Following a long debate, the Hermosa Beach City Council Tuesday night agreed to award an exclusive franchise contract to four major taxicab companies currently operating in Hermosa Beach. The vote was 3-2.

The municipality voted to modify the recommendation of Police Chief Mike Lavin and City Manager Steve Burrell to select the joint venture proposal between two companies — All Yellow Taxi and South Bay Yellow Cab.

“We were impressed with all of the proposals that were submitted,” said Lavin. “All of the proposals were well-prepared and well-written, meeting or exceeding all of the requirements outlined in the city’s request for proposals. Though All Yellow Taxi and South Bay Yellow Cab provided staff with their joint venture agreement, it is clear from the document that both companies are and intend to remain competitors within the city as they are elsewhere.”

Councilman J.R. Reviczky and Councilwoman Kathy Dunbabin voted against the modified motion to include all four companies, and only supported Lavin and Burrell’s recommendation.

“If I wouldn’t have heard about fistfights between drivers, cabs blocking traffic and creating noise, and drivers operating without insurance, we wouldn’t be sitting in this room right now,” said Reviczky. “Competition is not about sharing the wealth, it means sharpening your pencil and delivering the best proposal. The purpose of this franchise is to ensure safety and tailor a service for the community. It’s not about allowing for a free-for-all every Friday and Saturday night.”

The new franchise will now consist of all four companies and the city will scale down the number of cars from 233 to 140. The agreement will have a term of three years and each company will be able to have 35 cars operate in Hermosa Beach with $1,100 paid to the city for each car.

With this new agreement, the city will generate $154,000 each year compared to last year’s $91,000. Hermosa’s rates charged to cab companies will be one of the highest in Los Angeles County.

“I’m personally against a franchise. I own a business and I wouldn’t want to be cut out of competition because I’m a small business, and so I would lean more toward the small independent contractors,” said Councilman Michael Keegan.

This issue came to the forefront at the request of Reviczky who wanted to track complaints from residents in a more effective manner by reducing the number of cabs and cab companies in town. He along with his fellow constituents wanted to increase safety among residents and develop a personalized taxi system to reduce problems related to traffic and noise.

The city currently monitors the activity of six companies authorized to work in town. Each year, taxicab companies are required to renew their business and taxi licenses in order to work within the city. The city’s taxi ordinance has generated notable revenues for Hermosa Beach, providing the city’s Police Department with the resources to monitor the program.

“I am also a small-businessman and I have made a professional career out of fighting the big guy,” said Mayor Sam Edgerton. “Trying to attain the competitive edge is the name of the game and I think we should include these four companies right across the board. It doesn’t seem that earth-shattering and it will avoid creating this ugly monopoly. This is about as American as you can get and when you take away the competition, that’s when the service goes downhill.”

When city officials enacted the taxi ordinance, they never implemented a cap on the number of authorized taxicabs allowed to work in Hermosa Beach. Lavin said the issue has become a problem for the Police Department. Local police officers agree the amount of taxi drivers participating in the program has reached near-uncontrollable proportions where cabs have congested downtown Hermosa Beach.

Other cities that currently have franchise agreements with either one or several cab companies are Manhattan Beach and Long Beach.