Rough Life for Hot Dog Vendors
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — There's an article in today's LA Times about how Downtown street vendors aren't too pleased with LAPD increasing code enforcement and impounding carts. It's hard to take an article about hot dog vendors too seriously, but this is actually an interesting subject for Downtown.
In the year since he started selling hot dogs in downtown Los Angeles, street vendor Eliseo Cruz said, he has been forced to shell out $35 for parking tickets on most days. For Cruz, it was the cost of doing business on a street corner with enough foot traffic to keep his sales profitable.
But now he often gets two and sometimes three tickets per day, so the cost is adding up.
"I wish they would just let us work," Cruz said. "We rely on this business to pay bills."
So on Wednesday morning, Cruz joined dozens of other hot dog vendors on the steps of City Hall to protest what they say is an aggressive campaign to crack down on their businesses.
I've long been amazed at the lack of code enforcement when it comes to vending. Certainly the big issue is those operating without permits and without necessary sanitary safeguards. That's fairly straight-forward, though you could certainly make the case that licenses should be made easier to acquire.
More interesting to me is the way vendors come to the same spot every day, operating out of parking spots as if they were their storefronts. There's a certain hot dog stand that's out in front of Macy's Plaza every day at lunch time in the same spot. Between the cart and the van that tows it there they take up the same two spots for four or five hours every day. That's not legal.
Is that good or bad? There are arguments to each, but just letting it go doesn't answer the question. Enforce the law or change the law, but don't just ignore it.
Tim Quinn on January 18, 2007, at 02:49AM – #1
Obviously, the police are understaffed. They have to prioritize, and respond to pressure form politicians and citizens. The health laws emerge from people getting sick or dying. How many deaths do we need to see before they are cleaned up? One is too many. I think it is good they are cracking down, but priorities will shift and the police will move on.
The system is overtaxed taking care of people who pay rent and run a legitimate business. How could all these clowns be inspected and made to do this correctly. It won't and shouldn't happen. It is unfair to those who try to do it right to let them get away with this. So, occasional enforcement is all we can afford and they think it is unfair when they get tickets. It is a cheap lesson. Someday one of those silly carts will blow up and then everyone will want to know whose fault it was that they were still on the street.
David Kennedy on January 18, 2007, at 10:34AM – #2
There's a couple of issues involved here.
Parking enforcement - As everyone knows, the city is very efficient in delivering parking tickets. When someone decides to 'take' a parking space on a semi-regular basis as described above, the ticket is no deterrent. It is simply absorbed by the business as an operating cost. The problem is the public parking space is lost on a semi-regular basis.
The parking ticket data should be analyzed regularly to determine if this kind of activity is going on. The penalties for these violations should be different. For example, the vehicle should be impounded and the fines higher. Something with real teeth.
Public health regulations enforcement - Here the problem is that so few enforcement resources exist, these vendors operate openly without concern. Enforcement is a just another business expense. Frankly, I don't have a problem with these vendors existing. (My wife has some favored taco stands.) But, in terms of public health standards and collection of taxes, the city should be more on the ball.
A big part of the problem is that complying with the law is incredibly complicated. Years ago I had a friend who had an ice-cream truck. He could actually make a decent living doing this. However, complying with all the city codes was unbelievably complicated. I thought I'd help him out and get this all straightened out. I was wrong. The complexity of compliance blew my mind. I have a college education and consider myself reasonably intelligent. I found the process very confusing. I also found the inspectors weren't very helpful. They seemed to delight in finding some arcane detail to deny his application (of which there were many at the time). It wasn't surprising that he just gave up.
I think the enforcement strategy is all wrong. Instead of trying to maintain the fiction that all violators will be penalized for not getting the necessary approvals from the various agencies, the regulatory authorities should be organized to reach out to these businesses. Simplify the compliance process while maintaining standards. Work to get these vendors compliant. Make compliance a rewarding process. The end result would be to ensure public health standards are met. More importantly, these little businesses would become tax-paying entities contributing their fair share to the city. That would be a real improvement.
Benjamin Pezzillo on January 18, 2007, at 01:04PM – #3
David & Tim: We are recruiting members for DLANC's Public Safety and Public Health Committee. If either of you are interested, please get in touch with me or any of the DLNAC directors (like Eric). It's an excellent opportunity to take your ideas, formulated with others, and affect policy changes in our neighborhood.
laurie on January 18, 2007, at 03:19PM – #4
Is it wrong of me to admit that I like that hot dog stand in front of Macy's Plaza? They have a good selection of sodas. I also like the vendor who parks on the back/side entrance to the library. That guy sells only kosher dogs.
Personally, I am more offended by the homeless guy who poops in front of the 7th street metro doorway all the damn time. Or the people who walk against the light on the corner of 5th and Flower, which drives me INSANE because it's a huge traffic hazard and ruins the whole fung shui of trying to get on the freeway. But I do see your point, logically.
It's just that the hotdogs are pretty good, really.
Sodha on January 18, 2007, at 04:15PM – #5
I personally like the hot dog stand vendor. It adds to a city's culture. This is very common in other cities like Chicago, New York, Washington D.C, etc... You see people walking on the street and eating their dog. What's wrong w/ having a hot dog vendor in Los Angeles? Blowing up a building? C'mon, there's hot dog vendors all over the world, I've never heard of this happen. That will be a very laughable story if that ever happens. But, I do agree they should pay some sort of tax for parking in downtown spots to serve food. Each business needs to be fairly taxed.
Tim Quinn on January 18, 2007, at 07:48PM – #6
I am talking about the little red carts with the bacon wrapped dogs. They just have a propane tank on the bottom shelf. The whole thing is incredibly bootleg and not how it would be done if done correctly. I didn't say blow up a building, by the way.
I used to be quiet about my predictions about unsafe conditions, then I started to notice them coming to pass. . .
Fuentes says they are inspected, so what do I know? nothing.
Ed Fuentes on January 18, 2007, at 10:36PM – #7
Did I say the small bootleg bacon wrap dog stands with the propane tanks hidden by cardboard are inspected? Must have saiod it at a party after egg nog.
Sodha: There seems to be two different types of stands. One is a cart, that is pulled as a trailer to a parking spot. Has water, sink, controlled heat, refrigeration. All the items needed to fuflill a health inspection. The smaller mobile bootleg carts are closer to the ones described above––some have heating underneath a flat pan, and others are just a tray over a propane flame.
It's the ones not mobile that get cited. The bootleg dogs can escape. It is I who knows nothing.
Benjamin Pezzillo on January 21, 2007, at 02:09AM – #8
The propane fueled shopping cart cardboard and aluminum contraptions are a danger because they are often on crowded sidewalks where small children can easily tip the cooking surface tray with hot grease causing severe burns and scolds. To the best of my knowledge these have always been policed as a risk to public safety in addition to the likelihood the vendor is operating without the proper business and/or health permits/licenses.
Kenarch on January 21, 2007, at 04:17AM – #9
Good call, Benjamin. The further south I walk in the Fashion District - especially on weekends and close to the Alley - the more of these things I encounter. They are often crowded by small kids as well... but hey - it's thankfully not my job to watch those kids. All the same, I'd be horrified if a kid fell into one of those carts, or got hurt around one. More to the point - it's tough to make it in that business - and legit operators have even more to deal with when unregulated, illegal (yes, illegal) food carts hang out in front of storefronts or legit carts. Te legal ones don't bother me, but the others are a nuisance and maybe even a health and safety hazard. They do smell good though, unless you are a vegetarian I supose!