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ianyan magazine
Nov 10 2010
Armenian Taxi Drivers Rally Against Santa Monica's Cab Ordinance
Diaspora, Society - By Liana Aghajanian on November 10, 2010 2:08 pm
Despite a bevy of Armenian taxi drivers rallying at Santa Monica's
City Hall last night against a city proposed taxi limit that would
leave them unemployed, the City Council approved the ordinance after
hours of deliberation and several public comments from community
representatives and drivers.
The ordinance was proposed after a study determined that the large
amount of taxis were preventing the city from cutting back on vehicle
emissions, as well as after the Council received complaints from
residents about high fees, poor customer service and Santa Monica cabs
operating illegally in other cities. It will take effect in January
2011 granting Bell Cab, Independent Taxi Owners Association, Metro Cab
Company, Taxi! Taxi! and Yellow Cab the ability to operate within the
city.
Six of the 13 original applicants that submitted proposals to be
considered within the city were owned or operated by
Armenian-Americans, none of which were selected - a decision that
would economically impact 300 families.
The drivers, as well as the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
and the Western region of the Armenian National Committee (ANC) say
the ordinance is unfair.
`We have suspicions of discrimination,' Nora Hovsepian, an attorney
and a member of the board of directors of the ANC-Western Region said.
`We're not accusing any body of anything right now, but the more
information we get about the selection process, the more it gives
credence to those suspicions, so we're hoping that that's not the
case.'
Serouj Aprahamian, the executive director of the Armenian Youth
Federation who was looking for transparency into the selection process
Tuesday night.
`There's no explanation that's been given,' he said. `This is their
livelihood, if they can't work here, they have no where else to go.'
A vast number of recent immigrants from Armenia are employed by
taxicab companies. According to Marco Soto, the director of public
affairs for the administrative services co-op, which represents Yellow
Cab of Los Angeles, 35 percent of Yellow Cab's drivers are of Armenian
descent.
Mesrop Injyan was one of the drivers rallying at City Hall. After
winning a green card lottery, he immigrated to Los Angeles five years
ago and began driving a cab. He was there on Tuesday night looking for
answers.
`They are putting us out of work,' he said in an Armenian-language
interview with ianyanmag. `We have been requesting from them what the
selection criteria has been, what points the companies were selected
on and until now we haven't received an answer. It's like if you're
playing basketball and the game ends, and you say this team wins and
this team loses and I ask why, and you say that's just the way it is.'
Before public comment, a representative explained that the 13
proposals were evaluated by an inter-agency committee of five members
including representatives from the city's Finance Department, Office
of Sustainability and the Environment, the Police Department and the
City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation Taxicab Regulation
Division.
The criteria included proposed business plan, fleet composition (
the number of vehicles that met low-emission standards,) local
preference, character of the operator's owners, including criminal
records, discount fares for seniors as well as driver training.
A memo on yesterday's agenda denied the fact that the race, ethnicity,
or nationality of owners or other personnel played any factor in the
evaluation process or recommendation.
`The evaluation committee was unaware of the specific race, ethnicity
or nationality of individuals linked to specific taxicab companies
until such race, ethnicity or nationality was pointed out by outside
individuals and organizations subsequent to the evaluation process,'
the note said.
It wasn't just Armenian-owned companies that felt they were being
treated unfairly.
Euro Taxi, one of the other companies denied a franchise was
represented by the Latino Business Association and South Bay Latino
Chamber of Commerce and strongly opposed the staff recommendation.
Ellen Poghosyan, president of V.I.P Yellow Cab, also denied a
franchise, made a plea to the City Council to reconsider the ordinance
that excluded her company.
`Just give us a chance,' she said. `This way we can decrease
unemployment.' Poghosyan also noted that V.I.P was the only company
that served the city of Santa Monica 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.
Karapet Torosyan, who works for V.I.P. Yellow Cab, has been employed
as a taxi driver since he came to the U.S. with his parents eight
years ago. Now 25-years-old and a U.S. citizen, he sees disastrous
results for the Armenian families affected by the councils' decision.
`The economy is so bad that you can't even save money,' he said.
`You're working to barely support your family.'
Comments around the web, on social media sites like Yelp as well as
Asbarez, an Armenian-American newspaper published by ARF highlight
customer's unhappiness with the cab companies in Santa Monica.
`If you like your life and your money, never ever ride with this cab
company!' wrote a user named Mark Q. on the business rating site Yelp!
about V.I.P Yellow Cab. The commenter alleges that the driver
overcharged him, refused to listen when told he was going the wrong
way and illegally drove them to the L.A. Colosseum, as he wasn't
permitted to operate in the Los Angeles area.
Another comment left by a user named Sevag on an Asbarez article
alleges high fares.
`If the driver is Armenian, I will guaranteed be charged almost double
the fare,' he wrote, adding on another note that he supported the
anti-discrimination rally because he was Armenian.
The City Council's report however points out that all companies that
submitted proposals demonstrated that their ownership and principal
investors of record were of good character and background and no
evidence of wrongdoing was found, not making it a factor in the
council's ultimate decision.
Torosyan says that there are so many Armenian taxi drivers in the city
that it's difficult to put blame and pinpoint the wrongdoings of
individuals.
While drivers will need to figure out what to do come 2011, the
profession of taxi driving is chosen by many Armenians out of
necessity, not choice.
`It doesn't seem to me that there is anyone in our Armenian community
who is happy driving a taxi, but people still have to work,' Injyan
said. `It's clear that this isn't a very good job, but it's what it
is.'
Injyan, who is thankful to the ARF and other Armenian organizations
that stood by the drivers and their families, misses Armenia, but came
to the U.S. because of economic difficulties in the landlocked country
that has a poverty rate of over 20 percent.
`We came here to have a better life,' he says. `How can you survive in
America without working?'
http://www.ianyanmag.com/2010/11/10/armenian-taxi-drivers-rally-against-santa-monicas-cab-ordinance/
From: A. Papazian
Nov 10 2010
Armenian Taxi Drivers Rally Against Santa Monica's Cab Ordinance
Diaspora, Society - By Liana Aghajanian on November 10, 2010 2:08 pm
Despite a bevy of Armenian taxi drivers rallying at Santa Monica's
City Hall last night against a city proposed taxi limit that would
leave them unemployed, the City Council approved the ordinance after
hours of deliberation and several public comments from community
representatives and drivers.
The ordinance was proposed after a study determined that the large
amount of taxis were preventing the city from cutting back on vehicle
emissions, as well as after the Council received complaints from
residents about high fees, poor customer service and Santa Monica cabs
operating illegally in other cities. It will take effect in January
2011 granting Bell Cab, Independent Taxi Owners Association, Metro Cab
Company, Taxi! Taxi! and Yellow Cab the ability to operate within the
city.
Six of the 13 original applicants that submitted proposals to be
considered within the city were owned or operated by
Armenian-Americans, none of which were selected - a decision that
would economically impact 300 families.
The drivers, as well as the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
and the Western region of the Armenian National Committee (ANC) say
the ordinance is unfair.
`We have suspicions of discrimination,' Nora Hovsepian, an attorney
and a member of the board of directors of the ANC-Western Region said.
`We're not accusing any body of anything right now, but the more
information we get about the selection process, the more it gives
credence to those suspicions, so we're hoping that that's not the
case.'
Serouj Aprahamian, the executive director of the Armenian Youth
Federation who was looking for transparency into the selection process
Tuesday night.
`There's no explanation that's been given,' he said. `This is their
livelihood, if they can't work here, they have no where else to go.'
A vast number of recent immigrants from Armenia are employed by
taxicab companies. According to Marco Soto, the director of public
affairs for the administrative services co-op, which represents Yellow
Cab of Los Angeles, 35 percent of Yellow Cab's drivers are of Armenian
descent.
Mesrop Injyan was one of the drivers rallying at City Hall. After
winning a green card lottery, he immigrated to Los Angeles five years
ago and began driving a cab. He was there on Tuesday night looking for
answers.
`They are putting us out of work,' he said in an Armenian-language
interview with ianyanmag. `We have been requesting from them what the
selection criteria has been, what points the companies were selected
on and until now we haven't received an answer. It's like if you're
playing basketball and the game ends, and you say this team wins and
this team loses and I ask why, and you say that's just the way it is.'
Before public comment, a representative explained that the 13
proposals were evaluated by an inter-agency committee of five members
including representatives from the city's Finance Department, Office
of Sustainability and the Environment, the Police Department and the
City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation Taxicab Regulation
Division.
The criteria included proposed business plan, fleet composition (
the number of vehicles that met low-emission standards,) local
preference, character of the operator's owners, including criminal
records, discount fares for seniors as well as driver training.
A memo on yesterday's agenda denied the fact that the race, ethnicity,
or nationality of owners or other personnel played any factor in the
evaluation process or recommendation.
`The evaluation committee was unaware of the specific race, ethnicity
or nationality of individuals linked to specific taxicab companies
until such race, ethnicity or nationality was pointed out by outside
individuals and organizations subsequent to the evaluation process,'
the note said.
It wasn't just Armenian-owned companies that felt they were being
treated unfairly.
Euro Taxi, one of the other companies denied a franchise was
represented by the Latino Business Association and South Bay Latino
Chamber of Commerce and strongly opposed the staff recommendation.
Ellen Poghosyan, president of V.I.P Yellow Cab, also denied a
franchise, made a plea to the City Council to reconsider the ordinance
that excluded her company.
`Just give us a chance,' she said. `This way we can decrease
unemployment.' Poghosyan also noted that V.I.P was the only company
that served the city of Santa Monica 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.
Karapet Torosyan, who works for V.I.P. Yellow Cab, has been employed
as a taxi driver since he came to the U.S. with his parents eight
years ago. Now 25-years-old and a U.S. citizen, he sees disastrous
results for the Armenian families affected by the councils' decision.
`The economy is so bad that you can't even save money,' he said.
`You're working to barely support your family.'
Comments around the web, on social media sites like Yelp as well as
Asbarez, an Armenian-American newspaper published by ARF highlight
customer's unhappiness with the cab companies in Santa Monica.
`If you like your life and your money, never ever ride with this cab
company!' wrote a user named Mark Q. on the business rating site Yelp!
about V.I.P Yellow Cab. The commenter alleges that the driver
overcharged him, refused to listen when told he was going the wrong
way and illegally drove them to the L.A. Colosseum, as he wasn't
permitted to operate in the Los Angeles area.
Another comment left by a user named Sevag on an Asbarez article
alleges high fares.
`If the driver is Armenian, I will guaranteed be charged almost double
the fare,' he wrote, adding on another note that he supported the
anti-discrimination rally because he was Armenian.
The City Council's report however points out that all companies that
submitted proposals demonstrated that their ownership and principal
investors of record were of good character and background and no
evidence of wrongdoing was found, not making it a factor in the
council's ultimate decision.
Torosyan says that there are so many Armenian taxi drivers in the city
that it's difficult to put blame and pinpoint the wrongdoings of
individuals.
While drivers will need to figure out what to do come 2011, the
profession of taxi driving is chosen by many Armenians out of
necessity, not choice.
`It doesn't seem to me that there is anyone in our Armenian community
who is happy driving a taxi, but people still have to work,' Injyan
said. `It's clear that this isn't a very good job, but it's what it
is.'
Injyan, who is thankful to the ARF and other Armenian organizations
that stood by the drivers and their families, misses Armenia, but came
to the U.S. because of economic difficulties in the landlocked country
that has a poverty rate of over 20 percent.
`We came here to have a better life,' he says. `How can you survive in
America without working?'
http://www.ianyanmag.com/2010/11/10/armenian-taxi-drivers-rally-against-santa-monicas-cab-ordinance/
From: A. Papazian