07/13/1990
APPEAL TO CITY MANAGER re TAXI OPERATOR'S PERMIT - RONALD HOBBS
July 13, 1990
Present: Ron H. Rabun, City Manager
Milton A. Galbraith, City Attorney
Sergeant Don Githens, Police Department
Cynthia E. Goudeau, City Clerk
Also Present:
Ronald Hobbs, Appellant
The City Manager stated this appeal is filed pursuant to Section 61.41 of the City Code. Mr. Hobbs'
taxi operator permit was denied for failure to disclose on his permit application information regarding a
Pinellas County arrest for lewd and lascivious behavior. The arrest occurred on March 20, 1990. The City
Manager further stated the letter of appeal was received by the City Clerk the 25th of June, 1990, and Mr.
Hobbs' letter states he did not intend to falsify the application.
Mr. Hobbs verified the previous statements. He stated he is a high school graduate and had
participated in the 1972 police academy and has a little knowledge regarding law. He stated he assumed his
March 20th arrest was a Clearwater arrest as he was brought to the Clearwater Police Department in a
Clearwater Police car prior to being transferred to the 49th Street facility. He stated he was not attempting to
hide the information as he was aware the Police Department knew about the arrest. In response to a
question, Mr. Hobbs stated he did not know when the case would be coming to trial. He stated he did not
provide false information, he simply forgot to provide the information. He did not feel the omission was
severe enough to deprive him of a living. In response to a question from the City Manager, he indicated he
does consider operating a taxi his profession and he plans to work with Prestige Taxi, a company that plans
to start operations in Clearwater soon.
The City Attorney stated he wished to make sure that all present understood the difference between
arrest and conviction. He stated the case is still pending, however, conviction in this case would result in
disqualification. He stated it would be his recommendation to the City Manager to withhold a decision
regarding Mr. Hobbs' appeal until resolution of Mr. Hobbs' trial.
Mr. Hobbs stated he had spoken with an attorney and had been told that a person should not be
denied employment due to arrest, only for conviction. He stated this is where his confusion came in and why
he failed to fill out this area of the application. He apologized for the error.
Appeal to City Manager 7/13/90
1
The City Manager stated he had ten days in which to make a decision.
The meeting adjourned at 10:51 a.m.
Due to additional questions from Mr. Hobbs, the meeting was reconvened at 10:52 a.m.
Mr. Hobbs questioned the basis of the City Attorney's recommendation to withhold a decision on his
case.
The City Attorney indicated if a permit was issued and the trial resulted in a conviction of Mr. Hobbs,
that would be grounds for revocation. He felt withholding the decision would be better than going through the
revocation process.
Mr. Hobbs stated he did not feel his arrest was relevant to the grounds for the denial of the
application which is falsification of the application.
The City Attorney indicated the area was left blank, and normal inference would be that there were
no arrests.
The City Manager stated it was Mr. Hobbs' responsibility to assure the application was filled out
properly. He reiterated that he has ten days to make a decision.
The meeting adjourned at 10:56 a.m.
Appeal to City Manager 7/13/90
2