HUNTINGTON BEACH : Cab Firm’s Permit Revoked by City

The City Council this week barred a taxicab company from operating in the city.

West Coast Cab Co., based in Santa Ana, has for nine months failed to show proof of insurance, a violation of its operating agreement with the city, said William B. Sage, a deputy city attorney.

Council members, rejecting last-minute pleas from West Coast Cab officials, revoked the firm’s permit to do business in Huntington Beach.

Larry Joseph, a West Coast Cab spokesman, contended that his firm’s failure to provide documentation of insurance amounted to merely “a lack of communication between the city and West Coast.”

He added that he believed that the city should have notified the company that its insurance had lapsed, an assertion Sage dismissed as “ludicrous.”

Sage, in a searing criticism of the company’s lack of adherence to operating guidelines, said the firm has a history of similar violations dating back four years.

“We had these same problems with West Coast in 1987,” Sage told council members. “At that time, the City Council was gracious in letting the company continue to operate, under the assumption that it would not (have) these problems again. Yet we have had problems ever since.”

According to Sage, the firm’s insurance was canceled twice in 1989, twice in 1990, and has not been renewed since. He said West Coast officials finally delivered insurance papers to his office Monday, hours before the council’s vote, “but we’re still not sure if they’re sufficient.”

“We gave them nine months in which to comply,” Sage added. “This is not a time to play games. I think the game is over.”

Council members, some of whom originally were hesitant to block the firm from doing business in the city, said they were persuaded by Sage’s accounting of West Coast’s recent history.

“What we have is an unsafe operator within the community of service organizations, which threatens the safety of passengers,” Councilman Jack Kelly said.

West Coast was one of three companies providing taxi service in Huntington Beach.