When I lived and worked in Los Angeles, food stands on wheels were all over
the place. Are they just picking on mobile food stands that sell tacos,
or
are they targetting "all" food vendors who use trucks?
"California Poppy" <GoldenStatePoppy@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:75c9d06c-719e-4a97-95bb-b1200936ad55@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
misguided in crackdown on taco trucks
By Dan Walters - dwalters@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
12:00 am PDT Friday, May 9, 2008
A new chapter in an old and dreary story of political interference
with the economic aspirations of low-income and/or immigrant
Californians is unfolding in Los Angeles, whose county supervisors
have voted to crack down on the horrendous crime of selling tacos.
Claiming that "taco trucks," as they are known, pose some sort of
vague threat to the health, welfare and safety of Angelenos, the supes
have voted for new restrictions on their ability to provide local
folks with cheap and tasty food.
The county officials apparently were responding to complaints of
restaurant owners who resent the competition. But their new law –
which could mean jail time for taco vendors who violate the strict
time limits on parking and serving – has touched off a firestorm of
opposition, including a Web site called saveourtacotrucks.org.
No one has alleged that the food being served from the taco trucks is
dangerous (except, perhaps to the waistline), which would be the only
legitimate reason for greater regulation, but then only on health
grounds. Rather, an aide to Supervisor Gloria Molina was quoted in one
news account that the trucks have become "a big quality-of-life
issue."
"Business with a fixed place of business complain about unfair
competition and the spillover effects mobile vendors have on the
surrounding area," the aide said.
This is just petty interference with those who aspire to better their
lots in life. And it's not the first time it's happened.
Local governments have attempted to restrict lawn services, supposedly
in the name of noise pollution, and sidewalk pushcarts (very similar
to the taco truck issue), responding to pressure from restaurant and
cafe owners.
Not surprisingly, those and other small businesses that politicians
attempt to regulate and discourage are usually owned by immigrants and/
or ethnic minorities, although there are no true minorities remaining
in California.
About a decade ago, the mostly African American and mostly female
practitioners of hair braiding were being pressured by state
regulators into becoming state-licensed cosmetologists, which would
have had the effect of forcing most of them out of business. A very
conservative Republican legislator, Ray Haynes, successfully carried a
bill exempting the hair-braiders from state licensing.
The hair-braiders were lucky to escape licensing, considering what
later happened to many small, licensed businesses, mostly minority- or
immigrant-owned. Rapacious law firms would comb state files, looking
for even the smallest infractions or lapses by licensees, then
threaten them with consumer lawsuits if they didn't send checks to the
lawyers in ill-disguised shakedowns.
Thoughtful legislation was introduced to stop the shameful practice,
but the trial lawyer lobby blocked approval, apparently fearing that
it could lead to wider restrictions on class-action suits. A business-
backed group then placed on the ballot a measure that did exactly what
the lawyers feared would happen, using the shakedown suits as their
weapon, and voters passed it.
The only truly legitimate reasons for government regulation of any
business are to protect the public from dangers to health and safety
or fraud. But those who want to legislate their competition out of
business constantly misuse those principles – with never-ending
efforts by some interior designers to restrict competition for clients
through state licensing being another example.
It's likely that public outrage against the Los Angeles County taco
truck law will force the county supervisors to back down, as they
should. And if they do rescind the law, perhaps it will discourage
future efforts to gratuitously make it difficult for those on the
lower end of the economic scale to lift themselves up by their
bootstraps
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