Illegal Vendors

[CitaDeL]

Just the sight of the dirty cart with 'food' in it makes me want to chunder...

[AyatollahGondola]

Here's another county that takes the issue of illegal vendors seriously

http://www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/environmental_health/illegal-vendors.htm

Illegal Vendors

Illegal vendors include any person selling any type of food without a health permit and business license. This can occur from a residence, a vehicle, a shopping cart, a table in a park or on a street corner.

Street vendors typically stand on a neighborhood street corner with bags of fruits and vegetables. With the exception of swap meets and farmers' markets, street vendors are illegal everywhere in Clark County.

While purchasing from these illegal vendors is a health risk, the real danger is that by purchasing from street vendors you may be enabling human trafficking and slavery.

During routine investigation into illegal vendors, the health district and law enforcement uncovered a disturbing fact — these street vendors have been sold into slavery by handlers or 'coyotes' who illegally bring them to the United States. Health district inspectors have found victims as old as 88 and young as thirteen.

The health district is working with Metro and the Anti-Trafficking League Against Slavery to identify and rescue these victims of human trafficking.

To report an illegal vendor call the Environmental Health Department at
(702) 759-0523.

For more information on the Anti-Trafficking League Against Slavery visit their website at www.humantrafficking.org.



Email Environmental Health

[AyatollahGondola]

And another

Authorities target illegal street vendors

By Stephen Wall, Staff Writer

Rafael Guerrero's office is a sun-drenched sidewalk.
He makes a living hawking oranges, mangoes, strawberries and cherries to passing motorists and pedestrians.

On a good day, he'll make $30. Most days, he earns $20.

"I don't like it very much, but I can't find work anywhere else,' said Guerrero, who arrived in the United States a month ago from Mexico. "The day I find something else, I won't do this. But until then, I have to feed myself.'

Guerrero, 27, is one of a growing number of illegal vendors scratching out a living on street corners and sidewalks in San Bernardino County.

Cities and counties are cracking down on the practice, launching sweeps and beefing up code enforcement operations.

While some sympathize with the vendors, others wish they would go away.

"It's a huge problem in the county,' said Randy Rogers, the county's code enforcement chief. "We're putting all the resources we have into it. This is a problem that's been around for many years. It's not going to go away.'

Colton is considering hiring an additional code enforcement officer whose job would include patrolling city streets on weekends in search of illegal vendors.

"We need to clean up our city,' said Councilman Richard De La Rosa, who proposed hiring the additional officer. "We're not going to tolerate illegal fruit and flower vendors on street corners.'

De La Rosa said vendors create problems when motorists pull over to buy something and block traffic. Because they don't have access to a bathroom, they relieve themselves on the grass or behind a bush on someone's property, he said.

The vendors also don't pick up their trash at the end of the day, De La Rosa said.

Business owners complain the street vendors are depriving them of revenue.

"When you have people who are allowed to be on street corners who don't have business licenses and don't have to pay taxes, it's not fair at all,' said Lisa Payne, a designer for Something Special Florist in Colton. "It's not fair they aren't held to the same standards we are.'

Because the vendors have no overhead, insurance or worker's compensation costs, they can sell their flowers cheaper than legitimate shops, Payne said.

In order to operate legally, a business owner needs to obtain a business license with the city or county and a health permit for food sales.

Cities such as Fontana don't allow any kind of street vending, with the exception of parades, festivals and special events.

"The activity these folks are engaged in is illegal in and of itself,' said Ted Porlas, Fontana's community improvement manager. "You just can't do it.'

Porlas said vendors selling hot corn on the cob from a push cart carry mayonnaise, cheese and butter that has been in the sun without refrigeration. The person preparing the food doesn't follow proper sanitation procedures, leading to the possibility of food-borne illnesses, Porlas said.

"It's completely unhealthful,' Porlas said.

When an illegal vendor is caught, authorities will cite the offender with a promise to appear in court. Making matters more complicated, vendors typically carry no identification and often provide a different name each time they are picked up.

If the offender fails to appear in court, a warrant is issued for his arrest.

"It's better than 50 percent who don't show up in court,' Rogers said. "I've personally caught the same person four times. A big majority are repeat offenders.'

When an illegal vendor is caught, the equipment and merchandise is confiscated and kept as evidence until the court case is closed. Perishable food items are photographed before being destroyed, Porlas said.

Many vendors are not legal residents, but local authorities say they don't concern themselves with immigration status, which they say is a federal matter.

"It would be too much of a financial drain on the cities to enforce that,' De La Rosa said. "You're talking about taking a police officer off the streets in Colton to take the illegal immigrant to the immigration-detention center in San Bernardino. It's not a very smart use of our resources. We'd rather keep our police officers on high-priority calls such as burglary and assault.'

Fontana performs periodic sweeps, sometimes in conjunction with county officials, to crack down on illegal vendors in the city and neighboring unincorporated areas, Porlas said. One sweep will net 20 to 25 people, he said.

San Bernardino has an ordinance prohibiting sales from a temporary location.

Like other government agencies, the city tries to vary the hours of its enforcement operations to catch unsuspecting vendors.

"We've been aggressively pursuing it the past two years,' said Deputy City Attorney Jolena Grider. "It's gone down considerably, but we still get quite a few.'

San Bernardino catches 10 to 20 illegal street vendors a week, Grider said.

As hard as they try, however, officials realize they will never eliminate the problem.

"As long as there are places that aren't enforcing it or don't have laws against it, it's not going to stop,' Grider said. "It will exist unless everyone works to eradicate it.'

Vendors such as Juan Velasquez don't think there is anything wrong with selling on the street.

"I'm just trying to work,' said Velasquez, 21, who was selling fruit in Colton on Sunday after arriving from Mexico a month ago. "I'm not stealing from anybody.'

If he didn't have any customers, Velasquez said, he wouldn't be in business.

"I don't see any problem with them being here trying to make a living selling fruit,' said customer Raymond Galvan, 66, who bought a bag of cherries. "The fruit is good. It's not spoiled. I like the oranges better here than at Stater Bros."

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0%2C1413%2C208~12588~2871403%2C00.html

[AyatollahGondola]

January 17th, 2009. The vendors still market their goods illegally, unsafely, and without interference from authorities. Crime pays here in Sac County

[AyatollahGondola]

Illegal vendor 1-17-09

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzq1bePMuhk[/ame]

[AyatollahGondola]

Watch the illegal vendor handle money and trash, and then go and handle food for sale

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZsW4jf052w"]YouTube - Illegal vendor gives up on hands free device[/ame]

[AyatollahGondola]

The second of two illegal vendors continue to ply the trade with impunity in Sac County

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyqqAzNjVrY"]YouTube - another illegal vendor watt & Don Julio[/ame]

[AyatollahGondola]

The intersection of florin rd and the entrance to the Home Depot and Walmart has become a favorite place for illegal vending.
1/30/2009













An illegal sign waver, already the subject of a complaint by someone (not me this time) climbs back in the saddle anyway on 1/30/2009

[AyatollahGondola]

This video, taken 3/7/09, shows why you shouldn't patronize illegal vendors. Without required running water and restroom access, there is no place to wash and sanitize hands. As you can tell, the food handler here appears to be ill.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXy0IPTwoA"]YouTube - Unsanitary illegal vendor[/ame]

[AyatollahGondola]

This is shameful. These unlicensed, uninspected food vendors are allowed to sell their products to school age children with the knowledge of the local law enforcement. The first part is the vendors setting up shop as the kids get out of school and prepare to board busses. The second part is my encounter with local law enforcement who have taken the attitude that the messenger who films the story is the biggest worry

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsopPF85cr4"]YouTube - High School Vendors[/ame]


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aX9R5ydyl4"]YouTube - High School Vendors 2[/ame]

[AyatollahGondola]

Great news

The Sac County EMD has actually relayed that there have been sweeps of named areas where illegal vendors are habitual offenders. So, I viewed the area on Watt ave. and Don julio Blvd for two saturdays in a row and no illegal vendors even though the weather was perfect. Based upon the information issued by the EMD representative, they also conducted sweeps in areas reported by another county business owner who communicates with me on this issue. The reported sweeps have included siezures of food products and equipment.
In addition, the county representative stated they swept other areas in the county, and have notice illegal vendors proliferating in the south county.

I encourage others to relay information about illegal vendors in their respective areas to the county EMD, and to place that information here so others can view the problem and solicit for more enforcement.

[AyatollahGondola]

the Vendors at Rio Linda High School have resumed operations with the return to the normal school schedule. I would think the principal would have a higher concern for this given the current health scare.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzWmj8x7nTs"]YouTube - Illegal School Vendors[/ame]

[AyatollahGondola]

Geez, what happened here? Here's a film clip from 3 years ago showing that Sac county actually went to bat for their legal vendors

http://www.truveo.com/Illegal-Street-Vendors-Targeted-By-Sacramento/id/3396342886

[AyatollahGondola]

It's hard to know who to root for in this one. From yesterday's Sac PD blotter:

09-160141, 211T, Center Pkwy / Tangerine Ave, 1257,


Victim is a MHA selling fruits on the corner. The suspects came up with one grabbing the victim in a body hold while the other went through his pockets and took cash. Suspects 2 MBA's 20's white shirts, jns. (NFD)

[AyatollahGondola]

Excellent news!

the county of Sacramento has confirmed sweeps for illegal food vendors have occurred, and I have confirmed that several of the areas swept are now free of illegal food vendors. The county relayed to us in an email that they have siezed food and equipment from the vendors in locations that we provided, and some that we have not. This is a big event in a long effort to get this enforcement action underway, and from what I read, this will not be the last action.