I am very appreciative that my colleagues supported my amendment requiring City of Glen Cove taxi cab fares be clearly posted inside the cab. The amendment not only requires that the information be clearly posted on the back of the vehicle headrest, it also establishes fines for non-compliance and requires that the information, along with the city phone number, be noted on the sign. This will hopefully clear up some of the confusion regarding the established fare and help assure that correct information is communicated between riders and drivers. It should be pointed out that while I was the one who proposed the amendment to the resolution and reviewed the language with the city attorney, many of the elements also reflected concerns shared by my colleagues during past meetings. Yes, I am proud of the amendment, but good governance is not about “I’m the only one” but rather, let’s work together for what is best for the community.
I regret that my second amendment to the ordinance reducing the increase from four dollars to three dollars did not pass. I am not unsympathetic to the challenges facing the taxi company and I absolutely agree that given the increase in costs, an increase in the taxi fare is warranted. However, I feel the better choice would have been to have a slightly more modest increase at this point and revisit the fare in a year. This has been a hard time for the taxi company but it has also been a hard time for our residents who are dependent on the service. These are hard decisions. As I mentioned in the meeting, while technically we are a city, in reality, we are a little town. While there was heated debate during the public hearing between the owners of the cab company and riders who were not happy with the increase, as they left the public hearing they were talking to each other. No, not laughing and chatting, but talking to each other. It should be pointed out that it was the owners of the cab company who suggested the location of signage on the back of the headrests so it could be clearly viewed by riders. There are no villains in this equation, just hard decisions to be made.
—Gaitley Stevenson-Mathews,
Glen Cove City Councilman
