BY SHOGHAK KAZANDJIAN

SANTA MONICA, Calif.,–Despite protests and overwhelming grassroots opposition, the Santa Monica City council on November 9 voted to rubber stamp a flawed and dubious recommendation that would effectively prohibit the city’s five local Armenian-owned taxi companies from operating within its bounds.

The decision, reached at the close of a nearly five-hour-long public hearing broadcast on Santa Monica Public Radio, came after dozens of taxi drivers rallied outside City Hall to demand a fair process. It will impact some 300 families, leaving scores of Armenian-American cab owners and operators unemployed.

The rally, organized by the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) and the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region (ANCA-WR), sought to raise awareness of the issue and delay the vote until a more transparent study could be conducted of the franchise ordinance.

During the rally, taxi drivers and supporters held a picket line in protest of the process, crowding into the city hall chamber after an hour to participate in the public portion of the Council’s proceedings on the matter.

The City Council opened the session with a reading of a study conducted on the issue by a panel of staff representatives from various city departments. Following the staff recommendation, the Council opened the floor to public comments. More than 50 people spoke about the heated measure, signifying the high level of controversy surrounding the ordinance.

Speaking to the City Council, AYF Executive Director Serouj Aprahamian and ANCA-WR Board Member Nora Hovsepian underscored the community’s grave concern with the city’s exclusion of every Armenian-owned cab company.

“With one vote, the City Council of Santa Monica has knowingly kicked out all of its Armenian-owned and operated companies onto the street,” said Aprahamian, echoing the sentiment of dozens of Armenian cab drivers who pleaded with the City Council to reconsider their position.

“In these tough economic times, they unflinchingly moved forward with a decision that undercuts an entire community, without even bothering to question the flawed nature of what it is they were voting on,” Aprahamian said, adding that the AYF studied the city report and found major inconsistencies, concerns and considerably little local preference.

Arsen Hakinian, was among the many cab operators who spoke that night. He warned the Franchise ordinance would cause a “huge unemployment” crisis for the city’s taxi drivers, while bringing outside cabs into the city. Another opponent, representing the United Independent Taxi Company, described the franchise study as “not fair or representative of reality.”

“The city says it loves mom and pop stores but is moving to allow only 5 monster companies to operate,” said another concerned resident of the city.

For Vrej Alvandyan, the President of Beverly Hills Cab Co., the need to refranchise wasn’t the problem. Rather, he said, he couldn’t see the logic of the process. “We have had franchises here for decades,” he said. “The purpose of refranchising is to improve the quality of the fleet not destroy it.”

Despite the overwhelming opposition being communicated by a majority of the people speaking on the issue, the City Council moved forward with its vote without addressing the concerns raised.

The ordinance will take effect in January 2011 and will limit the number of cab companies allowed to operate in the city to only five, though thirteen submitted applications for a franchise. The companies granted rights are Bell Cab, Independent Taxi Owners Association, Metro Cab Company, Taxi! Taxi! and Yellow Cab franchises to operate within the city.

Thirteen different companies applied for the franchise rights. Of the five selected, three are not even local, while all five local Armenian-owned companies were denied franchises. The ruling is a cause for concern of discrimination among the now out-of-work cab drivers.

For the last several months, the City Council has been considering which taxicab companies will be allowed to operate within city limits. The issue had become a source of controversy and protest, especially among Armenian taxi companies who criticized the selection process as being discriminatory and unfair.

“It is unfortunate that the city council has decided to move forward with their decision, despite our concerns and support towards the taxi drivers fighting this ordinance,” said Aleena Sivazlian, one of the AYF members who organized the rally. “This issue will not be forgotten or left alone. We will continue to fight the ordinance with whatever means are available to us.”

For the last several months, the City Council of Santa Monica has been considering which taxicab companies will be allowed to operate within its bounds. The issue has become a source of controversy and protest, especially among Armenian taxi companies who say the selection process has been discriminatory and unfair.

On October 12, ANCA-WR and AYF representatives were on hand with Armenian taxi drivers for a City Council meeting where a procedural motion on the issue was considered. The Council heard remarks from the public and set aside November 9^th as the date of a public hearing solely dedicated to this matter.

“After looking into the concerns of Armenian taxicab companies over the lack of transparency and suspected discrimination in the franchise recommendation process, we decided to get involved,” said Nora Hovsepian, an ANCA-WR Board Member who attended the Council meeting. “We have been communicating both in writing and in person with members of the City Council asking for responses to the unanswered questions which are fueling these suspicions,” she explained. “The City’s response, or lack thereof, will guide our future efforts in this regard.”

Displeasure over the process arose in late June, when city administrators released a recommendation listing five companies they suggested be given the sole right to operate in Santa Monica. Out of these five companies, only two were locally-based and none Armenian owned or operated—in a city where the majority of taxi drivers and the plurality of companies which applied for the franchise are Armenian.

Several Armenian companies joined together to stage protests against the recommendation. They maintain that they meet and exceed the criteria required by the city for the franchises better than several of the five companies which were chosen.

Requests for the city to alleviate these concerns by making the selection process transparent and revealing the itemized scores each company received have yet to be met. There has been a marked reluctance by the city to release such information or provide an explanation beyond the overall rankings.

“What we are talking about here is the livelihood of up to 300 Armenian families,” said Serouj Aprahamian, Executive Director of the AYF. “With one fell swoop, Armenian taxi workers face the potential of being excluded from a city where they have served for years. The least they are owed is an open process and proper explanation for what is being decided.”

The City Council meeting on October 12 served as one of the first opportunities concerned parties had to address the Council.  Armenian taxi workers and their families were in attendance alongside representatives of the ANCA-WR and AYF.

Even before public comments began, City Council members themselves raised questions and concerns. They asked the City Attorney what they were allowed to talk about during the meeting and whether they could make changes to the recommendation as it stands. Several times, council members openly stated that the process has been confusing for them. They were unclear about how the procedure for deciding on franchises works or how to move forward with alternative solutions.

When the floor was opened for comment, Hovsepian took to the podium and delivered remarks as both a Santa Monica resident and ANCA-WR Board Member. “These suspicions of discrimination have yet to be alleviated despite numerous requests for disclosures from the city as to the selection process,” stated Hovsepian. “It is our hope that the November 9^th date will not simply be a rubber-stamping process.”

Virtually all of the other comments presented were critical of the recommendation, as well. The impact of the decision on local businesses and the cloud of secrecy surrounding the franchise selection were repeatedly emphasized.

All of this pointed to the likelihood of a highly charged public hearing on November 9^th. The meeting is expected to bring the matter to a head before the Council makes its final decision on the city staff’s recommendation.

“There is no legitimate reason behind the staff recommendation and the dislocation of Armenian companies,” said Varouj Kouzikian, representing an alliance of Armenian taxi drivers in Santa Monica. “Our intent is to go to the public hearing in large numbers and make our voice heard. We want a fair allocation of franchises in a way that avoids the discrimination of the Armenian community. We’re willing to take this struggle all the way to the end.”

The taxi franchise public hearing set for November 9^th will take place at 5:30 PM at City Hall, 1685 Main St in Santa Monica. Concerned community members are being encouraged to attend.

One year ago today, the Armenian government put its signature on a tragic document aimed at compromising the interests of its people.

The so-called “Protocols for the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between Armenia and Turkey”, signed in Zurich on October 10, 2009, sought to squeeze out of the Armenian nation that which it for so long refused to surrender: justice, restitution, and self-determination.

With its stipulation that bilateral relations be subject to the creation of a “sub-commission on the historical dimension” to carry out a “scientific examination of the historical records,” the Protocols were a clear attempt to cast doubt on the veracity of the Armenian Genocide.

The provision in the Protocols requiring “recognition of the existing border between the two countries” was an overt demand for Armenians to forfeit their legal and moral claims to their historic homeland. Signing on to such a capitulation would mean accepting the criminal dispossession and exile Armenians were brutally subject to at the hands of the Turkish government.

Perhaps the most sinister aspect of the ill-fated Protocols, however, was its repeated emphasis on “territorial integrity,” “the inviolability of frontiers,” and “non-intervention in internal affairs of other states.” This language—and the absence of any reference to self-determination—was unmistakably geared toward undermining the freedom and security of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. As expected, Turkey subsequently used the Protocols as leverage over the Karabakh negotiations and linked ratification of the agreement to concessions to Azerbaijan.

Despite euphoric talk of normalization without preconditions and an end to Turkey’s illegal blockade, the Armenian people recognized the Protocols for what they really were: a detrimental threat to our national interests.

The nation stood up in all corners of the world and sounded a collective NO to the evident signing away of Armenia’s security, viability and future. Major demonstrations took place in virtually every major Armenian-populated city; leading Armenian academics and Genocide scholars voiced their dissent; two former Foreign Ministers of Armenia came out against the documents; countless political parties and organizations stood against ratification of the measure; and every poll which was conducted on the issue showed a majority of Armenian citizens opposed to the signing.

Here in Los Angeles, the AYF and countless Armenian youth took to the streets in a show of force against the Protocols. We pledged to do everything in our power to prevent the Protocols from being pushed through. We engaged in community lectures, meetings, demonstrations, hunger strikes, official delegations, leafleting, and outreach against the dangers of the agreement.

Finally, in April, the Armenian government officially suspended ratification of the Protocols, citing Ankara’s preconditions and stonewalling. We know that the unprecedented outcry of the Armenians worldwide influenced this step from Yerevan. We know that the witnessed mass opposition served as a check on the schemes of the ruling elite who put their signature on such a flawed document.

Today, we recommit ourselves to the defense of our national interests. We pledge to stay vigilant against any similar attempts to sign away our collective rights.

As such, we call on the Armenian government to fully renounce and withdraw its signature from the Protocols, once and for all. The damage done by this process has already proven to be costly enough; hanging on to such a failed endeavor only opens the door for the future pursuit of this detrimental agreement.

Furthermore, we call on the Armenian people to realize its strength and fulfill its potential by organizing, uniting, and taking more concerted action in pursuit of the Armenian Cause. Only by standing together will we forge a better future.