12-02-09 Health and Public Safety

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.. a HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETY t DECEMBER 2, 2009 Karen L. White, Chairperson, Health and Public Safety Committee called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. Committee Members Present: Ann Puzzello, Valerie Schey, Citizen Member Other Councilmember's Present: Al "Buddy" Kirsits, David Varner Other's Present: Mary Wisniewski, Central Services, Captain Jeff Rynearson -SBPD, Bill Anksorus, Driver City/Checker Cab, Grant Schmidt, Notre Dame Student Body President, Ann-Carol Nash, Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand Agenda: Initial Discussion on Amendments to the Taxi Cab Ordinance Chairperson White briefly outlined the need to review the provisions of the taxi ordinance. Chairperson White then turned the discussion to Ann-Carol Nash, Deputy City Attorney, who is assigned this topic for her comments. Ann-Carol recounted the collaborative efforts among the administration, the Council, the owners and taxi drivers, and the SBPD that produced the 1999 ordinance. Based upon complaints regarding current compliance including, cleanliness of cabs, availability, and adherence to rate schedules, and courtesy of drivers, she felt it was time to review the effectiveness of the provisions. Ann-Carol also alluded to enforcement problems due to inconsistency, lack of attention, education, and insufficient dedication of resources in the Legal Department. Responding to Karen White's question about the nature of complaints Ann-Carol spoke of taxi availability, especially at night, rate variances, and rogue unlicensed cabs. She also spoke of enforcement successes especially in the background checks done before licenses are issued. Kathy Cekanski-Farrand, Council Attorney, suggested her research of "best practices" gleaned from other city's experience could be melded into our own standards. Kathy also indicated that with 11 local cab companies, employing 184 drivers there were only three citations issued last year for non-compliance with the current bill uneven enforcement of the current provisions for whatever reason needed review. Ann-Carol Nash interjected that suspensions or denials of licenses would be more effective than fines. SBPD night-shift Capt. Rynearson said the majority of complaints occur during football weekends, there not being a major problem otherwise. Ann-Carol reinforced her claim that ticket issuance was not the solution. She suggested working with the taxi companies to get them to accept personal responsibility for compliance. Threat of license suspension or denial of a license to operate a cab being a better way to