The city of West Hollywood’s Shared Economy Task Force will meet on Wednesday night, when Uber and Lyft representatives will make presentations.
The meeting will take place 5 p.m. at the Community Meeting Room at the West Hollywood Library, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. at El Tovar. It is open to the public.
The presenters will be Caitlin O’Neill, public policy associate for Uber, and Candice Taylor, manager of government relations at Lyft.
Shared economy, or peer-to-peer, businesses have stirred controversy in West Hollywood. Airbnb, which allows users to arrange short-term property rentals, is one such business that has come under fire.
City Councilmembers Abbe Land and John Heilman asked in February that the city establish the task force, noting the impact of shared economy business on existing local businesses and the fact that some of them violate local ordinances.
According to the city, “The aim of the Shared Economy Task Force is to formalize a review process of current approaches to emerging shared economy businesses in the City of West Hollywood. Task Force meetings are open to the public and there are opportunities for comments and input at each meeting.”
The task force met in July and September, and additional meetings will take place this November 19 and December 17.
Cy Husain- Does it have to be one or the other? Everyone should be free to choose whatever mode of transportation they want, whether it be MTA or Uber.
I’m all for your and everyone else’s freedom here WehoFan, big time! They are free to take a stretch lemmo if they like. The difference being that the stretch lemmo companies are NOT backed by silicon valley tycoons and their right-wing agenda. The capital and influence the silicon valley tycoons have, gives them an unfair advantage and, with an agenda to destroy the public sector they are ones limiting your freedom. I would go so far as to argue that if a WELL FUNDED ECOFRIENDLY PUBLIC TRANSIT system was in place for West Hollywood, it would out compete any private… Read more »
Uber and Lyft have been wonderful for our community. They have taken drunk drivers off the roads, encouraged ride sharing, lessened traffic, and dealt a blow to the horribly corrupt cab companies.
Why are you peolple so obsessed with race on here? It’s really a sad way to go through life. Sorry.
In response to WehoFan: The “you people” reference is what I have got consistently from condescending self righteous white males from day one! Just WHAT do you mean by that? If you have any sense of Social Justice YOU should be asking the perpetrators of racism (Uber & Lyft) what THEIR obsession with race is. I’m sure you will find that the way they get through life is far more tragic in it victimizes others. I am proud of my role in standing up to discrimination and, the gains I have made in the struggle! 😉 I’m sure the Silicon… Read more »
Well the majority of my friends just happen to be white though I make NO effort to discriminate! I make the point to illustrate the fact that personal experience may NOT many times reflect the condition of the over all society. http://uberdriverdiaries.com/diaries/discussion/1281/potential-10000000-racial-discrimination-law-suit “Out of the 360 deactivated Uber drivers in the Los Angeles area ALONE, 343 were African American, Arab and Africans from Africa — only 6 Caucasian males and 11 white females. I also have many emails to and from your Zendesk partners. Once we subpena Uber’s records, and depose the people giving low ratings to minorities, our lawyers… Read more »
Most of my Uber drivers have been Middle Eastern or Central Asian (Armenian, etc.) immigrants. They are not the “same white males” of Silicon Valley.
It’s more like a peer-to-peer shared economy for the exclusion of affluent white males! There is little to regulate these businesses like there is for “real” businesses or the Public Sector. The same white males of Silicon Valley who came with the ride share peer-to-peer businesses came up with cell phone apps that enable drivers to skip over likely non-whites. The requirements of becoming a driver for one of these peer-to-peer ride businesses fit the demographics of white males far more than any other group, unlike many taxi drivers or those in employed in Public Transit. Just a little de… Read more »