Chattanooga City Councilman Yusuf HakeemCity Council Chairman Yusuf Hakeem needs to take a deep breath.
On Tuesday, the councilman lost his cool with Chattanooga Transportation Director Blythe Bailey. He threatened Bailey with an effort to defund his position. Hakeem’s actions came because he believes Bailey disrespected him by pointing out that the city could not move forward on Hakeem’s proposal to contract with a private taxi company without first opening a request for proposals to see if the city could get a better deal from any of the dozen or so other cab companies in town.
Last week, Hakeem sent an email inviting Bailey to meet with Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority, the City Council and long-time Hakeem acquaintance Millennium Taxi cab owner Tim Duckett to talk about a proposal to partner with Millennium. Hakeem called the proposal a “win-win” for all involved. No other taxi services in Chattanooga were invited to the meeting.
Hakeem’s email said the meeting’s purpose was to discuss whether CARTA and the city should establish a public voucher partnership system with Millennium Taxi as well as an electric taxicab pilot program. The proposal would include the city purchasing 40 taxicabs for Millennium Taxi and providing support services – including insurance and maintenance – to Millennium’s fleet.
Hakeem said the proposal came from Duckett, who has researched other cities which have introduced similar programs that offer taxi services at a reduced price for low-income residents. Duckett says CARTA’s free downtown shuttle hurts taxi services.