D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has named Ron Linton as the new taxi commissioner to replace Leon Swain, who was ousted earlier this year and played a pivotal role helping the FBI bring down a bribery ring. Linton is a veteran public administrator, having served as the chairman of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority in the early 1990s and later on the board of the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority. But he now will be tasked with bringing order to a city agency that at times has been chaotic. Among the key issues he will have to tackle is pressure from the taxi industry to raise rates. He also will have to restore the commission’s public image, which was damaged last month when acting Commissioner Dena Reed had two reporters arrested for trying take video of a public commission meeting.
“The D.C. government is constantly recycling people from board to board,” said Nathan Price, president of the D.C. Area Professional Taxi Drivers Association. “We need a professional regulator in that position to stabilize the rates, and I’m not sure we have that with Linton.”
Price and his organization have been upset with Gray because they feel he hasn’t catered to their demands after they donated dollars and time to Gray’s campaign last summer. They wanted Swain to leave, but they haven’t received the rate increase they have requested.
Gray fired Swain earlier this year. Two years ago, Swain was approached by a group of taxi drivers who offered him cash in return for licenses. Swain went straight to the FBI. The ensuing investigation ended with Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham’s then-chief of staff pleading guilty to bribery charges.
Linton said he hasn’t decided if he will raise fares.
“I will be just as concerned about the elderly and others who need [taxis] as I will about the drivers who want a wage increase,” Linton said.
Gray said Linton will bring “well-seasoned knowledge, communication skill and leadership that the taxicab commission so desperately needs.”
Linton also has served as the vice president for the Downtown Cluster of Congregations. His appointment has won praise from the nonprofit human services provider’s executive director, Terry Lynch, who has been critical of the mayor.
“Hopefully the mayor will continue to make appointments of the same caliber as this one which would certainly help to start to restore confidence in his administration,” Lynch said.
