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Show Page seventeen The man is only trying to make a buck by Milt Foliczer Enterprise Staff Writer Paul Gifford doesnt ap- pear to be the type of man who would constantly run afoul of the law. n man. Hes a He dresses casually but not loudly or slovenly, and he lives quietly alone in a hotel room filled with memories of better times. Paul Gifford has a lot of friends, and because he wants to perform a service for them and at the same time keep working at the only occupation he knows, hes found himself in a running battle with the powers that be for the past seven years. soft-spoke- Ideas differ During that time, Gifford taxi service has run a one-ca- r for a clientele of retirees and poor people who live in some of the less than fashionable at least hotels around town he thinks he has. The trouble has been that city officials dont think he's running a cab service at all. Taxicab license holders, say Salt Lake Gty ordinances, must be listed in both the yellow and white pages of the Salt Lake telephone directory, must maintain a central place of business with a dispatcher on duty 24 hours each and every day and must have sufficient cabs and drivers to reasonably answer all calls during that time. So Gifford, all by himself, couldn't possibly qualify. For that matter, according to John Wheat, the citys chief deputy license assessor, nobody with less than ten cars could qualify. Tried all the routes So if he couldn't be a taxicab driver, Gifford could have become "transportation for hire. Thats a category for things like buses, tour lines, and limousines. The idea is that the vehicle must travel a prescribed route and charge a flat fee. But that wasn't for Gifford either. He couldnt take his fares where they wanted to go that way. The same was true of the hotel runner category which would have allowed him to pick up passengers at terminals and take them to hotels at the hotels Paul Clifford, the Utah Public Service Commission, neither can determine a classification for his business and thereby give one or the other jurisdiction. finds himself hauled out one into another. court and of being Between the Salt Lake City commission and expense. That 56, constantly left vehicle a classification meant for the companies who try harder or put you in the drivers seat. It wasnt meant for the likes of Paul Gifford, although a single word in the law describing it even though he never understood it allowed him to stay in rental, business between hassles for seven years. legal The magic of one word The word was "with. The vehicles could be rented with or without drivers. So, technically anyway, Gifford rented out his car to his poor clients, adding his services as driver as a bonus. Then, about six months ago, the city commission amended City officials grant an exemption for Clifford in the way of a to "grand daddy permit allow him to continue operating as he had before. All of which batted him back like a tennis ball into the citys court where he says he'll seek help again this week. Whether it finally ends there or not, the game has been long and unpleasant. the ordinance, It deleting the word "with. left Paul Gifford without. Gifford appealed to the city for help. They couldn't provide it, but suggested he go to the Public Service Commission for permission to run a limousine service (the PSC regulates those). Mayor Ted Wilson and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch both wrote letters to the PSC on his behalf, trying to get a quick determination on the matter for him. Been a long haul It began in 1970, when he was driving a Yellow Cab. He wasnt making much money since the "big cab systems require drivers to lease cars from the company. Making matters worse, Clifford was also being charged for Sundays and holidays days he took off to visit his mentally retarded son at the Utah State Training School in American Fork. So he set out on his own. The city wouldnt issue him a "certificate of public convenience and necessity to operate as a taxicab service and the PSC wouldn't grant him one for limousine service. He got by as "vehicle rental, although he thought hed been licensed by the PSC to run a "taxicab type service. That lasted until 1974 when the city hauled him into court for operating as a taxi. Continued on page 18 Perhaps an exemption The PSC couldnt help either. What Clifford wanted to do just didnt fit the defini- tion. It didnt matter that some 50 people signed petitions supporting him or that, as the PSC order concluded, "he has provided a dependable and economical service to a fairly regular clientele of approximately 150 low to marginal income patrons. But they were sympathetic almost everyone seems and reto be sympathetic commended Read, Compete. Read, Compete that Salt Lake Reading the Enterprise helps me to be competitive in the marketplace, especially the local business items and mortgage rates. Allan Murdock President, Rocky Mountain State Bank Be competitive. $24 annual subscription. THE NATIONAL T Enterprise P.O. BOX 11778, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84147 533-05- 56 |