tey c quali, is saying hat oy thexistg 30 color benet rom futu issuanto k u.llns vice chairman bnkn: that i thank you very mu. irectorheinke: was surprised again theseabdriver's l take the sameion on an issue. day. [lahter] >> can we get a photo? direcricke: wod love a photo. these are impornt cng. t is iornt t recognize indust inpon thewa

nyregeared to make the dustry wk bet. wi s tt on one of t more contentiouissues, e see in my expere,e, i have lengy pert revocations ca ve. edalon a hhato aeal,hat is a pro. imilarly,heres question aut the singper one questn i ve c revi is whether we ould be

gog fromcar s. usuly, when hear e of it eq for more time, t ing to do en thougwe have tme. toda ware hearingrom tme. dryolicy issue. spic chang. my question, noting th a lot positive anmanyeakers h sothing at staff would be hall meetingoraving a discussion.

this a ing queson, ata enou or th this is something we can inue to change pies that you're consideri. amendments, bnging rmer police code sections into the transportati ce. the removal of the ard ofat appeals jurisdiction as part of the amendment of the police [microphone feedback] you would not be adopting here today. you would be forwarding recommendation to the board of supervisors. the reason you are doing that is to clean up legistion. the board of supervisors, all of these thin are coming out of the police code because they no longer belo there.

because they are no longer within the purview of the ard of supervisors. the reason the board of appeals has juriiction over the taxi providers is that existing police code 2.13. an ordinancof e board of supervisors, not a sectn of the charter from the city and county of san francco, which currently in the police code. if it contues to exist, it should be ithe transportion code. the board is free to ask staff to bring legislation that would adt theboard'own requirement tha permits heard - hrd b the board of appeals. what used happen under the taxi commission anwhat happens today. under the taxi commission, there was staff recomndation. that would go to a hearing before the taxi commission. this board, when we transition

in 2009, asked that sta lee at the heang procedures-- asked the staff rewrite the hearing procedures on revong that has been movedto a hearing before our prossional hearing staff. when they are nohearingpermit issues related to taxi permits, they are well-versed in the ce of administrative procedures. i find them not always instantaneous. i think we could improve that part of it i find them oughtful and careful with their opinions. the i am sorry. i am getting confused. the ti commission hearing, which would be your sfmta ard hearing if it were still done this way today, once that hearing is done, you go to the board of appeals. then,you do notlike the

result of the ard of appeals, you pay for a lawyer to go to court. e way that i have proposed this legislation is thathere is an sfmta staff decision. therenochange there. number two, there is a hearing. instead of the taxi commission or this oard, it is in front of the hearing ficers tt are part of our sfm staff and have experience in the various types result, you can pay for a awye and go to court. limitation on due fact, i thinkd hearin section. if there is a oblem with the perception of the fact that r hearing ficers arin the fa, first of all,we face that with respect to allf our hearings econd, i want toefer you to

our experience in one event where we h a hearing by the strong, repeated requests for a rehearing. the staff referred that to an independent heing officer of the rent brd. $40,000 ter, had one decision. we are happy to follow any this board agency see fit to impose. we like due process and we like tnsparency. we like to get it done cctly an efficitly. evythingyou just describt for itbecaus makes nse.ubl transparency theseighly talkgabt people who own're

permitsi wonderg if infrom t communi- amge shouldo is.not thi e shouldo alis stu. i hahrd such unifor i am not questig e me of at is in he. am questioninwhethethe give you theirad ough te >> with respect to the pice code decision, you had multiple opportunities to add an appellate level to your own regulations. if you feel that the board of appeals is a useful exercise in the appellate process, ask us to bring that legislation that will require it to be part of the appellate process. we will do that and get it introduced before it is at the border supervisors. director heinicke: i do not

think i do. that is not my point. is that ok? >> maybe i could take the other piece as a point of illustration. i preferred initially to bring this clean-up legislation to the board as a discussion-only item. i would be thrilled to see it continued to a different meeting, where we can continue to work on these things. again, i want to emphasize to you that all of us here on the other side of this room, our staff and all the people in the industry, are weary of ongoing regulatory changes and we are feeling some urgency to get these things done. and to push forward, to get these out on the table, where there will be discussed. sometimes, i feel like i am chasing people around, trying to get answers. guess what? they all came to me this time.

>> having heard the public comments and some of the sentiments here, with regard to item 15, i think that would probably benefit from some more public vetting, in a town hall format or otherwise. it is a very good piece of work. what will come out of that process is something that is likely fairly similar. perhaps it can be made better and perhaps some of the concerns that have been put out there can be addressed. i think that will be fine. as ms. hiyashi said, that was probably her preference from the start. with regard to the police code, item 14, what she was trying to convey is this is not an action

that the m.t.a. board can take. what the board would be doing is making a recommendation to the board of supervisors. this legislation is not the mta stripping away a level of appeals. it has the effect of removing that level because it does not exist in the transportation code where these elements would be moving to from the police code. the timing of this, which she was conveying, is that from here, were the board to approve the item today, it would be introduced as an ordinance. it would have a 30-day old. cause it -- 30-day hold period before it could be heard in committee. during that time, there would be the process of reviewing item 15, where the issue of whether we should insert the board of appeals level into the transportation code could be discussed.

the mta board action today would be moving forward what i think -- i do not think i heard any dissension from the very important aspects of item 14, the core of the legislation that would be proposed to the board of supervisors. at the same time, it would provide ample time to come back with a recommendation either to add the board of appeals in to the transportation code or not, depending on the outcome of the public discussion and ultimatel the will of the board. i do not think the mta board acting today precludes or directs a specific outcome. director heinicke: in summary, we would adopt 14 today. we would continue item 15 with the idea that all of the issues

would be open for discussion within the industry. added to that bucket of issues, to be discussed, is what sort of appeal process permitting we have within the transportation code. >> correct. director heinicke: ok. i am for that. vice chairman brinkman: let's go ahead and -- >> i think mr. toronto indicated that i indicate my assent on the record. >> he is a ray of sunshine. vice chairman brinkman: is there any more board discussion on this item? do i have a motion to approve? do i have a second? all in favor. the aye's have it.

director heinicke: a motion to continue 15? or do we need to do that? vice chairman brinkman: i want to thank all of the speakers who spoke up about this. i know that this has been a long process. cleaning up the administrative code is a long process. she has done a fantastic job. you have all hung in there for a long time. we are going to get this cleaned up. i assure you that everyone sitting up here as the taxi industry and the taxi driver's best interests at heart. we all truly intend to give you a better working environment, a safer working environment. let's keep pushing through and we will get there. do believe that we take this very seriously. we do have your best interests at heart. with that, we have to move back to the rest of our agenda, which takes us back to -- secretary boomer: at this point

in your agenda, they will do the executive director report later. there are members who wish to -- who wish to address you on item number nine. there are a lot of those. there will be no advisory council report. if you would like me to call item nine, this will be on matters within the jurisdiction of the sfmta, but not on today's agenda. >> my name is cory lamb. it was not on the agenda today, but i would really like to bring up the issue of ubercab, a consistent born in ouride. i understand there are some issues as to which jurisdiction

that will fall under. they are not cabs. they are black towncars. they pick up passengers and functioning as taxis even when they are not doing uber business. i was on their twitter feeds and they quoted a price that was $85 from sfo to downtown. it clearly says, do not worry about it. hit a button and we will pick you up. no waiting, no checking in, no fees. this is not the airport commission, but they are not paying any fees there. they're not coming in here to pay the fees to operate. we do not know who they are driving. it is really disheartening as a cabdriver.

trying to work and do everything that is supposed to be done legitimately, to lose a fair because i have a fair. there are three guys around the corner that do not and they jump into a black town car and get quoted whatever price it is. if i did that, i would be in trouble and definitely lose my police, probably. their operating with impunity and they do not have the gates, a place they have to park. a lot of them do not even live in san francisco. i was talking to a cab driver who said he would do a cpc somewhere else and come work here as ubercab. vice chairman brinkman: is mr. templeton here? he left? tara housman.

>> i will try not to sound bitter. imf member of the taxi advisory council. the pac report is still monitoring on someone's desk and has not been presented to you. the perception in a lot of the distain for us at the sfmta, both because of teh tac -- the tac, which would benefit sfmta if you had quarterly reports from the tac, kept updates on things, and had us deal with other matters. also, the fact that the taxi section is under the finance and information technology section instead of being its own

division also adds to the feeling that there is disdain. if you're going to sock the cab industry dry, at least give us the dignity and the fig leaf of having our own division. afford us that minor bit of lip service. of course, it is probably more truthful, having us under the finance and infotechnology department because it says what you want out of us is cash. it does not say what you want is a division of your transportation system. but i think you should seriously consider moving it out of the finance and infotechnology section, where it does not belong and where the message is conveyed to the public and the cab industry that we are there

for one thing. thank you. [applause] >> midafternoon. i am here to express my fear and concern about ubercab. it is a little bit off the agenda. we aren't we did we all know there are in large numbers all over the city. if you think cabdrivers are aggressive drivers, ubercab drivers are on overdrive, steroids. i want to know what kind of license they have to go to a cab stand and pick up passengers in front of me. i would like to ask you to ask ms. hiyashi to come up here and ask what they have been doing to enforce law. they have a large number all over the city, even in cabstands in front of three empty cabs.

i do not see enforcement out there. i have seen ms. hiyashi a few times on a friday night. all these medallions you are trying to sell are useless if you do not dispel ubercab. >> good afternoon. i have been a cabdriver for 17 years. i just hope you follow the list, the medallion list. people are there for a long time, like me and the other guys. that is the only thing i am concerned about. thank you very much. >> good evening. i guess i am repeating myself.

i would again ask you not to include the pre-k medallions from transfer. these are people, myself included, that bought a medallion. i have been in the industry for four decades. i would like the same opportunity as someone who got a post-k medallion. i implore you to streamline, speed up, get some more cabs on the street. ubercab, out of town cabs are making money because there is a demand. it is not like there are tons of cabs and people are stepping over cabs to get in these illegal cars. we were told there would be some final something in february. he did not say what you're in february. -- what year in february. [laughter]

we used to have a little green book of regulations. and there was a seven-colored bulk of regulations and that was five or six years ago. you should streamline, have a book of regulations so drivers can know. color schemes and is backed off its tend to know the rules more because they are the effect of it. drivers have not had a rule book for years and it does a disservice for them. 25 years ago, taxicab regulations were seven pages. i think it is getting on 700 pages now. still, get it out and get it done. thank you and good night. >> i am with desoto cap. i have a few topics i would like to talk about. i envy this board because i believe all the heavy lifting has been done interned -- in terms of moving towards an

excellent medallion sales program. there will be a lot of revenue received by this agency and the city. it will of our working drivers who are lined up to buy these medallions. i am concerned that we do this correctly. i feel positive that it will be done well. i hope you do not miss handle that. empower the working driver, raise the revenue. my strong feeling about what ails this taxi industry stems from a shortage in the supply of taxis. i believe the exploitation of drivers, limousines acting as taxicabs, the illegal operators and brokers, all come from the fact we have a shortage of supply. there has been a consultant who has been hired to review this. has anybody heard from this guy? i have left him to messages and he is supposed to speak to the stakeholders. what is going on here? while we have been waiting for an environmental impact report, hundreds of taxis -- hundreds of

limousines have been approved and are operating the streets of san francisco this needs to be addressed immediately. the ills of this industry, from a shortage of supply and enforcement. lastly, if we are talking about safety, i am very concerned that there are many illegal operators, not just banded taxicabs, but medallions that are being operated not by the company, not by the medallion- holder, but but brokers and third parties illegally. there are a high percentage of drivers' driving san francisco taxi cabs that do not have a taxicab drivers license and are held accountable. as we move towards the reforms, i hope you provide the leadership of accountability with all of the resistance umar 1 degette. this industry needs it and deserves it. -- all of the resistance you are

going to get it. this industry needs it and deserves it. >> i am going to say it again in public comment. i have been driving a cab for more than 50 years. i've been on the waiting list for over 13 years. your policies are hurting driver like me. we are already suffering from the medallion pilot program. you are giving single operor permits to the driver who never signed up for it. you are bypassing the entire medallion waiting list. giving medallions to drivers who never even asked for it. as long as you have the medallions waiting list, you should only issue medallions with qualified drivers on the waiting list.

i am asking for your help. i need my medallion now, not 10 or 15 years from now, when i will be retired. directors, giving the drawings to people who never asked for it over people who signed up for it, obeying the law. you are ignoring them? if you want to compete with uber, we need to have 1000 medallions to compete. otherwise, they can take over the industry. please, at least 500 so i can get mind it i need my medallion now. right now. thank you.

>> midafternoon. -- good afternoon. i just heard other public comment. that town hall meeting was held last week. i did not hear about it. i checked your web site, spent a couple of hours going through all the different lengths because we are not given information easily. there is no town hall meeting scheduled in may. this is horrible, that we are not getting proper notice about

these things. the website has been the place. roberta says, check the website. it is not updated properly and there is a little bit of confusion. about how this works for it also, you hired a new employee who has done some great work so far. but this person, his job is also to help educate the stake holders and the public about what is going on with tax issues. we are not getting that information writubercab, the amount of stress you put on the staff and the lack of support from other divisions could be driving some people to drink. the thing is, being a little facetious here, you need to provide support to this body. you promised me that you would put this