Taxicab authority trims field in hunt for new administrator
The Nevada Taxicab Authority has narrowed the field in its search for a new administrator and will forward the names of two people with taxi industry regulatory experience in big cities and a current Nevada government department head.
In a special meeting Tuesday, authority board members unanimously approved a list of prospective administrators to be sent to Bruce Breslow, director of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry.
They include Ronald Grogan, director of the state's Equal Employment Opportunity division; Christiane Hayashi, former director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's Division of Taxis and Accessible Services; and John Scott, chief of operations for the District of Columbia Taxicab Commission in Washington.
The board spent about three hours interviewing eight candidates for Taxicab Authority administrator, the top regulator overseeing Clark County's 16 taxi companies.
The successful candidate will succeed Charles Harvey, who resigned in October.
It was the Taxicab Authority board's second attempt to select an administrator. In February, three applicants sought the position, but one of the three dropped out of the running. Because the board couldn't deliver the required three finalists for Breslow's consideration, the board initiated a new search.
The latest search for applicants was trimmed to nine. After one applicant dropped out late in the process, board members interviewed eight in Monday's public meeting.
The latest search for an administrator comes at a time when the city's taxi industry is reacting to the prospect of new competition from ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft. The Taxicab Authority won’t have any regulatory oversight of those companies, but it is working with cab companies to enable them to operate more competitively.
Hayashi and Scott have been in regulatory positions when ride-hailing companies arrived in their cities. Hayashi was in San Francisco when Uber and Lyft entered the market there, and she fought an uphill battle to convince the city for the need to regulate them.
Scott, who has more than 20 years in taxicab regulation experience in Washington and San Diego, was required to preserve the economic viability of D.C.'s 6,200 for-hire vehicles.
While Grogan doesn't have the same transportation background, he has the advantage of knowing Nevada's state government system and has excelled in conducting sensitive investigations, staff training and development, program management and conflict resolution.
The three names will be forwarded to Breslow, who can choose one of the three candidates or reject them for a new search. The position pays up to $114,249 annually.
The five candidates who didn't make the cut were Joseph Decker, administrator of the state's Real Estate Division; Kenneth Luzak, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Bruce Martin, operations manager for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation with experience in gaming regulation in Florida; James Cooper, a consultant and researcher for the District of Columbia Taxicab Commission; and Susahn March, an administrative manager with 35 years of experience in Las Vegas, Kingman, Ariz., and New Mexico.
Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find @RickVelotta on Twitter.
