10/12/02 Kaye Spector Plain Dealer Reporter

North Randall Mayor Shelton Richardson fumes when he sees gas stations in his community that demand that customers pay before they pump, a practice he calls racist.

The requirement is insulting and implies a presumption that customers will steal, he says. He wants to outlaw it.

But gas station owners say the pay-first policy is not a matter of race, said Pat LaVecchia, president of an Ohio gas station association. It is an effective way to battle gas theft.

LaVecchia said gas stations in predominantly white communities, such as North Olmsted, Fairview Park and Parma, have the same policy. LaVecchia, who owns a gas station in Rocky River, does not.

No gas station in North Randall could require payment first if City Council adopts Richardson's proposal to ban pay-first policies Monday night. It would be the first such law in the state, LaVecchia said.

Richardson feels so strongly about the issue that he has moved the city's $7,000-a-year fuel contract from a station that requires prepaying to one that does not.

"For a long time, I have felt that's a racist, discriminatory practice. They are profiling the African-American community," Richardson said. "They are treating us like we are thieves."

North Randall police receive few complaints about gas thefts, so prepayment is not necessary, he said.

"To treat us any different is racist," Richardson said. "It's ridiculous. We want it stopped."

Prepayment is required around the clock at the 24-hour Shell station at the corner of Warrensville and Emery roads in North Randall. Manager Mike Jadallah said he would comply if the new law is approved. But he thinks he should be able to decide how he runs his business.

"Is the city going to cover our losses?" he asked.

Paying first is the only way for gas station owners to assure getting paid at all, said Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the Gasoline and Automotive Service Dealers Association in New York City.

Bombardiere said that prepaying is required at virtually all gas stations in New York, where the number of "drive-offs" has grown in recent years.

"All kinds of people drive off. It's not one particular group," he said. "They cheat us equally."

Some businesses lose up to $2,000 a year in drive-offs, said LaVecchia, whose group has about 600 members.

The association is trying to get state legislation passed to suspend driver's licenses of those caught pumping and jumping. Other states, such as Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana, have similar laws.

The fleeing drivers put other customers in danger and often damage gas station property, LaVecchia said.

"It's a dangerous form of shoplifting."

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2002

Answers

I was surprised to see stations in NC that didn't require prepaying.

One we stopped at on our way home didn't even have the ability to pay with a card at the pump. I had to go inside and pay. the lady said, "You ain't from around here, are ya?" LOL

Anyone could see we weren't. Our car was all one color and no Bondo was showing.

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2002

Geez, pay before pumping has been around in various forms for almost 15 years. When we first moved to Phoenix in the late 80's, many of the stations had pay first rules. What is so racist about that???

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2002

I recall pay first beginning around the gas shortage in the 70's. having to pay first while waiting in lines. anyone who didn't have the money had to get out of line. there was a limit, too.

also, pay first became more prevalent when the self serve idea started.

Remember when the attendants would pump the gas and check the oil and clean the windshield? ah, those were the days. course i was just a little boy.

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2002

Hell, some time before we left New Orleans in 1987, all the downtown gas stations and those convenience stores that had managed to stay afloat had bulletproof pay windows where you slipped your money in a mechanical tray, like a bank teller window.

The "drive-offs" in this area are a big problem for the police. Gas stations don't want to require payment first for some reason. Maybe the software update expense is a factor, but I doubt it. Used to be the cops would go and take a report, even for $5 worth of gas, and sometimes they would go after drive-offs. Not any more.

Many years ago, before I left England, I remember seeing a comedy sketch on a forerunner of Saturday Night Live concerning tourists in Caiufornia who tried to pay for their gas with cash. The gas station attendants were passing the cash back and forth, turning it over and marveling at it. Life imitates art, huh?

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2002

The gas stations I go to are "pay first after dark" ones. During the day, we can pump our gas first without paying.

Of course, there are some huge video cameras mounted on the sides of the building . . .

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2002