Houston wrecker drivers take their fight to Austin

06:25 PM CST on Monday, January 24, 2005

By Mike Zientek & Reggie Aqui / 11 News

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Houston tow truck drivers frustrated with Mayor Bill White's Safe Clear program are trying to hook up to a higher power.

KHOU

About 20 wrecker drivers from Houston rolled into the state capitol Monday.

Nearly 20 wreckers made a trip to Austin Monday morning.

The wrecker drivers say that the Safe Clear program is unfair to uncontracted drivers and has wrecked them financially.

"If we don't stop and do something about it now, when we decide to do something down the road, it's going to be too late," said Ruben Lozano, a wrecker driver who traveled to Austin.

The drivers brought thousands of petition signatures from other wreckers and Houston area drivers who oppose the plan. The petitions were presented to State Senator John Whitmire, a vocal critic of Safe Clear.

"I'm concerned that the city's doing this for revenue, mainly to make money for the city" said Whitmire. "And they're using mobility and safety as a good excuse."

Whitmire said his office is drawing up legislation which would ban Safe Clear and similar programs statewide. But he hasn't decided whether to file it.

For a lot of the wreckers, it's not about politics, it's simply about making a living. Some of them say they haven't had a decent paycheck since the first of the year, and this is their livelihood and they feel that the Safe Clear program was implemented at the last moment without much of their input.

"The Mayor is not listening to the people. That's quite obvious or he wouldn't be so set in doing this. Even when he gets all these phone calls, and hundreds of people have been to City Council, the different Web sites, the petitions -- he's ignoring all of it," says Suzanne Poole, of Houston Professional Towing Association.

At this point, the mayor says that he will make some changes or at least propose some. He was tried to do that last week, but the issue was pushed back to another week.

The wrecker drivers say they don't want changes in the program, they just don't want the program at all.