I heard some very interesting news about public policy this morning from new District 6 Broward County Commissioner Beam Furr, someone whom I support now and in the past in large part because of his longtime commitment to not only the long-term best interests of the citizens of Southeast Broward, but also his steadfast commitment to employing common sense and financial accountability for those taxpayers in making and implementing public policy.
On issues large and small, Beam Furr has shown himself over the years to be someone who does NOT believe in one-size-fits-all public policy, and we are indeed lucky for that.
Fortunate to have someone like him who is not afraid to do some original thinking andsome heavy-lifting when it's necessary instead of leaving it to others to decide the matter.
In that respect, Comm. Furr most ably shows the qualities that made him the sensible choice to represent this part of the Sunshine State's 4th-largest county and succeed someone else on the County Commission who was not afraid to be a leader on important issues of governance and the public's rights, the recently-retired Sue Gunzburger.
The news I heard about thois morning concerns a contentious issue that has been much in the news the past two years nationally and locally, and one which I'm sorry to say I have not done such a great job of chronicling in the recent past, much as I might've wanted to. (But then it is a new year, so...)
The public policy issue that both yours truly and many of the longtime readers of this blog have an abiding interest in is transportation ridesharing.
Who decides what sorts of consumer choices citizens and visitors in Broward County will have going forward and what should be the universe of choices they have consist of?
Uber WorkshopThe Broward County Commission is holding a workshop to discuss the issues surrounding Uber, Lyft, ridesharing and taxi services this Tuesday, January 6th at 12:30PM. If you can join us down at Room 430 of the County Government Center in Fort Lauderdale, I would encourage you to attend. Otherwise, we will be live streaming the workshop on the County Website. Just visit Broward.org/Video and watch the Workshop from your computer or smartphone.
Otherwise, if you would like to listen to the meeting you can call into 954-357-7586 and listen live.
The workshop will be covering issues related to background checks for drivers, vehicle inspections and insurance. If there is anything that you feel that we should address, please respond to this email with further suggestions. During the meeting itself, I will still be able to read my email, and for those listening or watching live please put UBER: LIVE RESPONSE in the subject line, and I will do my best to address your concern in the workshop.
