>> hello, my name is -- the electronic bill is not enough. we have 99% of the cab drivers -- the drivers, they just know about the street. you know many years ago, the tobacco companies offer you a free cigarette. why did they do that? the got the teenagers to smoke, and finally, they pay more money in their lifetime. they had to pay more with their health, and now, the country has to pay a lot in medical care because people smoke. they gave free cigarettes. but offering the free equipment to the cab companies. the cab companies are greedy. they are taking it, and they send the bill to be taboo -- to be cabdrivers. we have to pay 5%. already, somebody paid it. the credit card does not make more money for us. we aremostly, a $7 charge, " the you $10, and you make two dollars. last year, with the leak, the shutdown, and then they paid a big price. the same thing happened in japan. the tsunami came, and they knew they had to put the water right away, but they did not want to jeopardize the nuclear plant because it was a $5 billion plant. if they had to put the salty water, . but they had to. chairman nolan: koran thank you. secretary boomer: is there anybody else in the room? >> about the 5% credit card and electronic waybills. anyway, i am against the credit card, the 5%. the banks charge 2%. why do we have to pay 5%? who is making that? are we making net for the cab company, or who is making that? that is one issue. the other issue is that the transaction does not go right away. so subtracting 5 cents, 25 cents, on this issue should be stopped. the cab company is making the money, and the cabdriver is being targeted. our fees have increased, but our income is decreasing. i am against electronic waybill. there is no privacy for us. sometimes we pick up our family. do i have to report what i pick up my kids? some customers are in private, and they do not want anybody to know where they're going. where we go, how we go, what we do. so i urge you to support this and not do it. you have the authority for the 5%. they do make money. they are making money, more than what you think. ok, and i am paying for it. we should cooperate with each other. thank you very much. chairman nolan: next speaker, please. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon. my name is doug woods, and i am the cab driver here in san francisco, and i have to tell you, i am not a foreigner. note i used to work at gmac commercial mortgage before the downturn, and when the downturn happened, i got a job driving a cab, and it has been an eyeopening experience, and today, in particular, i have got a bellyful. let me tell you a story. yesterday, i was involved in a very minor accident in front of union square, where another driver, to the front of my cab while changing lanes, clearly not my fault, but today, i had to go to the cab company, and in order for them to let me go out on the road, they extorted need for a $500 deductible. i might get that back if the case comes out in my favor or some portion of it depending on how much it costs them to fix it, or whether they decide to pursue it at all, because they already have my money. i have no way to fight back. in the three years i have been doing this, we have been nikoled and dimed to death. in my previous job, i get a pension fund and health care, and now, i have got nothing. i work, and now, you guys are selling the medallions at 250 thousand dollars a pop, and we are losing. more guys cannot come in and pick up ships on their days off, so i am cruising on themes, and i have had it. i am here today. i had to run here after having to be in the caviar today, but i wanted you to know that i have had it. thank you. [applause] secretary boomer: if there is anyone else in the overflow room you would like to address the board, please make your way here. chairman nolan: good afternoon, sir. secretary boomer: your last name? >> my last name is booya. most of the people, they just want to get out right away, but the credit card is not set up that way. they would give $10, because the way the business is right now, most of the cabdrivers are traveling, so if you have to pay another 5%, it is too much. also, he kept prices are too much. you need to think about increasing the meter, and that is what i would like to say. thank you. chairman nolan: next speaker, please. good afternoon. >> hello, my name is adnam. i have been working all day, and i have to work for the guests, but i came here to support the drivers. i used to work in thin material of the cab driver. the san francisco taxi driver is really stressed. i went to college. i have no time even to go to the restroom. a live in subsidy. i met four kids. i have to drive to a subsidy to pick up my kids to school and take them back from school, and plus i have to pay 5%. that is too much for me, i think. chairman nolan: anyone else would like to address the board this afternoon? ok, come ahead. >> my name is -- and my question only, are you on our side or not? are we talking the wrong way? we have no protection or support from the sport? please tell me, what is your opinion. you support the taxi drivers or not. just tell me. chairman nolan: this is your time to talk to, to give us your opinions. >> that is my question. chairman nolan: i wrote it down. good afternoon, sir. >> i have a question. secretary boomer: what is your name? >> zuhair. my question is, what did the sfmta due to the cab driver so far since they took over? nothing, nothing. they are doing it the other way around. the electronic waybill and the 5% credit card charges. chairman nolan: anyone else? sir? good afternoon. >> good afternoon. my name is david, b-a-s-a-d-a. i would like to talk about the big picture, the bread and butter of our industry. on two occasions, there were people but i dropped at st. francis, west and third street. and they told me about their story. picking up people from the fisherman's wharf all the way to st. francis, and we charge them $25, and i told them that they should have taken a cab, and it would have cost them just $6 or $8. there are other people who have said the same thing to me. the bread and butter of our tourism industry. not in california. i have been in the industry for 34 years. this is my 34th year. it seems that northern economy. our bread and butter economy is destroyed or damaged, i think this will be lost in our trade, and number two of my issues is the status of my two sons on the medallion list. i do not know the word, lackadaisical or lazy. one of my sons looked in october for the battalion. for a medallion. i had the money. chairman nolan: anyone else? i see that ms. hayashi is here. director: the special residential parking districts, i certainly recall when we voted on that to institute permitting, and one of the main reasons we did so is that mr. yee told us that most of the residents were in favor, and i am not saying that we should reverse that right now, but i think our friends there should contact y mr.ee, -- should contact mr.yee, and i will leave it to you as to how to direct your staff, but i think some of the folks in the valley who have stayed through this should be told by someone in staff of the can follow up on their concerns and know that the board is hearing them and want to hear back from staff, and along those lines, obis the, the bigger issue we have heard is about cab regulations, in particular the credit card issue. chubbies become a credit cards are a good thing to have in the cab industry for the safety of drivers and customers, and, of course, they are good for customer choice, as well, so an answer to the gentleman's question, certainly this board member, you have garnered much attention and my sympathy and my apologies if we did not pay attention to this earlier, but i do remember director oka calling for a hearing on this, and what we have heard today has left me with more questions than answers. why is it 5%? why is it passed through to drivers? why is the tip feature on the screen not working? rather than try to answer all of this debate, simply to say, i have heard the drivers. it seems but this is not working from my perspective, and i would suggest we asked the taxi advisory committee to go through a hearing like this on a more interactive basis in and read as a policy and see if there should be it recommendation or a change made to this board, and, personally, even if the recommendation from the tax heat advisory committee is to me that as it is, i would like to hear that, because i think we have heard a lot about why it is not proper currently, and i would like to hear the justification for why it should stay the same, those would be my recommendation is to follow up on those two things. chairman nolan: director oka? director oka: it is obvious to me by the comments that were made today by many, many members in the industry that we are doing something that is not quite to their liking. that is a major understatement. but we have got to fix it, because i, for one, know that i want to have a happy, healthy taxi industry. if we do not have a happy and healthy taxi service, we are not going to get good service in this city. it needs tax these service to keep it going. the way we needed to be going. something we are doing is going haywire. i wonder what it is that is causing these to almost be at the point of explosion. i know that the taxi drivers, no matter what we do with the makeup of the texting advisory, no matter what we do, taxi drivers are not fairly represented. there are 7500 cabdrivers in the city. how the heck do we get fair representation of that number on the tax heat advisory council -- the same members. it does not work that way. it does not work if the majority is not sure what they are doing. based upon the feedback that i am getting, -- we need to fix it, and we need to fix it fast. director: chairman, i agree with director heinicke and director oka's comments, and i would like to hear more about the safety with the data. in addition to that, the study behind it. chairman nolan: thank you, director. my understanding is that we can hear the public, and we can make the comments, but we cannot return to public hearing at this point. all we can do is make suggestions and directions to the staff. is that correct at this point? director lee? director bridges: -- director lee: i would be asking the same fate about what it would be 5%. i see the limos are cutting of taxes in order to keep their fares, so i would like to hear from director hayashi at the next meeting to see what we can do. it seems it is bolder and bolder. i have seen the limos literally cutting them off in order to grab that fare, and i would like to hear more about about where is that money going to 5% charge. chairman nolan: director? director: i agree that we need to take another look get this. i do not want our tax drivers left behind by not being able to take a big ditch of the technology, so we need to at least take another but at this. chairman nolan: it appears, director ford, director hayashi, the fees and the privacy issues, it seems that those are the ones that we're hearing the most about. can we hear back at some time in the future? >> we have talked about the affairs in the past, and this is part of it. a determination made that the 5% is going to be borne by the driver for what reason, and i am not saying that we made that decision, but that may be another factor in favor of a fare increase. that is something they're put on to the staff for a report back, so i just want to make sure that is included. chairman nolan: can you come back in a relatively short period of time? >> yes, and by that i mean the first meeting in may. what i would like to do is, if it is the board's pleasure, there was some misinformation that was put out a publicly, and i asked chris to come here to try to clarify some of that issue so we are not waiting in inordinate amount of time. chairman nolan: can we do this as the sunshine act? this was not noticed as an item. is that ok? the question is, can we have a response to the factual? we have done sunshine things before. >> anything from a stab at this point should be very brief, and it should be scheduled for a full hearing with appropriate notice. chairman nolan: is that right, ms. freelander? ok, your comments are noted that there are some factual errors. ok. thank you. secretary boomer: the consent calendar, these items are considered to be routine it -- chairman nolan: before that, we want to thank you for coming. we were listening to what you have to say, and we will let you know when our next hearing will be. ok, ms. boomer. secretary boomer: moving on it for the consent calendar, these items are considered routine, and they will be acted upon on a single vote, unless a member would like to sever an item. chairman nolan: is there anyone who wants to sever an unapproved seeing none, is there a second? -- sedar and i am? seeing none, is there a second? -- is there anyone who wants to sever an item? director heinicke: ms. boomer, as i understand it, we will be considering the last of the claims? secretary boomer: that will be an open session. chairman nolan: is that the case? director heinicke: we had some very intimate information -- anti-information rules. i am not complaining, i am just saying. chairman nolan: all in favor, say aye. a break, yes. we will be back here, let's see, how about five minutes until? director beach was very good about the brakes. director heinicke: i asked about it at the last meeting.