Audio clip
Floyd Kilpatrick
A local attorney may have circumvented city law when he helped the owner of a taxi cab company get a license to operate, according to a community activist who lodged a complaint with a state ethics board.
In a complaint to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, Floyd Kilpatrick said attorney John Anderson misled the city’s Transportation Board about his client, taxi company owner John Randy Van Hooser, during a December 2007 meeting. Mr. Kilpatrick’s allegations question the accuracy and completeness of Mr. Van Hooser’s application to operate cabs.
Lawrence Curry, a local driver for Mercury Cab, sent a similar complaint to the state board.
In a written response to the board regarding Mr. Curry’s complaint, Mr. Anderson said the allegations are “incorrect.”
Mr. Anderson states Mr. Van Hooser filled out the application “without assistance of counsel.” The Transportation Board inspector, Chattanooga Police Officer James Hedrick, and the board accepted and approved the application, Mr. Anderson said.
Records show Mr. Van Hooser, who owns All-American Taxi, turned in an application that was blank on the section where taxis and insurance are to be listed.
A spokeswoman for the state Board of Professional Responsibility said last week she could not confirm whether an investigation is under way and can only report on a disciplinary action.
Allegations by Mr. Kilpatrick and Mr. Curry surfaced as a Chattanooga Police Department Internal Affairs investigation continues into Officer Hedrick’s role with the Transportation Board. A special investigation by the city’s Internal Audit Division alleges the officer violated several procedures in his position as inspector. According to the audit, Mr. Hedrick allowed a blank application to go through the taxi board without listing taxis and insurance, failed to report that Mr. Van Hooser had three prior criminal arrests and failed to keep insurance records in 12 of 13 vehicle files the city auditor reviewed.
A week ago, police officials said the internal investigation was expanded because of extensive interviews and paperwork.
In an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Mr. Kilpatrick, who has worked with the Mercury and Millenium cab companies that compete with All-American, questioned whether Officer Hedrick should be serving in his Transportation Board role while an Internal Affairs investigation is ongoing.
“It may be appropriate to remove him,” said Mr. Kilpatrick, chief executive officer of the Community Law Clinic, a nonprofit organization he formed.
Police Chief Freeman Cooper said decisions about whether officers should stay on duty are made on a case-by-case basis.
“In most cases, they remain on duty,” he said.
Officer Hedrick said he could not comment.
Mr. Kilpatrick also sent his complaint to the mayor’s office, police department and all nine City Council members. City Attorney Mike McMahan said Friday he had received the complaint but has not looked at it.
City Council Chairman Jack Benson said the council may look more closely at Transportation Board procedures, adding that Mr. Kilpatrick’s allegations seem to “have some substance.”
“Obviously, the taxi board has made some errors based upon information,” he said.
Councilman Manny Rico, a member of the city’s Transportation Board, said Officer Hedrick bears responsibility for the blank application getting past the board. The inspector failed to alert the board that the application was incomplete, he said.
Cliff has worked for the Times Free Press for five years and covers Chattanooga city government. He previously covered Rhea County, as well as transportation and growth and development in Southeast Tennessee. A native of Maryville, Tenn., Cliff graduated in 2003 from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis on journalism. Before coming to Chattanooga, he was a crime reporter with Hernando Today, a supplement of The Tampa (Fla.) ...
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