Dictating The Conversation

It is clear that the Seattle City Council and Seattle's related administrators and regulators feel they have both authority and permission to shape our industry in any manner seen fit.  It is disconcerting to have people who have little understanding concerning your reality say that they know all about it while refusing to acknowledge their knowledge is purely theoretical.  Their presumptive attitude is insulting, not that they care. I call this the middle class/upper middle class disconnect, expert in everything regardless of the obvious, the product of lifelong pampering and coddling. 

Sally Clark, during her KIRO radio interview two Saturdays ago, said in response to the interviewer that she understood "she had to scrub the taxi drivers."  Really, Ms. Clark, I will be seeing you out at 74 South Hudson, soapy bucket and and brush in hand, "scrubbing down" all and everyone passing by?  Her statement says it all, the City of Seattle dictating the conversation to the local taxi industry. As I told a group of "taxi principals" yesterday afternoon, this must stop before it is too late. 

During a quick presentation I outlined

1)  What our current situation is,

2)  how we arrived here, and

3)  what our options are.

The attendees were very receptive, understanding like I do that we are under the administrative gun, and the good people at the Seattle City Council are about to pull the trigger.  I requested the meeting because, knowing everyone like I do, I wanted to remove any vestige of complacency.  We are in the fight of our taxi lives.  I told them like Paul Revere of old, I was out on my taxi horse sounding the alarm.  The British, I told them, are not just coming, they have arrived and their rifles are leveled at us waiting to fire.

While some might be optimistic, similar to the sentiments relayed in today's Seattle Times, that the arrival of a new mayor and Kahama Sawant, the self-described Socialist, is a bureaucratic game changer.  We  shall see.  I will be reaching out to them next week.  Stay tuned!  

Note 01/07/2014: Typos now corrected.  Give me sleep!