posted August 20, 2008
Over recent months the city of Chattanooga has witnessed a great deal of attention being focused on the activities of the local transportation industry in general and the Chattanooga Taxi Board in particular. We've heard discussions and seen reports on TV and in the print media where elected officials have maintained that the Chattanooga Taxi Board needs to be reformed and restructured. The public listened in as accusations of misconduct and irregularities on the part of the Taxi Board served to prevent individuals from having a fair opportunity to participate in the local transportation industry.
Ironically, as quickly as these issues emerged and captured the interest and concern of the general public, they disappeared as issues after the newly formed company, All American Taxi, was issued Certificates of Public Convenience which allowed them to legally operate taxicabs here.
Although most of Chattanooga's citizens and taxpayers sat by and watched the show from the sidelines, I would like to commend Mr. Lawrence Curry for having the fortitude to file a formal complaint concerning the propriety of Mr. Randy VanHooser's fitness to engage in the transportation for hire business. Although he hasn't been active in politics for a number of years, Mr. Curry is an icon in the local African American community. He served as the first African American elected constable for the city since the overturn of Jim Crow and passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by obtaining more votes than any elected official in the 1968 public elections. Having a background in law enforcement and, having driven a taxi cab since 1958, Mr. Curry was able to see through the public charade created by Councilman Manny Rico and bring a litany of city ordinance violations to the attention of the Transportation Board leading to the taxi inspector's investigation and findings.
What I find even more interesting is the recent report issued by the taxi inspector highlighting the fact that the owner of All American Taxi, Mr. VanHooser, is a convicted felon who did not disclose his sordid criminal background and was able to receive local government sanction from the city of Chattanooga to legally operate his taxi business.
Now I don't know how the board will perceive this alleged deception, but I for one have a number of concerns about issues of possible legal liability in the event that someone is injured as a result of the acts or inactions of Mr. VanHooser not being legally qualified to operate within the purview of the city transportation ordinance.
Now that the board is aware that the ordinance has not been adhered to, and that Mr. VanHooser is not qualified to operate legally under the ordinance, why has he not been stopped from operating on the streets of this city under city government sanction?
And, now that the media is aware of the deception(s) perpetrated against the Transportation Board, why has the local media not given it the same attention that it gave Councilman Rico when he began his crusade alleging public corruption on the Transportation Board when they questioned Mr. VanHooser's fitness for certification.
In fact, one could reasonably infer that Councilman Rico personally ran interference for Mr. VanHooser by creating a media circus and thereby prevented the board from adequately investigating Mr. VanHooser prior to his certification.
Floyd Kilpatrick
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