Photography & Illustration Julian Lucas Pomona, CA ©2018
Pomona , CA - - For the last 4 months or so, street vendors have been showing up at Pomona City Council meetings addressing the city council, asking them to come up with a solution to legitimize street vending and provide them with a safe space, and for the last 4 months, brick and mortar establishments have also shown up requesting that city council remove the street vendors.
On Monday June 3, 2024, during the city council meeting the group of street vendors were present to address the city council by participating in public comment regarding becoming legitimate and to inquire about a space they spoke about during a meeting with both Mayor Sandoval and council person Victor Preciado. After inquiring about the meeting with a sidewalk entrepreneur who wants to remain nameless did in fact state they had a meeting with both representatives of the council. The sidewalk/street vendors were met with opposition as brick and mortar establishments were also present to push back and requested city council remove the street vendors.
Minerva Hernandez of the Pomona Chamber of Commerce demanded that the Council revive an ordinance dating back to 2018 “which we (chamber of commerce) participated in to help and regulate street vendors.” Hernandez complained that back then, street vendors were everywhere, “all along the downtown area, selling in front of businesses that were already established. “The street vendors took ownership of sidewalks and parking lots of other businesses.” Hernandez reported that she has met with three council members, but nothing has been done. (meeting with 4 would constitute a Brown Act violation.) Hernandez also mentioned she met with State Senator Rubio who gave advice on revisiting the ordinance.
Monique Robles, president and ceo of the Pomona Chamber of Commerce and the only one of the two staff as stated on the Pomona chamber of commerce’s website, representing brick and mortar businesses, shared the Chamber’s concerns about street vending, mentioning safety issues (she mentioned one fatality related to street vending), sanitary conditions, a lax or non-existent permit and licensing process, lack of accountability and oversight. On the behalf of the local business community, Robles requested that city staff conduct a formal study.
Pomona resident, Greg Estol representing Juanita’s and El Super complained that street vendors are blocking the sidewalk, ruining the landscape, and using the restrooms. Estol asked the city council “when are you going to crack the whip and enforce the law? These people are getting ripped off just like the trash deal and those people are gone, and you will be too.”
Edgard Sanchez, a street vendor, stated he was hurt and ashamed that one group of Hispanics is complaining about another group of Hispanics - targeting people like himself who comes to work selling food on the street. He said that many of them should understand because they arrived here just like us. Sanchez stated he wants to send a message to brick and mortar businesses: “We, the people on the streets selling food are not at fault for what you are going through right now. Times have changed and the economy of the country has also changed. We don’t try to find who is at fault. The only thing we look for is work.”
Another street vendor who spoke said, “We should be supporting each other during these hard times. Maybe the food that the brick and mortar businesses serve is no longer the food the people want to eat. We are bringing food from our country, and maybe they should change because our food is different from theirs.”
After the public had the opportunity to speak, Sandoval stated, “before everyone leaves, I want to say, we are going to co-exist. Sidewalk vendors and brick and mortar businesses are going to co-exist, and we know we can do better, it doesn’t have to be us against them. So all I am saying is we’re going to figure this out, we’re going to figure this out so it works. I’ve been privileged enough to travel to a lot of countries and a lot of big cities and brick and mortar businesses exist alongside sidewalk vendors. All I am saying is we can work together and figure this out. I appreciate the concerns that brick and mortar businesses have because there are costs and I will admit if you have a competitor in front of you with a distinct advantage, we will figure this out.”
Sandoval concluded he was not a part of the meeting that took place with the business community, but stated he is happy to meet with members of the chamber of commerce as he has already met with the sidewalk vendors. “We will figure this out where we can co-exist.”
Yes, in other countries and within the United States sidewalk vendors and brick and mortar businesses co-exist. If you travel just 1000 miles north you’ll end up in Portland, Oregon, where food carts have existed since the 1960s. Now, there are over 500 legal food carts that exist alongside brick and mortar restaurants, including on college campuses. In addition, according to a report by IBIS World Industry from 2023 there were 85,467 Street Vendors businesses in the US, an increase of 19.3% from 2022. In May this year, the World Food Atlas presented to us a look at the best street food around the world.
It is interesting the amount of separation, or this us vs them that takes place in the city of Pomona. In addition, the lack of understanding that sidewalk vendors put Los Angeles on the map. Historically as mentioned in the history of street vending, chain restaurants such as Carl’s Jr was once a street vendor that sold hot dogs.
The late Anthony Bourdain once said, “Street food, I believe, is the salvation of the human race.”
We have to ask, what took the mayor of Pomona so long to acknowledge that people who sell food on the streets/sidewalks can co-exist with brick and mortar restaurants?
Julian Lucas, is a photographer, a purveyor of books, and writer, but mostly a photographer. Don’t ever ask him to take photos of events because he will charge you a lot of money. Julian is also the owner and founder of Mirrored Society Book Shop, publisher of The Pomonan, founder of Book-Store, and founder of PPABF.
