Watch the Video.
"We don't celebrate the death of any human being, but in this case, I believe justice has been served," said Saleh Sbenaty of the Islamic Center of Nashville.
"We were hoping he would be captured alive because we need to know more about al-Qaida and his collaborators so we can dismantle this terrorist organization," Sbenaty said.
"These regulations were written by the city's most expensive limousine companies for the city's most expensive limousine companies."
"They were designed to put the affordable competition out of business."
"Customers, not government, should pick winners and losers in the transportation industry."
"This case is a sad example of the city using public power for private gain."
"I came in this county because it is the land of opportunity and freedom. All I need is to be left alone to pursue my American dream."
"There is a bourgeois elite in the limo business that believe that only the very rich should be able to afford limousine service."
Kay Brooks in response to my last post asked, who were the council members who voted for the Limo price fixing bill and are they up for election this year. The answer is all who voted, except for Councilman Todd who abstained, voted for it and many of them are up for reelection.
Here is the list. I have highlighted in red those council member who disappointed me, who I assumed were conservative. I did not expect much better from the others.
....the following vote: “Ayes” Garrett, Barry, Tygard, Steine, Maynard, Matthews, Harrison, Hunt, Craddock, Hollin, Jameson, Cole, Bennett, Forkum, Ryman, Jernigan, Gotto, Burch, Stanley, Claiborne, Page, Moore, LaLonde, Gilmore, Baker, Langster, Crafton, Evans, Holleman, McGuire, Adkins, Foster, Dominy, Wilhoite, Toler, Coleman, Duvall, Mitchell (38); “Noes” (0); “Abstaining Todd (1)."I am writing an email to all of the Council Members highlighted above, with this message:
Greetings Councilman,I will report any response I get.
I have been disappointing to learn that the city recently passed a price-fixing bill to protect the high-end limo service providers against competition from those who would supply cheaper limo service. I am very, very disappointed in your vote. I have always thought you were one of the "good guys" of the Council and a conservative. I can see two possible reasons for your vote:
(1) I don't have all the facts and their is a very good reason you voted the way you did. If that is true could you please explain your vote. I will publish your response on my blog.
(2) You did not know what you were voting on. The bill passed the committees with unanimous recommendations, you do not serve on any of those committees so you were unaware of the issue involved and relied on the Committee recommendation. If that is true then, that is not a good enough reason, however, I can understand that. If that is the case, will you introduce legislation to reverse this legislative action?
I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Rod Williams
Until 2010, sedan and independent limo services were an affordable alternative to taxicabs. A trip to the airport only cost $25. But in June 2010, the Metropolitan County Council passed a series of anti-competitive regulations requested by the Tennessee Livery Association-a trade group formed by expensive limousine companies. These regulations force sedan and independent limo companies to increase their fares to $45 minimum.
The regulations also prohibit limo and sedan companies from using leased vehicles, require them to dispatch only from their place of business, require them to wait a minimum of 15 minutes before picking up a customer and forbid them from parking or waiting for customers at hotels or bars. And, in January 2012, companies will have to take all vehicles off the road if they are more than seven years old for a sedan or SUV or more than ten years old for a limousine.
These regulations have nothing to do with public safety. Nashville could have limited its requirements to those regulations that are designed to genuinely protect the public's health and safety, such as requiring insured and inspected vehicles, and driver background checks, but instead, Nashville is stooping to economic protectionism to put affordable car services out of business in favor of more expensive services that happen to have more political power. Many Nashville residents who regularly use limos and sedans will be forced to spend twice as much money for exactly the same service and hard-working sedan drivers will be driven out of business.
On April 20, 2011, the Institute for Justice teamed up with three Nashville entrepreneurs and filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee to vindicate the right of Nashville's limo and sedan operators to earn an honest living free from excessive government regulation.
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| Artist Tarri Driver chats with neighborhood leader Cecil Lillard. |
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