Los Angeles, CA—There
everywhere, small trucks, vans, carts and stands. They offer water, beverages, ice cream and
snacks.
These are the equivalent of a
kid’s lemonade stand. In L.A. people
with highly questionable immigration status seem to exclusively operate them.
The vendor’s seem to have sanitation challenges since they don’t seem to have access to hot water to wash
their hands. I think we are all capable
of deciding if their products are fit for consumption.
The vendor’s products are
cheap and service is fast. Most
importantly the vendors aren’t stealing, begging or damaging our way of life.
The complaints against the
food carts are nearly the exclusively owners of local brick and mortar shops
and restaurants.
The brick and mortar set have
the additional government tyranny to deal with over the new $15.00 per hour
minimum wage!. That is in no the way the fault of the food cart operators!
The complainers carp and
whine about abut unfair competition. That and their own high cost to do business,
along with heavy-handed over regulation, taxes and health inspections are a
problem for the brick and mortar folks.
Beating up on the cart
vendors because you are too timid and weak to fight government tyranny is both
cowardly and wrong. That bullying resulted in exactly what the L.A. City Council has done. They shut down most of the carts with a new ordinance.
America was founded on the
concept of free enterprise. Corrupt government officials are always looking to
create monopolies for those who reward their extortion. They’ve managed to do this everywhere with permits,
licenses and fees.
I say leave the cart owners
alone! The way to combat the vendor cart
competition is with better sanitation, competitive prices and service.
The cart vendors have enough
difficulties and challenges. I say leave
them alone and be satisfied if you’re not running a food cart yourself!
