Photo by Tracy Clayton

The Examiner’s Michael Neibauer picks up on just the latest power struggle between the executive and legislative branches of the D.C. government: Mayor Adrian Fenty has decided he doesn’t have to follow the D.C. Council’s budget directive to put an end to the existing $19 maximum fare on all taxicab rides originating and ending inside the District.

Once again, the move comes down to a legal opinion justifying the mayor’s decision from his Attorney General, Peter Nickles:

Sen. Carl Levin delivered to Fenty dictatorial control of the taxicab industry, in Nickles’ view. A provision included by the Michigan Democrat in the 2005 D.C. Omnibus Authorization Act required the District to implement meters but allowed the mayor to opt out by executive order. The authority granted to Fenty, in Nickles’ opinion, “can’t be impeded by local legislation.”

Whatever you may think of Nickles’ argument, it’s important to remember that shortly after Fenty unilaterally forced meters on the city’s taxi drivers in 2008, a D.C. Superior Court judge agreed that the mayor had the authority to do so. Whether that power continues on to this day may be another argument, but concerns voiced in the Examiner article that Fenty has somehow usurped the D.C. Taxicab Commission seem somewhat misplaced. The commission is made up of mayoral appointees, after all. Frankly, At-large Council member Michael A. Brown’s complaint that the current situation means “there’s no need for the Taxicab Commission” reads a bit like an accidental suggestion. It’s been unclear for a long time just exactly what the Taxicab Commission is worth.