i wanted to have a much to discuss some concerns about the permit medallion program in san francisco, and after the taxi advisor in council finished its discussions, staff, in the persons of deputy director hayashi, this would over time give one-third of the service from the tax services, and i think this would have a devastating effect on drivers, taxi drivers, and their careers and their futures in the industry, even with the implementation of the medallion sales program, which i had opposed. these would still be able to go into driver's. they would have this opportunity, and now, one-third of the medallions are going to be taken off the table and given to a cab companies, and given to cap companies on what basis? this agency is going to pick the winners and losers in this industry, and by awarding them permits, is going to decide which survive, which struggle to survive, and which are simply going to die. we have much more to say about it. chairman nolan: next speaker. secretary boomer: [reading names] chairman nolan: good afternoon. >> good afternoon. my name is barry pearl, i rid

and are operating the medallions for a cab company, or a medallion holder, and they have taken over the industry. they are exploiting taxi drivers, putting unlicensed drivers beyond -- behind the wheel, forcing them to drive beyond the times, and i am sorry, i thought i had more time, and i will leave it at that. hopefully, i can speak with you again soon. chairman nolan: thank you. next speaker. secretary boomer: [reading names] >> i am -- a huge organizer from chinatown. the kids have to commute up to sunset. their lifelong situation of being muni riders. talking about the proposal, i think it goes undisputed that the youth are passionate about this issue, but it is something needed, not just something they are passionate and excited about. we are healing -- hearing about how families have to piece things together. to hop on the bus, and last week, we had a valentine's day action. i see you guys got the valentines. we are urging you to make the vote happen soon but to also calendar it during an after- school time in march so that they can put faces behind those valentine's and star

personally, i am not a fan of the traditional medallion system. think that it injects a lot of inefficiency into the system and in forces -- and present their lot of enforcement issues. putting in the middle man that can charge and make a lot of money. i am wondering what the thinking is around different structures. >> absolutely. the single operator permit was a different kind. in many ways companies have asked us to give a number of temporary permits to the company's. said they could operate the vehicles without a medallion holder involved. yes, we are thinking about different ways for these permits, as they do not meet the traditional medallion mobled. putting medallions on the street or taxi driver in, and that kind of thing. supervisor mar: in terms of the complaint system and how it is processed, different groups will be good or bad, and i know it is something that i have dealt with regularly, people who have had bad experiences with a cab, they report it to 311 and they never hear anything. that is not unique to the cab industry. we are grad

: this lobbyist wants to end that freedom. >> you have to regulate. >> john: he wants to bring the medalliones to the washington, d.c. he wants to cut the taxi cars in half. >> there is too many taxicabs. >> they don't think so. >> they like be allowed to work but the lobbyists convinced the d.c. councilman to sponsor his bill. >> we want to professionalize our taxicab system? >> we wanted want to make sure the customer has a good riding experience. >> john: that sounds good but regulations are in the books subject to every driver to petty harassment. still at least in washington, d.c., open entry rules allow them to enter the business. >> washington, d.c. is the only major city in america that allows open entry. isn't that good for poor people? >> no, it's not. a medal yon system is what is needed. >> john: that squeezes newcomers out? >> and they should be squeezed out. >> john: why? >> because this is a regulated industry. >> john: how much do you get paid lobby for this. >> my right is $775 an hour. >> i can't blame him, but don't husband 80 me. >> john: so you are paid by the taxi king,

: this lobbyist wants to end that freedom. >> you have to regulate. >> john: he wants to bring the medallion rules to the washington, d.c. he wants to cut the taxi cars in half. >> there is too many taxicabs. >> they don't think so. >> they like be allowed to work but the lobbyists convinced the d.c. councilman to sponsor his bill. >> we want to professionalize our taxicab system? >> we wanted want to make sure the customer has a good riding experience. >> john: that sounds good but regulations are in the books subject to every driver to petty harassment. still at least in washington, d.c., open entry rules allow them to enter the business. >> washington, d.c. is the only major city in america that allows open entry. isn't that good for poor people? >> no, it's not. a medal yon system is what is needed. >> john: that squeezes newcomers out? >> and they should be squeezed out. >> john: why? >> because this is a regulated industry. >> john: how much do you get paid lobby for this. >> my right is $775 an hour. >> i can't blame him, but don't husband 80 me. >> john: so you are paid by the taxi k

: this lobbyist wants to end that freedom. >> you have to regulate. >> john: he wants to bring the medallionules to the washington, d.c. he wants to cut the taxi cars in half. >> there is too many taxicabs. >> they don't think so. >> they like be allowed to work but the lobbyists convinced the d.c. councilman to sponsor his bill. >> we want to professionalize our taxicab system? >> we wanted want to make sure the customer has a good riding experience. >> john: that sounds good but regulations are in the books subject to every driver to petty harassment. still at least in washington, d.c., open entry rules allow them to enter the business. >> washington, d.c. is the only major city in america that allows open entry. isn't that good for poor people? >> no, it's not. a medal yon system is what is needed. >> john: that squeezes newcomers out? >> and they should be squeezed out. >> john: why? >> because this is a regulated industry. >> john: how much do you get paid lobby for this. >> my right is $775 an hour. >> i can't blame him, but don't husband 80 me. >> john: so you are paid by the taxi kin

supervisor mar: can you explain the difference between a ramp medallion and a regular medallion? one that can have a wheelchair with and it proved a little larger >> some can fit in a sedan, but these, the people in san francisco who used a wheelchair can have some taxi service available to them. supervisor cohen: thank you. is there an additional cost of utilizing this type of taxi? >> not for the customer. there is for the driver however. the ramp driver is the unsung hero of the taxi industry, because the good ramp driver, one that does what he is supposed to do and picks up the wheelchair, they have to take the time to help the customer into the vehicle and secure in the vehicle, have to take the time to allow the customer to exit the vehicle, and none of that is paid time, so for a ramp driver, and they are doing a good job, we really should be acknowledging their service. but the paratransit is subsidized for the customers. the next slide relates to our capital plan. in the five-year capital plan, the sf emptying -- the sfmta has a couple of things. the first is the top ligh

there is another round of the medallion sales that is just about to get underway, and that will be the thing that is going to provide your revenues going forward at this point, so give us the opportunity to have our issues discussed in an atmosphere where they may make a difference. secondly, and this is totally unorthodox, and probably any political consultant will tell you it is a harebrained scheme beyond any possibility of passage, but i see you have five revenue solutions in terms of ballot measures, and my thought was, why not put all of these before the public at once and say, "take your choice"? it is very hard to get a tax measure passed, and if you say to the public, "we have to have a solution. you take your pick." and those that do not get enough votes fall by the wayside. only the one that got the highest number of votes would pass. they would be receptive to that. just an idea. chairman nolan: interesting thought. there is a conversation going on around the budget proposal. it is one better than three or four, so interesting. mayor brown weighed in on this. anyone else on

the medallion, nice and hefty says, let us have peace with grant and lee. and says, consciousness of duty faithfully performed was the theme. doesn't matter what -- whatever that means. that's a lot of letters. consciousness of duty faithfully performed, whatever you may interpret that to mean, north or south. now, despite the investment, the centennial fashioned awkward challenges from the beginning because virginia just fought the fight over mass resistance. closing the schools in the late 1950s rather than have black children and white children go to school together. in all the materials from the centennial from virginia there was no mention of black people at all. black people were relegated to the shadows of the story in general. and then, of course, as we all know and one of the great iron anies of american history, in exactly the same years as the centennial, were exactly the years. civil rights struggles you had anniversaries of gettysburg in atlanta coincides with struggles in washington and birmingham. nobody can miss that. confederate battle flag

caltrans is holding a contest to design the medallions for the fourth bore of the caldecott tunnel.s open to elementary, middle and high school students from contra costa and alameda counties. the contest begins in a few weeks and the new bore is set to open late next year. >>> talk about a caffeine high. where you can make starbucks and skiing without ever leaving the runs. >> and a medical breakthrough happening right here in the bay area. the new treatment that can actually repair damage caused by a heart attack. >>> from the cbs 5 weather center on this valentine's day, we are looking at yet another chance of rain moving back into the bay area by later tonight and then i'll pinpoint the warmest day of the workweek as eyewitness news continues right here on cbs 5. legendary pop singer whitney houston, new details are emerging about her final sendoff. family and friends will say their goodbyes, on saturday, >>> as world waits to wait what killed whitney houston, people are waiting for more information on the cause of her death. her funeral is saturday in newark. >> reporter: it wi

on december 14, 2011, the board voted a 3-0-2 to uphold the removal of gary martinovsky from the taxi medallionaiting list. >> i have read the material. >> we can proceed. mr. murray is here from the mta and has indicated that he is in agreement with the findings as written. mr. martinovsky has not participated in the findings review process. he has been given the opportunity. he has not given us comment. commissioners come if you have questions about the findings or if you have a motion? commissioner fung: i have a general question for mr. murray. çhas there been any further actions by your board related to ada processes? >> no, there have not. commissioner fung: thank you. commissioner hillis: just one question. the time period between the filing of the appeal in 2008 and being rescheduled until 2011, that was to let it go through the legal process and the lawsuit to be -- >> that is right. the appellate was not a party to the lawsuit. because he believed he had issues related to the subject matter of that litigation, he and the department had asked that the matter be put on hold. commission

i wasn't for sure whether the feather would cancel out this, you know, the medallion, or this. >> obviouslyyou're going to wear a religious article, one at a time. i don't have a problem with that being in the cell. the feather and you taking that as well. i think we'll be fine with that. because you're not going to wear the feather. >> no, no. >> i don't see that that would be an issue. >> you have so little in prison and everything. the spiritual becomes vastly important. >> i would say during my early years, they done the right thing by locking me up. i was too messed up. i really was. and i hope that when i do die, that people can look back and say well, the person that he did become in his later years would bear no resemblance to the person he was when he was 18, 19, 20. i wish i could get out. i totally understand why no one would ever even ask, even float the idea of me ever getting out. >> back in level two, the day haley french has been anxiously awaiting for more than sick years has finally arrived. >> i don't know what time it is, but it is time for me to get the hell out of here

and i had taken one of the golden medallions from the bicentennial with a red ribbon on it. i presented this to him as a gift. he took his feathered neck dress off and some beads that he had had carved out of little rocks, stones. he gave that to me. i thought it was just to use while i was in the village, but it was not. he wanted it to be something i took with me. i headed back to my senate office -- we have it in columbus there now, and i still have it to this day, one of my most prized possessions. but as i gave him these remarks that the missionary translated, he gave me this back and he said that when he was a young man, they used to fight all the time with other tribes. and he pointed to his arms and he had scar tissue and scars on his legs, and he said, and sometimes when we would stop, we would eat parts of each other. i was standing there talking to a really honest to goodness live cannibal in his younger days. and he said, but we don't do that now and it's much better. so i didn't know whether to laugh along with him or to cry because it was something that the mis