Tuesday, February 14

Sam Adams is on Yelp

News The other day I noticed a curious tweet from our venerable mayor's Twitter account:Yes, Sam is tweet... More

Feb 13, 2012 01:20 pm by RUTH BROWN  | Comments 1
 

Doctor Groups Flex Muscle In Capitol: $2.3 Million in Campaign Cash to Influence Health-Care Reform

News The State Capitol has been abuzz the last couple of days because of a hot list (PDF) circulating in ... More

Feb 10, 2012 06:00 pm by NIGEL JAQUISS  | Comments 4
 

Nonsense Knows No State Boundary: Washington Legislators Get Bogus Job Claims on CRC

News Up north of here, Washington legislators in Olympia are debating whether or not they should authoriz... More

Feb 10, 2012 09:09 am  | Comments 1
 

Occupy Arrestees Win Their Right to Full Trials—Even Though They May Not Need It

News The estimated 160 people arrested during Occupy Portland protests in the past five months have won t... More

Feb 9, 2012 01:24 pm by HANNAH HOFFMAN  | Comments 4
 
 
 
Home · Articles · News · Rogue of the Week · Portland Revenue Bureau
April 15th, 2009 WW Editorial Staff | Rogue of the Week
 

Portland Revenue Bureau

A wheel pain for local business.

1 Comments
     
Tags:

Jonathan Magnus, owner of 16-year-old Pdx Pedicab, figures city regulation of his eight pedicabs and the rest of his industry is inevitable.

But Magnus would like to have had some say in that regulation. Instead, the Portland Revenue Bureau last week released a new Private For Hire Transportation code without reaching out to many of the estimated 46 pedicabbies in Portland who provide an engine-free alternative to getting around town.

The Revenue Bureau, which oversees the city’s cabs and limousines, has for safety reasons sought since December to include pedicabs in its revised code.

Fine—if the bureau hadn’t Roguishly left Magnus and other pedicab operators out of the loop when it imposed those new regulations, which initially included mandatory driver’s licenses, fire extinguishers, and commercial auto insurance for all pedicabbies. Although the driver’s license mandate has been revised to a requirement that pedicabbies carry a valid photo ID, the rest of the regulations remain in effect.

Shane Abma of the city attorney’s office says the information has been posted on the city website for months, and that officials have made “change after change” to address pedicabbies’ concerns.

Although Magnus runs the city’s oldest pedicab service, he never got word of the April 8 meeting about the new regulations until the morning it convened.

“Really, you couldn’t call me?” Magnus says.

Ryan Hashagen, who operates Portland’s largest pedicab service, 35-vehicle Cascadia Pedicabs, tells a similar story. He saw the new regulations, a 38-page document, for the first time only a half hour before the meeting.


SUGGESTIONS for a Rogue? Submit them to rogue@wweek.com.
 
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
 
 
 

 

 
07.16.2009 at 12:10 Reply
Ed
Though I don't agree I can see the argument for a drivers license and commercial insurance. But fire extiquishers? Are these pedicabs prone to spontaneous combustion? Do they have heaters? Built in toaster ovens perhaps? Does anyone know why?

 

 
 

Web Design for magazines

Close
Close
Close