Limo warning refuels debate

On a hot August day a newlywed couple and their wedding party rented a limousine, anticipating a cool hourlong trip from Las Vegas to their home in Overton.

Instead, they were stranded at a smoke shop near the Valley of Fire about 20 miles short of their destination as the limousine driver abruptly returned to Las Vegas to pick up a more profitable ride.

Though the incident occurred two years ago, the Nevada Department of Business and Industry revealed it for the first time late last month. The department's news release was titled, "Consumer Beware: Gypsy limos threaten passengers' safety and wallet."

The state often issues consumer warnings. But in this case the warning came as the department's new Transportation Services Authority was besieged by allegations that it kowtowed to a few powerful limousine companies while harassing smaller competitors. The authority was formed in 1997 after the state Legislature decided to divide the former Public Service Commission into separate entities regulating transportation and utilities.

The controversy involving the authority centers on a year-old state law that allows it to impound limousines and levy heavy fines when companies are caught operating in Nevada without certification.

But many limousine operators say it's difficult to become licensed because the state allows certified companies to object to applicants they feel will cut into their share of the market. Some unlicensed operators have even sued the state on constitutional grounds.

Dennis Colling, transportation manager for the state authority, said the crackdown on unlicensed operators -- including the impoundment of more than 50 limousines since October -- was necessary because of ordeals such as the newlyweds' nightmare.

"There has been an increasing number of problems such as limousines without proper insurance and drivers who had outstanding warrants," Colling said. "We've had situations where the equipment (vehicles) broke down. There has been double-billing. But when you're dealing with an uncertified operator, what can you do?"

Gail Begay of Overton was impressed by a shiny new limousine she saw at a bridal fair at the Cashman Field Center in the spring of 1996. A week before her daughter, Jennifer, was to marry plumber Mike Totten of Overton that summer, Begay made a reservation with the limousine company.

Following the early morning August wedding at the Las Vegas Temple, the newlyweds and eight members of their entourage were to be picked up by the limousine at a nearby church and driven to Overton. When the vehicle didn't arrive as scheduled at 11 a.m., Begay and others made repeated calls to the company.

"I called them and they said they didn't have a driver ready," she recalled. "After I yelled at them they said they would send someone out. Well, 12:30 (p.m.) finally rolls around and a driver shows up."

Begay said the interior was sticky from spilt alcohol and littered with cigarette butts. She also said it wasn't stocked with soda pop, as she requested. Nonetheless, Begay paid the driver $100 to cover the trip.

After stopping at a convenience store for the soda pop and at a gasoline station, the limousine finally reached Interstate 15 eastbound. Within moments, however, the driver got a call from his dispatcher.

"We were on the freeway when he got the phone call, and he said we had to turn around," Mike Totten said. "He said he'd either have to let us off at Apex or go back to Vegas."

The wedding party convinced the driver to go at least as far as the Moapa Tribal Enterprises smoke shop at the Valley of Fire exit. The daytime temperature was into triple digits.

"I was pretty upset, but what could you do?," Totten said. "It wasn't the driver's fault. He said he had to drop us off or he would be fired."

At the time, George Helm of Las Vegas was manager of Tacopa Hot Springs Co., the Pahrump company that provided the limousine. Helm said the company needed the limousine for a larger party in Las Vegas that wanted to rent the vehicle for eight hours.

Helm said the wedding party refused an offer to return to Las Vegas, transfer to a smaller limousine that still would have seated all 10 passengers, and be driven to Overton.

"When they called our office and requested service, we had to sandwich them between other rides," Helm said. "We offered to bring them back and get a different car, but they said 'no.' They just wanted to be let off at the next exit."

Totten didn't recall any such offer, however. He also said it would have been virtually impossible to fit a larger party into the limousine.

"My wife was pretty much sitting on my lap," he said.

The wedding party was stuck at the smoke shop for about an hour as relatives waiting for them in Overton sent three cars to pick them up.

"I wanted my money back, but the driver only gave us half because he said he took us halfway," Totten said. "The reception we had later ended up being real nice but we could have done without this. It made the day really stressful from then on. We were all tense after that.

"That's the first time I ever had ridden in a limousine, and probably the last time, too."

The transportation authority eventually determined that Tacopa, which runs regular bus service between Pahrump and Las Vegas, was not authorized to operate limousines. Even the company's bus certificate is under review.

Elite Limousine Tours, a Las Vegas company owned by Helm, went out of business last year. Like many companies listed in the telephone directory, Elite had a federal license to transport passengers outside Nevada, such as to Hoover Dam, but wasn't certified for intrastate rides. The state impounded at least six of Helms' vehicles in 1997, forcing him to shut down.

But Helm said that while he was still in business, agents from the transportation authority harassed his drivers and said they could get jobs with other companies. He also denied the state's charge that Elite offered intrastate service.

A separate group of uncertified Southern Nevada companies called the Independent Limousine Owners/Operators Association shares Helm's disdain for the authority. The 63-member association filed two separate lawsuits against the state that are pending before Clark County District Judge Mark Gibbons.

Several members have had their limousines impounded by the state. The limousines are returned when the owners pay a $2,500 fine for a first infraction, $5,000 for a second violation and $10,000 for a third penalty in addition to towing expenses.

Attorney Deborah Simpson of the libertarian Institute For Justice in Washington, D.C., which is representing the association, said state law is unfair because it gives certified companies the opportunity to oppose applicants who are potential competitors. Simpson's law firm helped convince the Colorado Legislature to open up taxicab competition in that state and is contemplating similar battles in New York City and Miami.

Nevada, like those other locales, uses a certification process for limousines based on "public convenience and necessity." The state won't grant a certificate to an applicant that would "unreasonably and adversely affect other carriers operating in the territory." But the law also states that the potential creation of competition alone is not enough to reject an applicant.

"We're arguing that what the system does is protect existing companies," Simpson said. "Our argument is that 'public convenience and necessity' is a fraud."

Colling said the process is fair, but he conceded there have been few applicants for limousine certification in recent years. There are five pending applications, but in the previous three years, there were only three applicants. Two of those were approved.

"These independent limousine operators want an opportunity to make an honest living by breaking the law," Colling said. "The state Legislature says you have to have a certificate of public convenience to operate a limousine service, but they (the independent companies) don't want to do it.

"Like a gaming license, it's considered a privilege. That's what the Legislature has decided. In a tourism-based economy, they have decided that transportation is an important aspect of that."

Colling and the transportation authority refer to uncertified limousine services as "gypsy" operators. But Las Vegan Rich Lowre, president of the limousine association, takes offense at the term. He said members of his association operate fully-insured, well-maintained vehicles and carry Metro Police work cards.

Lowre said their star clients include actors Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger; boxers Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield; entertainer Steve Lawrence; and Wendy's restaurant chain founder Dave Thomas.

But Lowre said his members have been discouraged from applying for state certification because the process involves too much politics and red tape.

"How would you like to put $200 down on an application, and eight weeks later be called in for an interview where you're asked for the same information you put on your application?" Lowre said. "They do things like that to wear the guy down so he doesn't make it. They created the process so that you'll get stalled and just drop out."

Clark County currently has only seven state-certified limousine companies, including six in Las Vegas and one in Laughlin. Lowre's association has accused those companies of throwing around political muscle by opposing other applicants.

But Bell Trans, one of the county's largest and most successful limousine outfits, isn't fazed by those accusations. Bell Trans general manager Richard Gull said he believes the certified companies are able to handle existing demand for services. But he added that applicants who are worthy ought to be approved.

"I believe the Transportation Services Authority is a fair and reputable government body," Gull said. "To go half-cocked I think is silly. How can you make allegations without going through the (certification) system?

"One of the things you have to prove is fitness. We want to maintain an industry the public can be proud of."

The authority recommends that consumers use only certified carriers. A company's certification numbers can be confirmed by calling the authority at 486-3303 or by visiting its Internet website at www.state.nv.us/b&i/tsa/.

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