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Board upholds SFMTA denial of medallion for Fareed Omar
Summary
The Board rejected Fareed Omar’s appeal of a denied ramp‑taxicab medallion, concluding he did not provide sufficient evidence of the required full‑time driving record for four of the last five years; appeal denied 4–0.
On Nov. 17, 2010 the San Francisco Board of Appeals denied an appeal from taxi driver Farid (Fareed) Omar and upheld the SFMTA hearing officer's denial of a ramp‑taxicab medallion application.
SFMTA staff (Jarvis Murray) told the Board that the agency denied the application because Omar had not met the full‑time driving requirement (eight hundred hours per year for four of the last five years) and because he failed the required driving/knowledge test in three attempts. Murray said SFMTA reviewed waybills and smart‑card records and found gaps: “Even by Mr. Omar’s own count ... he would still only be good for 2 out of the 4 years,” Murray said, noting spot checks of airport smart‑card data conflicted with some waybill entries.
Appellant counsel Joanna Storey and Mr. Omar countered that some waybills were misplaced, that test questions contained ambiguous or subjective items, and that the smart‑card records the agency used were not authenticated as complete. Omar said he has worked in the industry for 15 years and offered colleagues and medallion holders as witnesses to his driving history.
After questioning from Commissioners about the waybill records and testing standards, Commissioner Frank Fung moved to deny the appeal and uphold the department’s decision. The motion passed on a roll call: Vice President Kendall Goh, President Tanya Peterson and Commissioner Huang voted to uphold (Commissioner Michael Garcia was absent). The denial was upheld 4–0.
