Board rejects rehearing request from small cab operator Wesley Hollis

The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Sept. 15 denied a rehearing request from Wesley Hollis, owner of Executive Taxi, who asked the board to reconsider a revocation and suspension relating to a taxi medallion and color-scheme permit.

Hollis told the board he had exhausted administrative channels and filed a lawsuit after feeling ignored by the Taxi Commission, saying enforcement "singled out" small cab companies and imposed disproportionate punishment. He disputed findings that he did not have adequate workers’ compensation coverage during the period in question and said the suspension of permits was "grossly unreasonable in light of past practice."

Jarvis Murray of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Division of Taxis and Accessible Services told the board he saw no new evidence that would change the outcome and questioned the credibility of Hollis’s new documents. The board considered whether newly submitted material was ‘‘germane’’ but determined the items did not constitute sufficient new evidence to warrant rehearing. The motion to deny the rehearing carried on a 4-0 vote.

The decision leaves the earlier revocation/suspension in place; the board recorded its reasons on the record and denied the rehearing request.