Now that Ethan Berkowitz has been elected to his final term as mayor of Anchorage. Prediction he will not complete this term. Here are some things he will do to continue to harm the people of Anchorage. Since he is taking online course from the Seattle City Hall on how to screw the citizens of a community.
He will propose a 1.5 percent income tax on every citizen to pay for people to have affordable housing
He will continue to figure out how to make Anchorage like Seattle and Portland. Fairview neighborhood will continue to decay since the actual name for this community is Screwview. Crime will spike even if you have an increase of people they will only be allowed to write parking tickets. Since he supports SB 91 do not expect increase in arrest. Mad Myrna's policy will continue to be the policy and there will be an increase of peeping toms since the gender identity ordinance is still in effect. Fake males and Fake females can continue to enjoy the bathroom of their choice. Harming of children will continue. South Anchorage and Eagle River will continue to hit with less bus service as the Municipality of Anchorage will continue to spend out of control. Anchorage will continue to lose population and business will move out due to aggressive taxation policies from this administration. Cab service will continue to dissolved however I do not believe Berkie will not be at fault here that the industry that will do that all by itself with the lousy customer service and outdated business model. Uber and Lyft will prosper remember he and the CEO of Uber went to a Jewish school together while as kids in San Francisco.
John Coghill, Jr who is a fan of getting your PFD did not like that most of testimony to allow people to keep their permanent fund dividend and is anti SB 91 which has made the crime rate higher. This guy decided nobody shall speak. My friends at Rivoli Revue have a message for any lawmaker who decides that you should not get the full amount of the permanent fund dividend you are entitled to and wants to soft on crime. People can vote them out and Mr. Coghill you want to continue to act this way. People are asking that you resign after December 2018. When we elect a real governor like Mike Dunleavy who will respect the wish of the people of the local political party wishes and not chosen a friend to replace you.
Under Ordinance 2016-124 requires the Anchorage Transportation Commission to issue up to 10 taxicab permits and 5 handicap accessible permits a year til the year 2021. At the April 10, 2018 Assembly meeting the Anchorage Assembly added that the Anchorage Transportation Commission do a convenience and necessity study to see how Uber and Lyft have done for the Anchorage taxi business.
Anchorage Cab Drivers call for the removal of Eric Musser as Anchorage Transportation Inspector for refusing to sue Uber and Lyft for taking turf that was never theirs in the first place. They want the Municipality of Anchorage to protect their monopoly when the truth they want to continue to provide lousy service to customers without having to compete and have a healthy industry.
Anchorage Cab drivers lead by George Kocur started to spout out lies at yesterday's Anchorage Assembly meeting on April 10, 2018. When competition was introduced by an ordinance 2016-124 by former Assemblymember Bill Evans it actually made the value of the taxi permits more towards reality instead of allowing them to inflate their permit values. It is not the governments job to protect industry instead it is to encourage free market by allowing as many opportunities as possible for people. More taxis more competition means better rates. Monopoly hurt the customer and consumer. Anchorage Voters in 2017 voted against their proposition when they gave them almost 10 years to clean their behavior. They would rather waive the white flag instead actually participating in competition and making Anchorage better. Here is a link from KTVA of their actions http://www.ktva.com/story/37928253/taxi-drivers-protest-assembly-vote-with-profanity-laced-interruption
Members of Anchorage Taxicab Alliance believe they should operate in the model above which is like the Model T. This model is old fashion does not allow for better quality of service. The actual value of these permits is actually $1425 they actual inflated by bidding it at a higher value. These permits were never meant to be at over $150,000 they made it that way by keeping a closed entry market. Competition makes it more of a reality. Uber and Lyft are driving in the Camaro a faster model more efficient where as the cab industry would rather have telephone and string. Close entry means lower quality of service. Open entry means anyone can get in. Protectionism does not benefit the customer or an industry in the long term.
Last night at the April 10, 2018 at the Anchorage Assembly. Ordinance no 2018-06 proposed by East Anchorage Assembly person Forrest Dunbar was passed in favor by 9-2 with Dick Traini and Pete Petersen voted against the ordinance. This reduces the annual permit fee to $1425 a year. The starting bid of a taxicab permit will be set at $1425. It eliminates drug testing unless you get into an accident. The cab driver no longer has to take a chauffeur training class to become a cab driver.
