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Board continues taxi medallion appeal to Jan. 12 after SFMTA cites waybill discrepancies
Summary
The Board of Appeals continued a contested appeal over a regular taxi medallion (medallion #9053) to Jan. 12, 2011 after SFMTA staff presented evidence of overlapping and otherwise inconsistent waybills, spare-vehicle usage and airport transponder records.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Oct. 20 continued the appeal by medallion holder Jermaine (transcript: Sennitzen/Sinitson) of a denial for a regular taxi medallion to Jan. 12, 2011 to allow the SFMTA time to gather additional records.
Jarvis Murray (MTA / Division of Taxis and Accessible Services) and investigator Scott Leon outlined reasons SFMTA staff found the applicant’s waybills unreliable: overlapping waybills that implied two vehicles operating under a single medallion at once, identical time stamps recurring with implausible regularity, excessive reliance on spare vehicles (more than 70% of time in 2008–2009 according to SFMTA sampling), and airport transponder records suggesting a medallion-numbered vehicle was at the airport when waybills placed the driver elsewhere.
Appellant Jermaine Sinitson acknowledged poor recordkeeping and said he was “sloppy” but denied fabricating records. Commissioners asked SFMTA to seek mechanical-breakdown logs and spare-vehicle checkout records from Luxor Cab Company and to analyze waybills from 2005 in addition to the 2009 sample. Commissioner Fung moved to continue the case to Jan. 12, 2011 and the board voted 5–0 to continue, with a standard 3‑page briefing schedule: MTA's materials due two Thursdays before the hearing, appellant's response due one Thursday prior.
Why it matters: Regular medallions are limited and can provide substantial ongoing income; SFMTA’s concerns about documentary reliability go to eligibility thresholds used to allocate medallions.
What’s next: SFMTA will attempt to obtain vehicle logs from Luxor and analyze additional year samples; the board will reconvene on Jan. 12, 2011.
