City Attorney Donesia Turner has been ordered to appear before Judge Ellen Hazeur in Civil District Court on Friday, January 5 with documents which taxi cab industry officials believe will show that more than 35,000 “tickets” issued to Uber and its drivers were never paid or adjudicated. The City could take in at least $35 million if the tickets were paid in full.
Taxicab owner Elliot Flood and others sued Uber and its subsidiary Raizer – which employs its drivers – in 2018 asserting that the City was treating Uber deferentially.
Apparently for 5 years the Cantrell Administration has been sitting on the copies of the alleged violations – which are still open files in the City’s computer system- in an apparent attempt to make the issue go away.
A former city official asserts that in 2018 the City was offered $250,000 to settle the case. There is no evidence that the City followed up. The City’s inaction precipitated the January 5 appearance before Judge Hazeur.
A number of current and former city officials, including Ryan Berni, have already been deposed in the case. CAO Gilbert Montoya has refused a subpoena to testify.
Former One Stop official Jennifer Cecil and former Safety & Permits director Jared Munster – who are tangled up in the current FBI probe involving the One Stop – were on hand when UBERGATE began.
With the City being forced to show their hand on January 5, it shouldn’t be long before the FBI could make a connection between the two cases. After all, why would the Cantrell Administration needlessly leave 35,000 uncollected violations on the table?
