L to R: CD Publisher Chris Weiss, GCLA 2nd Vice President Harry Dhillon of Ecko Transportation Worldwide, GCLA Director Don Mahnke of ABC Worldwide Transportation, GCLA President Mo Garkani of The COTS Group, and GCLA Director Patrick O’Brien of O'Brien & Associates Los Angeles — The annual Greater California Livery Association (GCLA) holiday party is always an end-of-year event that draws a crowd from coast to coast, and this year was no exception. Nearly 200 people, including CD Publisher Chris Weiss, flocked to association favorite The Proud Bird December 2 for an evening of festive celebration and friendly company—as well as looking back on some huge wins.
It’s been a year of California dominating the conversation about broader industry developments, ranging from October’s long-fought-for victory at LAX that relegates TNC pickups and drop-offs to a dedicated zone while preserving luxury ground transportation’s central terminal access to the passage of Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), which aims to make sweeping reforms to the misclassification of so-called “gig economy” workers as independent contractors instead of being considered the employees they should have rightfully been considered in the first place. AB5, which goes into effect in less than a month on January 1, will piggyback on the “ABC Test” that determines what protections are owed to a worker based on a trifecta of metrics.
L to R: Keith Soraci of A1A Airport & Limousine, Ami Nichelson of Omni Limousine, David Uziel of UrbanBCN Worldwide, CD Publisher Chris Weiss, Meredith Pless of American Executive Transportation, and Corey Witzel of UrbanBCN Worldwide
David Kinney of API Global discussed AB5 and its future implications, and also credited GCLA’s lobbying firm Government Affairs Consulting for its assistance in making 2019 a banner year for the association’s legislative efforts—with a particular focus on extending kudos to Government Affairs Consulting’s own Gregg Cook for his tireless lobbying on behalf of and guidance imparted to GCLA and its members. Meanwhile, GCLA Director/Chairman of Legislative Committee Mark Stewart of CLI Worldwide also made sure to thank Advocates for Fairness in Transportation leaders Cheryl Berkman of Music Express Worldwide and Jonna Sabroff for their dogged commitment in the fight for industry operators at LAX, an effort they’re been undertaking for the better part of five years.
L to R: Jorge and Rocio Sanchez of Hermes Worldwide, Kevin Illingworth and Carolyn Kent of Classique Worldwide, and T.J. Kao of Asia Limo
The evening also included the announcement of the 2020 GCLA Board of Directors, which includes: Selim Aslan of MIB Limousine, Perry Barin of Music Express Worldwide, Maurice Brewster of Mosaic Global Transportation, Thomas Buck of Beau Wine Tours, Adrian Davis of Five Star Transportation Service, Harry Dhillon of Ecko Transportation Worldwide, Mo Garkani of The COTS Group, Robert Gaskill of Motev, Chris Hundley of Limousine Connection, Don Mahnke of ABC Worldwide Transportation, Jack Nissim, and Mark Stewart of CLI Worldwide. Vendor members are Jeff Brodsly of Chosen Payments, Patrick O’Brien of O'Brien & Associates, Alex Sales of Team Chevrolet Cadillac, and Steve Wood of South Bay Ford.
Check out the January 2020 issue of Chauffeur Driven for expanded coverage of this event.
The next GCLA event will be its Northern California meeting January 28.
Visit gcla.org for more information.
[CD1219]