Dear Readers:
Question: When is an un-funded mandate not an un-funded mandate?
Another question: When is an un-funded mandate perfectly okay with an elected official?
The answer to both question is when they are imposed on private business.
Finger Printing:
Tuesday (08/09/11) and Wednesday (08/10/11) were the second and third meetings between the Peekskill taxi industry and the Peekskill police who licence taxis. The purpose of these meetings is to review and upgrade the taxi code with input from the taxi industry. In my last post on this topic (http://ncnlocal.com/blogs/article_026dc924-c1e0-11e0-b33f-001cc4c002e0.html) I talked about some of the issues of concern to the taxi industry of which I am a member as I am part owner of a taxi company licensed out of Peekskill.
The first meeting a big bone of contention was the proposed rule change regarding finger printing of licensed drivers. As of now it is no longer required after five years of driving with a clean record. The new proposal is to finger print every year. The only case cited as the reason is a driver within ten years acquired a criminal record outside the jurisdiction of Peekskill. One case and every taxi driver must be punished. The cost of this un-funded mandate is $86.00 and you have to go to Mahopac to get this done. The problem when the licensing official and the same enforcement official are the police is that police come to think over a period of time is that everyone is a potential criminal. I would suggest that if this one case happened within ten years then move the five year requirement to ten years. Being that there was only one case cited, I believe this is a solution looking for a problem.
Limiting the Taxi Drivers Licence:
Does the desire of a cab owner to want to hire a driver out weigh the cost of administering taxis in general? We were told that if there are no limits on taxi driver licence's, that eventually the now cost of $125.00 a year would be increased (probably another $50.00) to cover the increased cost of administration.. So should owner/operators who have no intention of hiring a driver subsidize those who do with a higher fee? The reality is that if you ask most cab drivers, and they have been asked, they will tell you there are already too many driver already. This may or may not happen as there are court challenges to this in other jurisdiction a of this writing. Peekskill will wait for a ruling before this is implemented or not.
Taxi Liability:
In an idea coming out of City Hall according to my sources, a proposal to require a one million dollar insurance liability on all taxis was met with universal resistance by the industry. This epitome of un-funded mandates would raise the average insurance policy to $8,000.00 a year per car. That is if the carrier does not drop the insured which two companies that insure taxis said would happen.
We were told that this proposal is based on what White Plains and New Rochelle are doing. This is comparing apples to oranges as both those jurisdictions have fleets only. It is a matter of record that fleet drivers are more careless than owner/operators as a car owner is likely to be a safer driver.
We were also told that this is to protect the City against lawsuits resulting from a serious accident. As we are not at this time being provided with the information on how many lawsuits are pending or have been in the past initiated against Peekskill by people injured in taxi accidents, it seems to be a state secret, my guess is that there are one or none. This is another solution looking for a problem.
We are told over and over again that the city is short on man power because of the recession and upping taxes on the people would not be wise at this time. This proposal supposes that the taxi industry is recession proof. The we can take a $8,000.00 hit in increased costs. This is on top of the average increase in gas costs of $4,000.00 over last year and this is only August. Plus the increase in finger printing costs proposed and the increase cost of car maintenance needed to pass muster with the taxi inspector which is done twice a year.
Butt Out:
The initial reason for the review of taxi codes as was explained to me was to manage the amount of taxis and drivers on the road. This liability proposal goes beyond the scope of this review. It will put owner/operators and small companies out of business. This proposal by people in City Hall who neither drive, ride or can spell taxi should die the death it deserves. As this is an idea out of City Hall being based on other jurisdictions that have no relation to Peekskill, by people who do not know the difference, these people should butt out. 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:
This gives me a chance to plug my business ATOM TAXI INC. As you are planning your holiday or business or vacation travel? Instead of the headache of trying to find Airport parking, we do Airport Service to The Westchester County Airport(and ALL other airports) 24/7. Just call 1(914)879-6121 and my partner Tommy, will be glad to take you in our Airport Taxi. You will also be provided with a free copy of your local paper of record The North County News. If this is a business trip we also provide a professional receipt, just tell Tommy at the time of booking. The cost of a one-way trip to LaGuardia Airport the cost is $100.00 plus tolls. The cost to JFK and Newark Airports is one hundred-thirty-five dollars plus tolls. The tolls are $13.00 Westchester County Airport and Stewart cost $75.00. We do not take credit cards, sorry.
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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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CABLE SHOWS TO WATCH:
BRUCE THE BLOG GOES BAZZO: Thursdays at 10 P.M. channel 74. Available in Yorktown - Putnam Valley - Bedford - Bedford Hills - Mount Kisco - Katonah - Lewisboro - North Salem - Pound Ridge - Purdy Station - Amawalk - Granite Springs - Lincolndale - Somers - Baldwin Place - Shenorock - Mahopac.
HOSTED BY: BRUCE APAR & ANTHONY J. BAZZO
YORKTOWN WATCHDOG: Every Monday at 9:30 P.M. channel 74
Hosted By: ED CIFFON (Yorktown and Putnam Valley only)
CARS & US: Fridays 10 PM chanel 15(Peek. & Cortlant) 74(York. & Put. Valley)
Hosted By: Dennis Tate
SPEAK OUT WITH SANDY GALEF: Yorktown chanel 74 Wednesdays at 7:30PM..Ossining/Peekskill chanel 15 Wednesdays at 8PM
Hosted by: Sandra Galef
DEAR SANDY: Yorktown chanel 74 Fridays 7:30PM...Ossining/Peeksill chanel 15 Fridays
9PM
Hosted by: Sandra Galef
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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
08/11/11
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