Correspondence- #16 - Laserfiche WebLink

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HARBOP INSTITUTE FOR IMMIIGRANT&ECONOMIC JUSTICE Attn:Mayor Valerie Amezcua,Mayor Pro Tern Jessie Lopez,Councilmember Thai Viet Phan,Councilmember Benjamin Vazquez,Councilmember Phil Bacerra,Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez,Councilmember David Penaloza. March 6,2023 Santa Ana City Council 20 Civic Center Plaza,Santa Ana, CA 92701 Re:Agenda Item#16 Dear Mayor Valerie Amezcua and Santa Ana City Council Members, We write to express concerns about the City Council's potential adoption of a resolution regarding sidewalk food vending and amendments of SB 946 (Lara) and 972 (Gonzalez).Supporting food entrepreneurs of all types,from brick-and-mortar restaurateurs to sidewalk food vendors, is critical to maintaining a vibrant, inclusive economy and to advancing health and economic justice, particularly among historically excluded populations such as immigrant women of color. We understand concerns about ensuring that food entrepreneurs operate legally and safely.With the passage of SB 972 last year,the City and County now have new opportunities to collaborate to ensure street food vendors are operating legally and safely.SB 972 has only been in effect for about two months,and Counties are still in the process of beginning to implement its provisions. Since compact mobile food operation (CMFO) permitting remains the County's responsibility,we urge the City to 1) work alongside the County to facilitate timely implementation of SB 972 and ensure local street food vendors are made aware of and can access the County permitting process once the CMFO permitting process is developed, and 2)consider establishing a municipal sidewalk vending permitting program,as well as outreach and assistance for such permitting,to ensure that the street food vendors who work across the city,especially the many who are local residents,operate with the proper health permits and are incorporated into the local formal economy while awaiting the establishment of the County CMFO permitting program which may take some time. Local food entrepreneurs should not have to wait on bureaucracy to be able to contribute legally and safely to the economy. Given Santa Ana's vibrant culture of food entrepreneurship,we urge the City to consider developing its own permitting program, guidance, or other assistance to mitigate costly punitive enforcement against and denigration of street food vendors.After all, rhetorical vilification of street food vendors for lacking proper permits fails to ensure they obtain the permits needed to avoid such situations in the first place. We also remain concerned that continued rhetoric from the City Council framing street food vending as being inherently oppositional to community health and safety only serves to advance the exclusion of local immigrant and refugee communities rather than their positive incorporation. If the City's primary goal is to promote health and safety among food entrepreneurs of all types,we are optimistic that pursuing proactive,supportive measures to incorporate street food vendors into the local formal economy will be more effective and sustainable than punitive enforcement or targeted rhetoric. Sincerely, Mai Nguyen Do Policy& Research Analyst The Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice