Rethink Vendor Control Plan

Santa Ana city officials would do well to go back to the drawing board in their long-running attempt to shove some pushcart vendors out of one of the city’s busiest downtown streets.

The city passed an ordinance last year to take effect Jan. 1. It would have allowed vendors in the Civic Center district but not on 4th Street. When vendors filed suit in December, the ordinance was blocked temporarily.

This month, Superior Court Judge C. Robert Jameson came down even harder against the ordinance. He ruled that the city appeared to be “arbitrary and discriminatory” in setting boundaries on where the pushcarts would be legal. Jameson issued a preliminary injunction. Pending a possible trial, which could be a year or more away, the vendors can continue selling their drinks and pastries.

One legitimate argument against vendors is litter, with some customers dropping half-eaten food or paper cups or napkins on the street. That can become a public health matter. But the city and county already have the power to force pushcart operators to keep the area around their stands clean. Vendors who shrug their shoulders and say it’s not their fault if some customers are messy miss the point. The salespeople have to keep the area clean if they want to stay in business.

Some owners of long-standing businesses, conducted from traditional shops, said the pushcarts hurt the appearance of 4th Street. That argument and the concerns over littering and public health helped persuade the board of the Downtown Santa Ana Business Assn. to request last year that the city force the carts to move.

But many visitors find the carts a pleasant part of the street scene, reminiscent of similar stands in Mexico City, though far more orderly and dispersed. The carts do not block access to shops, nor does their fare offer direct competition to sit-down restaurants.

Many vendors are newcomers to the United States who rent the carts and make a small weekly salary. The work gives them a way to make a living in their new country; the work ethic is laudable.

Santa Ana allows pushcarts in other parts of the city, though the vendors obviously want to be where it’s most crowded, and 4th Street is in that category.

Still, the city may be able to treat all vendors equally and spell out to a judge’s satisfaction which areas are off-limits and why. If the city cannot do that, it should limit itself to monitoring the cleanliness of the vendors’ area.