it goes to the next person. if they put out another 100 or two murdered or 500, they go down the list and give it to who wants it. that is how it should be. another concern, this has been growing. we want to go back to the police

department. we do not want mta running us anymore. they are just looking out for themselves, not the cab drivers. we have done everything for them to raise millions of dollars. we're making a little money. it is not right. these cabbies work long, hard hours and with love -- i love driving. it is my favorite job. but the cabbies need to be treated with some respect. if we're not going to take health benefits, we do not get any of that stuff. they should get some medallions. everyone who wants it. most of these guys wait for 20 years at the rate is going trade at least they put out 500 or 1000. that list will of faster. there is 4000 on the list right now. -- that list will move faster. i could be wrong. please fight for the taxis.

president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. many years ago, mr. -- sneak in one paper in the bundle, to take the taxi commission not. -- out. the muni drivers were screaming. it was done right here in this chamber. i would like to know from supervisor carmen chu, two years ago we got together and got some money together. i looked at [unintelligible] but i could not remember political people who gave that

money. i would like to send her an e- mail today, where she got the money. she started supporting the cab companies. president chiu: if i could direct you to direct your comments to all the supervisors. >> i have been advised not to talk about it -- one of the new supervisors [unintelligible] to distribute checks to the drivers picking up the cars but what happened to that story, was it just a scam? that was to get an introduction with that supervisor who was listening now. the point was, why this check system [unintelligible] could not continue afterward. the reason was that it was just to get a shake hand. we want to get out of the mta, what you to help us get on the ballot. [unintelligible] just ripping off the taxi

drivers money. please help us. we want to be independent. thank you very much. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> hi, i am president of the san francisco cab drivers association and vice chair of the tax advisory -- taxi driver advisory council. it is a conflict of interest that the mta is making going into the cab industry and competing with cab companies and medallion holders for revenue. they're taking money from drivers who have worked years and years and waited for their medallion as the previous speaker said. this was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. now for every medallion that the mta cells are right, that is coming from a driver who has worked 20 years and waited 15 years on the list. i got my medallion after 15

years waiting on the list. i'm lucky i got it before this money grabs thing that just happen right now. right now, the mta is proposing printing out without medallions instead of companies. instead of going to drivers, they would go to the mta. i urge you to think about a ballot measure to prevent money that is generated from the taxi industry to -- from going to the mta, it should go back into the taxi industry. this is robbery. i cannot think of any other word. it is an egregious conflict of interest that is happening right now. proposition a gave the mta authority to regulate all motor vehicles for hire which is not really true because they do not regulate the shuttle's or the limos. this is just a money grab. please consider supporting a ballot measure to counter this.

thank you. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> how are you doing? i am a seven-year cabdriver and a san francisco native. i am doing my bit for the city on the front lines of the cab industry by driving. i believe it is not ethical for revenue generated by cabdrivers to not in turn be used to solve taxi driver problems. i will give you an example. the original revenue generated goes to fix roads so there is no reason -- their -- i do not see why there should be a problem, y.a. revenue generated should not solve cab problems. also the -- i oppose that as well. and why is because we're on your front line. we're serving the public.

we never did. we have burned this cabs, if they're going to be distributed, they need to go to the drivers that are taking the majority of the liability while driving. gas goes up, we pay the gas prices trade we get into an auto accident, guess what? our personal auto insurance is going up. we're assuming a lot of the human liability which is why i believe we should be the ones to have the medallions, not the companies. thank you. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i'm a civil rights attorney and paetec -- phd candidate at uc berkeley. i started my career representing taxi drivers. over the past three -- decades, taxi cab works have endured a legal classification changes and privatization of medallions, making it difficult to earn a

living. this is an industry where you can work for 10 hours and go home without a penny in your pocket. they have fewer social ties and a limited resources yet they endure the health and saving -- safety dangers and the constant surveillance and no guarantee of profit, much less immigrant -- much less [unintelligible] like domestic workers and farm laborers, taxi workers are excluded from the protection of labor laws. due to their position as excluded drivers, they are owed proper regulatory oversight and protection. since sf mta to overregulation of the industry, they have done little more than treat the five dozen to 7000 cash -- workers as a cash cow. the mta has reaped $12 million a year from the taxi industry. none of this money has gone back

into the industry to protect the lives and livelihoods of these workers. there is a coalition of drivers working together, some of whom you have heard here to bring forth the ballot measure to change the terms and i encourage you to engage and support the workers through this difficult process. most of you are concerned with the service provided by the industry. i urge you to consider the blood, sweat, and tears of the men and women who provide this important service. thank you. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am from the library users association. the stench from the library grows ever stronger and it becomes more and more of an effort for the city's administration to ignore it. i hope you, supervisors, do not join in pretending nothing is happening. i wish you could see all the many letters sent supporting the preservation and renovation of

the burdo heights branch library. i received a copy of the one to you and from the mayor from holly near. why would one want to remove cultural history without a profound reason? i could [unintelligible] understand to bring together the past and present. or if there was an image that became offensive in the face of change consciousness but to simply painted over makes no sense. victor hara contributed greatly to the power of industry -- music in the face of terror. do we not need this reminder more than ever? as we experience ongoing violence, is this not the time to have the valiant efforts of working woman reflected back to was in the spirit of courage and hope? in a time when negative images and events blast as daily, please do not bulldoze our

positive history, our images of corp. and caring. yes, my image appears in the marrow, but my image appears in other places. it is the fact that the work him -- included together in a community that was so powerful. people seldom have a stone carvings in the way of presidents. we do have the great work of artists all over the world and there is no greater honor it then to have such art held dear by public libraries. they're not to remove -- be removed lightly. i ask you to consider your actions very seriously. thank you for your consideration. president chiu: thank you, next speaker. if there are and members of the, -- public who wish to speak in general public comment, please step up. >> i went to the mta meeting, i wanted to say that we have to teach the kids with do not live

on any other person, you have to live on yourself. a lot of people are spoiled. they're like to smoke, they like to get health care. i saw someone -- [unintelligible] a free muni pass. it is not right. wheat -- were teaching the kids everything is free. -- you are teaching the kids everything is free. it is not right. this country is already very good enough to live. we pay some money to live as we should. i am an immigrant here and i never asked anything. i am a taxi driver. the city needs the job and the city needs a taxi. that is all i want to say for my job. the problem is we have the buyer of this city -- getting into two systems or without