Council debates two plans to add competition in selecting police towing companies

Akron City Council will take at least a week to consider two bills regarding which companies get exclusive police towing rights and how much they can charge.

Ward 5 Councilwoman Tara Samples is trying to get Team Towing and Kinney’s Automotive into the rotation of police towing requests. The city currently has one company assigned to each of the seven towing districts, though two of the companies have two districts each.

More:Council reviews decades-old laws that kill competition for towing companies with exclusive rights

The second proposal from Ward 7 Councilman Donnie Kammer and At-Large Councilman Jeff Fusco is a complete rewrite of the city ordinances governing the police towing process. Their proposal would address everything from how companies are picked (currently there’s no competition or competitive bidding process) to how much they charge and what requirements they must meet.

Samples’ first made her proposal in 2017 when the city’s police dispatch system could not alter towing requests between multiple companies in a single district. Though upgraded and integrated with the county dispatch channel, it still can’t, said police officers who run the radio room.

On Monday, Samples abandoned the idea of rotating calls among companies. During the discussion, though, police conveyed to council that towing districts could be added or lines redrawn, which would allow for splitting the work with new companies.

“We want to do what we can to help you guys,” said Lt. Brian Simcox, a radio room supervisor.

He explained that the computer assisted dispatch system was built with a binary choice between tow districts or tow rotations. “You couldn’t do both,” he said.

“What I like about this conversation, what I’m hearing, is that this decision (to add companies or districts) lies with council,” Ward 4 Councilman Russ Neal said.

Neal reminded colleagues of how long they’ve talked about injecting more equity into the company-selection process. “It doesn’t have to take us four more year. This is an easy fix," he said.

Neal suggested giving companies not on the list today a district served by a company that already has two towing districts.

Councilman Phil Lombardo suggested the possibility of having 10 towing districts to match the number of wards in the city.

“I’m thinking about rebuilding this thing from the ground up, if we’re going to take a good look at this since I believe (the law governing towing districts) hasn’t been touched since 1986,” Lombardo said.

The city’s code of ordinances lists the private towing companies assigned to the city’s seven tow districts. While motorists have filed few complaints about tow truck drivers or impound lots, the issue of how the same companies get the same districts, or add districts by buying other companies, has raised concerns of fairness.

“Obviously, the last few years it’s been brought to light that it needs to be more equitable. We need to open it up,” Fusco said. “That’s what this does.”

The Kammer-Fusco plan allows the seven-member towing review board to recommend keeping or replacing companies every five year. Lombardo suggested a shorter four-year review cycle.

Ward 8 Councilman Shammas Malik requested, and Kammer agreed, to starting the review process in 2022, which wasn't clear in the draft proposal.

Fee increases

Kammer crafted the new towing laws after interviewing companies and other cities. Two aspects drew particular concerns from council: Raising and adding fees and requiring towing companies to own the property where they operate their garages and impound lots.

Kammer’s plan adds:

• A $15 non-refundable city fee would be added before vehicles are released.
• A one-time $10 fee would be added if oil or other fluids need cleaned up, plus $10 for every back of absorbent material used.

The plan also increases:

• The flat fee for each tow from $105 to $125;
• The daily storage fee from $15 to $20.
• The fee for a wheel dolly (which is used when flatbed tow trucks are unavailable) from $25 to $65.
• The fee for removing keys from locked cars from $25 to $35.
• The winch use fee from $15 to $30.

“All our fees are basically the lowest throughout the state of Ohio,” said Kammer, who explained that many Ohio cities, especially larger ones like Cleveland, charge flat towing fees of up to $175.

“I definitely understand us being in line with other cities but mindful of not creating an increased burden on citizens. If the companies are able to make a profit right now with the fees, what’s the benefit to the citizens for increasing those fees right now?” Malik asked.

Kammer said when President Margo Sommerville of Ward 3 asked him to do a deep-dive on the city's towing laws, he found towing companies are "hurting right now, just like the citizens, the motorists," because of lower traffic in a pandemic economy.

“I know the fees are a concern. We’ve got to make sure these companies are making a profit but that they’re not doing this for free,” Kammer said after Lombardo said Akron doesn’t necessarily need to allow companies to charge more just because other cities do.

Samples suggested rolling out the fees no earlier than 2022 with citizens still suffering in the pandemic.

“I believe that most fees are covered by the insurance. So, if we’re in line there, I don’t see anything wrong,” Neal said.

Kammer’s plan also shrinks the hours that impound lots are required to be open (currently from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.) to 8 a.m. to 6 pm. and allows the lots to close on some holidays. Lombardo said motorists who work might find it hard to get their cars in those more restricted hours.

Lot ownership

Kammer's suggestion that companies must own their own property drew concerns about limiting who gets towing districts.

“It almost seems intentional," Samples said. "We’re saying that because you don’t own the parcel where your company is you can’t be part of the district (even if) they meet all the other requirements. Clearly, whoever they’re leasing from knows that’s the business they’re operating. It’s almost like saying we can’t do business with FirstEnergy because they’re leasing the building they’re in.”

“If someone does not own their property, they could lose their lease,” said Ward 9 Councilman Mike Freeman, who recounted a company in Kenmore that went out of business after the landlord moved them out. That scenario is “food for thought,” Freeman said.

“There are many companies that rent,” said Neal, who called the requirement to own property an impediment to equity. “It looks like a Jim Crow law when it says you’ve got to own your facility.”

Other changes

Kammer's plan also would add two citizens with traffic and safety experience to the seven-member Police Towing Review Board, which meets quarterly.

Samples agreed with the idea of having community members or retired police officers serve on the board, but she asked to exclude any “individuals who have given money to any of us on council (through campaign contributions).”

"And there’s quite a few of them,” she added.

Kammer’s proposal does prohibit board members from companies seeking a towing district from voting on the awarding of a district.

Also new, the towing review board would be required to hand over annual audits of towing companies to council within 30 days of their completion. “All those inspections came back good in 2020,” Kammer said.

And towing companies would have to respond within 20 minutes of a police dispatcher’s call. There’s currently no minimum response time in the city’s ordinances.

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.