Proposed changes to the Arlington government’s ordinance on private-property towing, giving more power to staff and the county manager to suspend and potentially revoke operating licenses for towing companies, seems to be running into headwinds from the Al Eisenberg Principle of Governance.
It was Eisenberg who, during a lengthy stint on the County Board, would ask of new staff proposals, “What is the problem we are trying to solve?”
At the Aug. 12 meeting of the county government’s Trespass Towing Advisory Board, where the policy was discussed, there seemed to be only limited answers.
Staff is proposing adopting new towing-regulation rules, modeled largely on those in place in neighboring Fairfax County, providing for suspension or revocation of operating licenses of those currently allowed to tow from private property in the county. But there also was an acknowledgment that Fairfax’s regulations are not being used.
“They’ve never had to,” said Arlington County Police Department Detective James Tuomy, the county government’s representative on the Arlington trespass-towing body.
The goal of the policy, Tuomy suggested, was to serve as a final backstop against rogue towing firms who are “ruining the reputation of the tow industry” rather than impose draconian penalties against occasional mistakes that happen.
But Al Leach, who represents the towing industry on the advisory panel, said the weight of the proposed new regulations bordered on the “absurd.”
“It’s just an overreach – really, really overstepping the boundaries,” he said.
Leach raised complaints about a lack of specifics in portions of the proposal; the fact it did not allow towing operators to go to court to challenge any decision; and the potential for county officials to take arbitrary action out of spite or a personal vendetta.
“It looks like a lot of ways to close somebody’s business down,” he said of the proposed rules.
In one scenario Leach laid out, a firm could find itself facing suspension or revocation of its operating license for towing the “maid” or “girlfriend” of a county leader.
But David Kennedy, who chairs the three-member body and serves as its public-interest representative, said he didn’t think that was how things would play out.
“It can’t be arbitrary,” Kennedy said of decision-making. “It can’t be ‘We don’t like this person or we don’t like that person so we’re going to put a microscope on their business.’ [The rules] are designed to be very specific.”
Leach wasn’t mollified, ending up on the losing end of a 2-1 vote that forwarded the proposal to the County Board for discussion and action, despite concerns raised by a number of towing operators during the meeting.
That County Board consideration likely will start next month with a public hearing, followed by another Trespass Towing Advisory Board meeting and culminating in a final County Board hearing and vote in October or November.
County Board member Matt de Ferranti, who attended the Aug. 12 meeting and laid out future steps, said adoption of final rules would incorporate feedback that is received.
“I am listening – I understand the concern,” he said after hearing complaints.
De Ferranti asked those in the industry for feedback he could take to his board colleagues. “Get me specific edits [of the draft],” he said.
If enacted as currently worded, the county manager or his designee would have the power, in certain instances, to suspend a towing company’s operating license for up to 60 days. In all cases except for faulty equipment or falsification of documents, that suspension would be put on hold until a hearing by the County Board “or its designee.” (The lack of specificity on the final arbiter was another concern raised by Leach.)
Tuomy acknowledged there could be concerns about county officials taking action for nefarious reasons, or no reason at all. But he said he didn’t believe that would transpire.
“I don’t think the county . . . is going to use [the new regulations] in such a way that it’s a punitive punishment for a one-time, one-off kind of event,” he said. “This is for a company that decides to blatantly disregard the county ordinance and state law.”
