Councilman scales back plan to test cab drivers for drugs

Spokane City Councilman Joe Shogan thinks people who hail a cab shouldn’t have to worry about whether the driver is high on drugs.

But an ordinance he proposed calling for random drug screening for cabbies may be unconstitutional.

Shogan said Thursday he is withdrawing the proposal because city lawyers advised him it could pose legal problems.

Currently, the city requires yearly drug testing as part of its annual licensing of for-hire vehicle drivers. Shogan believes it’s too easy to beat the screening process, because applicants can stay clean for a short period of time before their licenses are due for renewal, which means drugs won’t show up in their tests.

Shogan said he learned of the problem in a tip he received from a company that does the testing.

“The problem is these annual tests aren’t that accurate,” Shogan said during a council briefing session Monday.

Instead, Shogan said he will push ahead with a portion of the proposal that would prohibit taxi licenses for convicted sex offenders and for anyone wanted by authorities on arrest warrants for failure to appear in court on traffic or criminal charges. The scaled-back proposal is scheduled to go before the council March 14 for public testimony and a possible vote.

Regulations adopted in 2003 set limits on the ages of vehicles used as cabs; required the annual drug screening; established a dress code, and raised fees for licenses and vehicle inspections. There are about 400 licensed for-hire drivers in Spokane.

Deputy Police Chief Al Odenthal said officers in the past have had problems with drug dealers using taxis to deliver their contraband, and there has been suspicion that the cab drivers may have been cooperating with the dealers.

Cab drivers and cab company owners had a mixed reaction to the idea of random drug tests.

“The thing that irritates me is we are presumed guilty,” said Daryl Dahlen, who drives his own cab through Spokane Cab dispatch service.

It already costs at least $200 to pay for licenses, a drug test and other requirements for operating a cab on city streets.

“We are really highly regulated,” Dahlen said.

On the other hand, Dahlen said, he understands the need to keep drug users from behind the wheel of cabs. He wouldn’t want a family member climbing into a cab driven by someone who is on drugs, he said.

Cab driver Tina Bliesner said she doesn’t necessarily oppose random drug screens. “If they are going to pay for it, I have no problem,” she said. A drug test costs about $30.

As for forbidding classified higher-risk sex offenders from driving cabs, Odenthal said, “Would you put your granddaughter in a cab if there was a possibility (the driver) was a sex offender? Or should the government protect me from that?”

City law prohibits anyone with a felony conviction from obtaining a license for 10 years.

City Councilman Bob Apple said the city has made it too difficult and expensive to drive a cab legitimately in Spokane. He said cab companies from outside the city are taking fares in the city because there is no enforcement of the license requirement. There are also nonlicensed city operators, he said.

“There’s no protection for people who comply. It’s all geared the other way,” he said.