What happened:
On February 6, 2019, Councilman Joe Ricco discussed a 90-day temporary ban on scooters mentioning that companies have made their way to drop off scooters in the middle of the night in places like San Antonio. “What these companies like to do, I believe it was ‘Bird’, but they drop off a whole bunch of scooters. 500 Scooters overnight, they dropped them off, there were no regulations in place, and it’s created a lot of hardships for the city because they weren’t ready for this.”
As spring break and Easter approached, Ricco motioned, “I’d like to instruct Council to instruct staff to place a temporary ordinance against motorized assisted scooters to be put on our next meeting agenda. Basically, ask for a 90-day hold on these until we can research it more.” The motion passed unanimously.
Come February 20, 2019, Council passed a motion to temporarily prohibit the “rental and/or leasing of motorized assisted scooters,” to cover the spring break and Easter holiday while Senate Bill 549 was pending legislation. Later, SB 549 passed and took effect as of September 1, 2019.
In September of 2019, the Council approved Ordinance 19-13 on dockless scooters’ regulation, which prohibited the renting/leasing of dockless scooters on city property.
Why it matters:
On June 17, 2020, CEO of Glide Scooter Sharing, Jonathan Lopez, gave a presentation before City Council to start a 12-month pilot program for his e-scooter company. “We will never drop scooters here without permission. That’s why we went through the process in February,” said Lopez.
After discussion, questions, and citizens standing up against scooters, Councilman Joe Ricco motioned to deny the 12-month pilot program, which passed in a unanimous vote. Bagley abstained.
What now:
The Glide scooters were dropped off on the Island March 4, around 9 a.m. and after push back, complaints from citizens, and several incidents, City Council addressed the ordinances.
During the March 17, 2021, City Council meeting, Councilman Joe Ricco motioned to create a review committee to oversee ordinances relating to scooter dockless/e-scooters. The motion passed unanimously.
Members of the Scooter Committee and their contact information:
City attorney, Ed Cyganiewicz - (Not available)
Police Chief, Claudine O’Carroll - COcarroll@MySPI.org
City Manager, Randall Smith - RSmith@MySPI.org
Environmental Health Director, Victor Baldovinos - VBaldovinos@MySPI.org
Councilman, Joe Ricco - jricco@myspi.org
Councilman, Kerry Schwartz - kschwartz@myspi.org
