DRIVERS' PAGE

For those who are interested in beginning an association to band together and make changes in your area taxi regulations, here are a few pointers to get you started...

*Find people who truly want to see changes and are willing to attend the meetings. It would help if you could find someone who has a basic knowledge of the legal system in the group. I know many drivers who at some time or another studied law, so hopefully this won't be too hard.

*Hold a meeting, give the association a name, set dues and collect them to get you started.

*Elect officers for the association, including a secretary who can keep minutes of the meetings. Bring a tape recorder to make his/her job easier, as you need to keep minutes on this meeting as well.

*Register with the city as a "charter with purposes" or non-profit organization.

*Hold a "first meeting" as an official organization and outline your needs as an industry and begin the petitioning process. This is a rather long process, and is best done with legal representation. This is where the dues come in. Also, you may raise funds with flea markets, bake sales ect.. Establishing your association is the easy part...lobbying and petitioning the city and being LISTENED TO is the hard part. Be as professional and tactful as possible when dealing with the city...We are already looked down upon because of media hype and movies that misrepresent us, so the general public doesn't really know that we actually are quite intelligent and mostly do this because we enjoy it. It has taken us a long time to be taken seriously here, and it is hard work to get changes made. The question is... ARE YOU WILLING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES???