Audio By Carbonatix
Interim Dallas City Manager A.C. Gonzalez is now acknowledging what’s been clear to everyone else for two months: City Hall really stepped in it with its Uber crackdown.
“I made a mistake. Please accept my apology,” he wrote this morning in a memo to the City Council. “I regret the approach I took as I tried to address the situation expeditiously. I regret not bringing the issue before the Council earlier in the process and getting your input.”
The approach Gonzalez took instead was to sic Dallas PD’s vice cops on Uber drivers and slip a measure that would regulate the company out of existence onto the council’s consent agenda, all at the bidding of attorneys for Yellow Cab.
See also: Dallas’ Unfair Fight to Crush Uber
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Gonzalez’ apology comes two days before the council is set to be briefed on the results of an investigation into the city’s heavy-handed response to Uber. It also comes as Gonzalez seeks to secure a permanent appointment as the city’s top staffer. The episode has given plenty of ammunition to critics, who say that an outsider is needed to shake things up at City Hall.
Gonzalez doesn’t step away completely from regulating car-for-hire apps like Uber, but he promises that any new rules will be thoroughly researched and presented to the City Council for full consideration.
“My goal is to turn the situation into one where we can be even more excited ab out how we can engage the community in a positive, problem-solving effort.”
