Almost a year after Berkeley taxi cab company owners and operators sent city officials a letter highlighting a number of grievances about operating in the city, the Berkeley City Council will soon deliberate on a staff-recommended ordinance that would officially allow taxi permits to be transferred to other operators.
At its meeting Tuesday, the council will consider including language in the city’s municipal code to make taxicab business and vehicle permits transferable and placing additional taxi stands in certain areas of the city. If the ordinance is approved, fees will be assessed in order to allow the processing of permit transfers, generating additional revenue for the city’s general fund.
In response to the Oct. 4 letter sent by the Berkeley Taxicab Association, which is composed of 93 permitted taxi owners and drivers, the council referred to the city manager on May 31 a number of items regarding the operation and regulation of taxis in Berkeley — including allowing the transfer of taxi vehicle permits, increasing the number of taxi stands and consolidating taxi inspections.
Since then, the Code Enforcement Unit of the city manager’s office conducted an evaluation of the city’s taxi services that contributed to the creation of requirements and regulations in the recommended ordinance.
Councilmember Kriss Worthington said the ordinance will provide a clear and fair procedure on how the permits can be transferred since there is currently no policy to regulate the transferring of permits. If a taxi cab driver wants to transfer a permit to another driver, there is no set procedure on how to go about it. Instead, the driver would return the permit to the city which would then reissue it to another driver.
While the value of the fees has yet to be determined, Said Ali, chairman of the association, said the ordinance is too restrictive for operators and drivers because of it has too many requirements.
“The ordinance they want to pass next week is terribly wrong,” Ali said.
According to the staff recommendation, current holders of the business owner or vehicle permits must first offer the permit in writing to individuals and companies listed on a Taxi Business Owner Waiting List. If the offer is rejected, then the permit holder can transfer the permit to someone who is not on the waiting list, but the selling price cannot be less than 90 percent of the original offer.
“There are people who are waiting on taxi cab licenses,” said city spokesperson Mary Kay Clunies-Ross. “If you talk about people transferring licenses, you also have to think about people waiting for taxi cab licenses. There are only so many.”
Ali said the association may protest the ordinance because the restrictions will slow down the permit transfers. He added that the city manager could also create additional transfer requirements in the ordinance.
However, Don Jelinek, the attorney who represents Berkeley Yellow Cab Express, said the waiting list is a suitable and fair approach since the ordinance requires the city manager to finalize transfer applications within 30 days.
Karinina Cruz covers city government.
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