On Tuesday, 31st January, 2017, the City Council, of Los Angeles, is set to vote, to create an ordinance to decriminalize street vending. To make Los Angeles closer to no longer being the only major American city that prohibits street vending.
The proposal was put forward by council members Joe Buscaino and Curren Price, which would replace criminal penalties with a permit system enforced through property confiscation and fines.
On Tuesday, the vote would authorize the city attorney to craft an ordinance, but before it comes back to the council for final approval there will likely be more debate and possible changes to the ordinance.
The general idea for an ordinance decriminalizing street vending, has the support of the Coalition to Save Small Business and the L.A. Street Vendor Campaign, but as it stands, there has been significant opposition to key parts of the proposal, including the requirement of vendors to get the permission from existing brick and mortar businesses on the block and restricting the number of vendors in many areas to two per block.
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On Dec. 12, during a public hearing on the proposal at the Public Works and Gang Reduction Committee, Buscaino told the crowd that, what was being advanced to the full council is a "framework" for a policy, and that if the council voted to direct staff to craft the ordinance, it would come back to the committee for "full dissection" before going back to the council again.
Buscaino said at the meeting, "Ladies and gentleman, we are here today because the status quo is not working as it relates to sidewalk vending. Los Angeles is the only major city, that prohibits vending of every type, 24 hours a day, throughout the entire city on approximately 11,000 miles of sidewalks, and it is no surprise that is clearly is not working."
The proposal also notes the President Donald Trump's stated goal of deporting immigrants with criminal records, who are living in the country illegally, and says, "Continuing to impose criminal misdemeanor penalties for vending disproportionately affects, and unfairly punishes, undocumented immigrants, and could potentially put them at risk for deportation."
By Mrudula.
