Subject: NON-ENFORCEMENT OF PUC CODE VIOLATED BY ILLEGAL LIMOUSINE OPERATORS IN CALIFORNIA

Dear President Peevey:

For the past two years the Concerned Staff Committee has been receiving information that the Commission's Consumer Protection and Safety Division (CPSD) does not investigate report of limousine opera to rs conducting business without the relevant Commission authorizations.

We believe that the Enforcement Branch of CPSD is suffering from an unacceptable shortage of investigators to properly ensure Public Safety and also to protect the permitted opera to rs from unfair competition by the illegal limousine operators who do not have to meet the Commission's stringent Personal Liability and Property Damage Insurance coverage. It is also alleged that the illegal operators are not enrolled in the random drug testing program requirement of the Commission.

We do believe that the shortage of staff for enforcement of the PUC CODE is not due to lack of funds but due to the fact that the funds which are legally and lawfully allocated for Transportation Activities are being diverted to non-transportation activities. In order words, this diversion of funds is illegal and unlawful.

If, as it is claimed, the Transportation Funds of the Commission is not in the red, then we would like to know what happened to the Fund Balance Savings)?

We hope you can look in to this and remedy the situation so as to avoid the state being sued due to illegal operators causing deaths and property damage in the roads, freeways and highways of the State of California. We need to protect the public interest, and one way to guarantee that is to make sure the appropriate funds are used for the purpose intended by the legislation. Converting the Funds in order to support activities of other divisions of the Commission we believe is unlawful, and those responsible should be held accountable for this apparent failure to protect the public.

The Commission must enforce its Codes, especially when there are funds available to do so.

According to PUC Code 305, you are the person accountable to the Governor of the State, and you can redress this situation.

Yours truly,

Yaya Fanusie , Ph.D
Publisher of What Now?!