Two weeks ago the Hillsborough County Legislative delegation shot down a proposed bill sponsored by state Representative Jamie Grant (R-Tampa) and state Senator Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) that would have allowed the voters to kill the county's Public Transportation Commission, which has been marred in controversy for years.
The PTC is the only agency of its kind in Florida, in that it was created in 1976 by the Legislature as opposed to local government. Supporters of the agency say that it provides a critical service in inspecting taxi cabs, limousines and other vehicles for hire, making it safer than in any other county in the state. At the legislative hearing, Grant and Brandes were challenged by their fellow Republicans about who would be responsible for the agency's work if it was eliminated.
[jump]"I'm not one of these people who believe that the County Commissioners who serve on the PTC will have a lobotomy when they serve on the County Commission and not be able to keep the same regulatory structure," Brandes said on Tuesday when asked about those lines of inquiry.
He was referring to the fact that every county in Florida except Hillsborough is able to regulate livery vehicles without creating a separate agency.
The PTC has been under siege for years for various transgressions by their leadership. Former County Commissioner Kevin White is currently serving time in an Atlanta prison after being found guilty of bribery and corruption charges that occurred while he served as PTC Chairman. And earlier this year the agency's executive director, Cesar Padilla, resigned under fire after it was discovered he was moonlighting on the job.
But while those transgressions added to the laundry list of issues that critics say justify the agency's dissolution, for thirty-something aged Republicans Grant and Brandes it's the agency's thwarting of competition in the marketplace that has spurred their involvement.
Both lawmakers have discussed their frustration that Uber has opted not to enter the Tampa market, a decision based on the PTC's $50 minimum fare for limousine companies. In recent years, Uber (along with other ride-sharing services like Sidecar and Lyft) have begun providing alternatives to traditional taxi cab services in cities around the country and the world.
(Of course, Uber has seen better days in the media spotlight. After the New York Postreportedon Sunday about a $132 charge to get across the city, Gawkerreported that a 14-mile drive in Southern California cost one unlucky passenger $357.)
"All our bill did was say 'let's take it to a vote,'" Brandes told CL on Tuesday at the Pinellas Realtor Organization. "Let's let citizens vote on it, and before the citizens would vote we would have put together a regulatory scheme that I think would have been very satisfactory to all the parties but that would have encouraged private competition in livery transport."
Public Transportation Commission Chairman Victor Crist has vowed to repair the agency, and has told legislators that sometime in 2014 it will be appropriate to revisit certain PTC policies, such as the $50 minimum fare. Senator Brandes says he's eagerly awaiting to see verifiable reports that the agency has cleaned up its act.
"I think that the challenges with the PTC are much deeper than many individuals understand," Brandes said. "We're blessed to have Victor Crist as a Chairman of that committee. But Victor Crist will not always be the chairman of that committee. And we know that the past chairmen have been real problems to that committee. And the past executive directors have been real problems. So I want to see a performance audit done. I want to see a financial audit done. I want to see longterm solutions that provide leadership of the PTC."