Minutes 07/27/1954 - Laserfiche WebLink

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262 TUESDAY JUIX 27, 1954 I would recommend that you choose the second alternative if the Council is desirous of protecting the rights of citizens over the long pull. My reasons are as follovm: 1. It will place the bus operator on his met~l to develop and maintain a good going busj_ness. 2. It will make him more responsive to the wishes of the public. 3. It will cause the public to look to the Bus Company for transportation rather than the City Council thus minimizing the chances of government subsidation. u.. It will eliminate othervrise necessary government delay and red tape to the Bus Company that would ultimately prove costly to the riding public. 5. It will free the Council and its employees t.o devote more of their time and energies to the many other pressing needs of the public. 6. It will give the Council full control of the bus system if and >'Ihen such control is necessary. I cannot too strongly urge you to select a capa.ble receiptant for the franchise and then give him the job and let him do it. Define the limits of service within which he must operate and then expect him to do so, reserving, of course, adequate sanctions if he f[,ils or refuses. How much better this than at.tempting to spell out day by day and step by step just i:ow he is to do the job. Tell him what results vve expect-let him work out the means. I for one, do not feel that we are better qualified than the operator to tell h:im how to run his bus system. I am concerned with the growinc tendency on the })ca~t oi.' our National, State and local governments to reach out for ever more and more control and dictation of the affairs of both our business and personal lives. We seem to be approachirli:; the era of no confidence in anyone to do a job right except through government control or operation. At. this moment Congress is debatinf: 'whether our free enterprise system should be allowed to operate L'c1ture Atomic Energy Power Plants and it appears that there is considerable sentiment in Congress that the public interest 1'I'Ould best be served through goverf'ment operation. Let us nere at home not underestimate the capabilities of the free enterprise system. If we want to build a house we select a builder and give him our specifications with the requircnent that he meet them. We do not select a builder and then tell him we will shoi"f him 110'1"1 long to cut each board and exactly where each nail should be placed. If we propose to tell the bus operator exactly where each bus shall stop; what streets it shall run on; how frequently it shall pe.ss a given point; etc., we will be doing t.'>1e same thing. 'Yne bus opera.tor is faced vii th growing and deathly c ompeti tion from autos and taxis. His survival ,'Till depend on good service. Give hil'll a c!lange to show vmat he can do. I believe the public "will benefit. Ii' he fails to provide Good service at reasonaBle rates, vre can always revoke the franchise and "write one providing const,:mt supervision by the City.