Councilmember Brianne Nadeau Cancels Public Confirmation Hearing of Nominee for Director of Department of For-Hire Vehicles Citing Unprecedented 1,300 Requests to Testify in Opposition

Empower Hosting Driver Freedom Rally at Freedom Plaza in Response

Washington, D.C. – An unprecedented 1,300 people signed up to speak at today’s scheduled confirmation hearing of Department of For-Hire Vehicles (“DFHV”) Acting Director Jonathan Rogers.  In response, Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, who chairs the committee that oversees the DFHV, has canceled the public hearing.

Councilmember Nadeau provided the following explanation to the 1,300 people who signed up to testify:

“Because the number of witnesses registered to testify at the roundtable has exceeded the number of attendees allowed on a Zoom webinar under the Council’s license, the Committee has decided to cancel the roundtable.”

Empower CEO, Joshua Sear, offered to pay the $90 that it would cost to upgrade the District’s Zoom license, which can be done with the push of a button. Councilmember Nadeau did not accept the offer. 

Sear shared, “We made clear to Councilmember Nadeau that canceling a public hearing at which an unprecedented number of her constituents signed up to testify is deeply troubling. It appears that Councilmember Nadeau does not respect the views of the people she serves.”

Councilmember Nadeau has refused to reschedule the public hearing. In response to requests for an updated hearing date, she replied, “Please have any drivers who wish to testify send written testimony using the link I shared.”

Empower will be hosting a rally today at 11am at the Wilson Building by Freedom Plaza, where the hearing was scheduled to take place. 

Empower informed Nadeau yesterday that a number of drivers and riders would still like to meet with her today to voice their concerns about Acting Director Joanathan Rogers. Her response left unclear whether she would meet with her constituents, as she responded this morning, “I’m not in the building tomorrow.”

Empower CEO Joshua Sear and a number of drivers will be available for questions at the rally.

About Empower

Empower is disrupting companies like Uber with an innovative model: drivers set their own rates, keep 100% of the fare and pay the company a subscription fee. With Empower, drivers are neither employees nor contractors; they’re customers. Under this model, drivers are making thousands of dollars more per month than they do working for Uber, which only pays them about 50-60% of what riders pay the company. 

Because drivers get 100% of the fare, they are able to charge riders 15-20% less, on average, than Uber charges and still make considerably more money. As a result, riders who book rides through Empower save money too. Riders can also request a same-gender or favorite driver, which many riders indicate provides them with a greater sense of safety.

To learn more about Empower visit www.driveempower.com

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