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CD Director of Events Jessica Pavlow with Gary LeCamu of Diamond Limousine, who won the auction for show passes to the 2017 Executive Retreat in San Francisco and CD Show in Orlando
Houston — In its biggest event of the year, Houston Area Livery and Charter Association (HALCA) celebrated the holiday season with well over 100 guests comprising industry friends and family. CD Director of Events Jess Pavlow was among those who traveled all across the country to attend the annual party.
Newly elected president Ismael Abed of LaBrees Limousines and Past President Erich Reindl of Avanti Transportation emceed the event, with Reindl running the auction that highlighted the evening. Among the items won that evening was a pass to the 2017 CD Show in Orlando, which was won by Gary LeCamu of Diamond Limousines.
Members of HALCA and its board at the holiday event
The full 2017 board of directors is as follows:
President: Ismael Abed of LaBrees Limousines
Vice President: Matt Assolin of Nikko’s Worldwide Chauffeured Service
Secretary: Lauren Barrash of The Wave
Treasurer: Mary Vaught of Vaught Insurance
Directors: Moe Boughaba of Houston Corporate Transportation, John Ferrari of AFC Transportation, Amer Hourani of A Ambasador Limousine & Transportation, Josef Khanoyan of AAA Corporate Car & Limo, and Younes J. Ouazdi of Transgates Limousines
Visit the newly redesigned houstonlimos.info for more information.
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Members of the ILA board include (L to R): President Tracy Raimer of Chicago Transportation Group, Secretary/Executive Director Paula DeBiasi of Chicago CoachWorks, Vice President Brian Whitaker of Chicagoland Transportation Solutions, and Directors Terrin Lange of Chicago North Shore Limosuine and Scott Delhaimer of Class Act Limousine
Des Plaines, Ill. — The Illinois Limousine Association (ILA) kicked off 2017 with its first open board meeting of the year on January 3, hosted at vendor member Midwest Transit Equipment’s headquarters and included a vehicle preview.
The meeting saw 35 members and nonmembers alike come together for the opportunity to discuss attendees’ various industry, operational, and TNC-related questions, as well as an overview of what the association is planning for the year to come.
“ILA’s first meeting of the year was a breath of fresh air!” said ILA President Tracy Raimer of Chicago Transportation Group. “The attendance was great, and the interaction and discussion from everyone was lively and informative. We spent a bit of time discussing what topics our membership would like to see for our upcoming annual meeting on May 10, and were able to create a decent list of ideas to begin working on.”
“I feel it was a great starting meeting for the year,” added ILA Vice President Brian Whitaker of Chicagoland Transportation Solutions, who was especially thrilled with the camaraderie exhibited by those in attendance. “The discussion was incredible: Ideas were flowing from many of the attendees. Members and non-members started throwing out questions, like where to get buses washed and who to use for phone answering service—right away, George Jacobs offered for them to bring their bus to Windy City, where it would cost less to wash than what they were paying now. And Chris Vecchio of Chi Town Party bus offered to talk with another member about answering services and even hinted that he had something in the works himself.”
ILA’s open board meeting at Midwest Transit Equipment hosted 35 members and nonmembers As the ILA has been embroiled in a fight with the city of Chicago to seek a more level playing field between the regulated transportation industry and TNCs, some of the conversation inevitably steered toward that—though it was unanimously appreciated that the focus was more on empowering operators than fighting with the likes of Uber and Lyft.
“One comment that was great to hear was from Anuj Patel of Ponterelli Companies that we were having great discussions and that the words “Uber” and “Lyft” were no longer the main topic of conversation,” Whitaker said.
The next open ILA board meeting will be February 1.
Visit illinoislimousineassociation.com for more information.
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Charlotte —The Charlotte Regional Limousine Association (CRLA) began 2017 with plans in place to benefit the industry it serves as well as fight for a level playing field in the North Carolina city with the state’s strictest—and only—ground transportation regulations.
CRLA Vice President Shawn Glasgow of Peak Limousine said that while the association cancelled its January 4 meeting, the board has been working hard to enact changes in the laws governing their companies, since TNCs get a free pass in Charlotte while operators are hit with hefty regulatory fees to remain legal outfits.
“We have achieved quite a bit of those goals: I would say half of our current policies are changing with the ordinances but they have to go through city council to be approved,” Glasgow said. “If that works, we have achieved success for our local market. Is it a level playing field? No. And it will never be level because of the main fact that our state mandates that our local city cannot govern Uber. So their hands are tied, and we’re moving our fight to the state.”
CRLA Vice President Shawn Glasgow of Peak Limousine
It is, however, difficult to seek neighboring companies’ assistance, as calling for background checks and fingerprinting for TNC drivers would also mean imposing those new regulations on other chauffeured transportation companies.
“Charlotte is the only city in North Carolina that has regulations, so why would any other city, county, suburb, want to help an organization fight statewide to make Uber fingerprint background-checked when they don’t have to have it either?” Glasgow said. “We would be forcing this city’s view on the entire state, and I don’t think our local friends would like it if we got the entire state to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to mandate that Uber drivers needs a background check—but that means all of your chauffeurs will have to be background-checked and fingerprinted, too.’”
Now armed with a lawyer, CRLA’s next goal is to “get in front of the state representatives and plead our case.”
“We do have help from our city’s attorney,” Glasgow said. “He is an advocate for leveling the playing field but he’s also an attorney for the city. All he can do legally is make recommendations based on what he hears, what we need to change, what we’re requesting; however, he said that if we get ourselves in front of whatever division we need to talk to to get these laws changed and they requsest that he makes a presence in Raleigh on behalf of Charlotte, he will say exactly what needs to be said. So we do have an advocate who will speak for us on the city side.”
Additionally, Glasgow said that while the removal of all the city’s ordinances is not possible and would actually create a whole new host of problems by dismantling the entire preexisting structure, CRLA has seen the number of regulations that its members and regional operators are expected to abide by cut in half.
“The city will not removes its ordinances, so all our attorney can do is to make recommendations to remove some of the red tape,” Glasgow explained. “He has reduced our ordinances and requirements to half of what they were—like getting fined $50 for not wearing a name tag on your suit.”
While Glasgow said that “it could be next week, it could be July, it could be September” until the ordinances that CRLA is backing are passed—like dramatically reducing the time it takes to put new chauffeurs behind the wheel from two-and-a-half months to about weeks—he is optimistic that they will ultimately pass.
“These ordinances have been restructured and reorganized and are now sitting on the next agenda for the Safety Council meeting, and once they unanimously approve it, then it goes to the City Council for a vote,” Glasgow said. “At least the attorney has rewritten it, and everything he has suggested in the past has gone in his favor.”
The next CRLA meeting will be February 1.
Visit
mycrla.org
for more information.
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