LETTER TO MAYOR

Dallas-area Independent Taxi Drivers Rights Support Group


Mr. Tom Leppert
Mayor of Dallas
1500 Marilla St,
Dallas, TX 75201

January 4, 2011

Dear Mayor and Council members,

First of all Happy New Year to all. Yeharerwerk Gashaw, International Ethiopian Humanitarian and actress, as well as other prominent human rights activists and leaders, are requesting on behalf of independent taxi business owners and drivers in Dallas that these drivers be allocated the right to fairly conduct their business. Small taxi businesses are the major provider of services to the Dallas area. The majority of these independent taxi business owners are naturalized citizens who came to the United States with the hopes of being able to run and own their own businesses with equal opportunity, but the numerous regulations being currently being put on taxi businesses in the Dallas-area due to the transition to CNG vehicles are causing these independent taxi businesses to suffer. The Mayor and council members' decision to enforce CNG vehicles did not have these independent business owners in mind, and leave these businesses without a means of attaining the pricey CNG vehicles, causing them to be unable to compete with the bigger taxicab companies. Some of these business owners are already out of business and have no means of supporting their families, their wives and children suffering along with them. We ask for fairness regarding these independent business owners, and thus, ask that the following rules be enforced concerning Dallas taxi-cab drivers:

1. A first come first serve policy be developed concerning taxi lines specifically when it comes to Love-Field Airport.

2. Ability to be able to transition from one cab company to another.
3. At least $40,000 be granted to independent small taxi business owners so that they are able to purchase the CNG vehicles, which cost approximately the stated amount.
4. Ability of taxi drivers to pick-up passengers from the DFW airport.
5. Ability be given to pick up passengers from any hotel in Dallas.
6. Taxi drivers who have five or more years of experience should be exempt from the exam that is currently given to taxi drivers every four years.
7. Every individual taxi driver be able to keep their original vehicle ID as long as they are still in the business.
8. The ability to attain a taxi license be re-instated by the DFW Airport Board, which Mayor Leppert is part of.

Please understand that we do support the Compressed Naturalized Gas movement and recognize its importance to the natural environment, so the Association of Taxicab Operators (ATO) has conjured a four-point proposal concerning the movement and how it should affect taxi business rules and regulations, which is attached to this e-mail.

In conclusion, we the “Dallas-area Independent Taxi Drivers Rights Support Group”
are requesting an official meeting with the Mayor and city council in order to address and solve this problem. This meeting will include board members of the ATO and the Ethiopian American and Eritrean-Americans independent taxi drivers Task Force Committee (also members of ATO) to directly speak on their organization's behalf. We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Yeharerwerk (Yeharer) Gashaw
Chairperson.