Oakland Coliseum JPA Should Help Not Hurt Immigrant Hot Dog Vendors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqI_lP7m5qc

Oakland News Online Blog – vlog by Zennie62 YouTube. OaklandNewsOnline.com is the original blog post for this content.

At last week’s Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Joint Powers Authority Meeting, the Coliseum JPA Board took up the matter of how to deal with what they call “illegal” hot dog vendors.

First, let’s be up front about this. The vast majority of people who make up the population that has the metal, portable, cook grills, are immigrants to America. I’m not getting into if they are illegal or not – that’s not the point. The assertion is they’re here and thus are part of the Oakland / East Bay Population, so we must help them.

Second, the Coliseum JPA Board referred to this problem in a way that was completely insensitive to the needs of the vendors. We have a group of elected and appointed officials, and board members representing companies, who are better off financially than the vendors out there. Many of them are women, just trying to make ends meet to feed their kids. How the Coliseum JPA Board addressed them gives a window into why Oakland has such a giant homeless population: classism. Consider the language used here:

The number of illegal vendors has increased substantially over the last year, now numbering several dozens. We are very concerned that if a fire breaks out, we will have the potential for serious injuries. None of the vendors are operating with permits and there is no process to determine the health standards for which cooked food has been prepared. We have met with the Oakland Fire Department, the Fire Department, and the County Health and Environmental Division to determine the most effective course of at least trying to contain this illegal use. We are increasing police and security presence during large events, where the safety issues are most concerning.

Respectfully submitted,
Henry L. Gardner

I know Henry Gardner. I like and respect Henry Gardner beyond measure. But this take of his was disturbing. To consider a group of hard working people as nothing more than consistuting a health hazzard and doing an illegal use is beyond the pale, and because of the way he sees the situation. I ask why not see them as trying to make ends meet, providing a popular product in an efficient way, and then changing what we do so we can help them.

The best way is to make what they do legal and then give them cards they have to display as a kind of disclaimer to anyone who buys food from them – basically, buy it at your own risk. That sign is the price of admission to the club for vendors and they would have to sign out for them, so we know who they are (we don’t need social security numbers, just name and photo, which we can take of them on the spot and can work with local non-profits to help us). Then make sure the area they use has extra fire protection nearby and give them fire-extinguishing devices.

My point is, what Henry laid out was a cause of action to hurt vendors. I say use it to help them. We have more than enough homeless people out there. We need to do whatever we can to make these vendors efforts pay off to give them a better life. That’s economic development.

Stay tuned.

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