Street Vendors Face Threat of Eviction : Panorama City: Residents of an apartment building have been prohibited from cooking corn with propane fuel. Fire risks are cited.

Faced with a choice between home and a job, Cerrano came north from Mexico three years ago, optimistic that he could build a better life in the United States.

But Monday, sitting in his Panorama City apartment, Cerrano once again faced the same choice.

“We have to find a way to make money,” said Cerrano, 20, one of the street vendors who faces eviction today from an apartment house if he does not stop using propane fuel to prepare the Mexican-style corn and pork rinds that he sells on the streets.

“We feel trapped because we don’t have money and can’t go out and sell corn,” said a dejected Cerrano, who asked that his full name not be used. “It’s easier to sell drugs than to sell corn, but I want to have a decent job.”

Many of the more than 40 vendors living in the 14700 block of Blythe Street have not sold corn since fire, health and building and safety officials inspected the building last week, citing tenants and the owner for open fire doors, holes in ceilings and walls and inoperable fire extinguishers and smoke alarms.

The use of propane burners poses “a great risk to occupants,” a fire official involved in the inspection said.

What Cerrano calls home is also in an area known as one of the Valley’s worst slums. The same apartment building over the past two weeks has been cited for more than 80 health violations, including cockroaches and plumbing problems.

Building manager Jenny Alberts said she is working to solve the health and safety code violations and will inspect the units today for propane stoves. Anyone still using the stoves will soon be served with eviction notices.

Although tenants interviewed Monday said the propane stoves were no longer in use, Alberts had her doubts. “They’re gonna lie,” Alberts said. “From now on, they’re gonna lie. Because, also, they don’t want to move.”

Ironically, a special training program catering to street vendors such as those on Blythe Street has been created at Mission College at a cost of $250,000, but that program is not expected to begin until August.

One solution, the creation of a community kitchen at the apartment complex that would meet health and safety codes, could take months, Alberts said.

On Monday, the vendors were making contingency plans.

Ismael Torres began cooking corn on the gas stove in his apartment, but said he is unsure how long he can make a profit at it. In the two hours it takes to cook one batch of corn on the gas stove, he said he can cook three times as much with propane.

“I feel bad because I’m doing a decent job and they don’t let me do what I need to do,” said Torres, 30, who is sending money back to his two children in Mexico. He makes as much as $50 a day selling corn.

Other residents said they will pack up and move to some other complex where they can cook in secrecy, Torres said.

Bernardo Serrano, 29, who lives in the complex with his two brothers, said he has not cooked corn since last week. If Alberts can’t find a community kitchen by Tuesday, when the rent is due, Serrano said he will be out of options.

Cerrano, with a pregnant wife and two children, has put his faith in the Virgin Mary, whose image rests atop an altar above a pile of corn in his dining room.

His prayer, Cerrano said simply, is “to sell a lot.”