By Juan Montoya
Do you know why there are only white taxi cabs in the City of Brownsville?
In 1998, a majority of the city commission led by commissioner Bud Richards who was joined by Ernie Hernandez and Harry McNair passed an ordinance that is still with us to this day.
In it the trio decided the city should mandate what clothes a cabbie should wear, to the age and color of the car he drove.
This was in the days when there were only five at-large city commissioners instead of the seven today.
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"I feel that it's important to set our standards as high as possible," Hernandez said at the time. "I think it'll send a real strong message."
Hernandez, McNair and Richards ignored pleas from city cabbies and passed an amended version of the ordinance that banned the use of cabs older than eight years and reduced the number of permits from 95 to 85. Only then-Mayor Henry Gonzalez and commissioner John Wood voted against the ordinance.
Richards said the reason for the ordinance was to make a good first impression on visitors through the cab drivers they're likely to encounter at the airport, hotels, in downtown streets and the international bridges. Commissioners even discussed requiring the cabbies to learn Brownsville history so they could inform and charm tourists.
Despite the threat of a legal battle in court by drivers with the Red Top Taxis, Yellow Cabs and Checker cabs – among other multi-colored trademark companies – the ordinance passed.
We wonder what this trio would do if they were in office and they saw the multi-colored hues of the vehicles in use now by the Brownsville Police Dept. Aside from the light-blue hued traditional cars, we now have white cars, black and white (the newest ones) and some cars with fluorescent paint that can only bee seen when your headlights shine on them.
(As an aside, a former law enforcement officer was telling us that the light-blue hued color was chosen by the late city commissioner Jesse Sloss because they were the colors of the Virgin of San Juan in the hopes that she would protect the officers.)
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Then, of course, there are the undercover unmarked cars. Will visitors to the city be confused when they see so many different hued law enforcement vehicles. They will be mixed in with the Border Patrol cars and trucks (las perreras), the black and whites of the UTRGV-Brownsville cars, the three or so security companies in town, the sheriff's department brown cars, etc.
Is it time to bring back Hernandez, McNair and Richards to bring uniformity to the cops? After all, Hernandez and McNair also backed Richards when he told then-city manager that he should treat cops "like Hitler would" when they made demands on the city.
Yeah, that's the ticket!
In 1998, a majority of the city commission led by commissioner Bud Richards who was joined by Ernie Hernandez and Harry McNair passed an ordinance that is still with us to this day.
In it the trio decided the city should mandate what clothes a cabbie should wear, to the age and color of the car he drove.
This was in the days when there were only five at-large city commissioners instead of the seven today.
"I feel that it's important to set our standards as high as possible," Hernandez said at the time. "I think it'll send a real strong message."Hernandez, McNair and Richards ignored pleas from city cabbies and passed an amended version of the ordinance that banned the use of cabs older than eight years and reduced the number of permits from 95 to 85. Only then-Mayor Henry Gonzalez and commissioner John Wood voted against the ordinance.
Richards said the reason for the ordinance was to make a good first impression on visitors through the cab drivers they're likely to encounter at the airport, hotels, in downtown streets and the international bridges. Commissioners even discussed requiring the cabbies to learn Brownsville history so they could inform and charm tourists.
Despite the threat of a legal battle in court by drivers with the Red Top Taxis, Yellow Cabs and Checker cabs – among other multi-colored trademark companies – the ordinance passed.
We wonder what this trio would do if they were in office and they saw the multi-colored hues of the vehicles in use now by the Brownsville Police Dept. Aside from the light-blue hued traditional cars, we now have white cars, black and white (the newest ones) and some cars with fluorescent paint that can only bee seen when your headlights shine on them.
(As an aside, a former law enforcement officer was telling us that the light-blue hued color was chosen by the late city commissioner Jesse Sloss because they were the colors of the Virgin of San Juan in the hopes that she would protect the officers.)
Then, of course, there are the undercover unmarked cars. Will visitors to the city be confused when they see so many different hued law enforcement vehicles. They will be mixed in with the Border Patrol cars and trucks (las perreras), the black and whites of the UTRGV-Brownsville cars, the three or so security companies in town, the sheriff's department brown cars, etc.Is it time to bring back Hernandez, McNair and Richards to bring uniformity to the cops? After all, Hernandez and McNair also backed Richards when he told then-city manager that he should treat cops "like Hitler would" when they made demands on the city.
Yeah, that's the ticket!