September 22, 2005
Kincaid Dismisses Council “Electioneering”
“Who’s on first?” Mayor Bernard Kincaid responded when asked about the Birmingham City Council’s reaction to the demand by taxi drivers that cab rates be increased due to rising gasoline prices. Earlier that morning, the Council had delayed a vote allowing local cab drivers to increase their rates with rising fuel costs. The taxi industry previously presented a petition to the Council’s transportation committee, threatening bankruptcy. Councilor Carol Reynolds, chair of the committee, said the cab industry was essential to the area as a supplement to inadequate public transit. A proposed fuel surcharge of $1 will be waived for senior citizens 60 and over. Also proposed is a 50-cent increase over the current $2.25 for each first quarter-mile, with another nickel for each additional quarter-mile (currently at 40 cents each). One American Cab Company driver who owns his cab told the Council he was spending $150 a week for gasoline. But angry citizens denounced any increase in rates without a public hearing. The Council delayed the vote until the following Tuesday so the public could express concerns at the next meeting. “[Cab drivers] can’t operate according to supply and demand. They can’t raise their rates,” explained Councilor Valerie Abbott, describing the drivers’ plight as “desperate straits.” Only the City Council can adjust taxi rates, which have not been increased since December 2000.
After the meeting, Kincaid said the Council should have been prepared to vote on the issue without resorting to delays for public input, having been aware that the rate increase proposal was on the horizon. “This is clearly an election year,” complained Kincaid. “And I can’t imagine the Council hearing from the public, who is going to decry any increase in the rates. And they’re still being left with having to make a decision about whether or not they will provide the economic relief that the cabs of the systems in the city need.”
Irate over the Council’s campaign grandstanding with an election four weeks away, Kincaid said attaching public hearings to the rate increase doesn’t change the needs of the cab drivers. “You’re not going to have a horde of people coming up saying, ‘I support raising cab rates.’ It’s not going to happen.” The Mayor said that in a “representative democracy,” councilors must realize that tough choices have to be made. “The electioneering that you saw, and the ‘Who’s on first?’ chapter that you just witnessed, doesn’t solve the issue. It’ll be back next week . . . and I guarantee you not one [constituent] will say, ‘I want the rates raised.’ And they’ll [the Council] still be pleased with the fact that we have a taxi cab industry in Birmingham teetering on the brink of collapse . . . So who’s on first?”
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| “I’m riding a bicycle to places right now, because gas is just that high.” —City Councilor Bert Miller, empathizing with cab drivers before postponing a vote to increase cab rates |
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“While gasoline may be your problem, it’s everybody’s problem,” Councilor Joel Montgomery told a contingent of drivers and officials representing the taxi industry at the meeting. “I think you’re going to have a serious problem with this if something’s not done about gasoline prices in this country, period. I don’t care what industry you’re in. The public’s not going to have the same ability to come before this body and have their salaries raised . . . to offset the expense of taxi cabs.” Montgomery said he had not made up his mind on the increase. Councilor Carole Smitherman expressed concern about drivers asking the elderly for proof of age, while Councilor Reynolds feared the worst if taxis quit running. “If these gentlemen go off the road for one day, with the inadequate transit system you have, it will be chaos,” said Reynolds. “People will not be able to get to work.”
Councilor Bert Miller, however, agreed with Montgomery. “This is your chosen profession, and there are consequences, you know, that we all have to face,” said Miller. “So next week, will we have a thousand folks here asking us to raise their salaries, also?” Miller acknowledged empathy with the cab drivers, commenting, “I’m riding a bicycle to places right now, because gas is just that high.”
City Doles Out $25,000 to be on ESPN 2
The city of Birmingham paid $25,000 to ESPN so cable channel ESPN 2 would televise the September 3 football game between Alabama State and South Carolina State at Legion Field. The telecast was the first of three annual ESPN-affiliated broadcasts from Legion Field featuring schools from traditionally black athletic leagues, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which has headquarters in Birmingham. The game was billed as the MEAC-SWAC Challenge, which South Carolina State won 27-14 before a crowd reported at 18,000.
The Birmingham City Council approved the expenditure at the September 7 Council meeting, delayed from a scheduled previous meeting that had been canceled due to Hurricane Katrina. Afterwards, Kincaid was obviously unhappy that benefits to the city through ESPN advertising were less than satisfactory. Kincaid said before the city forks over $25,000 each of the next two years remaining on the contract, he expects the cable network to comply with certain stipulations. “They’re going to have to advertise on black radio. There wasn’t enough advertising in black media to suit me,” said the Mayor. Kincaid said he informed ESPN officials on game day that “it was unconscionable to come into this market and not advertise on black-owned radio.” Kincaid elaborated, “There are advertisements that went forward on white-owned black-formatted radio . . . I will refuse to honor [contract requirements] unless and until that happens.” &
