Taxi official downplays controversy over cameras

Thursday, Aug. 18, 2005 | 10:03 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Outgoing Nevada Taxicab Authority administrator Yvette Moore on Wednesday called the controversy over surveillance cameras in Southern Nevada's cabs "a lot of smoke and mirrors."

The day after her resignation was announced, Moore explained that her departure was strictly for family reasons and had nothing to do with the flap over the cameras nor the question of having the authority handle crimes involving cabs rather than Metro Police.

In fact, Moore said her only regret in resigning as administrator of is that she won't be around to see the regulation requiring cameras adopted. Moore left the $88,000 a year job after her son-in-law was involved in a serious accident and she had to take care of family responsibilities, she said.

"Family comes first," she said.

The authority, which regulates 2,500 cabs in Clark County, is waiting for an opinion from the state attorney general's office on surveillance, she said Wednesday. An initial draft of a regulation on cameras in cabs ran into opposition, and it was rejected by the Legislature, due in part to an objection to using audio.

Moore said the proposed regulation would have an audio recording of 10 seconds before the cab door is open, the fare transaction and 10 seconds after the door is closed. The sound recording could also be activated by a driver pushing a panic button.

"It's a lot of smoke and mirrors," she said of the controversy, adding that three surveys, including one by UNLV and one at McCarran International Airport, found that customers didn't care if there is an audio recording.

The recent controversy over the investigation of crimes involving taxicabs was an "unfortunate misunderstanding" she said.

Moore sent a letter to the owners of the cab companies telling them that the authority would handle crimes committed on or by drivers. She told the companies that dispatchers should call the Taxicab Authority instead of Metro in the future.

She said Wednesday that was actually requested by Metro, but since her son-in-law's accident two weeks ago, she has not been able to contact Sheriff Bill Young.

Metro's legal counsel, Liesl Freedman, told company owners that police were still in charge of the investigations.

After taking the job in 2003, Moore said she was "amazed at the press coverage" of the authority and the "tremendous interest of the public" in the authority, which is a state agency but operates only in Clark County.

She said she did not think it would be proper for her to ask for an extended leave of absence from the authority to take care of her family problems. She said that Ken Mangum, who is administrative services officer and who has been named acting administrator, and Ken Smith, chief of enforcement, could run the agency for a year without a new administrator.

The Taxicab Authority, she said, serves as a national model for regulating the industry and that New Orleans is adopting many of the regulatory features of the Las Vegas system.

Before being hired in June 2003 as taxicab administrator, Moore worked for 10 years in human resource management positions at Mikohn Gaming Corp. and the San Remo hotel.