Monday, Sept. 29, 2014

Page 1

The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916

W W W.O U DA I LY.C O M

2 013 PA C E M A K E R F I N A L I S T

M O N D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 14

An ongoing investigation into SafeRide Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing investigation into SafeRide. If you would like to contribute to the investigation and share your SafeRide experiences with The Daily, email dailynews@ou.edu.

JOEY STIPEK, SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR PAIGHTEN HARKINS, DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR BLAYKLEE BUCHANAN, EDITOR IN CHIEF

HOW SAFERIDE WORKS

Five former Yellow Cab of Norman employees allege the company is violating the terms of their SafeRide contract with the university.

T

he Daily verified some of the allegations with requested records, but others could not be verified. However, The Daily decided to report since so many sources told the same story. The five former employees accuse the company of: • Urging drivers to collect more SafeRide vouchers than required when taking groups of students to a single destination; • Transporting students in vehicles that could not pass safety inspections; • Having fewer cabs available than the SafeRide contract requires.

Students can pick up SafeRide vouchers from noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Student Government Association offices in Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Conoco Wing, room 181.

How does SafeRide operate?

SafeRide is a service contracted out through the university that provides OU students with free taxis ride home from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. To use SafeRide, students must pick up vouchers located in Student Government Association officYellow Cab of Norman owner Clyda Teegerstrom es in Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Conoco Wing, denied all allegations and accused the former emroom 181. One voucher will cover a cab’s capaciployees, some of whom work for competitor iTaxi, ty to any one drop-off location, said Brynn Daves, of trying to damage her business. Teegerstrom said director of Student Affairs operations and student the former employees are trying to get the SafeRide program. Daves coordinates SafeRide. contract taken away from Yellow Cab of Norman. Yellow Cab of Norman and another vendor, iTaxi, another Norman cab comAirport Express, charge a $12 rate pany, was started earlier this year per SafeRide voucher submitted to by Jennifer Amy Hardin. Hardin SEE MORE ONLINE the office of Student Affairs, accordwas among the former employees ing to the June 23, 2014 SafeRide making allegations against Yellow Visit OUDaily.com contract. Until 2014, the rate per for audio recordings Cab of Norman. voucher was $11.50. of interviews, all Teegerstrom answered 10 minA total of $615,603.25 has been documents used in utes’ worth of questions about how paid to Yellow Cab of Norman and this investigation and the company’s contract with OU Airport Express since fiscal year additonal content. operates during a Sept. 10 phone 2010, with $161,232 of that from interview. vouchers in fiscal year 2013-14. D u r i n g t h o s e 1 0 m i n u t e s, T h e f o r m e r Ye l l o w Ca b o f Teegerstrom said she had eight cars and all 15 of Norman employees said while the SafeRide conher drivers were permitted to drive. In the recent tract states students can use one voucher per any contract Teegerstrom signed with OU dated June number of riders as long as they all ride to the same 23, 2014, Teegerstrom indicated she could provide drop-off location, their boss, Teegerstrom, allegedly and maintain 10 vehicles in her fleet. Teegerstrom refused to further comment on the asked the former employees to accept more vouchallegations after The Daily posed questions about ers than necessary. Carl Smith, former Yellow Cab of Norman methe former employees’ allegations. Before hangchanic who quit in November 2013 after he was ining up the phone, Teegerstrom threatened to sue jured on the job, said Teegerstrom asked employees The Daily if a story detailing the allegations was to get as many vouchers as they could because each published. voucher was worth $12 to the company, and driv“It is a goddamn lie,” Teegerstrom said about the ers received a share of the voucher cost. Yellow Cab allegations made by her former employees. of Norman drivers now receive $4.50 per voucher, Teegerstrom said. What the documents show “Do whatever you can to get as many tickets as When The Daily requested taxi cab inspection you can. That was the owner’s exact words,” Smith records and driver permit records from the City of said, saying he knew several other drivers who Norman, they found: would back up his claim. • Only six Yellow Cab of Norman taxis passed city One such driver was Robert Douglas, who quit inspections throughout 2013 and 2014, according Yellow Cab of Norman in October 2012. Douglas to records obtained Sept. 12. said Teegerstrom would tell drivers they could only • Teegerstrom licensed three additional taxicabs accept three people or fewer per voucher. Sept. 17, bringing the total to nine. • As of Sept. 12, four taxi drivers were listed as emSEE SAFERIDE PAGE 3 ployees of Yellow Cab of Norman. However, not all

Vouchers are good for rides Thursday through Saturday from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Students can use a voucher to cover a cab’s capacity to any one drop off location by calling 325-RIDE or hailing a cab.

TAXI

drivers list the company they work for when applying for a license so those numbers may be skewed. • Since Sept. 12, five more drivers have received their license, said Sarah Doherty, Norman Police Department personnel and training admin tech.

Students must present the voucher and their Student ID to the driver. Yellow Cab of Norman and Airport Express then submit the vouchers to OU’s office of Student Affairs.

OU pays the cab companies $12 for each voucher submitted. Cab drivers receive a $4.50 portion of that payment.

SAFETY

CITY COUNCIL

OU officials plan storm shelters

Resident challenges housing ordinance

Structures should be ready for use by spring 2015 season PAGE JONES News Reporter @pageousm

Locations for the storm shelters approved at last M a r c h’s O U B o a r d o f Regents me etings have been chosen, and the shelters should be ready for use by the 2015 spring tornado season. The $12 million plan is divided into two separate projects. The first project, estimated to cost $6 million, will construct shelters for the on-campus apartments Traditions Square East,

WEATHER Sunny today with a high of 84, low of 64. Follow @AndrewGortonWX on Twitter for weather updates.

Traditions Square West and Kraettli Apartments, said Brian Holderread, director of Architectural and Engineering Services. The Kraettli Apartments shelter will be located on the corner of Wadsack Drive. The Traditions Square East shelter will be located on the north side of the apartment complex, and the Traditions Square West shelter will be located on the south side of the complex, next to Imhoff Road, according to the Sept. 2014 Oklahoma Board of Regents agenda. Workers are expected to break ground on those shelters before the end of the calendar year, Holderread said. The shelters will be ready

AT A GLANCE Storm shelter plan Objective: Build a first round of on-campus storm shelters for use by spring 2015 Cost: First part will cost around $6 million

for use by the 2015 spring tornado season and will likely be completed by fall 2015, Holderread said. The second project includes constructing similar shelters for the residence hall towers Walker Center, Couch Center and Adams Center, Holderread said. These shelters are being

built later because space around the residence halls is limited and the size of the freshman class, who primarily live in the residence hall towers, grows each year, Holderread said. Planners are trying to account for that growth, Holderread said. Several spaces near the towers have been selected for the shelters, but no decisions have been made yet, Holderread said. As for the other residence halls, Headington Hall will undergo construction to make the living space more tornado safe. Construction will occur over breaks when fewer students are living in the building, Holderread said.

INDEX

@OUDaily

News......................2 Classifieds................4 Life&Ar ts..................6 Opinion.....................4 Spor ts........................5

OUDaily

DAISY CREAGER News Reporter

Norman resident Cindy Harrington plans to present an amendment to Norman City Council’s oversight committee at their next meeting after her son had to evict a roommate from his house because of a city ordinance. The next oversight committee meeting will be at 5 p.m. on Oct. 16. Meetings take place in the Municipal Building’s multi-purpose room at 201 West Gray St. The Three Unrelated Persons Ordinance limits single-family dwellings to residents that are family members, meaning that more than three unrelated people cannot live together, with a few exceptions, said Greg Jungman, Norman City Council’s Ward 4 representative. “It’s Norman’s rule in this case, but a lot of cities have a rule like this,” Jungman said. SEE NORMAN PAGE 2

SEE SHELTERS PAGE 2

CONTACT US

theoklahomadaily

Norman City Council committee will address Three Unrelated Persons rule

VOL. 100, NO. 30 © 2014 OU Publications Board FREE — Additional copies 25¢


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.