Santa Monica vs. street vendors
Matilde Martinez-Navarrete, Staff Writer
Amid a growing number of illegal street vendors participating in unsafe vending practices, Santa Monica formed a task force to limit their activity. On Jan. 28, a group of street vendors rallied in front of the Santa Monica City Hall in protest, arguing that they were being unfairly targeted and racially profiled.
In 2018, California passed the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act (S.B. 946), decriminalizing street vending and creating a more accessible pathway to attain a vending permit. Santa Monica became one of the first cities to create a low-cost sidewalk vending program and continues to offer a discounted permit price at around $70 a year. Vendors must also obtain a Business License from the City of Santa Monica and a seller’s permit from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration before they can start vending.
The decriminalization of street vending has caused an uptick in unlicensed vending because of the less severe punishment. Vendors may receive fees that range from $100 to $1000 depending on the severity and the number of offenses a vendor has committed in the past, but they may only have to pay 20 percent of the fee if law enforcement determines that a vendor is not in a position to pay for it.
The Santa Monica Pier is a hotspot for unpermitted vending activity. The popular tourist destination attracts over eight million people a year, yet there are only 13 available stand slots on the Pier. Vendors have crowded the area, harassed other vendors for space, dumped waste on the beach, blocked fire escape routes, unsafely used open flames from propane fuel and sold food that is not up to health standards. In December of last year, the City Council decided in a unanimous vote to address this growing issue through a task force that patrols the Pier, the Ocean Front Walk and Palisades Park.
According to Suzie Lockwood of the Santa Monica Police Department, the task force is made up of staff from the LA County Health Department, Public Works, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Police Department. If the Health Department personnel determine that an unlicensed vendor is not handling their food according to county guidelines, they may issue administrative citations, destroy their food items and confiscate their carts. The DCFS is a part of the task force because juveniles and runaways are being forced to work as vendors, which then becomes an issue of human trafficking. The police joined the task force to protect the rest of the staff because vendors threatened and attacked them multiple times in the past.
This task force has not come without opposition. A group of over 50 vendors rallied in front of City Hall arguing that these actions racially profile them and take opportunities away from a minority that is trying to make a living. Sergio Ramirez of the Community Power Collective, an independent organization focused on empowering low-income tenants and workers, was at the protest and stood firmly against the new legislation after being shown a video that pictured the task force at work. About halfway through the video, which can be found online at Santa Monica Close Up, a non-compliant street vendor was arrested for assaulting a police officer.
“The video and images of caravan of enforcement agencies targeting food vendors is part of a policy to continue sowing fear into these communities,” Ramirez said at the protest.
The vendors also brought to attention the difficulty of obtaining a permit. A study conducted by the UCLA School of Law Community Economic Development Clinic and Public Counsel, in collaboration with the Community Power Collective and other organizations, concluded that out of an estimated 10,000 food vendors in LA, only 165 have received a permit since the implementation of S.B. 946. The report also calculated that the aggregate startup costs for food vendors started at around $10,000 and that around $4,000 to $8,000 have to be paid in annual fees when selling unpackaged food.
Michelle Sanchez (’24), president of the Central American United Student Association at Samo, sides with the vendors.
“They do treat these individuals unfairly. They need to take into consideration that the fees may be too high for some to get a license or that they might be afraid to do normal processing because they might be undocumented. I feel like there should be a more humane approach to it. I don’t think that violence is the solution,” Sanchez said.
On the other hand, City Councilwoman Lana Negrete explained to the Santa Monica Daily Press that the five arrests made so far are unrelated to street vending and are instead for charges of assault and unlawful possession of deadly weapons.
Looking forward, the City hopes to make some minor changes to S.B. 946 and implement more defined steps to address the issue, which would allow for more effective execution of protocols. Meanwhile, the protesting vendors and some attorneys working with them are planning a campaign that would simplify the food-vending permit process in California.
Customer buys fruit cup from licensed food stand right next to the beach on Ocean Ave.