NEW SANTA MONICA ORDINANCE LEAVES ARMENIAN CABBIES STRANDED
New America Media
Nov 18 2010
SANTA MONICA, Calif.
Hundreds of Armenian taxi drivers here are in danger of losing their
jobs, after the City Council last week approved a controversial
ordinance limiting the number of taxi franchises in the city.
The ordinance was proposed after residents complained about high
cab fees and poor customer service. A recent study also found that
the large number of taxis was preventing the city from reducing
vehicle emissions. The ordinance, which goes into effect in January
2011, grants only five companies-Bell Cab, Independent Taxi Owners
Association, Metro Cab Company, Taxi! Taxi! and Yellow Cab-the right
to operate within Santa Monica.
Thirteen companies had applied for the taxi licenses. None of the
six companies owned or operated by Armenian-Americans were selected,
a decision that is expected to have an economic impact on some 300
families.
The drivers and Armenian-American organizations say the ordinance
is unfair.
“We have suspicions of discrimination,” said Nora Hovsepian, an
attorney and a member of the board of directors of the the Western
region of the Armenian National Committee (ANC). “We’re not accusing
anybody of anything right now, but the more information we get about
the selection process, the more it gives credence to those suspicions.”
Serouj Aprahamian, executive director of the Armenian Youth Federation
(AYF), was looking for transparency into the selection process.
“There’s no explanation that’s been given,” he said. “This is [the
drivers’] livelihood. If they can’t work here, they have nowhere else
to go.”
A large number of recent immigrants from Armenia are employed by
taxi companies. Thirty-five percent of Yellow Cab’s drivers are of
Armenian descent, according to Marco Soto, public affairs director
for the Administrative Services Co-op, which represents Yellow Cab
of Los Angeles.
Mesrop Injyan was one of the drivers protesting at City Hall and
looking for answers. After winning a green card lottery, he immigrated
to Los Angeles five years ago and started driving a cab.
“They are putting us out of work,” he said in an Armenian-language
interview with Ianyan Mag, an independent Armenian publication. “We
have been asking them what the selection criteria was, what basis
the companies were selected on, and as of 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.'”
The proposals were evaluated by a five-member inter-agency committee,
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 the proposed business plan; fleet composition
(the number of vehicles that met low-emission standards); local
preference; character of the operators’ owners, including criminal
records; discount fares for seniors, as well as driver training.
According to a memo issued after the City Council vote, “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.”
It wasn’t just Armenian-owned companies that felt they were being
treated unfairly.
Euro Taxi, also 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, pleaded with the
council to reconsider its decision: “Just give us a chance.” She
noted that V.I.P was the only company that served Santa Monica 24
hours a day, seven days a week.
has been employed as a taxi driver since he came to the United States
with his parents eight years ago. Now 25 years old and a U.S. citizen,
he predicts that the council’s decision will have disastrous results
for Armenian families.
“The economy is so bad that you can’t even save money,” said Karapet
Torosyan, who came to the U.S> eight years ago with his parents and
works for V.I.P. “You’re working to barely support your family.”
Many Armenians chose the profession of taxi driving out of necessity.
“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.”
“We came here to have a better life,” he added. “How can you survive
in America without working?”
From: A. Papazian
http://newamericamedia.org/2010/11/armenians-taxi-drivers-in-santa-monica.php