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After a few years of doing some hit and miss work on the multitudes od unlicensed, unpermitted, and uninspected vendors in the county and the city, it is high time to press the issue as a more concerted focus. Flagrant abuses of code, laws, and fairness are evident county and city wide. The main offenders are food and drink stands, but there are also many sidewalk enterprises that sell non-food items as well. the code enforcement people in both muni's are confusing the issue by claiming the county health department is the primary enforcer, but that is not at all true. Code enforcement, if you have ever been on the recieving end of them, is a fairly powerful and all encompassing agency. The health department can close people down, but they seem to lack the power to actually enforce the laws. Code enforcement does have more broad reaching authorities though, and work closer with actual police agencies...if they request it. But the actual sheriff and the police have the power to cite and even arrest people for breaking laws, so I have no idea why all of these agencies cannot respond individually or collectively to our complaints. They do need incentive though.
Our focus will be the following:
Map out the primary spots where illegal vendors set up shop, and keep records of the times they frequent those areas.
Take photographs, videos, and write information of the vendors themselves. they often have names on their carts or vehicles, and they should have license plates on their cars.
Take down info on what they are selling. some products are easier to track than others, but the goods originate from somewhere. usually there is a few single sources that supply certain goods. Find the distribution hubs and it will make the law enforcements job as inexcusible as possible.
Make an estimate of how much money the vendors is grossing. this is to show our carefree electees how much money is going under the table.
Certain foods are more volatile than others, and the sellers may generate more interest where the health department is concerned. cheese, milk products and meat are especially suspect.
Get a spiral notebook and start logging in any contacts with law enforcement or other authorities and be persistent in reporting things. If they fail us, we'll be looking to be there with our reports when someone gets sick or worse from contaminated food, and we previously warned them.
Our focus will be the following:
Map out the primary spots where illegal vendors set up shop, and keep records of the times they frequent those areas.
Take photographs, videos, and write information of the vendors themselves. they often have names on their carts or vehicles, and they should have license plates on their cars.
Take down info on what they are selling. some products are easier to track than others, but the goods originate from somewhere. usually there is a few single sources that supply certain goods. Find the distribution hubs and it will make the law enforcements job as inexcusible as possible.
Make an estimate of how much money the vendors is grossing. this is to show our carefree electees how much money is going under the table.
Certain foods are more volatile than others, and the sellers may generate more interest where the health department is concerned. cheese, milk products and meat are especially suspect.
Get a spiral notebook and start logging in any contacts with law enforcement or other authorities and be persistent in reporting things. If they fail us, we'll be looking to be there with our reports when someone gets sick or worse from contaminated food, and we previously warned them.
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