PEEKSKILL RE-VISITS TAXI CODES

Dear readers:


Last Wednesday night (08/03/11) at Peekskill Police headquarters was the first of four meetings with the police and taxi owners and drivers. The objective is input from the taxi industry as the police (who licence taxis and drivers) review the rules and regulations regarding the taxi industry in Peekskill, and are upgraded to reflect the changing times. To remind you, there is a four month moratorium requested by the Chief of Police in which no new cab or taxi drivers licence's will be issued while this review is going on.


Turn out from the industry was higher than expected as this out reach was viewed with skepticism. The reason for this skepticism was because in the past, decisions were made by the licensing agent(police) then the taxi industry was notified of the changes (sometimes). There were some who viewed this as a fait-accompli. The Peekskill Council directed the police to include owners in the process, there was thought that this was window dressing to appease the council. So far this has turned out not to be the case.


Be sides the designated licensing officials, Detective Sergeant Ray Henderlong and Patrolman Chris Vaseos, both well know to the owners and drivers as fair and reasonable, included was Corporate Council Counsel dutifully taking notes as to research the legalities of topics discussed.

Reflections on the first meeting:


Even thought this was just the first meeting, some things I can tell you will happen when this moratorium is over. There will be drug testing. There will be a limit on cars and drivers. There will be an English test as a working knowledge of English is a requirement. There will be a limit on the amount of passengers per car. There will not be an increase at this time in licensing fees.


Still to be discussed are continuing fingerprinting every year you renew your hack licence. As it stands now, after five years fingerprinting is no longer required if you have remained free of violations. I would agree to this for new drivers only, grandfathering drivers not now required now to do so. Most of them, my self included are of an age where being nefarious is to much like work. Besides I do not need to spend $86.00 for someone to tell ,me what I already know, that I am Not a criminal. I would make an exception for drivers who have a criminal record already. One of the changes proposed on this topic was it will no longer be allowed for people with criminal record to obtain a taxi licence. This would be for new applicants only.


Car seats for minors. This addresses a problem that does not exist. Something I pointed out at the meeting. These are just some of the topics addressed in the two hour meeting. I will keep you informed of others at future meetings.

Enforcement Becomes An Issue:


This brings me to a related topic. As no matter how many laws and regulations are passed, without enforcement, they are meaningless. This particular bugaboo was brought up numerous times by various owners and the reply was the same, lack of man power.


This is a valid answer. There has been a reported hiring freeze in effect. This is to hold taxes down. However I have written that safety is the primary responsibility of any government, and the polticizing of it is just so wrong. There was 2 Park Rangers now there is 1. There was 4 Community Service Officers, now there are 2. Each costs roughly half the amount of a police officer. There were 62 cops, now there are 58. There were 3 Lieutenants one assigned to evenings, now there are 2 with none on evenings.


Even if you do not want to hire additional police officers, Park Rangers and Community Officers could be hired to do some of the enforcement now lacking. When I started driving a taxi 15 years ago, this was the case. The fact is the city must find money for law enforcement and cut from somewhere else if necessary.

Side Stepping the Property tax Cap:


I know Peekskill has money problems like every other municipality. I also know this as I obtained a memo from the City Comptroller Charles Emberger, stating all non-essential purchases are on hold. Only approved by the City manager Rick Finn or the Comptroller will be allowed.


Speaking of City Manager Finn, I want to thank him for proving me right that the recently passed property tax cap was a sham. It has been reported that Peekskill may face a 5% legal increase in taxes as pension and litigation costs were exempted from the cap. The two biggest drivers of tax increases were exempted, protecting the unions and lawyers.


This is not the first time Coumo and the Legislature has scammed us. When as Attorney General, Coumo pressed the Legislature to pass consolidation legislation, it exempted school districts and Counties. Again the two highest drivers of increase taxes, together they make up 75% to 80% of your property taxes. Again protecting the favored few. This is my opinion, you may beg to differ.


Anthony J. Bazzo

You can read more politics on Bazzo at Work or going to http:ltpbazzo.wordpress.com.
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ATOM TAXI INC. AIRPORT SERVICE:
Dear Readers:

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E-MAIL ME WITH YOUR COMMENTS:
Dear Readers:

It has come to my attention the difficulty in posting a comment on this blog. If you wish to comment, e-mail me at the link posted below, putting "Manifesto Reader" in the subject matter, and I will "cut and Paste" your comments myself. If you DO NOT wish your comments posted, but just wish to communicate with me, please make your wishes known in the e-mail.

LINKS: atom_taxi@yahoo.com(as this a yahoo address make sure you put an underscore (-) between atom and taxi)

For immediate reply: atomtaxi@aol.com

AT NCN: abazzo@ncnlocal.com
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SITES TO LINK TO:

ellabellahairclippies: www.ellabellahairclippies.com
http://ellabellahairclippies.blogspot.com

ROB ASTORINO: www.robastorino.com

JOHN G. TESTA: www.johngtesta.com

ON TOPIC W/ JOHN TESTA: www.ontopicwithjt.com

CARS & US: www.doverracing.com

THE WINERY AT ST. GEORGE: http://www.TheWineryAtStGeorge.com

PLAN PUTNAM: planputnam@googlegroups.com/

BRUCE APAR'S NCN BLOG: http://theblogcabin.com/homebase/bapar

NORTH COUNTY NEWS:"http://northcountynews.com/

THE JOURNAL NEWS:http://thejournalnews.com/

PEEKSKILL DAILY: peekskilldaily.com

YORKTOWN WATCHDOG: www.yorktownopengov.org

PADAVANO FINE ARTS: Padovanofineart.com

ASSEMBLYMAN GREG BALL: http://www.ball4ny.com/

PEEKSKILL BID: www.peekskillbid.com or
www.downtownpeekskill.com
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
All articles re-printed in this blog from the North County News are with the permission of Bruce Apar Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

08/08/11