A strong showing by street vendors and their supporters at a Stockton City Council meeting succeeded Tuesday night in pushing back a proposed ordinance that would impose fees, rules and penalties on those who make a living from selling food and merchandise outdoors.
The council voted unanimously to push off further consideration of the measure until May 27 and require more town hall-style events around the city to gather additional comment from vendors and those who live near their operations.
The move buys additional time for street vendors to try to work through some of the more delicate details in a plan that has been kicked around since March.
Vendors and their supporters raised concerns about a lack of restrooms for customers, proposed restrictions on the use of generators and canopies and the need to inform non-English-speaking sellers of the potential rules. Some voiced fear they will be forced to move from one of the top vending locations in Stockton: Angel Cruz Park on North El Dorado Street.
“The majority of street vendors are minorities, so they’re mainly impacted” by potential new rules, resident Vickie In said before Tuesday’s meeting.
City staff said the ordinance is necessary to comply with state laws that in recent years broadened acceptance of street vending. The council was told that Stockton’s current ordinance doesn’t allow selling in parks, even though that happens anyway.
In, for instance, said she has been buying food at Angel Cruz Park since she was a kid.
Despite potential benefits, city officials said, street vending in parks presents problems that impose costs on the city, such as trash disposal, the trampling of nearby landscaping, and traffic and parking congestion.
As proposed, the new law would charge a $60 licensing fee and impose background checks on vendors. Fines starting at $100 for first-time rules violators could increase up to $1,000 for multiple, recurring infractions.
Councilmembers were sympathetic to the concerns that were raised. “This is not about closing down vendors,” Councilmember Michele Padilla said.
They also acknowledged that vending plays a key role in showcasing the city’s cultural diversity.
“In my district, the street vendors are a very important park of the culture and the cultural fabric,” Vice Mayor Jason Lee noted.
Mayor Christina Fugazi said she would like to see some changes to the proposed ordinance update. She recommended no penalties for a first offense and advocated for thorough translations of the rules to reach the city’s diverse group of vendors — regardless of their primary language. She also questioned whether the ordinance is comprehensive enough to cover the wide variety of vendors who set up tables with their wares for sale, like those hawking cellphones.
More than a dozen people told the council that regulations would create problems for sellers, who often are poor and people of color. They accused the council of rushing through the ordinance without taking time to gather more comment.
Prany Kasem, who for years lived near Angel Cruz Park and still maintains connections there, said many vendors are immigrants from Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.
Angel Cruz Park used to be a hotspot for violence. “Now, since the vendors came and have businesses … there’s calm,” Kasem said before the meeting.
At the park on Wednesday, a woman selling grilled beef sticks named Lyly who did not give her last name said customers come for the bargains.
“It’s a little bit cheaper than the store,” Lyly said. Yet supermarkets can make thousands of dollars in a day, while vendors make far less. “These people only make a couple hundred” many days, she added.
So when it comes to the city’s actions on street vending, “Why do you want to bother these small people?” she asked. “They’re not really bothering anybody, right?”