Off to the Death Valley National Park's Flower "Super Bloom (I Hope)
Here in the southwest corner of New Mexico, the temperatures, like the greater Southwestern states, are much higher than normal, meaning Death Valley, that wonderful park bordering the western border of Nevada, is experiencing 100 plus degrees F. this week, potentially wilting the flowers I hope to see. But off I go on a 700 mile one-way excursion. My only complaint is Trump's unnecessary war with Iran, and the accompanying spike in gasoline prices.
Thankfully, tiny San Lorenzo has been spared the bombs and missiles. The only direct impact here is local gas prices having increased by over a one dollar a gallon. I will make every attempt to avoid buying gas in California. I do not want to pay $6.00 per gallon or whatever it may be. No thanks to that!
Donald Trump keeps repeating that these high gas prices are short term but what he isn't saying is that this is the fastest gasoline price rise in American history. Is his middle name "infamous?" It will be soon.
But isn't it fun being part of a history making event? All of us will be mentioned someday in future history books, if not individually, collectively. That should be solace enough for a quickly emptying wallet, don't you think? Or perhaps not.
Appeasement to Uber and Their Teamster Buddies? An Examination of Seattle/King County's Medallion Retirements
Sorry folks, is all I can say. I should have been paying better attention, your ever faithful taxi watchdog asleep in the front yard. Normally I'm barking if not growling. But now I'm on the hunt, my bloodhound nose pressed to the bureaucratic ground, sniffing for clues. I think I more or less understand how the medallion retirements came about. Do I know who decided to start auditing the medallions, a kind of Santa Claus (Father Christmas) naughty or nice process of seeing who was actively interested in operating a taxicab with their stagnant medallion or medallions? No I don't but I know they are hiding somewhere in one of those tall building reaching for the sky in DT Seattle.
But I want everyone to understand why the vast majority of the inactive medallions were not on working cabs: because the association system that once sustained the local Seattle/King County taxicab industry has fallen apart, only a faint memory of what it once was. As to why that is something I think everyone knows, that being the 2014 Seattle City Council's fatal decision not to cap Uber and Lyft at 250 cars each. Yes, this is old history, so let's run up a few years to December 2023, December 12th to be exact, and find out what our friends on the City Council were doing for or not for the now stumbling Seattle taxicab community.
Regulators from both the City and the County decided rules for taxis need updated. Some were positive, like allowing cabs to pickup passengers anywhere in Seattle and King County. Others not so positive, like insisting that owner/operators only use an association-based payment system, though their "smart meter" is damnably similar to Lyft and Uber's systems networks, someone somehow thinking it would level the "playing field" between TNCs and taxis. This is also when all those sitting medallions were scrutinized as to their status, and what should be done concerning them. One question I have is why hadn't this medallion audit instead been done yearly, instead of a sudden shocked gasp, exclaiming "Oh my god! What is going on here?!"
Shortening this narrative, the regulators put all their new rules and plans in a package and took it to the Seattle City Council for examination. One important part of it had nothing to do with taxicabs whatsoever but instead a Teamsters Local 117 lobbying initiative to operate a TNC Drivers Union funded by a cool one million dollars. How truly actively involved the Teamsters were in creating the regulatory package that came to be known as Seattle Municipal Code 6.311, I do not know. But I do know that the Teamsters were at times adversarial, as exemplified by a long running lawsuit against Eastside Flat-rate for Hire. It seemed they were "out for blood," a kind of revanchism for what real reason I was never clear about.
One thing I know for sure is that the Seattle City Council loves talking to "legitimate" voices like the Teamsters and established entities like Puget Sound Dispatch (Seattle Yellow Cab), the City Council more than happy to pretend that Teamsters and PSD are representing owner/operator's real views and opinions, when nothing further from the truth is true. Why negotiate with the unwashed rabble when instead far more pleasant speaking with "establishment" figureheads? Think of 1792 and the French Revolution. Who wants to talk to Maximilien Robespierre when far better speaking to a powdered, cultured Marie Antoinette? You don't want to lose your head.
I am joking but I want to return to the subject of the medallion retirements themselves. It has been explained to me that some medallion owners effectively abandoned their medallions, basically not paying attention to their own property. Inattention unfortunately is something rampant throughout Seattle's taxi history. And I was told that notices were sent out in 2024 providing a full year of warning of what the Seattle/County were planning regarding medallions. Then last fall they starting sending out notices of pending medallion retirement if no response was received.
While not condoning Seattle and King County's actions and decisions, it would have been imperative to properly respond to what was being said, and many did not respond, leading to the mess the vast majority find themselves in: their medallions have been retired. This, guys, is no way to conduct business. You must be awake to what is happening around you.
From what I see now, if a solution is to be found, is for everyone to become proactive. And the first place to start is to email Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and tell her, in your own words, what has happened and what you think the remedy is. Just google "Contact the Seattle Mayor" and her website will appear. It is very easy to do.
Another part of this is to meet in an organized fashion with the mayor. Karl Porter, if you know him, is a person to contact about this. Sooner than later is better when meeting with the mayor.
I hope I have provided some clarification concerning all this. I end with this advice. Always be aware of what you need to do to maintain your business, your livelihood. If the Seattle and King County cabbies had been more awake concerning what the City and County were planning, you would not have been surprised when they came knocking at your door, saying the medallion you thought was yours has now been taken away.
Part of the conversation that must be had is what is "real property" and what is "leased property?" Why would anyone pay, for instance, $100,000 for a taxicab medallion, when it simply is an lease agreement that can be terminated for a sundry of bureaucratic reasons? Why does that make any sense? It doesn't.
Health and the Cabbie: My Personal Situation
I am telling everyone this to serve as an important warning for all cabbies. Recently I have been diagnosed with prostrate cancer. Thankfully it has not spread beyond the prostrate but still, without intervention, I will die. I am approaching my treatment choices pragmatically, choosing to undergo naturopathic, Chinese, and traditional (radiation) treatments. I was shocked at my diagnosis but like all of you, we have all worked in a carbon toxic work environment that is unhealthy.
The average lifespan for a cabbie in the USA is age 67. I am 72. If you are over 40, and especially if you are 50 or older, consider a prostrate biopsy. it could save your life. Another suggestion is, clean up your diet. Online you will find many suggestions. Get lots of sleep. I am sure my crazy habit of working taxi weekends of 44 hours out of 48 did not help my body. My pocketbook loved it, and I did take Monday-Friday off but the stress, wear and tear was not good. Be smarter than me. Take good care of yourself.
Back in 2024 in Seattle, an astrologer said I would live to at least age 90. I am trying to make that prediction come true.
Great Comment by Somone who Knows
At the start of this war (Trump) caused gasoline crisis, a NYC cabbie was interviewed on the APR/NPR Marketplace radio program while fueling up his taxi at a gas station near LaGuardia Airport. He said, normally, gasoline to fill his taxicab's tank would cost $35.00. That day it was costing him $61.00. The interview ended with him saying,"When gas goes up, I go down." Not a truer statement said.
Nothing Like Sporting Events for the Big Money
The Men's NCAA basketball games playing out now reminds me of the first big basketball tournament I worked in Seattle. I was still dumb and new in the business, remembering going up with some passengers to their hotel room at the Kennedy. drinking brandy. These crazy guys ended giving me lots of money but later, no way would I do something so stupid. I was 34 so I wasn't a kid. Post-divorce depression? Probably. One always needs an excuse when they are idiotic.
If You Live in Seattle's North End, District 5
It would be great if Silas James ended on up on Seattle's City Council. There is a special election coming up. Not only will you get the opportunity to vote for James, but you can also send him your two City of Seattle Democracy vouchers. The Seattle City Council could use some wild-eyed idealism. Please remember that the taxicab community has had few real friends on Seattle's City Council. Silas James just might be one.
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