Board of Appeals upholds revocation of taxi medallion and A card for Syed Rahimi

The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Dec. 17 unanimously upheld the San Francisco Taxi Commission—s decision to revoke both the A card and taxi medallion held by Syed Bashir Rahimi, the board announced after extended testimony, public comment and deliberation.

Jordana Thigpen, executive director of the Taxi Commission, outlined a chronology of disciplinary citations and alleged misconduct dating to 1998 and argued that the pattern and severity of violations warranted removal. "There is only one solution after these repeated violations," Thigpen said. "His permit simply must be revoked." She cited repeated failures to meet the full-time driving requirement and a history of harassment complaints, including incidents at San Francisco International Airport and a restraining order related to conduct there.

Thigpen and SFPD representatives told the board the record includes multiple complaints, a 2007 hearing recommendation, and later hearing-officer findings adopted by the commission. Sergeant Ron Reynolds of the SFPD Taxi Detail described the investigations as difficult and said investigators had urged Rahimi to seek professional help for conduct concerns that did not stop.

In defense, counsel for Rahimi argued portions of the matter were previously adjudicated and emphasized a medical note and materials showing Rahimi has dyslexia, which his attorney said could explain errors on waybills. Defense counsel told the board that an earlier hearing officer had placed Rahimi on probation and that many of the claims now relied on by the commission dated to years previously and in some cases are subject to statute-of-limitations concerns.

Numerous airport employees and contractors — including the operations manager for Dodge International, taxi supervisors and dispatch staff — spoke during the public-comment period and described instances that they said demonstrated a pattern of harassment toward female employees and passengers. Emma Perez, operations manager for Dodge International at the airport, said Rahimi became angry while requesting records and later told her, "I'm going to get you one way or another," testimony the board received as a written declaration in the record.

Defense counsel disputed some of the foundation for post-hearing evidence. Commissioners questioned the admissibility and provenance of transponder/GTU and log-on records used to audit waybills. The Taxi Commission acknowledged that certain authentication declarations for transponder records were practices developed after some earlier hearings, but Thigpen said the commission—s post-hearing investigations into specific discrepancies and alleged fraud were thorough.

Board members debated whether the contested records could be considered in this de novo appeal, and whether the hearing officer—s findings of fact — including a finding that the appellant had exaggerated under oath — were supported by adequate documentation. Commissioners also discussed the full-time driving requirement (FTDR) standard cited in the record, described during deliberations as 800 hours per calendar year.

After questioning and deliberation, Vice President Frank Fung moved to uphold the Taxi Commission—s revocations. A roll call vote showed Commissioners Mandelmann, Peterson, Goh, President Garcia and Vice President Fung all voted to uphold the commission (5–0). The board—s action leaves the Taxi Commission—s revocation in place; staff will carry out any administrative follow-up required by the decision.

What happens next: the decisions remove Rahimi—s local taxi credentials; the Taxi Commission indicated it stands ready to reassign the permits to another qualified driver. The board did not schedule further action on this file at the meeting.