VAN NUYS : Proposed Vending Law Spurs Debate

A proposed ordinance to legalize street vendors produced a clash between a crime watch group and a street vendor representative, with both sides disagreeing at a public forum over the city’s ability to enforce health codes and whether such a law would promote illegal immigration.

With the Los Angeles City Council expected to vote on the issue next month, the meeting between the Townkeepers Action Group and Angelica Raza of the Street Vendors Assn. at a Van Nuys retirement home Tuesday night was billed as an opportunity to understand the proposed legislation.

But the meeting quickly turned into a shouting match.

“All your clients and co-workers are breaking the law at this point,” James Gates, 42, of Pacoima called out to Raza. “What leads you to believe that they are going to respect the law with spotty enforcement?”

Raza, whose group claims to represent about 500 of the estimated 5,000 street vendors in the city, defended the proposed legislation, saying that health and safety issues would be regulated by inspectors paid for by a $439 permit fee charged to vendors.

“The LAPD, they are supporting this ordinance as it reads,” Raza responded. “They are sick of busting the vendors.”

Currently, street vending is illegal in the city of Los Angeles. Under the proposed measure, vendors could designate specific areas “vending districts” if they secure the support of at least 10% of the merchants and residents in an area. Such districts would have to be formally approved by the Board of Public Works.

No vending districts could be established in residential neighborhoods or in front of stores whose owners have not given approval, Raza said.

Several members of the crime watch group also complained that the vending districts would be run by illegal migrants.

“What you’re doing is just simply (creating) another green light south of the border,” Gates said.

Although she could not give a percentage of the street vendors that are here illegally, Raza disputed the residents’ concerns.

“This has nothing to do with legal status,” Raza said. Established businesses may want to deploy street vendors of their own. “There’s nothing to stop McDonald’s from setting up a district,” she said.