"When you're just driving and you don't see any future, you're just a worker bee. But now, you can look at the future and say 'I'm trying to obtain something that will make me a better person.'"
Tolbert acknowledged that it will be extremely competitive for the hundreds of cabbies who would like to own a medallion, but said he looks at the idea of giving cab drivers more worth.
The large taxi cab companies are definitely in support of legislation, and representatives from many of those companies were in attendance at the Oval Theatre in the Marshall Center on the U.S.F. campus on Tuesday.
Lou Minardi with Yellow Cab and Red Top Cab, two of the three biggest transportation companies in the county, said that currently he's not allowed to transfer permits to other companies, which the Latvala legislation would remedy.
The legislation would also allow for a set-aside for drivers to help them finance a medallion. Currently drivers can apply for medallions now in an auction like setting, but obviously don't have the financial wherewithal to compete with a Yellow Cab or United Cab company.
The amount of permits that would allowed in Hillsborough County is subject to population growth. Because there hasn't been any such growth in the past couple of years, there have been no new permits made available.
There will be 14 permits available for auction next year, four which would be set aside exclusively for drivers.
Only one other cab driver spoke at the public hearing, Charles Smalling, who said that drivers want their own permits.
Leavengood spoke to the delegation, where she said she didn't believe all of cab drivers are in support of the bill as currently written. She said "the average driver is almost an indentured servant," and warned that if all drivers aren't protected, "we might have a disaster."
Ronda Storms said out of deference to Senator Latvala, she would "hold my nose" and vote for the bill to be brought back during the Legislative session. She said she hoped to work further with him on improving it.
Plant City representative Rich Glorioso also supported the bill today, but said he also shared "reservations" about it, questioning how many of the permits/medallions would actually be offered up exclusively to the drivers.
"Medallions, if handled properly, can be very good. But they can also lead to major questions," he said.
Tampa area House Republican Jamie Grant said he did not support a similar bill last year, and said he was still troubled by the word "may" in the legislation, regarding what the holder of the medallion might be able to do. "If we're going to tout this as a driver ownership program that it is a driver ownership program," Grant said.
Latvala said he wanted the word "may" changed, saying that there needed to be a mechanism to let the drivers know that "there's a path to ownership on the new permits." Senator Latvala said he would change that language.
If the bill were to pass in the Legislature, Minardi says that the way the process would work would be that cab drivers interested in buying a medallion would apply to the PTC, and they would then go before a hearing office, where a lottery would take place. In the future he said it would be more like an auction.
He said historically he has opposed almost every driver who has applied for one in the past, "because they were my drivers taking my business."
When asked why he would now support those drivers getting permits who theoretically could be taking business away from his companies, Minardi said there was enough business to go around for everyone, and said both Saturday night for the USF game and Sunday for the Buc-Atlanta Falcon business, there was a need for more cabbies.
There are nearly 600 such permits in Hillsborough County currently.
